ArtTRADER

PUTTING THE ART IN TRADE

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Issue 4 - Autumn 2008

PAPER

Making

WAX ART

Thread People

Painting

Whimsy
All about trading
Journal page by Kristy Christopherson

ATCs, Altered Art, Art Journals, Chunky Books & Creative Inspiration

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Table of Contents
3 5 6 9 11 13 15 18 23 25 29 32 34 36 44 47 50 51 53 56 57 Art Trader Contributors Editors Note & Letters Design 911: Composition Hooked on Crayons: Wax Art Techniques Gallery: Colorful, Funky Portraits Postcards: The New Mail Art Rocking Rolo Cards Artistic Journeys: Homemade Paper for Mail Art Gallery Skinny Pages: Colorful Mixed Media Trees Easy Whimsy Art for People Who Cant Draw (Yet!) Featured Artist: Tabitha Ladin Gallery: Design-A-Pony Art of Darkness: Exploring Darker Themes Through Art Thread Painting: Techniques & Tips Readers Gallery Silk Art Paper Petite Artiste: Ian El-Habre Vlogging with Ela Steel Autumn Rolo Contest Winner & Entries Advertisers Ads Call for Articles & Artwork

Autumn 2008

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CHIEF EDITOR Dana Driscoll COPY EDITOR Meran ni Cuill CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Cathy Green Kati Barrett Martha Lee Rochelle Greene Tracie Rozario Andrea Melione Sal Scheibe Dana Driscoll ART DIRECTOR Sal Scheibe ASSOCIATE DESIGNERS Brittany Noethen Andrea Melione PUBLISHED BY IllustratedATCs.com

ArtTRADER Magazine www.arttradermag.com Editor: editor@arttradermag.com Advertising: ads@arttradermag.com Submissions: content@arttradermag.com Call for Entries: www.arttradermag.com

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Contributors
Sal Scheibe works as a creative designer for print and web and also as a freelance illustrator. Her designs and artwork have appeared in books, CDs and DVDs, brochures and posters. Sal is currently working on a number of large canvas paintings for art shows. She also enjoys trading ATCs and is an administrator at IllustratedATCs.com. Sals favorite artists and illustrators include Joe Sorren, J.C. Leyendecker, William Bougereau and John Singer Sargent. Her favored mediums are acrylic paint, colored pencils and markers. www.slscheibe.com www.flickr.com/photos/amerasu Andrea Melione is currently a full-time student, planning on eventually earning a Masters in Library Science. She loves all types of art, but is fond of the Surreal and Symbolist movements. Her favorite artists are Michael Parkes, Daniel Merriam, Aubrey Beardsley and her buddies at IllustratedATCs.com, where she is a Moderator. She mainly works in watercolor, colored pencil, acrylics, markers and gel pens, though not all at once. She lives in NY (cow country, not the city) and has difficulty writing biographies in the third person. artpfunkcentral.blogspot.com www.flickr.com/photos/littleboots Dana Driscoll is an experimental artist working in a variety of media including watercolors, mixed media, oils, clay, book arts, hand papermaking, and altered art. She is currently working on several artistic projects, including painting her way through a 78-card tree tarot deck and combining her love of pottery and bookmaking. When not avoiding the perils of pursuing her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, she can be found frolicking in nearby forests or hanging out with her nerdy gamer friends. Danas work can be found at her blog: artisticjourneys. blogspot.com and she can be reached at adriayna@yahoo.com. www.artisticjourneys.etsy.com Brittany Noethen is an artist living in a tech managers body. She would rather be decapitated than give up making art, trading ATCs, or stop thinking that the phrase Muffins or Bust is hilarious. She currently lives in Iowa with her partner Cat, her 12 year old pit bull, Maggie, and shelves full of art supplies. www.bnoethen.etsy.com arty-iowa-girl.vox.com www.flickr.com/photos/arty-ia-girl Meran niCuill Fascinated by nature and science, Meran ni Cuill attempts daily to translate her passions into art. Sometimes she feels she even succeeds! And then something else will catch her attention and off shell go! Chasing another ideal. Meran enjoys gardening, sunsets, dogs, birds, and just about anything as long as its not endless crowds of people. When those present, shell retreat to a quiet place and read a book, or cut some glass, both of which she finds therapeutic. www.meran.etsy.com atcs2008.meran.fastmail.fm

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Contributors
Abi Aldrich is an K-6 Art teacher in Wyoming. She sells oil paintings professionally, makes pottery because she likes to play in the mud, and generally makes text based sculptures and installations because that is her true love. Beyond that she loves printmaking, drawing, and graphic design. In all her massive amounts of free time, Abi hangs out with her menagarie, including several rabbits, a chinchilla and a large bearded dragon. She also calls West Africa every night to talk to the love of her life, Gee. So in a nutshell she is a nut who likes to make a mess in art! www.abigayle.etsy.com Kati Barrett was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. She now resides in northern California with her 2 kitties and mountains of art supplies. Kati was exposed to art from birth on, one of the blessings of having an artist mother. I am a fulltime social worker who longs to be a fulltime artist. Collage is my medium. I love being able to take completely unrelated images or items and make them relate by positioning and color usage. I see art as my spiritual path and I work out my questions about god and the universe through my pieces. I am also a jokester and I like to throw in unusual and odd images. Give me a cutesy theme and I am bound to make a quirky or dark piece about it! If Kati could give one piece of advice to new artists it would be to practice their craft everyday, no matter what. Ang Westermann A nurse by profession, she is also an artist of the heart and . soul. A transplant from the U.S., she moved to Ontario, Canada in 2000; she lives in a little green house with her husband, her dog, cat and art supplies. A collector of pens, markers and anything that writes, this artist began her quest for Heart Art in 2002 and found the world of ATCs. Shakepeare once said Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the oer-fraught heart, and bids it break. After a personal tragedy, she needed a voice and art became that voice. Six years later, her art is whimsical, fun and funky. With no formal art training, she creates straight from her heart. She is a woman on a mission to leave a Legacy of Love for chubby girls, and to let every woman know that she is loved and beautiful, no matter her size. altermyworld.typepad.com/ang www.flickr.com/photos/25943881@N00

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Letter from the Editor

When I think about my own work as an artist, I think about milestones. Artistic endeavors that I take on that are difficult to complete, but once completed, present much satisfaction. Milestones with my own skill, milestones with techniques, milestones with projects. My most recent artistic milestone has been with my handpainted tarot deck, the Tarot of Trees, and finishing the second suit of four. As a mail artist, I also see finishing up swaps, or sending all of the envelopes back to the players, as milestones themselves. There is a great satisfaction to be had when you walk into the post office with 40 chunky book-filled envelopes, and walk out empty handed, knowing they are going back to their owners to be treasured. Milestones have been very important for our publication and family of sites recently as well. This, our fourth issue, marks a significant milestone for ArtTrader Magazine. We have now been in publication for a year! We have decided to create a print-on-demand book for you to purchase of our first four issues. Partial issues will remain free online, of course, but for those of you who want to put Art Trader on your shelf, you now have that option. [ed. - There will be a nominal fee for the full version] IllustratedATCs also recently released two publishing milestones of their own, The Best of Illustrated ATCs 2007 and Color: A Collaborative Perspective. The Best of Illustrated ATCs 2007 is a full-color, beautiful book jam-packed full of ATC-sized eye candy arranged by theme (www.lulu.com/content/3202513). Color: A Collaborative Perspective was a group art project focused on color as a unifying theme (www.lulu.com/content/2689642). We are also proud to announce that ATCsforall.com is also accepting submissions for a book of their own, as of yet untitled. Every member at ATCsforall.com is eligible to submit and everyone who submits will have at least one piece of art in the book. So check it out! www.atcsforall.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5537 We have also just released www.mailartportal.com -- a unifying site that links our three unique communities, the Art Trader publication, and the books and group projects we have available for people to purchase. So many milestones, in such a short time. In closing, Id like to dedicate this issue of Art Trader Magazine to A.C. Buchanan, who died of complications with leukemia this past summer. Lisa, his wife, is a pillar to our mail art communities and we would like to reach out to her during this difficult time. Happy creating everyone! Dana Lynn Driscoll Chief Editor, Art Trader Magazine

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Design 911p
By Andrea Melione Hi and welcome to Design 911!, an article series that helps you develop your design and composition skills! Composition is basically the arrangement of elements within a space. How you place your elements is important; are you creating harmony? Rhythm? Balance? Likewise, creating a space in which you put elements will make these elements more interesting to look at. My goal in this series is to provide readers with an introduction and overview of concepts from composition. It is not meant to be exhaustive. For a more extensive treatment, you can check out the following books: Pictorial Composition by Henry Rankin Poore, and Introduction to Two-Dimensional Design: Understanding Form and Function by John Bowers. This article specifically addresses creating space with elements, and the importance of the placement of a single element. I hope to address more aspects in future issues of ArtTrader. Once you place an element on your card, you instantly create space, which is the area around the chosen elements (like a herd of rabid bunnies or a moldy bread loaf.) To show you what I am talking about, I will introduce you to two families: The Symmetrical Family and the Asymmetrical Family. The Symmetrical Family is a little dull:

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They stand like soldiers dead center within the card. The horizon line behind them is also dead center. There is no excitement, no joie de vivre, and no escargot. It is no wonder their ATC looks like this:

If we divide the card down the center vertically, you may notice that both sides look nearly the same, right on down to the fruit. This is called symmetry. There is total balance. It is not too bad, but it is not very interesting either.

