Painted Meditation Cards

[Damkina]

This may sound a really stupid question, but it's been bothering me all morning!

I was wondering if anyone has had a go at painting from scratch the fronts of their cards, or painting the embellishments to be glued/stuck on!

I have recently drawn several small pictures in the style of Tarot Cards from the images in my Meditations, these now need to be painted/chalked... (whatever) and printed embellishments etc.

I got rather excited about them when I first drew them and let my imagination get the better of me with images of stacks of my cards being made on my dining room table

But, it only occurred to me earlier today that because of their theme, that they may not be understood being as they were from my own private mediation images, or welcomed as a 'general' (can't think of a better word here) card would be, and should I bother to continue with them?

That said, has anyone else made their cards in this way, or is it the general practice to use only the bought embellishments and tags etc in card making?

Although I have enjoyed making special cards for those I know will appreciate them, (shop-bought for those I know that wouldn't) I've never made any with this method or theme and have now come to a stop until I can decide what's best to do.

Regards
Joanne

[Wisher]

oooh wow - I think it is a wonderful idea - how cathartic too! I would be delighted to receive such a card - I say go for it!

[Eileen C]

Sound like a wonderful idea. I am just not confident enought to do something like this, but admire enormously those who can.

Consistently failed school Art, told I couldn't sew, and I make cards, scrap and do fine embroidery so they must've been wrong, but 'they' did manage to convince me I can't draw or paint LOL!

[Damkina]

Thank you... I'd better go and buy some paints, then! My nephew took mine home with him on his last visit.

I was really lucky as a child... my mother loved crafts, drawing and making things herself, so if I wanted to have a go at something the housework would be put on hold so that we could be creative, or she could at least help me get some bits together.

[dozyrosy]

There are no "rules" about how you should make your cards: many people use bought emellishements because they like them, they're pretty, they've never thought of making their own, they don't know how to/don't want to/aren't confident enough to/nobody told them they could make their own, etc, etc.

I like (and try) to make as much as possible of my cards myself, so I think this is a great idea - just go for it!

Your drawings also sound as though they might be an excellent subject for ATCs, so if they are small enough (2.5"x3.5") then think about using them for these as well?

Rosemary

[Damkina]

ATCs? Didn't think about those... I was too busy imagining just the picture on the front of the card. Thanks for the suggestion.

I've measured and at the moment they are a little bit too big, BUT, once painted I'll copy them smaller onto card before adding some embellishments to do a swap.

Just got to get to grips with how to load my pictures onto the forum first I've tried so many times but I just can't work out how to get them small enough to load. Talk about feeling stupid!!

[Mrs Dawn]

Don't worry Damkina I'm in the same boat with trying to download pictures from my camera. I follow the instructions and still nothing. My eldest daughter is going to try and sort me out this weekend.

[Pink Chocolate]

are u using windows xp or windows vista?

[xxpaddler]

I just read this.... I think it is great that you are doing your own artwork for cards. I am sure there will be a market for them, people are after something different.
I do paint backgrounds for my cards, and have just painted a simple piece for the front of a card. I do intend to do more of this as my confidence grows. I dont like paying out for embellies as they are so expensive, and if I do too much of that I feel like my cards are justing becoming 'plonk it down' cards, and taking the art, design and individuality out of the whole process.

[Damkina]

Don't worry Damkina I'm in the same boat with trying to download pictures from my camera. I follow the instructions and still nothing. My eldest daughter is going to try and sort me out this weekend.

Hello Mrs Dawn, I had the same problem with the camera at first, but hubby kindly took me through the process without making me feel like a complete sprout!

It's the process from my computer to the Gallery that I'm having the problem with... I go through the instructions and then it says something to the effect that my picture is too large. Grrrrrr!

Pink Chocolate... I'm using Windows xp and am totally at a loss as to why it won't work, being as I use Yahoo and have a photobucket account that I use pretty regularly with no problem.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Regards
Joanne

[Damkina]

I just read this.... I think it is great that you are doing your own artwork for cards. I am sure there will be a market for them, people are after something different.
I do paint backgrounds for my cards, and have just painted a simple piece for the front of a card. I do intend to do more of this as my confidence grows. I dont like paying out for embellies as they are so expensive, and if I do too much of that I feel like my cards are justing becoming 'plonk it down' cards, and taking the art, design and individuality out of the whole process.

Hiya xxpaddler, because I only make cards for certain people and have never sold or swapped any, I've not really caught on to what sort of hand-made cards are popular.

Since I went offline at tea time, I've painted the main picture of first one and just need to add some smaller detail (had to buy some more paints on the way home from work lol). It has worked out at 2 3/4 x 4 3/4; too large for a ATC at the moment, but will be looking into changing for various sizes at the photocopy shop to cover all eventualities.

I haven't done any painting for a while and have really enjoyed myself and it's made a welcome change. I was going to put a scroll and title at the bottom, being as I was aiming for a Tarot Card look to them, but I've left it off and prefer the painting to the original drawing.

Looking forward to seeing your own paintings
Regards
Joanne

[Pink Chocolate]

ok it just needs resizing to upload

when using xp i downloaded windows image resizer found here halfway down the right hand side

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

when i switched to vista i now use
vsi image resizer for vista found here

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/...ge_resizer.php

download whichever you are using and then once installed all you have to do is right click on the image you want to resize and choose the newly added image resize option

you can choose whether to overide the image with the smaller or file or save as a separate file, i always save as seo one so as to keep original intact

hth

[xxpaddler]

I just purchased a card reader for the computer. Not that downloading from the camera was difficult, but it was a little involved, so I did not bother very often. Now I have the reader it is easy. Just put the card in the slot and copy the files across to the folder you want them in.
I use roxio to adjust file size... as the one with the camera is not easy to use for resizing.

[Kell]

I've got some in my gallery that i've painted myself and there are some on my website www.artycards.piczo.com and some painted ACEO's on there.

I don't buy pre made stuff one it's too expensive, two I find they inhibit my imagination and three I don't like them very much. People have bought them for me but they are still in the box! I prefer to make something myself knowing that on-one else will ever reroduce what I've done.

Love to see them when you've made them

[Damkina]

Pink Chocolate, Thanks for the detailed pointers with the computer; I'll attempt it at the weekend. It seems straight forward, but I'll scream if I come a cropper!

xxpaddler, Hubby's just bought a new camera which he says is to make downloading the photos onto the computer easier. It's still in the box at the moment, but our son is home on leave during next week so I want to make sure it's working ok. Don't want to miss any photo opportunities!

Kell, you've done some lovely artwork/ATCs there, but may I ask, what does ACEO's stand for? The pictures are beautiful, so I'm guessing it's 'Art- something'.

If I did make some ATC prints with my artwork, would I still number them 1/? etc... if I was also making enlargement prints to put on the front of cards?

Thanks everyone for your help
Joanne