How to create artist trading paper postcards

You have heard about ATC's now there is another format of Art that is out there and it is Artist Trading Postcards! The only difference is it is a larger format. I personally find it a wonderful graduation up from ATC's to try out more complex techniques!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Stadzon Ink
• Cardboard from a cerial box
• Marvey Metallic Marker
• Watercolor paper
• All other scrapbooking supplies

1. Watercolor paper Start out with a piece of cardboard 6" x 4 1/4" in size and then cut a piece of watercolor paper the same size. Since this is not a archival piece to last for years and years you can use typical glue that you buy in any stationary store that is out there. Glue the pieces together with a glue stick and match all edges together. Next it is time to pick a color of back round.
2. Acid Free Ink These colors I love the best for this piece because they aren't bright and they blend easily with the image that I am going to stamp. Since there are no rules in these postcards you can use whatever you have handy in your craft room. With this postcard I rubbed the darker ink around the boarder for a halo effect.
3. Stadzon ink With this paper I prefer to use a Stadzon ink because my watercolor paper is porous and the ink soaks it up for deep saturation. But if you use a different type of paper you can use a different type of ink. The key is to experiment to try different looks. Don't ever be intimidated by the wonderful inks out there because they are to be played with for the shear joy of it!
4. Stamp Francisco stamp Placement of the stamp is key to how you would like the image look. I wanted this beautiful stamp (Stamp Francisco) to be front and more to the bottom of the piece so that I would have a larger back round for full impact. You might choose another location for a different look. Remember you don't have to have all of the stamp showing you could have some of it off to the side so it looks like she is peeking around the edge at you.
5. Marvy Metallics After the image is stamped I want to set it off by putting a golden boarder with a Marvey Metalics pen (it is one of my favorites) around the image just to give it some pop. You might want to try another color just to have some variety.

Tips & Warnings

• Always play with the whole idea of the design since there are no rules except for the format of the piece. Everything else is open for all sorts of creativity!
• Once you get started with these they can be addictive! So as they say, "more is always better than less!"