If you havent heard of them, ATCs are original art pieces done on a 2.5 x 3.5 sized paper or canvas. (This is the sized of a baseball card or playing card.) You create a limited quanity. (Usually the number of people in the group or a pre agreed upon amount.) And frequently there is a theme or subject for the card. And then you trade. So you get cards created by other artists. Its really cool and quite fun.
Back in March, I started creating ATCs to trade with a group called the Art Therapy Club, that my friend Blacque Diamond started. I made three cards for the Art Therapy Club.
The first card is for the theme Quotes. It was made with Graphic 45's Couture, Typography and Staples (washi tape). All these elements had different quotes on them. I then conected all the pieces with a o-ring, twine and bling that i think is from Teresa Collins' Blingage line. Since I was really new at making ATCs, it is very interactive which i have found out is unusual to do.
My second card was for the Disney theme. For this card I did what is sometimes called a hug. This is created by making the card twice as big and folding it in half. This lets you use more or larger images on an ATC. On the front of the card, I printed a line drawing of the Cheshire Cat. I then doodled in the stripes. After finishing that, I used Copics to lightly color the Cheshire Cat and thd background. On the inside, i printed a quote from Alice In Wonderland and doodled a floral design at the top. I also colored this doodle with Copics. On the back, I hand drew the cat's grin floating in space. The doodling was a lot of tiny hand work, but I think it came out cool and was happy with the result.
The last card was a free theme and we were encouraged to make something that represented what we liked. So I did a steampunk shoe theme. (Lol.) I did a hug style card again. On the front and inside, I used Stampendous stamps of Steampunked up shoes. (well not just any shoes, but the ruby slippers.) Over the stamp I used some gold pen and Wink of Stella to give it some depth and sparkle. I also added a metal corner to the front. And inside I also added some red stickles and red bling. And on the back is a small piece of Graphic 45 (who else!) Couture paper of the shoe pattern. I really enjoyed making this card and feel like it represents my style. And this may be my favorite do far.
I am now part of a bigger trading group (also headed by Blacque Diamond) It meets at Custom Impressions. We make just 10 cards to trade. So its really easy and low stress. The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!
Here is my first card for the CI ATC group. The theme was flowers. I stamped my card with the center part of a Prima Bloom stamp and colored it with Copics. I added a little glitter and pearl pen to accents parts of the design. I think it came out pretty and I like how the stamp fills the whole space.
Do you make ATCs? Do you trade online? In meet ups? Or by mail?
