ATC's

Hey Everybody!! Can you believe it??? 3 posts in 3 days--Whoooppeee!! I have been wanting to post my ATC's for awhile now but have been procrastinating (bad Me!!) For those of you who don't know what they are, the acronym ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. These cards are about the size of a hockey of baseball trading card. They have a theme of some sort, they always have more than one layer of paper and have some form of dimension to them. The theme is usually decided ahead of time and is open to interpretation. I have used rubber and digital stamps on all of mine so far.

Once a month a group of ladies that I know from the stamping community and I get together and trade our cards. We all follow the theme for the month and we make enough cards for each lady in the group as well as one for ourselves. We try to make our own cards as identical to each other for that month as we can. We then get together and trade our cards over coffee and treats.

It's a lot of fun to see what everyone comes up with. We then put all our cards in a binder in trading card sleeve pages so that we have a little keepsake "catalogue" of all our cards.

Here are the ones that I have made and traded so far with the themes for the month------->

Love

Easter

Flowers

Women

Canada Day

Leaves

Here's a shot or two of the process:

The finished product:

ATC's are a different kind of challenge and are a lot of fun!! Your group can be small or large. 6 to 12 people per group is probably best because making ATC's can be quite labour intensive!! I know a lady who trades her cards all over the world!! If you make artist trading cards, please leave me your link in the comments. I am pretty new to this and I always enjoy seeing what people come up with using the small "canvas" of the ATC.

Thanks for popping by!! Have a blessed day!!

Sarah :D

A Chance to Support OUR Troops!!

2nd Annual--Strength Behind the Uniform--Charity Walk & Run

Yesterday, in my hometown, we had a chance to honour the men and women in uniform who bravely serve our country both overseas and at home. We also had a chance to honour, recognize, and celebrate the many military families who stand behind these soldiers!

As my husband and I walked along we had the chance to talk to a mother whose son is presently serving in Afghanistan. He's just shy of 21 and this is his first tour. It was interesting to hear a mother's perspective on deployment and of the many challenges she faces day in & day out as she tries to "keep it together". It made me so thankful for where I live and for the brave ones who have chosen this life of sacrifice.

My father served in the the navy for over 10 years and was away a lot when my brothers were small. My mom has told me many stories over the years of what it was like to try to "raise her boys" while dad was away at sea and the many hardships she had to endure. My dad got out before I was born so I never knew that way of life, but I have come to learn to greatly respect it.

My husband has a good job, he's home every night and he's not in harm's way...for that I am truly thankful. I live in a country where women are treated with respect as a rule & where I am free to vote without fear of violence or repercussion. My family has access to good health care & education and has opportunities at every turn. I have the freedom to practice my faith in peace and I don't have to hide my Bible. I have access to clean water, healthy food and my home is warm and clean. I remind myself every day that I am blessed and think of the many who have left these comforts and freedoms behind to serve in foreign lands...lands that don't operate in human justice & dignity or even comprehend the many blessings I enjoy.

So to those of you out there who serve and/or stand behind a soldier, my prayers & thanks go out to you. May God keep you safe!!

Here are some more pics from the day...

JUNO--Army Mascot

Warming Up...

Tie A Yellow Ribbon...

A Gorgeous Day for A Walk...And For Such A Worthy Cause ☺!!

Thanks for taking a look today!! Take the opportunity this week to thank a soldier, a policeman, a paramedic, or a fireman if you get the chance...maybe even buy them a cup of coffee!! Pray for those who are serving and for their families. Be thankful for what you have and tell the important people in your life how much they mean to you!! Instead of taking for granted the many blessings you enjoy, take time to count them!!!

Have a good one,

Sarah ☺

Sundays With Crissy--Challenge #9

Hey there!! Welcome to my blog!! Today I want to share with you two cards I made for the Sundays With Crissy challenge. This time around it's all about "Sparkle & Shine".

I chose Crissy's sweet image called Angelicat from Squigglefly. I coloured my images with Copic markers and added glitter to the wings and halos to give my sweet little angels some sparkle. Unfortunately the pics don't do justice to my glitter :( I also used Bazzil "Bling" and foil paper for my mat to give my cards some shine. I apologize for the poor picture quality. Due to the reflective nature of my silver foil paper, it picked up the reflection of little ol' me taking the picture.

If you follow my blog at all you'll notice I have coloured these sweet kitties like my fur babies Willow & Yuki.





I also went around the border of this card in squiggly lines with a glue pen and then added the glitter to the glue for a sparkly border.



Showing you a better look at the glitter...


There's still time for you to enter your own "Sparkle & Shine" creation over at Sundays with Crissy!! If you want some more inspiration, check out the rest of our Design Team member's projects that have been posted throughout the month of September.

There's also a great prize up for grabs (pictured below) from this month's sponser--LSL Diversified!! If you enter your own "Sparkle & Shine" project and use one of Crissy's digi images your name will be put into a random draw and this fabulous candy could be yours. As always, you are free to enter this month's challenge using any other image but you won't be eligible for the draw.



Thanks for stopping by today!! Have a happy and restful Sunday!!

Blessings,

Sarah ☺

Copics: RVOOO, RVOO, RVO2, RV10, R20, BOOOO, BOO, BO2, BO4, WOO, WO, WO1, W3, W5, W7
Glitter: Hero Arts--Prism
Metal Spacers: Blue Moon
Gems: Hero Arts
Ribbon: Michael's