Ducky Hearts Artist Trading Cards

It took me quite some time to decide what kind of 'duck' tape craft to make. I spent more time on Pinterest than I care to admit to, trying to come up with a unique idea for my heart tape. 

Finally, I found a bookmark that inspired me:

I have tons of bookmarks, so didn't really want to make that (cute as they are). But I liked the idea of a top layer with a heart cut out and a pretty fabric (or paper or duck tape) showing through. So instead of a bookmark, I chose to make a set of Artist Trading Cards (ATC).  

Usually, ATC sets are multiple cards of the same design. Instead, I chose to make a set of cards with six unique designs, all based on the same three tapes. Once that decision was made, I went wild. 

The first card used that "look through a hole" idea. A heart shape is cut out of the red tape, allowing the heart tape to show through. Then I cut five little hearts from the tape and floated them at the top of the card.

With the second card, I decided to use that red heart I'd just cut. I didn't care for the "seam" where the two pieces of tape came together, So I covered it with a small strip of blue. Adding the second strip made it a "feature" instead of a  "bug."

I liked the look of the heart tape as background, so I used it again on the third card. This time, I really made the lines a feature by turning blue and red strips into a plaid.

Then I wanted to find a way to use the heart tape without needing a seam. So I put some on the card vertically, and featured the blue tape as the main background. I couldn't seem to cut three red hearts the same size and shape no matter how many times I tried. So I turned lemons into lemonade by using graduated sizes, stacked vertically.

That being done, I now had a strip of red tape with hearts cut out. This was another chance to allow the design to show through the holes again. I used the blue border as an accent.

Finally, I had the idea to make a heart with a hole in it. That idea came through the frustration of trying to cut the hearts in card #4. So I used the heart tape (horizontally) as background, accent strips of red to cover the seam, and three sizes of blue hearts as the feature.

The back of each ATC has a label with the name of the card set, "Ducky Hearts." It also has the artist's email address, the creation date, the artist's signature, and a fraction that indicates the card number and how many in the set. This shows the first card in a set of six. Then I added a little heart to tie the front and back together.

This was a very fun way to spend a few hours in my Studio! I'm looking forward to the next challenge. Until then, I'll be posting more Heart Extras. I already have some more photos ready to post.

Four of these ATCs are spoken for. If you'd like to do a trade, I still have two. Send me an e-mail and we'll set up the trade.  

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