October ATC Challenge - Wild, Wild West

I've been participating in Blue Twig Studio's ATC challenge the past few months.  October's theme was the Wild Wild West.  I searched online for photographs of the West and chose the following photos online as my starting place for my ATCs.

A lone horseman view the vast open land with its buttes and mesas.

The lonely buildings of a ghost town.

Main street of a typical Western frontier town bustling with activity.

Abandoned buildings and wagons from a ghost town in the foothills of the mountains.

I altered the photos to make them look like very old photographs using Pixlr Express, a photo-editing app. Then, I printed the photos onto fabric.

I added sepia tones and a white torn paper frame to age the photo. The actual photo I printed 

onto the fabric has a blue sky - I'm not sure why it appears green in this photograph. 

I darkened this photo and added a black torn paper frame. 

I yellowed the print, then added a bubble overlay, and a black rusted frame to this lively Old West town.

I also yellowed this photo and added a white scratched and torn overlay.

I felt this added to abandoned feeling of this town.

I, then, quilted the photos and embellished them with turquoise, coral, and jasper beads. Turquoise and coral were valuable for trading, and jasper can be found throughout the west.

 Lastly, I added an Old West Proverb to the back of the cards and signed them.

• "When in doubt, let your horse do the thinkin'." - Old West Proverb
• "Ride the horse in the direction it's goin'." - Old West Proverb
• "If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there." - Old West Proverb
• "Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any directions." - Old West Proverb.

Back of one of the above ATC cards.

ATCs are a fun way to experiment on something small and try new ideas or to use up small scraps (we all know we have these, as we can't throw out something that we can use later in our artwork! lol!), etc.  Join in the fun!

November's ATC theme is Give Thanks. The ATC challenge is open to anyone. You only need to make one card and send to Blue Twig Studio to join! (see the link above for more information).  For each ATC you send in by the end of the month, you have a chance to win all of the ATCs from everyone that participated.


Keep creating!!