I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Monday 23 March 2020

Even tinier houses!





Hello all!  Since we're all pretty much confined to quarters at the moment, I've got a post celebrating our houses and homes.

I shared some tiny houses at the start of the month (officially so - the die used to create my Useful or Beautiful houses is called "Tiny Houses"), but compared to these, those were actually pretty big.  Today's houses are really teeny tiny ones, located on a quartet of ATCs.

There were quite a few prompts behind this creation... first the fact that we're all spending much more time at home just now; then there's the Little Things theme at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog coupled with a Home Sweet Home theme at Try It on Tuesday; it was also Mothering Sunday, so this quartet of houses was destined for dollshouse-loving Cestina; and finally, it was another chance to get out my new PaperArtsy House & Home quotes and play.







And in fact they started by themselves, before I'd even thought about them... these were the mop-up/overflow tags for my It's Patina Time tag. 














Every bit of leftover smooshing ink or Oxide made its way onto these tags, either smooshed or splattered.















I thought I'd play along at the FJB by cutting my two tags into four ATCs.






They weren't quite big enough to make the full 3.5 x 2.5 inch sizing, so I cut up a cardboard box to make proper ATC-sized mounts for them.


I didn't want the trimmings to go to waste (they could have been wider than 2.5, but weren't tall enough for 3.5 - that's why there are trimmings for anyone worried about the maths!) so I played about with adding them to the composition.







This was the point at which the idea to use the little houses popped into my head.















They're from one of those cheap woodcut sets you can sometimes pick up at places like The Range, and I'd bought them ages ago.














Thankfully, I was able to lay hands on them amidst the chaos of my hoarded craft supplies.














They've had a couple of coats of Snowflake Fresco paint, and they're grounded onto the background with a wash of Payne's Grey.














Each of the quotes comes from PaperArtsy EAB15 House & Home, from the most recent launch of my word stamps.














They're stamped in Garden Patina Archival Ink, which tones in nicely with the verdigris blotches in the background.














In fact, it seems to have colour variation built in to the pad - sometimes it's slightly bluer, sometimes slightly greener as you stamp.













I've not noticed that about it before, so maybe mine's just "gone off".  If so, I'm delighted - I love the slight shifts in shade.















I liked the simple wooden houses, but the ATCs needed a little something extra.  Time for another rummage through the stash...














These wooden stars seemed just right to provide a touch more detail and another white accent.














Well, they were white once they'd also had some Snowflake paint added to them, at least.













I ended up whitewashing the rugged corrugated cardboard in the background too - and roughing it up some more with my scissor blades for a nice distressed look.














I also did some scraping of the edges of all the tag pieces to give them some more texture.

















That was fine on the larger background panels, but more than a little tricky when it came to the tiny decorative strips.  My thumbs have lost their top layer of skin from getting scraped!

















Worth it though, I think.  You get a light framing colour from the manila tag fibres as well as that extra texture, which draws the eye to them more effectively.










Some twisted tangled thread adds more movement as well as a nice touch of random squiggliness to contrast with all the right angles and straight lines.



And of course there's been some spattering with leftover Snowflake white paint as I went along.  So there you have it.  I hope you like this quartet of ATCs, and I hope you enjoy the added spring sunlight... 


It's lovely to have the sun to cheer us through these tricky times.  I hope you'll have some bright sunshine at some point if you haven't got any yet.  We're all going to need every ounce of things-to-be-happy-about as the virus progresses.  Take care of yourselves and happy crafting all.

It's the little details that are vital.  Little things make big things happen.
John Wooden

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I'd like to add these ATCS to the collection of Little Things at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog
At Try It On Tuesday the challenge theme is Home Sweet Home/Where Would You Like To Live

41 comments:

Nikki Acton said...

A joy! Give the girl a cardboard box and some tags and look what she comes up. Wonderful rustic feel Alison... xx

Mac Mable said...

A fun idea to cut the tags into the four ATC's. Gorgeous colours, smooshing and splats and the tiny houses look fabulous. Great attention to detail with the edges and those small strips. The archival ink stamping looks great too, with the slight variant of colour x. Take care too Alison x.

My name is Erika. said...

Those mini houses are so cute and work so well on the ATC's. They almost have a primitive look to them. I like that. What a fun post. Hope you are not too antsy in your confinement and are staying healthy Alison. Hugs-Erika

My name is Erika. said...

And I meant to say thanks for linking up to Try It On Tuesday. These are just perfect.

