Altered Playing Cards

I haven't had as much crafting time lately so it's been a while since I've played with altered playing cards. I decided it was about time to change that so I took an afternoon to play with some that had the background started. The cards were already sanded and gessoed, had Neocolor II watercolour crayon applied and blended, and paper scraps adhered. I deepened the colours around the edges and next to the papers with gelatos spread with a wet finger and also with Big Brush pens smudged with a dry finger. Stencilling and stamping added interest and texture to the backgrounds. Fussy cut images, sketch and wash pencil, and doodling as well as bits of borders were added to the mix before the computer generated and black matted messages were adhered. The magician above makes me smile. He's from a different era...love the mustache and the huge flower. Doesn't he look like he knows the secret about magic happening all around us?

This next image as well as the magician come from collage sheets from Tumble Fish Studio. I added her wings to make her more fairy or fairy god-mother-like. She is reminding me of an important message I need to hear often both in my art and in my life. When I listen to my inner voice and follow it without over-analyzing, I'm generally a happy camper with the results. The black border was punched and the kraft diagonal border was die cut with an MFT die. The white rings on the background were made with a bottle top dipped into watered down gesso and twisted onto the page.

This third card has a border cut from an Amy Tangerine paper which I then doodled patterns onto. It reminds me of a curtain on a stage and seemed to suit this fun fellow from a Laura Carson collage sheet. He was a little pale so I added some shading with Prismacolor pencils and gave him a funny top hat. White paint pen doodles further embellished his dapper costume. The black dotty circle was just punched from a black scrap and dotted with a paint pen. It was needed to balance out the corner and bring some pattern to the bottom of the design.

I have a few more that I completed but I'll save them for another day. I love altering these cards and it was an excellent reminder to me that it's important to make time just to play with no other purpose than enjoyment and refilling the well. Note to self.... lol. Anyway, thanks for joining me today. I always appreciate your great company and encouraging words. I hope you make time to play soon.

Life is good; so is art (and play).
Bonnie