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The Asymmetrical Family eats their Wheaties:

Art TRADER

Extra Tips!
Cropping: Try cropping your figures! Cut off the side of the head or body (the famous painter Degas is famous for doing with figures in his paintings) Scale: scale is a good way to create a dynamic composition. Use small images and large together. the smaller an object is further away it can look. Larger images appear closer.

They like excitement and escargot! This family stands over to the left of the card. The little ones are not of equal size, and the horizon line is a bit lower than dead center. This is called asymmetry. If we divide the card vertically down the center, both sides are not similar at all. Their ATC ends up looking like this:

And look! They gave the horizon line in the back a bit of a slope! How much more interesting is that?! Even the fruit is pleasingly off center. Because ATCs are so small, we have to make the most of our limited space. We can do this by using asymmetry to create an illusion of greater space: remember the area around your herd of bunnies or moldy bread is just as important as the elements themselves.

Another thing to keep in mind when dividing your ATC space is the Golden Ratio or Golden Section. The Golden Section is like asymmetry perfected and is approximately 1.618 to 1. The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle discussed the subject extensively. Try making an internet search for either term to learn more.

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Color: You can indeed boost your composition by using bold color schemes! Try complementary colors - orange/blue, red/green, yellow/purple. Black, white and any color is also very striking.
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Now that weve learned about making use of our space, lets discuss placement, specifically of a single dominant element. The following feature strong and successful examples... This card is by Leah Budin. It features an imprisoned clown. Take a look at where I have divided the card. The red lines cut the card in perfect half, both vertically and horizontally. What makes this card pleasing is the fact that the clown is shifted to the left of the center. The dark blue line represents how the card would be divided according to the Golden Ratio. Notice how the chin of the clown falls exactly on this line.

Another successful card featuring a single dominant element is by William Gridley:

This card is in fact quite symmetrical looking. This card works, though, because of the bold, strong color scheme; the figure has an almost religious icon feel and communicates a sense of power. Even so, if you look at the dividing lines, youll see that the figure is not perfectly centered. The circled halo in the back is a pleasing shape and again is slightly off center. The border and lettering at the bottom create a visual weight that keeps the figure from looking top heavy. Composition can usually make or break a card; the best way the strengthen your ability is to actively think about composition from the very beginning. When you look through your collection or past work, try to analyze the work you like and find out why the composition works! Next time well be looking at Tangents, Ambiguity and Negative Space.

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Leah Budin William Gridley
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Hooked on Crayons: Two Wax Art Techniques

By Martha Lee
This article describes two melted wax techniques using crayons that can be applied to any form of mail art! The techniques are creating a multicolored wax background and combining stamping with crayon wax.

Technique One: Making a multi-color background

1. This demonstration is to do a basic multi-color background. Choose the colors for your background; you may have some favorites. I use mostly primary colors. While you are choosing, plug the small iron in and wait for it to get hot. 2. Start to melt the colors using the iron from light to dark. 3. After you have some melted wax on the iron, spread the colors on the cardstock. Leep a paper towel handy to clean the iron between colors. 4. Cover the card completely with wax. 5. Placing the card upside down, lay it against computer paper.

Required Materials

Mini iron Craft iron (any iron will work) Paper towels Crayons Printing paper Non-stick craft sheet Smooth card stock or Bristol board Images to be stamped or printed Embellishments

Optional Materials

Wax-based color pencils Gel pens High gloss glaze

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1. Press the card with a hot iron using a circular motion. This step will remove the wax leaving the only pigment. The printing paper will absorb the wax. 2. Turn the card stock over and wipe the wax as much as you can. If the card stock shines there is some wax left over. Repeat this step until the colors look dull and smooth to the touch. 3. Stamp your favorite image. Add color and detail with colored pencils, gel pens and embellishments. I colored her lips and used the white gel pen for her eyes.

Technique Two: Using a printed or stamped image before coloring

1. Repeat the steps as technique one. This time the image gives you some guidelines as to where to place the colors. 2. If you add too much color or put color in a spot you dont want to be colored, you can correct it using colored pencils. I put too much green on her arm, so I am going to correct it with a peach colored pencil. 3. When you are finished coloring, you can use a high gloss glaze to seal the cards and make the colors shine.

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Colorful Portraits Portraits Colorful

People come in all different colors, but some artists like to push the human envelope of skin and hair tones to new and exciting chromatic heights. In this gallery youll find a pleasing mix of all the colors of the rainbow, human, and other worldly!

Tabitha Ladin

Lisa Rigsby

Next time you create a portrait, try using blues or purples, make those shadows funky and green. Dont be afraid of color!

Shelli Heinemann

LeAnne Iverson-Wilson
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Andrea Melione


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Joy Saethre

Rosanna Johansen

Brittany Noethen

Sarah Zamora
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Sal Scheibe

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POSTCARDS!
By Tracie Rozario The latest obsession making a wave at Mail Art World (www.mailartworld.com) and, indeed, the whole Mail Art community, are postcards! Whether they are hand-drawn, fabric, collage, digital, or mixed media, there is something romantic about sending a fragile piece of artwork on its adventure to distant locations. These miniature pieces of art are sent out into the world braving all types of mail system abuse. They arrive at their final destination with the added altering that only a well-travelled letter presents. The post office defines a postcard as a card that is rectangular, thin, and to be no smaller than 3.5 x 5 inches and no bigger than 4.25 x 6 inches. The postcards that are generally traded among artists are usually 4 x 6 inches which allows for a greater scope in artwork than an ATC. Basically, there are two main rules to trading postcards. First, there must not be any bulky embellishments so they remain true to the thin postcard form. Second, the layout of the card should have art on one side and a divided area on the other side for a small, hand-written message, postage, and the recipients address. These little gifts of art can be mailed as is or mailed in an envelope.

What is Hot in Mail Art?

Postcard by Roc Nicholas

COMPETITION!
Mail Art World will be running a postcard competition for its members this October! For further information on the contest and how to apply to the site visit our home page at: http://www.mailartworld.com

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MORE MORE POSTCARDS! POSTCARDS!

Stuart Nash

Tanya Whitley

Janet Dickenson

Wanda Edwards

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b y

ROCKING ROLO CARDS

R o c h e l l e G re e n e
Did you ever say to yourself, What did I do with that piece of paper with the address for my trade? How DO you keep track of your trading addresses? Roxanne Nicholas (rocnic23) thought up a bright, colorful answer. Decorated Rolodex cards, all kept together in one place. What a concept! A Rolodex is really akin to a flexible address book; cards are easily taken in and out. Usually Rolodex cards are very small, more the size of a business card. It would be hard to put on the necessary information and still have room for any kind of fun decorating.. So the decision was made to use the 3x5 inch Rolodex cards. More room, but not too big! Then they could be kept in a file box or on a Rolodex holder. There even is a circular holder that spins around. (Geat for ribbons hanging off the side.) Others have even created their own decorated boxes to accommodate their collections. Of course, it does take time to decorate those cards, and who has all that time? So the Rolo trade was created! Now each of us makes our own Rolodex cards with our own addresses and trading information, and we swap with the other people we like trade with. No more lost addresses! Our storage boxes have become works of art themselves. The Rolos are NOT limited to just address information. Members of the Rolo trading group at atcsforall.com are now making cards that represent a letter that can be used to separate sections. We may actually add Months for birthday card dates. Who knows where this may grow? So let me tell you how you can get started too!

Rolo Card by Andrea Davis

Vintage Rolodex of Wanda Edwards

Rolo How-To:
The Rolodex blanks can be found in most office supply stores in the 3x5 size. The actual Rolodex holders for the 3x5 size cards are a bit more difficult to find. They are often found on-line, including some neat older ones at reasonable prices on ebay. If you live in the US, you can often order them from a catalog of the major business supply stores like Staples and Office Max. Others have chosen to make their own holders out of a sturdy wooden box with two appropriate dowels in the bottom to fit the holes. Then they have decorated the outsides to reflect their own art. Truthfully, a file box will work; it just wont have the same flavor as a Rolodex.

Altered Rolodex Holder by Lisa Buchanan -15-

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Rolo How-To (Continued):
To keep the format of the Rolo cards uniform, we use Rolodex cards that are the 3x5 size. However, they are very flimsy, so most people adhere 2 or 3 together for added strength. Others choose to use the Rolodex card as a template and make the actual cards on watercolor paper, or other sturdy cardstock. The format for the address information should also be fairly uniform. The information belongs on the FRONT of the card. The username should come first and on the top of the card somewhere. Next, real name, mailing address, and then telephone and/or email are optional. The back of the card is reserved for changes in information. It should be nicely covered, but not overly done. Now the holes! If you dont use Rolo blanks with the holes already cut for you, you will need to cut them out with an Exacto knife or fine scissors. There is a Rolodex hole puncher available in stores, BUT it isnt the RIGHT size. The spaces between holes are measured for the little business card size Rolodex, and the spaces in the 3x5 card are further apart. Some people have purchased the puncher and chopped the whole thing in half. Then they had two separate single hole punchers. They can then position the holes where they need to be, and give the other half of the puncher to a friend. Cutting out those holes on regular papers just isnt that hard! Tabs on top are optional. Some people like to put the first letter of their screen name so it stands out. Please remember that when you do add a tab, dont make it too tall. Different Rolodex boxes and other storage boxes may have covers! If you choose to add some embellishments, the same rule applies. Just nothing too thick or your card will take up so much room that there wont be much left for anyone else.

