I'm more than a little cracked...

The theme for this month's ATC's for Artistic Creationz Group is "Shattered Pieces".
It took me a little bit to decide what I wanted to create for the swap but then I remembered one of the stamps I had recently invested in... from KaiserCraft "Crackle" Clear Stamp... anyone else see the light bulb go on?
I had some scraps of heavyweight Kraft cardstock so I cut these down to size - 2.5" x 3.5", standard ATC size.
Other than using the "Crackle Stamp" I had no idea what I was going to do so I decided to pull out my Faber Castell Gelatos and just go with the flow... and just see what cracked first.
If you have followed my blog or just looked back over earlier posts you will have seen my post on my DIY colour swatches. Since I made these way back in October 2012 I have continued to update them as I have bought more inks and mists. I have added swatches for all the Lindy's Stamp Gang mists I have bought and I also now added swatches for the Faber Castell Gelatos I have bought.
When I started to experiment for these ATC's I wasn't sure what combinations of colours to use, so I pulled out the swatches for the gelatos and picked my combinations based on what colours went well together using the swatches. I have to say I ended up with some combinations that I probably wouldn't have picked had it not been for the swatches and I really love them. If you don't already have swatches for your various products, then I highly recommend them, especially if you don't always feel confident combining colours, but also if like me, you like to experiment but don't want to have to rely on lifting someone else's colour combinations.
So I picked my various colour combinations - I made five ATC's all with different colour combinations, for each of the participants in the swap. I randomly coloured each of the ATC bases with the selected colour combinations, starting with the lightest colour in each set and working through to the darkest colour.
I misted a little water to help the colour blend with my fingers. Once the first layer had been blended I added a second layer of colour to get the intensity of each colour that I wanted and to smooth out the blending even more.
Once all the colours had been blended to my satisfaction, I set the Faber Castell Gelatos with my trusty heat tool. I have to confess that at this stage, I did briefly contemplate what on earth I was doing because I was still a little uncertain as to the colour combinations and what I was doing in general... but I kept going (as you do) with the thought in the back of my mind that I can always either a) just keep adding more colours and products until I get what I want or b) throw it all out and start again from scratch.
So I decided what the heck... lets use the KaiserCraft Crackle stamp with some fine black embossing powder and VersaMark ink and see what I end up with.
Can I just say... "NAILED IT"...
The embossed "cracks" just pulled everything together for EVERY colour combination... I was ecstatic... it was even better than I expected.
I was on a roll, so I pulled out some Lindy's Stamp Gang mists... not a lot just an ever so subtle shimmer.
Then a touch of Indian ink around the outer edge for some oomph power and definition.
I finished with a quote from Helen Keller that fitted with the "shattered pieces" theme. I got a little stuck here and ended up making three different versions of the quote until I achieved the look I wanted.

1. Individually stamped letters for the quote... ended up being too big, wouldn't have seen all my hard work on the background!!!
2. Hand written in a block, black ink and then I tried colouring over the top with a gelato... just looked blah and bordering on YUK!!!
3. I coloured some leftover scraps of white cardstock using the two lightest colours from each ATC so it would coordinate, blended with my finger and a little water; hand written quote using a American Crafts Precision Pen 3mm; cut into individual words and cropped quite closely... WINNER!!

I adhered the words in place then traced around each word with Indian Ink using my Zig water pen as I find this always give me an incredibly fine and controlled line.
I followed this with another quick mist of the various Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays... and they are finished... well except for the sign in on the back.

LOVE THEM!!