DT Inspiration ...... Artist Trading Coins

Happy Monday .......

Good morning ..... it's Linda here.  I hope you've all had a nice weekend.  Did you do anything nice? The family and I were across in the UK for a wedding.  Hubby's brother and fiancee finally tied the knot.  They've only been together about 25 years so I think it was time don't you.  We had a lovely day.  It's always nice to see the whole family.

Anyway ..... lets get the week started with a little crafty project shall we.  Artist Trading Coins ..... another fun addiction craze to hit the craft world.

Just in case you haven't heard about them, AT Coins are a little like ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) ..... except they're round!!
They're little pieces of artwork created to swap or trade.  They can be any theme or colour you like, they can have whatever you fancy putting on there, you can make them in sets or single ones it's entirely up to you.  They just have to be two and a half inches in diameter ...... cute or what! And just like ATC's you need to put your details on the back ...... title of AT Coin, the date, your contact details etc.

I like to make mine in sets ..... usually in 3s, and I love to use these pre-cut MDF circles. They make a fabulous base to work on.

I've used the gorgeous Pure Florals: Peony from the last Uniko release on these, and I love how they've turned out (will I be able to give them away, that's the question!)
Even though the flowers in this stamp set are quite large, they're still perfect to use on smaller projects.

I started by giving the MDF coins a quick coat of white gesso, and then blended colours of  PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints over the top.  Once this was dry I stamped the peonies using Versamark Ink and heat embossed them in white. 

I used more acrylic paints to colour the blooms ..... mixing the paint with a little water to create a touch of shading.  The heat embossing acts as a resist to the paints so you don't loose any of the detail when you add the colour

The words I've used are from Uniko's Originally Organic stamp set.  I used stencil tape to mask off the parts of the sentiments that I didn't need, and then stamped the rest onto plain white card and fussy cut.

I simply attached the words onto each of the AT Coins and then finished off by splattering a little metallic gold ink and some white paint onto the backgrounds

As I said earlier, my coins are MDF, but they don't have to be.  Why not try cutting some two and a half inch circles from plain cardstock, or if you have a punch that size even better.  If you want them to be more substantial just layer two or three together and then have some fun creating your miniature works of art.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great week.

Cheerio until next time .....