Art TRADER

Altered Rolodex holder by Dana Driscoll

Rolo Card by Sandy Broschat

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Rolo Cards from the holder of Wanda Edwards

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Types of Rolo Holders
As mentioned before, there are two categories of holders: flat and circular. You need to be aware of the type of holder your trade partner is using. If it is flat, the front and back will both have the holes on the bottom of the card. If they have a circular Rolodex holder (one that spins around), the backs flip over. In that case the front will be over the holes and the back decoration needs to be upside down with the holes showing at the top. If a trader is just using a plain file, or keeps the cards together in some alternate way, they might request a card WITHOUT any holes at all.

Art TRADER

Flat Rolodex Holder

Deciding on a Theme
Possible trading themes are endless. They often range from Artists Choice, all the way to the interests of the ultimate owner of the card. When traders sign up on the Rolo thread at Atcsforall.com, people can specify what themes they would like to receive. Then it is up to the trader to create a Rolo that reflects the interests of the Rolos new owner, or to make a card that reflects themselves as an artist. Just like ATCs, all types of art supplies are used to carry out a theme. Paints, markers, collage, and fabric are just some of the media used on Rolodex address cards. Well, thats about all there is to making wonderful Rolos. I mail them out as I do my ATCs - enclosed in a nice, sturdy greeting card and they always seem to arrive okay. They are beautiful to look at, and I dont lose my addresses anymore! Try one yourself! Better yet, come join us at Atcsforall.com, the Rolo-Redux thread.

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Rolodex images above from www.rolodex.com

Circular Rolodex Holder

Common Rolo Themes

Flowers Birds Gothic Fantasy Circus Vintage Animals Travel The Sea Artists Choice

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Artistic Journeys: Handmade Paper for Mail Art

By Dana Lynn Driscoll
Handmade Paper Mail Art Style Learning to make your own handmade paper is amazingly beneficial for any mail artist. First, your handmade paper has unique texture and appearances that you are unable to find anywhere elsegiving your art a funky and personal twist. Second, handmade paper is made from paper scraps that you already most likely have in abundance as a mail artistnot to mention old envelopes and packaging materials that you normally throw away. Third, handmade paper can be made very thick for chunky books, ATCs, and other types of art requiring some sturdiness. Finally, recycled handmade paper is very cheap to produce and getting a papermaking setup can be done for as little as $20. Papermaking Supplies You can get started making handmade paper for a $30 or less investment. Heres what youll need: 1) A blender. I have a blender just for papermaking, but its possible to use your regular blender if you clean it out sufficiently after use (and if you are not using any additives or chemicals). I recommend picking up a used blender at a yard sale or thrift store. 2) A mould and deckle. The mould and deckle is the part of the process that allows you to form sheets of paper from a vat of pulp. The mould and deckle are two frames with an inside diameter of whatever size of paper you want. I have moulds and deckles in 8.5x11 and 11x17, but you can make them of any size. Embroidery hoops and picture frames can both work for this purpose. One of them should have a screen (window screening is fine) stapled to them. To do the pour method (see below), you need a special larger deckle that is 3 high. 3) Couching sheets. You can use any type of cotton fabric or unbleached muslin to hold your paper. The reusable paper towels also work really well for this process. Felt also works, but it makes the paper take longer to dry. Cut your couching sheets larger than your mould or deckle. 4) Sponges 5) Materials to create pulp: old office paper, envelopes, bills, dryer lint, old clothing, plant materials, etc! Paper with text or writing is fine and will give you neat effects. I do not recommend using newspaper because it has a high acid

Short History of Papermaking

Papermaking is an art that is over 5000 years old. The first papers in recorded history were papyrus (ancient Egypt) and tapa (China). Both were used in recordkeeping and both were made of plant fibers local to the area. In AD 105, the Chinese created our first modern paper from waste rags from fabric. Within five centuries, the Arabic world had developed fine papers and exported these all over the eastern hemisphere, including parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Italian papermakers picked up on the Arabic techniques and improved them, creating the first papermill. In the early 14th century, paper was becoming more and more important to European societiesin both the public and intellectual spheres. Because of this, papermills spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance and later to the Americas. Jumping toward the 21st century, concerns about whether the information era will cause an end to paper as we know it have surfaced and the art of handmade papermaking continues to be one practiced by a select few.

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What can go in handmade paper?
You can put all kinds of inclusions in handmade paper. Here are a few of my favorites: Bits of fabric and yarn (cut up small) Scraps from collage Tea bags (used or unused) Dryer lint Dried leaves and herbs Cut grass Copper leaf/gold leaf Confetti Dryer sheets (used) Coffee filters (used) Paper towels used (with paint, not food!) Scraps from watercolor paper Potpourri Bits of letters Book pages (removed from books to be altered) Tissue paper (recycled from gifts) The sky is the limit. For things that are thicker or harder, soak them at least 24 hours before you put them in your blender. I advise against anything super-hard like pinecones or very hard seeds or nut podsthey simply wont blend well and will cause you problems in your paper. content and will deteriorate faster. You can also purchase commercial cotton linters or abaca fibersbut I find these expensive and not necessary for successful papermaking. 6) Paper additives (optional) Paper additives come in two forms: Those that you add to the paper for a functional reason (such as paper sizing) and those you add to the paper for effect (such as cold water fabric dyes sprinkled over the top, dried flowers, confetti, glitter, etc). 7) A basin or sink in which to work. I recommend using a sink if you have a garbage disposalthe excess pulp can then go through the disposal. If you dont have a garbage disposal in your sink, I would use a basin instead so that you dont have to sieve the pulp out of the sink before releasing the water down the drain. Additional things helpful to the papermaking process: Easy access to water and electricity. For papermaking, having your blender close by and a sink is very necessary. A workspace that you dont mind getting wet. Ive made paper in kitchens, garages, and outside in the sun. All are good choices. Papermaking is VERY messy, so choose your workspace carefully. Old Towels: For cleaning up your mess. Trust me, it will happen! A sunny day with little wind: Your paper dries quickly outside in the sun (2-4 hours). In my part of the world, it takes 2-3 days to dry indoors due to our high humidity level.

Stages of Papermaking
Prepare your stock of recycled materials and paper additives Begin by tearing up the paper you want to recycle into 1.5 squares. I stress that tearing is important because you want to retain as much of the paper fiber as possible (if you cut it, youll cut the fibers and end up with weaker paper). Tear up a good bit, and then place them in a bucket or large bowl of water. Allow the fibers to soak at least an hour (for standard office paper) or much longer (for heavier stuff such as mat board or cardstock). I recommend soaking thicker papers like watercolor paper, abaca fibers, and so forth overnight. If you are using flowers, tea, or plant matter with your paper and dont want them bleeding into the paper (can look cool, but not always what you want), youll also need to boil those for 10 minutes or so. This keeps the pigments in the flowers from spreading into your paper, creating small halos around the plant. Personally, I like the effect but not everyone does.

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Prepare your work area Set your blender up as close to your sink/vat as possible. Fill your sink/vat up with enough water to completely cover the mould and deckle when they are placed inside (about 1-2 over is a good amount). Prepare a place to lay and press the paper after you create ittake an old towel or other absorbent surface and lay it near your work area. This is where you will transfer your freshly couched sheets. Your couching sheets should be damp before use, especially if you are using a thicker material like felt. You can soak them and then let them sit out, or even hit them with a spray bottle before use. Create your pulp Once you have soaked your pulp, grab a decent handful of it and place it into the blender, filling the blender up about 1/3 of the way. Fill the blender to the top with water. If you use too much pulp youll stress the blender, and if you use too little, youll be a bit inefficient in your pulp production. Give the pulp a good blending for a solid pulp, 30-40 seconds is sufficient. As you are blending, watch to make sure all the fibers are spinning. If they arent, then you have too much pulp in the blenderremove some and add more water. Note: How much you blend the pulp can affect how your paper looks. If you blend the pulp only partially, youll end up with a much different effect than if you blend it completely. For a complete blend, youll want to start on low for about 15 seconds, then move to the highest setting for another 15-20 seconds. Method 1: The Pull Method The first method of papermaking (and the way its traditionally done) is to pour your pulp into a large vat of water and pull sheets from it. The Pull Method allows you to create many sheets of paper similar in appearance. The paper from the pull method is also thinner than that of the Pour Method (discussed below). Both have their benefits. To get the right consistency of pulp in the vat, youll probably need to add three or so blenderfuls of pulp to your vat. Once you have added the pulp, swish it around with your hand to get any that may have settled, and then slip your mould and deckle into the pulp. Hold the mould and deckle together, making sure that the mould (the part with the screen) has the screen facing up. Pull the mould and deckle straight up (moving the mould and deckle together back and forth a bit to swishing around the pulp and water a bit to even it out as you pull). Stop moving the mould and deckle once most of the water drains out. Take one of your dampened couching sheets and place it over the freshly pulled piece of paper. You can use a sponge to get off a bit

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of excess water, then take the sheet to your absorbent cloth and flip the entire mould over. The paper should come off the mould and stay on the couch sheet. Sometimes it is a bit stubborn, and I find that if you pull on the edges of the couch sheet away from the mould, it helps get the paper unstuck. You can continue to pull sheets of paper, couch them, and lay them on top of each other (creating a stack) until you have created all that you want to. After you pull 5-8 sheets of paper, youll notice that your pulp will thin out considerably. Continue to add new blenderfuls of pulp (and additional water) as necessary as you go along. You can subtly change the color of the pulp as you add blenderfuls by changing the types of recycled papers you put into the pulp.

