My Favourite Artist Trading Cards

Here's something I haven't done for a while: make an artist trading card. I was looking through my tiny collection of artist trading cards from across the land and thought I would share my favourites!

:3



Reason why trading cards are cool #1:

It's all inclusive! There is very little, if any, snobbery in the artist trading card community. Kids do it, moms do it, hip professionals do it, teens do it... pretty much anyone can draw a tiny picture, take a pretty photo or assemble a little collage. And then trade it!



Reason why trading cards are cool #2:

Mail is fantastic. Especially real mail with your name on it. Especially real mail with little doodles on the envelopes which are filled with tiny pieces of art and sometimes a letter or a card. If you're really lucky, sometimes the sender includes a surprise extra! Score!



I used to LOVE checking the mail on the way to work and finding pretty things inside.  It's nice to have something to look forward to that only costs as much as a postage stamp.



I don't do much trading anymore (I haven't even made any cards, since). Though if someone were to send me something in the mail, I would definitely reciprocate... :3

Journal Page - 10/15/12

This weekend, I drove up the Coquihalla Highway for the first time in my car. I was pretty terrified, if only because we had a heavy rainfall warning just in time for my trip. Yay. If you've never heard of this highway I will describe it for you:

It's very interesting to look at, as it is a winding road that passes over a mountain (up to around 1200m high), though I didn't get much of a chance to look around at the pretty yellow leaves. Speeds are very fast even though my car was already slipping around in the rain way below the speed limit O_O



There are so many crazy fast drivers that there's now a tv show about it called Highway Thru Hell.



Definitely not a good drive for greenhorns like me. But better rain than snow. I got to stretch my muscles and travel far out of my comfort zone. And I got to learn what it feels like to drive through high winds that wanted to push my car over a huge cliffside, and rain that was heavy enough to completely obscure the ground.

*level up!*



Here's a video of this journal page in progress :3

A few of my favourite things

I don't accumulate a lot of supplies like most people do, mostly because that stuff costs money! Ow! So I tend to fall back on a small selection of favourites to play with.



Lindy Stamp Gang
I caved and purchased a try-me set of sprays from Lindy Stamp Gang, and they are pretty fun. I looovee the look of ink sprayed over a stencil. They're glittery!

Cotman Watercolours
These are a step down from standard Windsor&Newton watercolours and will probably last many years. I much much much prefer the dry cakes over the tubes, and it's kind of hard to find them sometimes.

Golden Gel Medium
This is a new friend of mine, and can't wait to play with it some more! Super thick and dries clear, so you can make as much bumpy texture as you want.

Faber Castell Pens
The pens say they are waterproof but I disagree. They run like crazy. Maybe I'm just not using them correctly?

Acrylic Paint
Occasionally I will use some acrylic paints (journaling, mostly), and if I do I prefer Jansen Art as they have the exact colours I want but with consistent pricing. For easy to find colours, I will usually go with Stevenson.



Decorative Tape
Still weirdly difficult to find, but if I feel like splurging I will buy a few patterns at a time. It was one of those things I put off purchasing for a long time, but now it's a must have! :D

Glitter Craft Paint
Ha! It was a dollar and I just wanted to try it out in my journal, and I ended up loving the effect! Way less messy than using regular glue and glitter... if you have a need for that sort of thing.

Markers
I have a box of markers that I use sometimes in my journal. They were a gift, and I'm not sure if I would buy them otherwise. The prismacolor ones are really nice and hardly smell at all. The promarkers smell a little bit and I have a box of Chartpaks that stink even with the cap on!

Calligraphy Pen
I often use this to write in my journal after the pages are done. Reacts a bit weird over acrylic paints though.

Stencils
My most commonly used stencil is the paper doily, but I hope to build up a small collection of pattern stencils someday.

Staedtler Watersoluble Crayons
These were the only ones I could find locally but they're pretty inexpensive and work okay. They're soft crayons that melt in water. Remember those colouring books with the little dots you paint over? It's like that.

Mini Paintings with Gel Medium - Wire

During my artsy playdate with Nolwenn, I fell in love with Golden gel medium!  She showed me how fun it is to use it with stencils to create texture.



 I've also tried this before with heavy weight acrylic paints.



But I think what really sold me on this stuff is how it eventually dries clear to show the colours underneath.



Here is the result after rubbing acrylic paint over the dried gel medium and drawing over it with a pen. Cute!

Mini paintings available here. 

Journal Post - 10/6/12

Hello Hello! I feel like I've been neglecting my journal a bit which is kind of weird because I think there's only a few pages left! Today I decided to get messy with chalk pastels, which really are super messy. With them, I doodled a woodpecker we saw today.



It's absolutely necessary to use a fixative with chalk pastels, otherwise as soon as I close the book, it will just smudge around into a mess - ick. I used a spray varnish but I don't really care for it - it smells very strong and it didn't completely work. I still get a bit of residue on my fingers if I touch the page.

I used to use aerosol hairspray for that, and it worked okay too. Not to mention way cheaper! Many people think that's insane, that it will turn yellow. It probably does, I don't know.



Recycled a piece of an old oil painting to attach in circles along the edge! 

Free Bees

 I have a terrible habit of losing track of the days, so what does one do when a birthday quickly approaches and there is no gift yet? Sometimes I just paint. Something random. Like bees. And roses.

Btw, I am so in love with this style of frame. The colour is perfect, and because I often have bits poking out here and there, the double mat is a life saver.



I've got my scanner working and so I'm listing a couple of reproduction options in my shop! 

Watercolour Painting - Abrasive

omg I finally finished this painting called "Abrasive" at the last minute and uploaded the video footage. Sometime soon I will post it in my etsy shop.

The video is a bit longer than I expected so I didn't put any music over it this time.