Linda Israel

Multi-Media Artist

The theme or challenge for this ATC (Artist Trading Card) was Primary Colors for the OFB ATC swap group. I chose to use a collage technique that I love because it uses up scraps that I have on hand…

So grab some scraps of papers and you can make one too even if you don’t have all of the tools that I have!

The basic idea is to gather the colors you want to use as the foundation of your art. Since this was a Primary Colors theme I chose papers that were red, yellow and blue. Then I pulled out my rubber stamps and black ink and started over stamping on the paper. It didn’t matter if the paper had a design or not, I was adding another texture to the paper. Once I stamped all of the scraps I then cut the paper in to strips, and again the size or width of the strips didn’t matter, this is a random design.

Once all of the strips were lined up I used carpet tape to adhere these into a design. If you don’t have carpet tape a double sided tape would work, or you could just glue each piece down (which will take a little longer and you have to put glue on the entire strip of paper). Then after I got the tape filled with paper I filled in the spaces with glitter. I cut the piece down to the size I wanted the finished art to be and proceeded to embossing.

Embossing with regular powder is easy or even UTEE (to make the artwork shine). If you don’t have either you could use Glossy Accents or Diamond glaze or other finishes that will dry clear and shinny, another favorite of mine Golden Gel medium in low and high gloss.

Take this project and use it to make something out of your scraps or even your trash. It is a great projects for kids – use magazines or junk mail. Free items are great to use in art for kids! Could use a laminator or even packing tape to make the pieces shiny if making this project with kids..

Then let me know what you created. Leave a comment telling me about what you have done. How you changed up your project etc…

Just have fun! There is no right or wrong.

Blessings

Linda

When I make something I put my whole heart into the process. For the items photographed here I used an unusual source for my heart – an aluminum soda can.
I kept seeing cans being thrown away or just sent straight to recycling and thought there has to be a way that I could make art out of one of those cans.

I found a sharp pair of scissors and started cutting the top and bottom from the can and slit down the side so that I could have a long narrow sheet of metal. I then started cutting hearts, different sizes and wondered how could I texture the shapes… That’s when I found that I could use my Sizzix machine and a cuttle bug embossing folder to get the texture I wanted.

The script was my first embossing folder: I loved the look of the texture and then I started playing with mediums to get the colors I wanted on the metal. I’ll share that process in another post. For now enjoy the photos of these mini works of art, which are available at Loving Touch Marketplace for $3.00 each.

The following ATC was for the OFB ATC swap group. A group that was formed a year ago where I work. We started with only eight people and there are over 20 people that will participate in the weekly swaps. The theme was Spirituality or Spiritual. I chose to make two cards and the Rainbow ATC is one of the cards.

I used Black Embossing powder, a custom made stamp and water color crayons on water color paper. After the rainbow was painted and dried I used glitter glue/paint over the surface to give it a nice shimmer. Trimmed the card and mounted on a purple ATC card – 2.5 by 3.5 inches.

The following is a video of the whole process.

Please feel free to ask questions. I love sharing my knowledge with others and trying to help as best I can..

Make today a great day!

Linda Israel

I have been embossing for years and it is annoying to get the stray specks of embossing powder on your project.. I had a purchased anti static bag, but I knew there was a cheaper way to make my own.. I started looking around at the supplies I had on hand and also on the web.. Here is what I came up with…

Supplies used:

One leg from a clean pair of pantyhose ( one side had a runner in the leg, so I usually wash these and keep them, never know when I might need one for a project! lol)

baby powder

Scissors

I glass or wide mouth jar

Method:

I cut one leg from the clean pantyhose close to the very top.

Then I pushed the toe of the hose into a glass and pulled the top over the lip of the glass. This made it very easy to then dump baby powder into the hose. I put about a 1/4 cup of baby powder into the hose. Could put more or less. It depends on how much baby powder you have, and if you want to make more than one anti static bag. I made two so that when I’m teaching a workshop or if my friends come over I have extras and we don’t have to wait for someone to be finished…

I pulled the hose out of the glass and tied a knot close to the powder. Just one knot, as there will be three layers of hose to protect the powder from spilling out of the hose…

Next I pushed the whole thing back through the leg of the hose and tied another knot, repeated one more time and tied a final or third knot. This kind of reminded me of a hacky sack that we used to play with back in the 80′s.. lol I guess if you changed out the powder for little beans of some kind you could make your own hacky sack to play with. lol…

Once the final knot was tied I cut off the excess hose and the anti static bag was ready to use. Pretty clever huh…

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I hope this helps you in saving money. Because I know that I would rather spend my money on an item that I couldn’t make myself!

If you have questions regarding how to make your own anti static bag, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by my website.

Linda Israel

I was asked how to use embossing powder with rubber stamps via my youtube channel. There are so many supplies out there that can be used. It took me a little time to decide how I was going to choose which supplies to spotlight in my instructions…

Things you will want to have:

Embossing powder – any brand, but consider the project at hand. You may want detailed embossing powder if you are doing a fine detailed stamp, or you may want ultra thick embossing powder if you are doing a solid stamp that is large.

Heat tool – Not a hair dryer. Back when I first started stamping, we tired all kinds of things to heat up the powder so it would melt. Trust me, the best investment is a heat tool. It doesn’t matter which brand. Just pick the one that fits your budget. I even have a commercial heat gun, that is used for removing paint, just have to be careful and not use that one on high, it will burn the paper! lol…

Pigment ink – a juicy pigment ink will hold the powder in place. If you have an old pad, consider getting the reinker for it so that you can reapply the ink to the pad before you use it in your project. I do this for most of my common ink pads.

Anti static helper – could be a dryer sheet or an Anti Static bag. This you will rub on the paper, before you stamp and apply the powder. It helps to keep the powder from sticking where you don’t want it to stick…  (instructions on how to make your own anti static bag)

Item to be embossed – paper, canvas, or just about anything that can stand the heat…

Basic instructions: prepare the surface with the anti static product of your choice. Ink stamp with pigment ink, stamp on item. Coat with generous amount of embossing powder, tap off excess powder onto / into a container so you can reuse powder. Turn on heat tool (if you let the heat tool run for a moment before you apply it to your project the powder will melt faster.) Point heat tool towards project. When you start to see that the dull powder look changes to a shiny surface move the gun to a new location. Don’t keep the gun too close to the project or it will burn or discolor the project. If you keep the gun on the project too long the powder will melt down into a porous surface and will look dull. Which could be a look you are going for, but most of the time people want the shiny raised look of embossing. Keep moving around the project until all of the powder has changed. Turn off the gun and let the project cool. The powder will be very hot and you will get a nasty burn if you touch it before it cools off! Now look at your embossed project and pat yourself on the back! You did it! Great job!

Want to see embossing in action check out the video:

Have questions regarding embossing, please feel free to ask, just make sure to give all the details you can in your inquiry…

Thanks for stopping by my website.

Linda Israel

The OFB ATC challenge was to create a collage. I decided to use some of my scraps to make a collage sheet and then cut that up to make an ATC (Artist Trading Card)..

Video where I walk through the process and make the ATC:

This is one of those fun techniques that is easy and once you create a page you can use it for more than one piece of art. Just cut out or off what you need for the project. I will use strips of the parent sheet to make a framed art or a greeting card.. and it looks like I spent a lot of time creating a one of a kind art..

Have fun with this technique. Please share your creations. I love seeing what others come up with..

Make today a great day!

Linda