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Method 2: The Pour Method

This is a method I developed to allow me to create marbleized paper techniques and also to create thicker papers. It also allows you to experiment with different recipes for paper, one blenderful at a time. I highly recommend it for mail art, as you get thicker papers which are useful for sturdy bases and backgrounds. For this technique you will need a larger deckle (3) high. Place your mould and deckle in the vat of water. The top of the deckle should stick out of the water, preventing the water inside from flowing out.

Create your pulp as normal in your blender. Instead of pouring the pulp directly into the vat, pour about a blenderful into the inside of the deckle. Swish it around with your fingers until you see the pulp spread evenly within the deckle. Grab the mould and deckle and pull the whole thing out of the waterand you have your sheet of paper! You can experiment with all sorts of techniques with this method including combining two different types of pulp or making layers of color. Drying and pressing your paper Once you have a decent-sized stack of wet papers, take your stack outside. I find the easiest thing to do is to press it by using a piece of board on the sidewalk or driveway. I stand on it for about a minute, allowing much of the water to be removed.

Size Matters! Blending time and speed will determine how quickly your papers
turn to pulp. When using recycled papers, you may consider blending them less to give you a neat effect. Blending them for only a few seconds will leave portions of the text readable and give you very unique sheets of paper with flecks of text that can still be read! You can combine different colors of paper for a confetti look too. Here is an image of a piece of freshly pulled paper with text bits combined with some purple pulp.

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Next, I remove each sheet, keeping them on their couching sheets still, and lay them in the sun to dry. Often, I will mist them and iron them to get them completely flat once again. Alternatives to pressing include using a larger commercial press overnight, or even using a vintage laundry press to press your sheets dry faster! Mail Art Projects There are just so many things you can do with handmade paper. Here are a few recent things that I made with papers I made this past summer:

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Give it a little color!

Some of the sheets in my examples have been treated with a powdered cold water fabric dye (such as Dylon or Rit dye). I find that the dark blues, purples, and greens produce the best results. You can do one of two things: While the paper is still wet (just after pressing), you can take the package of dye and sprinkle some of it on each sheet (as shown in my pictures of my paper drying). This gives you a speckled effect, and is really quite stunning.

You can also add dye to your paper while you are making it. Add a few tablespoons to your pulp in your vatand use gloves to pull your paper!

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Skinny P ages: C olorful Mixed Media Trees

These 3 x 7 beauties can be bound into a tall chunky book or used as bookmarks. Made by the artists of ATCsforAll.com

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Susan McDonald Debra Leach Jeanette Dimock -23Natasha Dennis

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Tammy Frieborg

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Lisa Manyweathers

Annie Yu

Andrea Melione

Katie Vlasov

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Easy Whimsy Art for People Who Cant Draw (Yet!)

By Sal Scheibe
This little how-to guide is for people who just cant draw (yet!). If youve already mastered funky, whimsical art, then catch up with me next issue. This one is for the absolute beginners who really want to draw, but have never been able to match what is in their heads to the paper. By the way every artist knows that feeling! Were concentrating on whimsy, cartoony style art for this tutorial simply because its easy. If you can draw a circle and make squiggly lines, then youll ace this art lesson! While there are all sorts of styles of whimsy folk art, were going to tackle some beginner tricks. Most whimsy art is actually quite simple. There is often a simple drawing thats accented with bright, wonderful colors, with a bit of shading and lots of fun lines and shapes.

Exercise 1: The Funky Stuff

Grab a piece of paper and start practicing the basics! Ive doodled lots of silly things in Figure 1 lines, dots, hearts, squiggly bits, flowers and swirls. These little lines are going to be the highlight of our whimsy art. With them, you can create all sorts of funky little things and theyll look good! Try to emulate my squiggles and lines. See if you can keep them tight and neat. It may take a little bit of practice, but keep going until it feels right. At this stage, you might want to make yourself a whimsy squiggle / swirl Pictionary on a piece of paper or in a sketchbook. Make up your own odd little shapes and lines. Before you know it, youre going to have a super visual reference of some funky add-ons for your art.

Figure 1

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Exercise 2: Putting it Together

All of those squiggles and lines look a bit silly on their own, but they come in very handy for making your art look good. Try putting some of the funky stuff together to create images. As you can see in Figure 2, Ive just made a simple circle of squiggles and stuck them on top of some lines with swirls. But it looks fun! On the right, I added some yellow coloring and then an orange-yellow color around the edges to add some depth. And now I have some decent looking flowers. In Figure 3, Ive put more shapes and lines together to create some silly trees. Practice putting together some flowers and trees on your own. Feel free to copy mine as well. Add these trees and flowers (and whatever else you come up with) to your visual library paper or sketchbook so you dont forget. Youll be able to refer back to your drawings and doodles and use them on future ATCs and chunky pages. You can see that Ive added some very basic shading to the trees in Figure 3. All Ive done is taken a darker tone of my original color and added some shading on the left side. Ive decided that my light source is coming from the top right so I want to be consistent and add my shading accordingly. Very easy, right?

Figure 2

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Exercise 3: Making a Whimsy Person ATC
Dont panic! Im going to make this very easy for you. If you can draw an oval and a couple of lines, youll be fine. Feel free to copy what Ive done or dive in and attempt your own version if youre feeling adventurous.
Figure 3

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Step 1 This is pretty easy, isnt it? An oval and two almost straight lines yep, thats easy. Add a small border too and round the corners a bit.

Step 2 Ive added some Zetti stripes to my ladys neck and given her a lovely beaded necklace.

Step 3 Ive drawn on some ears. As you can see, theyre just half circles stuck on either side of the oval. Ive added some hair and used a squiggly line to make it look a bit funky.

Step 4 I know, faces are hard. Do your best to draw in your basic face shapes. All you need is two ovals for the eyes, a little rounded line for a nose and some lips. You can do lips! You are welcome to copy my example or even trace it if you want. After this exercise, Ive provided some information on face proportions that will help you to get it right in your oval shape

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Step 5 Ive added in an outdoor background here. A couple of hills (simple lines) and a couple of trees. Youve had plenty of practice with trees, so go crazy here! Step 6 Ive blocked in my basic colors in this step. Its very basic just like a kids coloring book. Step 8 Squiggly lines in the hair, circles in the sky (and some clouds), swirls and hatches in the grass. Now were starting to look a little funky! Ok, youre not Picasso or Teesha Moore yet, but youve done pretty well so far, havent you? Step 9 VOILA! Add in a few last minute touches. I added some earrings, a tattoo, a few swirly grasses, and some batting eyelashes and shes ready for the party.

Step 7 Here I have added some very simple shading. Ive added it to the trees, the hills and her Zetti neck. I have also added a dash of pink of her cheeks.

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Figure 4

Facial Proportions

Whimsy art is all about having fun. You dont need to get everything spot on and there is absolutely no realism involved but you dont want your people looking wonky. When a face is out of proportion, it throws the whole image off. I wont go into too many details here, just the basics, so you can make your whimsy people look good. Here are the guidelines for facial proportions. See Figure 4 for an example. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A head is basically an oval shape.

About halfway down is where the eyes are positioned.

The mouth is normally about two thirds of the way between the chin and the eyes. The nose falls about halfway between the eyes and the mouth. Ears are found between the eyes and the bottom of the nose.

Get your proportions right and your art will look much better.

And there you have it - simple whimsy people for the beginner artist. I hope I made it easy for you. Next issue, were moving on to the intermediate lesson in funky folk art.

