Paris ATC

Where oh where has the week gone?  I think maybe my cat stole it.  He's been jostling open the door to my craft room and stealing my ribbon that I have rolled onto vintage clothespins.  He comes downstairs and deposits them in my shoes, or next to my purse.  So, I think he may be stealing my days, too.... yep, that's my story. ;)

Sharing a little ATC I made for a swap I was just in, where the theme was travel.  Three of us chose Paris in some way!  For my version, I started out with a photocopy of a vintage Paris map.  The colors were a little bright, so I opened it in my photo editing program, reduced the vibrancy by about 60%, then tweaked the colors to be warmer than they appeared, and presto! - it had just the colors I wanted.  I did a little stamping on it, too, for a more layered effect.  Next up was the Eiffel Tower image, from I Brake For Stamps.  I first made a background using a variety of Glimmer Mists, then stamped the image in black.  I went back in and added some color with a small dose of Mustard Seed distress ink (that's one very vivid color.... a teensy itty bit goes a long way!)  Then I added color to the flowers using colored pencils, and traced over the word "Paris" with a white gel pen.  I added a stamped Paris cancellation mark and stamped French postage.  I love making ATCs, and this was a fun little project.

I hope everyone along the East Coast of the US stays safe this weekend!  I'm sure many of us will be without power as Hurricane Irene surges through.  Take care and take cover!  Hurricane force winds and torrential rains can affect areas farther inland than you might imagine.... Hurricane Fran was still a category 1 storm when it came through central North Carolina in 1996, and it caused severe damage and power outages that lasted several days (we had a giant oak tree on our house for weeks! and...were without power for 4 days, which was much shorter than some others in the surrounding area).  Just sayin'....  don't treat this thing too lightly.  Okay, end of lecture, LOL!

Have a happy weekend everyone! Hopefully I will still have power so that I can blurf and blog!