Chrissy said...

Oh,wow, FABulous Alison, they are all wonderful and so darn CUTE..great colours and textures as always, love them.

Luv CHRISSYxx

Christine Alexander said...

Alisonwonderful little tags, the tiny houses fit perfectly into the background. Love the mix of colours, the touch of green with the blues and brown- so pretty :)

Valerie-Jael said...

Your little houses are just wonderful, well done on such beautiful creations. Love the textures. Have a great week, stay safe, hugs, Valerie

Helen said...

what a beautiful quartet! Gorgeous colours. Stay safe.

Cestina said...

They are completely adorable. They will fit right into Small Worlds. Thank you xx

Aimeslee Winans said...

What a sweet little atc foursome. So interesting following your process so thanks for sharing it. XOX

craftytrog said...

Beautiful artwork Alison!
Hope all is well in your home.
Alison xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Pleased to see you keeping well occupied. Those little houses are beautiful and look brilliant on the ATCs. Have a lovely creative week, Angela xXx

Let's Art Journal said...

Fabulous ATCs! The patina looks amazing and the little houses and stars look adorable with your beautiful words 😊. Thanks so much for joining in the fun at Try it on Tuesday! All is well here thanks, me and hubby are staying at home and keeping busy. I hope all is well with you too!? Take care and sending happy wishes! Hugs, Jo x

froebelsternchen said...

They are precious! I love the patina !Your process never cease to amaze me!
Sorry to hear you couldn't get to your preferred place in time...
I am not sure I would like to be in Czechia right now as they have even more strict regulations as we have.
Stay healthy and creative but I know that you are always a creative artistic girl.
Good luck with the little garden project !!!
Take good care of you !!!
Big hugs Susi

experiments in paper said...

Well, I am swooning over those backgrounds - so reminiscent of some of my favorite stone strata here in the west, which often have lovely turquoise nuggets in their matrices. Plus they are some of the loveliest mop up tags I've seen! The little houses, complete with your wonderful quotations, are so comforting as well. Hope you stay well.... all fine here thus far, though the mojo seems to have gone into a bit of quarantine whilst I try to straighten out the craft room...I am sure ideas are incubating just below the surface though. Thanks for taking the time to make a mushroom visit! xxx Lynn

Sue said...

Oh these are wonderful Alison. I love the patina and the lovely layers, and the houses just finish it all off perfectly. I'm sorry you couldn't make your trip either but maybe it is for the best at the moment. Take care and stay safe, Sue x

Redanne said...

Miniature perfection Alison! The original tags were gorgeous and you just enhanced them with the beautiful little houses. I love the patina colour of the ink on the sentiments, which are, in themselves just perfect. Keep safe. Anne xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Could it be I'm about to catch up? You have such wonderful and varied art, I'm not sure which is my favorite of all the art I've seen tonight.

I was very impressed with the ATCs. I like how you used every bit of the tags, letting nothing go to waste. I love the stars and the string shows movement of the stars.

The houses turned out great. You surprised me when you shared that these were wooden houses and not die cuts. I guess that's why they have so much lift. I also like how you used the corrugated cardboard and even MORE how you distressed the pieces of tag you had cut away. I agree that they give the pieces more dimension, and stand out against the tag background. These are simply stunning, Alison.

Please stay safe and be well, dear. Glad you are finding time to create art.

Neet said...

What an absolute delight your house tags are. Those tiny houses are so 'darling' and sit perfectly on your atc's. What a great idea to chop down your mop up tags (which are beautiful in their own right) and mount them on some corrugated card. I can imagine now they look quite chunky which to my mind fits in well with the houses and the little pieces you have used behind them.
Another page of wonderful joy shared Alison, thank you and
Take care and stay safe and well Hugs, Neet xx

nwilliams6 said...

I feel so inspired by your creations, Alison. I think your background inspire me most: I love the colors together, the patterns, and how you layered up some pieces. Wow I am so trying this soon. I also now want some house dies. I have some extra small Tim Holtz ones that are supposed to go in a snow globe maybe they would work. The stark white against your wonderful bg and fun words just works so well. I am still very new to this type of creation and I learned so much from you on this visit. Wonderful stuff. Thanks!

Jennie Atkinson said...

Gorgeous ATCs Alison .... and I love the colour combination xx

aussie aNNie said...

BEAUTIFUL you always make the most gorgeous designs., lovely..♥

Margaret Mifsud said...