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Tabitha Ladin
Interview by Andrea Melione Tabitha Ladin is an extremely versatile Illustrator and graphic designer. Her work encompasses exquisite studies of nature, and highly detailed fantasy structures and figures. Her colored pencil drawings are vibrant with color and style. In this interview Tabitha discusses her inspiration and shares a few tips. How did you become interested in art? Have you had formal training? I was born interested in art! Ive been drawing since I could hold a crayon. I had art lessons as a kid which focused mainly on oil painting but the instructor was a bit rigid in his approach. Although, looking back, I suppose it was a bit like a music teacher making you practice scales: boring and tedious, but part of the learning process. I also took a few classes in pottery and drawing as a kid. My mom also had many art books lying around that I would look at frequently. I think she had one of those Time-Life sets on the Masters or something. After a failed attempt as an engineering student, I went to school for advertising art. The courses covered Design, Illustration and Production. We didnt really go too in depth in any one area. I later took a course at the same school for Computer Graphic Design. This is where I learned the joys of Photoshop. I never had any training in fine art as an adult. What media do you normally work in? Right now I usually work with colored pencils and Micron pens. Since I have four young kids, I need a medium that I can put down or pick up at will. Also I cant spread out too far or they will be into my projects and ruin them. Ahh, the joys of kids. I will do watercolors sometimes when I feel I can block out enough time. I also like to work with markers, although the cost of a decent set of markers is prohibitive at this time. What is some of your favorite subject matter? I love doing animals the most and fantasy subjects as well. I have always drawn birds and horses and dragons. I have some from when I was a small child that are hilarious. I do get bored doing any one subject too much and that is why I enjoy the Pick-A-Theme Swaps. I get thrown into the deep end with subjects I would normally shy away from. I still always come back to the animals, though. You also do Graphic Design; has that helped how you see things in your traditional media artwork, and ATCs? Absolutely. I think of design as a very strong emphasis on composition and flow. The first thing I see when I look at art is the composition and the use of colors. Since I had training in Advertising Art, I am always thinking about impact. How can I make the piece more dynamic visually? Advertising is all about getting peoples attention and I try to incorporate that into my art. Ultimately I want it to jump off the page and grab your eyeballs and say Look at me! I dont always accomplish that, but its the goal. My favorite pieces that Ive done are the ones with the most visual impact.

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Who has influenced you creatively? My aunt has always been a fantastic painter. When I was a child, she was focused mainly on wildlife painting. She used to enter the Duck Stamp contest every year and I always thought she would win. Her paintings are beautiful and Ive always looked up to her talent, still do. If I had half her talent, Id be excited. The other person that inspires me is my sister. She has an entirely different style than I do, much more surreal and weird. I love her art. We joke that she wishes she could draw more like me and I wish I could paint more like her. She is much more wildly creative than I am, so sometimes when Im stuck I think, What would Wendy do? Youre very skilled in nature art; do you spend a lot of time observing nature? Back before I had kids, one of my favorite pastimes was bird watching. I dont get out with nature directly the way I used to, but I still try and observe nature around my house and backyard and teach the kids about animals and plants. We also have a lot of books on nature that they all enjoy and of course the TV lets us experience nature in the way of shows about animals and such. Observing plants and animals and sunsets and mountains is so second nature I forget Im even doing it. My kids and I will discuss the colors of the shadows on clouds and mountains. I try and get them to see things artistically. Have your travels or your local area inspired you at all? What museums have your been to? What local places inspire you? I am always inspired by the desert around me. It is beautiful in a way that people not from here sometimes have a hard time appreciating. I moved from back east when I was a teenager and it seemed horrible and dead, but after being here for so long, I can now see it for its charms. Its a different color palette. Any place I go is inspiring in its own way. Las Vegas was inspiring in all its brilliance and sparkle and over-thetop colors. I havent been to any art museums here in years, but I am always inspired by art museums. Recently I was in London and visited the Tate Modern. That was fascinating in that much of the work was fabulous and inspiring and a lot of it was completely dumbfounding. I do not understand some modern art and it can sometimes make me question how these artists convince people that what they have done is art. They must be better salesmen than artists. We also went to the National Portrait Gallery in London and that was fascinating in that it was all portraits, but the range of styles was huge. It made me want to try so many things. London in general was inspiring because its so much older than anything here in the States. It has so much history. There is just a story behind everything. I wish I could have spent more time. Even the architecture was worth just standing and staring at. Do you have any tips to share? Dont be afraid of contrast! Get jiggy with perspective. Know when to stop. Try new things. I havent got time for classes, which I could really use, but I look at other peoples art and try to dissect what they did. Critiquing other peoples work also helps to improve your own. It helps to learn to see whats good about a piece and where it could improve. Also, dont take yourself too seriously. Ultimately, yours is the only opinion that matters when you are doing art, unless you are going to sell it. If you like it, its good.

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How did you find out about ATCs? My mother was trading online and after months of trying to get me into it, I finally relented and made a card of a red dragon. It got a fairly good reception when I uploaded it so I was enticed to try more. My first couple hundred cards were done by drawing ink lines and scanning them in and coloring in Photoshop. I think it was a bit of a novel approach when I first started making cards. Has Mail Art been a positive influence in your creative endeavors? Yes, it has expanded my circle of like-minded people. Im not terribly social in real life and I dont know too many artists outside the family. I also dont have much time for such frivolities as museum and gallery visits so the Mail Art community has been fabulous in that it exposes me to so many great people and so much art of all types and mediums and styles. I am constantly inspired to create better things. I love collecting art from so many different people and different places. I enjoy being part of a community that lets me connect with other artists. Is there anything that you havent tried yet, but want to tackle? I would like to try something BIG! I have always been a small art kind of person. The level of detail I like to do would be hard to pull off at a large scale. I think the biggest painting Ive ever done is about 12 x 16. Thats huge for me. I would like to try and do a mural or something really big where I would be forced to loosen up a bit. I think sculpture would be neat also. Especially metal sculpture where you have to weld stuff together or melt things. That will have to wait until the kids are grown. Little children plus blow torch equals ER visits.

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Visit Tabitha Ladin on the Web!

website http://members.cox.net/tladin email tladin@cox.net TabLynn at Deviantart http://tablynn.deviantart.com TabLynn1 at Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/tablynn1 TabLynn at etsy www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6195014

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Design - A - Pony!
Provided with line art drawn by Andrea Melione, A.K.A EraserQueen, these artists rose to the challenge of creating customized ponies incorporating their own personal style and using themes that either meant something to them, or which they found creativly stimulating. From Ancient Cave Art to Kristi Zoebelein Kandinsky, theres something for everyone.

Desiree Kern

Ang Westermann

Joyce Ripley

Anne El-Habre

Emma Hollerhead

Judith Metzger

Dina Haskins

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Rebecca Wood

Tracie Rozario

Pam McVay

Tabitha Ladin

Marjee Zeier

Melisa McCurley

Sue Jorgensen

Lisa Winter

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Art of Darkness: Exploring Darker Themes Through Art

By Kati Barrett While wandering through the gallery at ATCsForAll.com (AFA), I am amazed at the lovely pieces of art on display. So much pretty finery to gaze upon as collages and hand-drawn pieces fill the pages. But thenmy heart skips a beatI spot a piece of art that features a grotesque portrait of the Mad Hatter! Its face is skeleton-like and the expression quite angry. I am fascinated! What is this allure I feel toward darker pieces? Why am I, and other artists, pulled to make art that is deemed scary, odd, or shadowy? We play with images of death, of bugs, and of stunning womenjuxtaposing the beautiful with the ugly. I can only answer this question for myself, and the truth is, mine or anybodys answer is both simple and complicated.

I have been a collage and mixed media artist for years. In fact, I was raised on art, as my motheran artistintroduced me to this wonderful expression of self at an early age. My affinity for darker art, however, only manifested recently, as I attempted to work out my own conflicted feelings with my art. Suddenly making a piece that merged a skull with butterfly wings made more sense to me than either of the images did on their own. Confession time: I live with Bipolar Disorder and therefore struggle with extremes of mood more than other people do. It feels natural for me to live out that struggle artistically. It is also healing to be able to express what its like to live through my illness. But there is more to it than thatnothing is ever quite so simple. I also live in a world that can feel simultaneously scary and wonderful. People hurt each other all the time, and yet they are surrounded by beauty. These conflicting images naturally show up in the art that I create. What better way to process the world than to create a work of art about it?

When speaking to other artists about dark art, I received responses similar to mine. But there were differing responses as well. One that seems significant, but also frightening, is that this is an opportunity to bring taboo subjects into the light. There are topics in this culture that are deemed NOT okay to talk about. When a piece of art is made surrounding a taboo topic, it actually empowers it by bringing it out of the shadows and into the light. For example, victims of abuse often find making art about the horrors that happened to them not only healing, but also awareness-raising. What remains hidden can continue to hauntbut when brought to the surfaceremoves fear. I had these thoughts in mind when I decided to host a Darker Art Swap at AFA. There were so many fun swaps being offered, but none seemed to ask the artist to dig a little deeper into their own psyche. I have, and will continue to have, fun joining swaps with lighter themes, but I found it disappointing that there were no darker or openly introspective themes. What better way to remedy that than to host such a swap myself? I chose American poet Anne Sexton as inspiration for the swap theme, because her poetry immediately addresses those fearful places in the human mind. Sexton herself lived with her own psychological demons and subsequently ended her own life rather young.

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Creating Darker Art

So you want to make dark art and dont know where to start? Its less scary than it seems, although it does require willingness to look deeper and to be more open. Here are some tips on how to get started in creating your own dark piece: Read, read, read! The works of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath are gold mines of dark imagery. Use your own ideas! Look through your journal and find a time when things werent going so well. What images come to mind as you read your words? Juxtapose! Add wings to skulls, bat faces to nude women, spiders with children. Forcing two opposing images to relate to one another is a great way to explore shadowy realms. Add text to your art. A seemingly innocent picture takes on a whole new layer of meaning with the right phrase or word added. Dont know where to get these creepy images? I have found mine on etsy, ebay, National Geographic and other magazines. Other places to look are medical dictionaries, encyclopedias, childrens books, and Dover publications. The internet is filled with copyright free images; use Google to your advantage. All of these ideas are great starting points, but the real work is within you. Being open to what scares you and willing to talk about it are paramount. Incorporating dark themes into your art may be scary at first, but it can be surprisingly cathartic if you dare to go there.

