ATC "Window Wishing" and Blawg Stalking

Let me just start by getting this out of my system.

I, Carmen, am a stalker.

Granted, I don't follow my fixations around town or do creepy things like sniff their mail, or whatever  real stalkers do, but I'm still a stalker.

Albeit, a very lazy and unmotivated stalker, but a stalker nonetheless.

 Well, maybe not a stalker...maybe more like the movie where the girl wanted to be the other girl and the next thing you know the scary girl was murdering people and wearing the other girl's Manolo's! (which was the REAL tragedy, there)

 Yeah! That's what I am! 

Fine...maybe with the exception of dressing like my obsession and the whole 'leaving the house to murder people' thing-I mean, really...I get my own groceries delivered, people!...But I could totally be that girl.

After reading what I've written so far, I've come to a disturbing conclusion. NO...not that I've put way too much study into the whole stalking/crazy life-stealing, Manolo-snatching, murdering girl thing...it's the fact that I'm really not even qualified to BE a good stalker! I don't have that kind of focus! I'm even MEDICATED to help me focus, and I STILL can't bring myself to do the whole 'be the best stalker you can be' thing! 

Sigh.

Well, if I can't do right as a stalker, I can at LEAST share her blog and technique for making this incredibly awesome ATC card.

Laura Carson at artfullymusing.blogspot.com did an incredible ATC card of a girl sitting in front of a transparent stained glass window. The tutorial is HERE. 

I've wanted to do this card for ages. But my printer wouldn't print on transparency film. So, I did what anyone would do! That's right...I went and bought a new printer. 

I found the stained glass online and downloaded it. Changing it from a jpg to pdf (easy..free programs all over to do it in seconds) I transferred it to MS Word and resized it to ATC measurements. Printing on transparency film, I touched up the color with Copics on the back (that's the rough part the image is printed on). 

Here's where the magic comes in...using Versamark and clear embossing powder, I covered the FRONT (the smooth part that you did NOT color/print on) and carefully heat embossed it. That's where you get the cool stained glass effect. (TY LAURA!!)

 I cut the frame from chipboard. Dresden on the sides and bottom and a brass finding at the top was tinted with copper gilder's paste, and the woman and swan were cut from collage sheets. I put white feathers on the swan, which totally breaks the whole ATC measurement rule if you care, which I don't. 

It's hard to see just how transparent this is so I placed it over some white cardstock to give you the idea of how awesome this project is. 

I'd like to offer my apologies to Laura...she's talented enough to deserve a first-rate stalker: something I'm just too lazy to be. But I will continue to stalk her blog and throw her name out as if we're BFF's, when talking to crafters of note, and hint around at a totally imaginary collaborative project that we may or may not be working on together. 

At the end of the day, I really feel that she knows that I totally respect and admire her talent and body of work. And that I'm grateful for all I've learned (which has been significantly more than EVERY class I've EVER paid to take...trust) for FREE from her. Thanks, Laura! 

And if she DOESN'T know that, well, at least it'll actually be HER signature on the restraining order!!! OMG!  ;)