my first ATCs

I must admit, I've been afraid of ATCs since I first read about them. But, Jenn's gorgeous ATCs in the October gallery at Studio Calico inspired me to try to make them....along with the swap she organized.

To make 4 ATCs, I used the JACKSON'S ORCHARD add-on, which is still available, if you need some enabling. First, I measured my vintage wood veneer and cut it to 2.5x3.5" using a rotary cutter by Olfa. It worked beautifully, no splitting of the wood or anything.

As you can see, after I drew my lines, I still held the ruler in place as my guide for cutting.

VOILA!!!! 4 perfectly sized cards from one strip of the veneer.
To decorate one of the cards, I punched 4 circles using my new Martha Stewart punch, from a sheet of scrap paper. Notice how I let the circles hang over the edge of my paper?
Using a foam brush and some gold acrylic paint, I painted the circles, using the scrap paper as a stencil. I waited for the paint to dry, then re-used the "stencil" to draw a black border using a fine point American Crafts Slick Writer.

Finally, I embellished using paper from the same add-on and the NOAH alphabet stamps. It's sold out now, but we're making more, so look for them next month, if you missed out.

For the lettering, I stamped on the green Making Memories paper in that add-on in brown ink. Then, I hand-cut the letters and applied glossy accents.

One more thing to add, to make sure my ATCs were durable, I cut a 2.5x3.5" piece of kraft cardstock and adhered it to the back.

If you'd like to read more about ATCs, click here.