Oh my goodness .. I am swooning over all the yummy goodness here Alison! The backgrounds on the tags were awesome and then you made them even better by cutting them up, popping them onto the cardboard and turning them into these delightful ATCs. Totally brilliant!! I adore your tiny houses and the little stars are a perfect addition. Loving your stamped quotes too. These are amazing!! Stay safe my friend! hugs x

Helen said...

Gorgeous ATC's! Just perfect!!!!! Thanks for joining us at Try it on Tuesday! ((HUGS)) Helen

pearshapedcrafting said...

How fabulous that your mop up tags, which, by the way look fabulous on their own, have turned into something so absolutely brilliant! I can imagine Cestina's delight! I love how you created those layers and of course your words are a perfect fit! I think when all this is over we will have a lot of connections that we didn't have before - the people in the houses behind us are waving at us on our balcony, we talked to someone out in their garden one day and we are thanking our lucky stars that we can walk along a quiet riverside! Do take care, hugs, Chrisxx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh! and I never thanked you for joining us at Try It On Tuesday, so Thank You!! Chrisxx

Cath Wilson said...

LOVE your mop ups, Alison. Gorgeous colours. I've always loved brown and turquoise. Lovely words, too - and those houses were almost made to order. It's good when you find a use for something you've had a while, isn't it?
The strategically placed threads look brilliant, as do the stars. Nice touch to stamp the words in turquoise/teal, too.
Thank you for linking to Try it on Tuesday.
Cath x

Meggymay said...

It is a gorgeous set of ATC's they may have started with mop ups but they show their own beauty. As always your colour combination looks lovely. Thank you so much to linking to our theme at Try it on Tuesdays.
Stay safe and well
Yvonne xx

sarascloset said...

My goodness, Alison, these are just a bright spot in my day, as is your descriptive post and your sweet, kind words of encouragement on my blog. I love the idea of the tiny houses and your gorgeous color palette! I can kind of picture you giving your stash a rummage to find these little pieces of wood. Thank you so much for sharing your artwork with us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog! Take care!

Craftyfield said...

Lovely rusty colours (iron this time, methinks) and the little houses are so perfect for ATC size. They finally came in handy and their wait is over, unlike so many of the bits and bobs I'm hanging on to. xx

Fliss said...

These are absolutely gorgeous Alison. I adore those patina backgrounds and the colours are to die for. The little houses are so sweet and the quotes are on my wish list as is that fabulous ink pad.
Playing catch up at the moment as my accounting hat has been on too much lately!
Stay safe and well.
Fliss xx

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

The Oxides made for excellent backgrounds!!! LOVE the plaid strips...never would I think of that. The houses and wording are wonderful and these ATC's are really great!!! Hope all is well.

Mrs.B said...

It's a great use of the mop up tags Alison and the little off cuts add a lovely detail to anchor the tiny houses. The patina stamped quotes are the perfect finishing touch.
So pleased you share these with us at Try it on Tuesday.
Avril xx

Lagene said...

Awesome grunged up ATC's, love those tiny houses!

Cocofolies said...

Your four ATCs are simply adorable!... I love your idea of using your trimmings in this way, to build a floor to these cute little homes. They stand beautifully on them.
I also love your home words Alison... really need a new wording set made by you. At least your music sheet; Sunshine&Rain, or Happiness, and Spring maybe too, are also on my wishlist!
Sending lots of love to you xxx

Dorthe said...

Alison they are so , so gorgeous, and also sweet , and such appropriate idea where we all are home mostof the time. So wonderful mop-up tags again, and the houses are adorable . Also for me there certainly is magic in the word, Home- and also in your creations. xoxo

Anke said...

WOW WOW WOW Alison I love your ATCs, absolutely stunning and so lovely.

Hugs
Anke

sally said...

Precious!

Sallu xx

Suzanne C said...

I love love love that you took bits and pieces from different things and pulled them together into beautiful atc's! Fabulous inspiration Alison! Thanks for playing along in the Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge!

Maggi said...

These are brilliant and so appropriate for the times. Thanks for joining us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog.

Jenny Marples said...

Where to begin with how much I love these - that beautiful mix of colours for the background, the clever design idea to add the scraps on top, those wonderful whitewashed houses and of course your perfect sentiments (on the list to add to my others!) You've truly shown how the best things can come in small packages. Thank you so much for joining in with the Little Things challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge. Stay safe x