TA ~ ATC Background and ATC

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!! For this swap, we are going to make a 5x7 background using the following steps and then you will cut your background into 4 ATC size cards (3.5 x 2.5) and make an ATC for your partner using the background. You will then send your partner one of the blank ATC backgrounds so that they can make an ATC with it as well. So your partner will receive from the 5x7 background that you make one blank ATC card background and one decorated ATC card that you made from the background. You will then have 2 ATC background cards for yourself. You will make your background using the following steps:

1. Get a 5x7 sturdy base that you will be able to apply several techniques to.

2. Paint one coat of any color of acrylic paint over the 5x7 base. It does not have to be a perfect coat and may look cool to have a grungy effect if you leave light and dark areas.

3. Adhere pieces of book pages or music pages randomly on the 5x7 base. Do not cover the whole base because you want to have the color from the acrylic paint showing through.

4. Use bubble wrap dipped in metallic paint and stamp onto your surface randomly over all the other layers you have already done.

5. Now choose a coordinating acrylic paint color that will work well with your base color and select a stamp or stencil that has a fun pattern and randomly stamp or stencil on your background.

6. Next you will find a small circle that you can stamp with from a toilet paper roll, lid, tape roll, pill bottle or something that you can dip into another color of acrylic paint of your choice that coordinates with your other colors and randomly stamp circles on your background.

7. Finally, for the last layer of your background you can choose what to put on it, but make sure it can be seen on all four quadrants when you cut it down into ATC's and then let your partner know what your last layer choice was.

Once this is dried you will cut your background into ATC size cards (2.5 x 3.5) and make one of cards into an ATC for your partner and then send them a blank background card so they can make an ATC for themselves. Remember to tell your partner what you chose for your step 7 layer. You will be left with 2 ATC backgrounds to keep. It is sender's choice on color theme and embellishments used. If you have any questions, please message me on swap-bot rather than commenting below as I will see this sooner. NOTE: Picture above is from Pinterest.