I chose to leave the theme open to artist interpretationparticipants could make art based on Sextons life story or her work, or they could face their own psychological demons head-on through this venue. I was happily surprised when the swap filled quickly. It seems that I am not the only one aching for the opportunity to make art thats of a darker nature. The swap is still in progress as I write this, but the returns I have received to date are stunning not only in their expertise,but also in their variety. For example, Amy Sargents work is very layered, where lines of Sextons poetry (you are beautifully insane, your dear nylon-covered legs are the horses I will ride into eternity) lies over random text and stamped images and is then covered with alcohol-ink-colored transparencies that portray Sexton in different poses. Nancy Zarling took a different approach, one that is very literal.

Amy Sargent

Lines from Sextons work come alive on her ATCs in a very visual way by using collages made with bubble wrap, text and fabric. And Katie Vlasov used one poem as inspiration for all of her pieces, Letter written on a Ferry while Crossing Long Island Sound. Her work is a beautiful collage using maps of the ocean floor, text, ink and embossing. Vastly different works from artists on the same dark theme, all of them hitting home in their own unique way. Nancy Zarling The reasons why we are attracted to darker themes in art are as varied as the artists and their styles, but one common factor remains - it is an outlet to express the ugly and unsafe side of life.

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Thread Painting: Techniques and Tips

By Ca thy Gr e e n a . k . a . b ar ef o o t ch ef
INTRODUCTION
Mail Art is all about trying something new, and fabric art is no exception! My approach to sewing and art is non-conventional. In my nearly 45 years of sewing, when it comes to art and ATCs, I dont live by rules. Making art with sewing techniques is much different than garment sewing. Always remember, if it works, its right. If you make a mistake, it is proof that you tried. This article provides an introduction to what I call Thread Painting, including a discussion of the materials you need, a description of how to make ATCs with single fabric backgrounds and multiple fabric backgrounds, and a list of resources for more information.

USEFUL BOOK RESOURCES: Quilt Savvy, Simple Thread Painting Nancy Prince All About Machine Arts, Decorative Techniques from AZ Sew News, Creative Embroidery and C&T Publishing Coloring With Thread, A No-Drawing Approach To Free-Motion Embroidery Ann Fahlr Beautifully Embellished Landscapes: 125 Tips & Techniques to Create Stunning Quilts Joyce R. Becker Thread Painting, Simple Techniques to Add Texture and Dimension Leni Levenson Wiener Luminous Landscapes: Quilted Visions In Paint & Thread Gloria Loughman Thread Magic, The Enchanted World of Ellen Anne Eddy Ellen Anne Eddy Threadplay with Libby Lehman, Mastering Machine Embroidery Techniques Libby Lehman Beginners Guide to Machine Embroidered Landscapes Alison Holt Beginners Guide to Machine Embroidery Pam Watts Landscape Quilts Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell

WHAT IS THREAD PAINTING?

What I describe in this article is called many names: thread painting, free style sewing, free-motion embroidery, free-motion machine embroidery, free machine embroidery, painting by needle, freemotion stitching, etc. All descriptions are of the same thing. I will be using the term thread painting. I use this term because your needle and thread act like a brush and your fabric is your canvas. To me, it seems the most appropriate term that describes the process. It is the freedom in the process that makes the end result possible. Thread painting is the design created when you drop your sewing machine feed dogs and use a darning/free embroidery foot. When you drop your feed dogs, you have total control over your fabric and can sew wherever you want on your fabric. Your feed dogs are located under your sewing foot on the bed of the machine. They are the teeth that you see, and they pull the fabric towards the back of the machine. You can check out sewing terms online. Visit www. sewingweb.com for more information. What we will be doing is not bobbin work or machine embroidery. Bobbin work is when threads are used in the bobbin case. These are threads that are too thick to use in your sewing machine needle. In bobbin work, when you sew, it will be the backside of the fabric that becomes the front. This is also not using an embroidery machine that does the work for you. What we will be doing is using a common sewing machine and the stitches that it is capable of to create a picture that you personally design. Your machine may or may not have decorative stitches that can be used to achieve your desired effect.

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WHAT YOU WILL NEED

SEWING MACHINE that allows you to drop your feed dogs. If your sewing machine doesnt have this capability, try setting your stitch length to 0, and cover the feed dogs with masking or electrical tape. Some older machines have a darning plate that came with the machine. It is used over the feed dogs to keep them from touching the fabric. These machines usually only sew a straight stitch. Darning foot, free embroidery foot or spring loaded foot if you dont have one of these, try an open-toed foot or no foot at all. Overcast foot (optional) for zig-zagging the edge when finished. IRON AND IRONING BOARD. You might want to lay a piece of muslin over your board to protect it while working. FABRIC of your choice. An open weave, silky or stretchy fabric might be difficult to work with at first, but you can always fuse interfacing to the back to stabilize them. You will need fabric for the front of your card and if you like, fabric for the back of your card. I like to use a corresponding fabric for the back if I have it on hand. THREAD. Always use a good quality thread, not the stuff from the 4/$1.00 bin or Serger thread. To start out with you would like to use an all-purpose thread. Later on you can work up to a decorative rayon or metallic thread, even a clear or smoke colored thread so stitching is barely visible if seen at all. These are specialty threads and require special needles and handling. Bobbin thread is helpful to keep from getting a thread buildup on the bottom of your design. If you cant locate bobbin thread, a fine embroidery thread (extra fine) will work. There is a website with different threads under a microscope so you can see the comparisons for yourself: http://sewing.about.com/library/ weekly/aa102100a.htm TEMPLATE for an ATC-sized piece. I personally work with 4 templates. Two are the traditional 2 X 3 , another is 2 5/8 X 3 5/8 which is just slightly larger than a finished ATC, and lastly one that is 3 X 4. The first one is cut the size of an ATC. It is used to determine how big a piece of fabric I need. The rest are reverse templates. They are used as a stencil would be used. I cut out an opening out of a piece of cardboard with an X-acto knife. It looks like a picture frame in that it has an opening in the center. The first I use to make sure that I am staying within my ATC border as I go along; the second, I use to draw a border on my card where I know I need to sew and stay within a small margin of the edge; and the last one I use to audition a piece of fabric to see where I want the ATC to fit into the background. If I dont have a piece of cardboard, I make my templates by gluing 2 pieces of cardstock or greeting cards together and then cut them to size. I find these sturdy and helpful. PENCIL, PAPER AND RULER to draw out your design. If you have access to a light table, they are very helpful when you need to trace your reverse pattern. If you dont have a light table, you can place the design on a window in daylight.

Left to right: open-toe embroidery foot, darning foot, open-toe applique foot. These are the feet I personally use to do my work. The feet for each machine might vary, but still function the same.

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HAND SEWING NEEDLE if you are going to hand sew on embellishments or do decorative hand work. FABRIC GLUE like Jewel It, Embellishing Glue by Aleene, if you dont want to hand sew beads or embellishments on. If you want to glue on things like ribbons, trim or other fabrics, Aleenes Ok To Wash-It works well. Both dry clear. You can also use the squeeze bottle fabric paints which will give a dimensional effect. When using your glues, make sure to put a good amount of glue down before placing your beads or ribbons, and then press what you are attaching firmly to your fabric. Let fully dry before going further. STABILIZER: (choose one): Stitch-N-Tear, paper that is torn away after the work is complete. Cut Away, paper that is cut away after the work is complete Interfacing (sew in or fusible), comes in different weights Buckram (what I will be using in this example) Buckram is a stiff, heavy woven cloth used to cover books, and also in hats and leather goods to create a stiff shape. It can be found in fabric stores in the interfacing section. Freezer Paper can be ironed on to your fabric for stability. Use a dry iron and place the wrong side of the fabric to the shiny side of the freezer paper. Iron for a few seconds until freezer paper adheres to the fabric. The freezer paper can be torn away when thread painting is completely finished. Totally Stable similar to freezer paper and can be ironed onto your fabric and removed when your thread painting is complete. This list is not all encompassing. There are many products out there that can serve the purpose of a stabilizer. Buckram Inch - This is a picture of two different pieces of buckram. I have measured off a 1 section of each to show the difference in the weave of the two. When you have a choice, the one on the left is preferable because the weave is tighter. You dont want to clearly see through the weave. If you can see through it, your iron on adhesive will go through it and you will need to place a piece of aluminum foil underneath to keep it from sticking to your ironing board. It will also leave a grid mark on your fabric and doesnt work as well for a stabilizer.

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SCISSORS AND CUTTING: (regular scissors, and then choose one of the following for best results): Double curve* Curved tip* Embroidery* Rotary cutter with ruler and rotary board (if available). *These are curved blade scissors that are small and light . They enable you to cut the threads flush on the fabric at the exact point you need so your work is clean of any thread tails. PAPER-BACKED IRON-ON ADHESIVE: (choose one): Wonder Under follow manufactures directions Steam A Seam follow manufactures directions HeatnBond Lite make sure not to heat too long. Doing so will melt off the adhesive and fusing will not occur. HeatnBond Ultra. This iron-on adhesive makes fabric stiffer, and takes a bit of care to sew through. This is when your thread/needle lubricant comes in handy.

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NEEDLES (type of needle for thread painting is extremely important): Microtex Sharp - Has sharp tip to pierce through several layers easily. Quilting - Has sharp tip to pierce through several layers easily. Topstitch - Has a larger eye. Helps keep delicate thread from fraying. Embroidery - Has a larger eye. Helps keep delicate thread from fraying. Metallic For use with metallic threads. Size 80/12, 90/14, or 70/10 for intricate work. The Microtex Sharp and Quilting needle are interchangeable. So are the Topstitch and Embroidery needle. LIQUID SEAM SEALANT: (choose one) Fray Block by June Taylor ( my preference) or Fray Check by Dritz. Use sparingly on edges that you dont want to fray. It will discolor your fabric slightly. I prefer to put some on my finger and then place on the edge, cover with a press cloth and then press with a dry iron until dry. I have found that this process seems to lighten the discoloration. If you are going to thread paint your item/design separately on a hoop and then attach it to your fabric, you will need one or more of the following: Organza, Solvy (a water stabilizer film) or Netting/tulle; the latter two are used together. If you want a quilted appearance, choose one: Quilt batting (called wadding in some areas). Iron-on or regular. Any type will work, just keep in mind, the thicker the batting, the thicker the card in the end. Also, some machines will only work properly when using a lighter thickness, so keep this in mind when choosing what you use. Therm-O-Lamb (comes in a fusible) Felt You can buy the iron-on in these items, or even use the quilters basting spray to attach your batting to your fabric card. If you want a quilted appearance, you will need a backing fabric, something cheap and with virtually no color to it like muslin or a white or neutral-colored broadcloth. This is to keep your batting from getting stuck in your feed dogs. You will end up with your top fabric, your batting/Therm-O-Lamb/felt and then your backing fabric. EMBELLISHMENTS: (choose as many as you like): Fabrics, Decorative yarns, Ribbons, Decorative jewels, Beads, Stamps, Foils, Embossing powders, Handmade papers, kers/pens, Decorative threads, Paints/Watercolors, Glitter, Wire, Silk flowers/leaves, The list doesnt stop here, the sky is the limit, use your imagination! Look around your house and find something new to use.

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NEEDLE/THREAD LUBRICANT: (choose one): Sewers Aid Lube-It-All Tri-Flow These are typically used to prevent skipped stitches. I only use them on my needle. I find that if my thread tends to fray when thread painting, this helps eliminate the fraying. What these do is to help the thread slip through the eye of the needle easily. To use, put a small amount on your finger and rub on your sewing machine needle, especially around the eye, taking care not to use too much. Depending on the fraying process, you will re-apply as needed. MISCELLANEOUS/OPTIONAL: Stencil cutter or hot knife for cutting out design on hooped work Extra bobbin case when you need to change tensions. Leave your original bobbin case in its original factory setting. Press cloth Hand towel Aluminum foil Hoop Spray starch Quilt basting spray

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LETS MAKE A TREE

The journey of making a thread painted ATC PART 1: When you drop your feed dogs, your machine has no control over the fabric and YOU have full control of where your needle and thread goes. There will be a slight gap between the presser foot and the bed of the machine, allowing you to move your fabric freely. Your thread painting design occurs when you run your sewing machine and move your fabric underneath the needle. The length of your stitch will now be determined by how fast or slow you move your fabric under your needle as you sew, as well as how fast your machine is running. To make small stitches, run your machine quickly and move your fabric slowly. To make longer stitches, run your machine slowly and move your fabric quickly. The slower you sew, the slower you move your fabric to create even stitches. You can sew up and down and sideways on your fabric to create different designs and effects.

Step 1. Select fabric to be used for the background

Step 2. Audition fabric with reverse template 3 x 4 to determine where you think the card would look best.

Step 3. Fuse a piece of buckram to your selected background, using one of the paper-backed iron-on adhesives. You can first iron-on your adhesive to your fabric, making both the same size and then cut your buckram a pinch larger, making it easier when fusing, so you dont get the adhesive everywhere.

Step 4. Mark off where the ATC will be. This will actually be slightly larger than the card itself.

Step 5. Audition possible fiber choices for tree leaves. Dont always consider one fiber. Sometimes you can mix a couple together for an interesting effect (top right). You can also consider threads (lower right).

Step 6. Audition possible thread choices for your background, foreground, tree trunk and leaves. For this card I am using a regular allpurpose thread.

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Step 10. Now I will add some grass. For this, I will put my machine back on straight stitch and I will go in an up and down motion to create this effect. Grass isnt even so you dont have to worry about how it comes out! Just make it high and low. Two colors give a nice visual effect. Step 11. Here is the fun part, adding the fibers for the tree! I simply wad up the fibers chosen, and place it where I think I might like it on my card. Then I switch over to a closedtoed embroidery foot for this process because I have found that my fibers get caught in the open-toe foot. I carefully press the fibers under the foot as I sew. I randomly go around in circles to catch the fibers. Remember that the more stitching that you do, the flatter the fiber will become. I like to leave some of the fibers loose.

Step 7. With a pencil, lightly draw where you want your tree trunk, if you need to. All you need to do is to simply outline your tree.

Step 8. Drop your feed dogs and thread paint your tree trunk using a straight stitch. You will notice that I am using an open toed embroidery foot for this process. I do this so I can visually see where I am going. If you have any pencil marks left showing, you can use a fabric eraser to remove them.

Step 9. I will use a zig-zag stitch to create the ground. I simply work my card back and fourth and up and down to get the effect I want. This is what the card looks like now with my zig-zagging completed.

Step 12. You are now ready to choose how you would like to back your card. For this one, I am using fabric, and have chosen one that is light enough to see the writing on the back when Im finished.

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Step 13. Cut a piece of the paper backed adhesive to fit the back fabric you will be using for the card. Fuse these together by placing the fusible side to the wrong side of your fabric and follow the manufacturers directions. Step 14. Peel off paper backing and fuse your front and back together. You will be placing the buckram side of the front to the adhesive side of the back. What you will have in layers is: front fabric (card), fusible webbing, buckram, fusible webbing and then fabric. The buckram gives the fabric card the feel of a real card. I place the fiber tree face down on a towel now when I fuse all layers together. This keeps the fibers from being flattened out. Step 15. You are now ready to cut your ATC to size, finish the edges and sign or stamp the back with your information. It is at this point that you decide how to finish off your edges. The edges are now sealed. You can zig-zag the edges if you like. If you use HeatnBond Ultra, the fusible web will usually keep the card from raveling so there is no need to zig-zag the edges unless you just want to. Sometimes the zig-zagged edges take away from the card.

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Finished Card with Zig-Zag Edge
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TIP: When your fusible web is larger than your fabric, place a large piece of foil, shiny side up, on your ironing board. Place fabric ATC face down with the fusible side of the iron-on adhesive on top of it. In other words, the back of your ATC and the fusible side of your iron- on adhesive will be touching. Place a hot iron until fused, about 12 seconds. Allow card to cool, then gently peel off the ATC from the aluminum foil. TIP: If you have funky edges that are ripply when you finish ironing the front to the back, simply place the card on a hard surface and press the edges together with your fingers while the card is warm. Let card completely cool before cutting to size. TIP: Recognize if you are using a cross-wound or parallel wound thread. It makes a difference in how the thread comes off of the spool. If you use your thread incorrectly, it will twist and break on you. Thread is wound on a spool in one of two ways; parallel wound or cross wound. The way the thread was wound on the spool is the way the thread was designed to come off the spool. If the thread isnt unwound correctly, it can kink and twist, leading to fraying and breakage or cause other problems. A parallel wound spool is when the threads lay next to each other (touching side by side) or are parallel to one another. This thread should be used on a horizontal spool pin so the threads are pulled directly off the side of the spool. An example of this thread is Dual Duty by Coats and Clark. A cross wound spool is where the threads cross over each other on the spool creating a criss cross look. It is obvious to the eye. Serger threads and many decorative threads are spun this way, as are the all purpose European threads. An example would be Guttermann or Metrosene. This spool can be used on a thread stand, where the thread is pulled off the top of the spool or on a vertical spool pin on the sewing machine. Sewing machines either have a horizontal or vertical spool pin on them. If your machine has a horizontal spool pin, you can purchase a thread stand to use the cross wound threads, or adapt your machine by placing a small dowel in an unused hole on the top of your machine. If your machine only has a vertical spool pin, it is best to pass up using a parallel wound thread, for the sake of aggravation and your work. Other ideas: If you dont have the color fabric you would like for your background, consider using watercolors or acrylic paints to get the ideal effect. Wash your fabric first to remove any sizing. You can use a muslin fabric or even a print and add on color(s).

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This is an example of cross wound and parallel wound threads. The thread on the left is parallel wound. Notice how the threads lie next to each other. The thread on the right is cross wound. You can see that the threads criss cross over one another.

Fabric that has been watercolored. The fabric on the left is the original and the fabric on the right is the same fabric after using a light coat of watercolor to get the desired color.

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Readers Gallery
We receive a lot of great altered art and Mail Art from our readers. We want to show it off! Please feel free to submit your own art. Check our website for details on submissions

Black & White Portrait ATCs by Mellanie Collins

Journal Pages by Kristy Christopherson. Kristys beautiful art is also featured on our cover this issue.

