Stretching For More ATC's

For the latest round of ATC's I made for the CQFA exchange I started with this fabric I'd made with Shiva Paintsticks and an arched design rubbing plate.  I layered it with batting and backing and did a bunch of linear quilting in rainbow rayon thread.

Then I cut out the ATC size (2.5 x 3.5"), focusing on choosing interesting color and texture combinations.

I experimented with which color to satin stitch around the edge.  First with the rainbow thread, and then with a darker purple.  I liked how the darker purple looked so I did the rest in that color. 

They didn't look "done" yet, so I went to one of my boxes of collage stuff to find something interesting.

How about these small colored rubber bands?

They look pretty cool and I like how the colors pop against the background.

Just stitching them down didn't look very good.

Should I add more? No, just one of each color per ATC, I decided.  These are from the Container Store by the way, although I bought them a long time ago so I don't know if they are still available.  I love finding unusual office supplies don't you?

Going back to my "collage stuff" box, I found the plastic sleeves from slide development (remember those days).  Turned out that worked perfectly, like a little clear envelope.

Here's a closeup so you can see how the stitching looks on the plastic.  I liked how contained the rubber bands looked now.This time I made labels in Word and printed them out on fabric, adhering them with fusible web.