Texture ATCs

I am hosting a texture ATC swap, where the rules are pretty loose. You don't need a focal image, just texture. I thought it would be fun to play around with various textures and see what I could come up with. Originally I was going to turn all the textures into squares, but didn't cut them before coming to CA. As a result, some of the textures weren't square. Also, I didn't make enough of some of them, so I had to rethink my project.

Since I was still clinging to the hope that I might still have a shot with the squares, I decided to begin my backgrounds with some rosin paper I painted over the last few weeks using leftover paint from other projects. Once I got the paper glued to my pre-printed backs, I didn't want to cover the background, a sentiment often shared by other altered artists who create awesome backgrounds. So I spent another day contemplating a new layout using all the textures while also incorporating all the squares I had already cut. I have to admit, I was very, very pleased with the outcome, and you can see how much recycling I did in the process.

A previously mentioned, I started with rosin paper. Every time I had a project, I would use it underneath. When finished, if there was any extra paint, it got brushed on also. It's a good way to save your paint, and have what I consider an awesome background reminiscent of Lynne Perrella's backgrounds.

Beginning in the upper right and working my way counter-clockwise, the gold squares were made using crushed egg shells, over which I added gold embossing powder. The smaller green squares are sheets of white tissue paper I layered with green sparkling paint, then squished one or more of the tissue layers before I attached it to the bottom layer. That's one of those techniques I might have to demo rather than explain.

The circles were made using paper that went through a shredder. I slathered white glue on some rosin paper, then pressed handfuls of the shredded paper into the glue. When dry, I brushed copper Lumiere and blue acrylic paint I added mica chips to over the paper.

The white "plume" on the left is coconut fibers I got from CA. They come from a "monkey" coconut, which is white and has a tip, instead of being round. It's unlike any coconut I've ever seen, and the fibers inside are, too. I dried them in the hot California sun a few days before adding them to the ATCs.

And finally, the triangle in the lower right corner was made using punchinella as the stencil, and some texture stuff. I decided the circles needed to be cut linearly, and the triangle shape worked out great.

I don't have an ATC stamp for my ATC backs, so I took a few minutes (which if all be told, probably turned into hours) last year and made my own backs using my word processing software. I first painted the back using blue acrylic to which I added water and mica flakes. When dry, I ran the CS through the printer.