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Readers Gallery
A work of art is like a person: it has more than one soul in its breast. - Alfred Brendel -

ATC made with air dried clay, ranger inks and a painted paper tree by Linda Donnelly

Altered Shoes by Britta Waag

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Readers Gallery
Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite getting something down. - Julia Cameron -

Collage ATC by Jean Disher

Collage Art by Donna Hall

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Silk Art Paper

By Ang Westermann

I love making silk artpaper; its fun, messy, very artsy and creative. Oncesilk art paper is created, you can sew on it, paint on it, cut it, distress itjust about anything. You can also use it to create your very own artistic masterpiece. Its quite easy to do. However, you will need a few materials.

Materials Needed:
Two pieces of tulle netting Silk roving/fibers (must be silk) or silk hankies. Hankies should be sheer lacy square layers of silk. Separate them into cobweb-like layers to make your paper Matte Gel medium (diluted 1/3gel medium to 2/3 water); Mix in a spray bottle Tray A second smallspray bottleof water with a dab of dishwashing detergent Additional materials to add to the paper: glitter, thread, dried petals, gilding flakes, etc.

Method:
Lay a sheet of tulle netting flat in the bottom of the tray. Gently tease away a tuft of the silk fibers and begin to lay each fiberon top of the tulle. You should lay one thin layer horizontal, the other vertical, back and forth, until you achieve the thickness you want; the more fiber, the thicker your paper will be. Usually 2-3 layers are enough for silk paper. At this stage, you may want to add the decorative elements such as glitter, gilding flakes, etc. Use these sparingly as you want them to enhance, not overshadow the beauty of the silk fibers. Lay the other piece of tulle over the layered silk fibers, so now you have a sandwich: tulle, silk, tulle. Using the spray bottle with water and dishwashing detergent, start moistening the fibers. It is important that allthe fibers are wet so they will soak up the adhesive once applied. Thoroughly wet one side and lift, then turn over the sandwich and wet the other side. At this point, I use my fingers and my palm to really work in the solution. Repeat this process a couple of times. You may at this point detect holes in your paper; thats okay, just lift one side of the tulle and add some more silk fibers, filling in the holes. Close the sandwich and continue wetting the fibers until you are satisfied with the look you have.

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Next, take a dry sponge, or some paper towels and blot the excess water. It should now be damp, but not soggy wet. Give it a once-over. Do you like what you see? (Figure 5) If so, its time to move on to fusing the layers together. Now you will switch to the adhesive spray. The technique is the same: start wetting the fibers with the adhesive spray. First wet one side and then the other. Once you are sure all layers of the silk has been penetrated by the adhesive, lift the sandwich out of the tray and let the excess adhesive drain back into the tray.

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Keeping the tulle in place, hang the paper on the line to dry. When completely dry, carefully peel off the two layers of tulle and iron the paper using the silk setting on your iron. Amazingly, you now have a piece ofsilk art paper that you can do just about anything with! You can also make the paper out of silk hankies. This will create a silk paper that is white. (Figure 10) You can paint on the white silk paper to create the colors you want, as I did with Skellie Amulet Bag and Silk Bookmarker- Blue flower. You have now learned the very Basics of making luscious Silk Art Paper. What fun, eh? We would love to see some Silk art made by you! Silk Hankies can be found here: http://www.theyarntree.com/store/ fibersspinning/fibers/silkhankies.html Silk fibers can be found on etsy search for Silk Roving. http://altermyworld.typepad.com/ang/

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Ian is an eleven-year-old artist from Savannah, Georgia. He has been interested in art since he was five years old. Some of Ians favorite things to draw include cars, trucks, and planes and also people. Ian says he likes to use pencil and colored pencils for his medium of choice. With all the art Ian creates he says I give it to my mom. I have also traded ATCs with 2 people online. Ms. Young was my art teacher in 5th grade and my mom always helps me with my art too, said Ian. He adds I won a competition for Fire Awareness Month when I was in second grade. I drew a fire truck putting out a fire. It was chosen by the Savannah Fire Department.

Coconut Island

PETITE ARTISTE

Ian El-Habre

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Vlogging with Ela Steel

By Andrea Melione Ela Steel, known as amillionfaces on YouTube, is a multitalented artist who paints, uses mixed media technique, and sculpts her way through a fantastic world of brilliant color and boundless imagination. She vlogs about solvents, sketches, stone sculpture, and more. A good number of her videos are time-lapse pieces that show her creating her paintings and artwork or stretching a canvas. What kind of camera do you use? Ela: I use a Canon PowerShot SD750 and the built-in iSight on my MacBook. What editing program do you use? Ela: iMovie on the Mac. How many hours do you spend working on your Vlog? Ela: Editing one video can take several hours for me. Recording doesnt take much time at all. It takes about 30 minutes for a vlog entry, including setup. The time-lapse videos are easy for me because I just set a camera up and forget about it as I work. Have you found it beneficial in your marketing? Ela: Yes. Within the first couple of weeks of vlogging, I sold a painting to a woman who would never have found my work if it wasnt for YouTube. It can also be really great for networking with other working artists from all over, as long as you take the time to get to know the community. If you just upload your videos and forget about them, never interacting with anyone on the site, you probably wont notice as many benefits.

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Why did you decide to start a Vlog? Ela: It was accidental. At first I didnt have any intention of speaking on camera. I am very shy, and thats out of character for me. I wanted to show my friends time-lapse videos of my art. But then as I found more artists on YouTube, I started to communicate with them. I decided to post a video for the community where I explained some of my art to them. I asked if they wanted me to talk about my art, or they just wanted to see me paint. Their response was overwhelmingly that they wanted me to speak about my art. Do you have any sound or lighting tips? Any advice for new Vloggers? Ela: Daylight is really good lighting. Just sit in front of a window. if you have to use lighting, use the white or natural daylight bulbs. Other bulbs can give you a nasty skin tone. You dont really need professional gear - just use what you have. I post-process my sound in iMovie because my laptop mic is too quiet. Dont let people cook while you try to film! The background noise is distracting.

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Just dive in. Plan a few videos to get the ball rolling because you might stall out if you dont consistently produce. You have to get involved with the other people on the site because otherwise no one will find your videos. Comment on other peoples videos, make video responses. Just generally be interested in other people.

Visit Ela on the Web:

YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/amillionfaces Website: http://www.elasteel.com

Etsy: http://steel.etsy.com

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Fall Rolo Contest

Congratulations to Tracie Rozario who was the winner of ArtTrader Mags Fall Rolo Contest. Tracies beautiful autumn entry was voted the winner by the mag staff.

Tracie Rozario

Fall Rolo Entries

We received many gorgeous pieces of Rolo art from our readers. We hope you enjoy the Autumn eye candy!

NOTE: Some Rolo entries do not appear here as we did not receive an artwork release form.

Carla Hays
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Fall Rolo Contest

Darlene Mariano Darlene Mariano

Martha Cohen

Martha Cohen

Wanda Edwards

Wanda Edwards

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Pam McVay

Pam McVay

Pam McVay

Mary Watkins

Mary Watkins

Mary Watkins

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Advertise in the next issue of ArtTrader Mag! Please visit our website for details.
www.arttradermag.com

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Art TRADER

Call for Articles and Artwork

Thank you for your interest in contributing to ArtTrader Magazine. ArtTrader Magazine is a web-based publication (in PDF format) focused on Mail Art for trade such as ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), ACEOs, art journals, chunky books, altered art and altered books. We are always accepting the following types of materials: How to or Step-by-step articles on artistic techniques. We are interested in techniques that can be applied to any mail art. These include illustrative techniques, and also works in fabric, digital, collage, mixed media, and more. Articles on artistic journeys or experiences. Do you have an interesting story that you would like to share? We would like to hear it. Artist Spotlight/Profile. Do you have a body of work you would like share? We would love to feature you in our artist spotlight. Showcasing Art. We are interested in showcasing assemblages, mixed media work, creative journaling, chunky books, fat books, inchies, ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), post cards and more. These types of articles usually have a small bit of background accompanying them but primarily are visual in nature. Product and Book Reviews. If you are interested in writing a review of a new product or book that is connected to the Mail Art world, we would enjoy hearing about it. Submissions of Artwork Almost all of our articles require artwork submissions. You might also want to submit artwork to appear in our webzine galleries. Our call for artwork is always open and we welcome your submissions of ATCs, ACEOs, art journals, chunky pages or altered books. Everyone is welcome to submit their art. You do not need to be a member of IllustratedATCs.com to submit artwork. You must submit your work to us in digital format. 300-400 DPI is sufficient. Do not submit artwork lower than 300 DPI. Acceptable formats include: JPG, BMP, TIF. Do not submit GIF files. Any submitted artwork should be at least 500 pixels wide and high (they can be much larger than this, of course!)

www.arttradermag.com

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Article Submissions Dana Driscoll, Editor editor@arttradermag.com Artwork Submissions Sal Scheibe, Art Director art@arttrader.com Advertising Inquiries ads@arttradermag.com

For additional details on our submission and artwork guidelines, please visit our website

www.arttradermag.com

ATC by Sal Scheibe

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