Altered Playing Cards

I do believe I have finished my first deck of altered playing cards. Time to sand another one and prep it for more play. I'll keep the description short and sweet...well, short anyway...OK not that either...because if you follow my blog you know the drill :D The cards were all sanded and gessoed, then coloured with Neocolor II crayons, gelatos, Inktense blocks, and Big Brush pens. A little stamping, a little stencilling, some flicking with water and the backgrounds were ready for layers of paper, washi tape, die cut and embossed leftovers. This first card had a layer of black and white Duck tape added to the bottom before a watercoloured and fussy cut stamped  experiment was added to black matting. The stamp is one of my favourite faces ever...Wendy Vecchi's Queen of Art and I had done it as a trial run for another project. Doodling, outlining with Black Big Brush pen, and computer generated wording finished it off.

 This strongman card has a piece of black cardstock embossed and highlighted with Treasure Silver adhered to the bottom section. The odd shape is due to the fact that it was left over from another project where I cut a chunk out. The images come from a number of sources such as Tumble Fish Studio, Alpha Stamps or Etsy. Love the look on the moon's face. Tiny star sequins, also from Alpha Stamps, helped with the starry sky. The words printed from the computer are matted with black cardstock and popped up on foam tape. Again, the edges are outlined with black Big Brush pen and shading was done with a Sketch & Wash pencil and a waterbrush.

This card cracks me up...my odd sense of humour. The message is Choose Joy but the couple look like they would have a hard time expressing it. I love old photos where everyone looks so serious and pained. For this card, I had used Frisket, a masking fluid, to cover the house shape before adding colour. It was rubbed off to expose the card background and then watercoloured yellow and orange. Washi tape was used to outline the house shape once the happy couple were adhered inside. The top border is a die cut piece with doodling and pearls to finish it off. More doodling was done around the edges before the wording was added.

This little fellow also amuses me because he doesn't look like he plays at all. He's very business-like with his little kitty watch, tie, and specs. Torn washi tape was added to the background along with the stamping and stencilling. The hand and Monsieur Le Kitty were fussy cut and heavily outlined. His glasses were given shine with Glossy Accents. Again, the wording is matted with black and popped up on foam tape to give it more presence.

Thanks for joining us all today. The Art Queen, the strongman, the happy couple, and M. Le Kitty all appreciate your company and your time as much as I do. Hopefully, you were given a smile or two in return.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie