[atc swaps, scrapbooking}
warning: creating these little pieces of art...is addicting!
ATC = Art Trading Cards! Little pieces of art created for the purpose of "swapping" with another creator of these fun little things!
Why? Why not!? It's another fabulous scrapbook art created with your scrapbook supplies and your own artistic flair!
I'm involved in a group headed by none other than Rhonna Farrer herself...a group of 34 women that are creating these 2 l/2 x 3 l/2 cards and then exchanging them with each other. The idea is that you will end up with (in this case) 33 (excluding yourself) fun little cards that you "collect" much like a card collector would collect Nascar Cards, Baseball Cards, etc.
The value? Well, who wouldn't want a little piece of original art from the likes of Rhonna? Or any of the other fabulous scrapbookers out there in the world?
The rules? None. And here's the thing: YOU can pick your own theme...or none at all. My theme? I'm in the process of completing the 2 other series in addition to the one I'm showing here...this one is a series of 12 cards with the theme of "Art is a Rainbow". Each of the 12 cards represents a color, with my own interpretation of that color. Anything goes and there are no rules...so my interpretation is just that! My own little work of art!
I'm showing 2 of the 12 up close in this entry...if you are interested in seeing all 12 up close and personal, click here.
My next series (I will have 3 series for this swap...one set of 12, one set of 4, one set of 17...so, 3 sets of cards with 3 separate themes. I get bored easy...that's why I mixed it up) will be a group of 4 cards in a series entitled "Art is a Season"...with, you guessed it, a card for each season. The last series I'll be creating for this group is called "Art is an Inspiration"...with a quote, scripture or inspiration on each card. That will be 3 series for a total of 33 cards!
That's what makes these little pieces of art so fabulous..YOU make up the rules...YOU choose a theme (which isn't a requirement, but it sure makes it fun)...YOU play with the style! Create them with stamps, scrapbook supplies, office supplies, paints, monograms, your own handwriting, fonts, etc!
The other fun thing about creating a theme is that you can label each card on the back just like an actual series of collectors cards! For instance, the "black" card above is # 6 in a series of 12. So on the back I wrote Series #: 6/12 and signed the card as the Artist...how fun is that?!?
The "pink" card is # 1/12, and so on...if you decide to start an ATC swap-group, you can actually create ALL of the same cards, and many people do that...that's perfectly okay to do too! Again, NO rules except the ones you make.
Just as in a Circle Journal group, you need to stress the importance of follow through...and it's a good idea to have someone in charge of coordination. Rhonna organized our group, and Dee (hi, Dee!) created an Excell spreadsheet with everyone's addresses to make the "mailing" end easy.
Speaking of mailing, all you do is slip your little art-piece into an envelope, say goodbye to it, and off it goes! Easy as that!
Okay...here's the best part. All of the cards I'm creating for these 3 series-groups are all being created with my SCRAPS of cardstock and patterned paper!
I made up my mind that I was going to FINALLY make good use of my scraps...I always seem to neglect perfectly good scrap-paper. So this is a great opportunity to use it up.
All of my scraps are organized into one of those flex-folder organizers that have letter-sized file folders included. Each file is designated a color (ie, yellow) and then ALL scraps are slipped into that folder.
For this swap, I simply pulled out a file folder for the color I needed and off I went, creating my cute little master-piece!
The only rule (whoops, I lied...there is ONE tiny general rule to these swaps...sorry!) is that your card should be NO BIGGER than 2 1/2 x 3 1/2, which is the size of a playing card.
So...what better way to create these fun little treasures than to open up a pack of playing cards! I don't know about you, but we have tons of decks laying around the house.
So there you have it...the perfect little project using a house-hold item (or...at the very least, $2.50 for a deck of cards from the drug-store) and your left over paper scraps!
I also created an "Artist signature page" for the back of each of mine...again, this isn't a requirement, but I did it for fun. I've listed a sample below.
These were created in Photoshop and I have a master, so all I do is fill in the blank for the title of the series and the card # in the series, then sign each one.
The stamped image of "moi" was created by my sis...thanks Heidi! I used it as a fun little addition to my signature page...and YES...I created the backs of my cards DIGITALLY and the fronts TRADITIONALLY...just call me a Tra-Digi gal at heart!!! :)
We just started mailing our cards out in my group...as of Friday, these are the cards I've received thus far from the other gals in my group...
Aren't they awesome??? You can see that Deb created her card digitally and both Linda and Rachelle created theirs traditionally.
As I receive more cards within the next few weeks, I'll post them from the group just like I've been posting the Circle Journals from my CJ group...and I'll also post my other two series (Art is a Season and Art is an Inspiration) as I complete them later this week...
Have a great week, everyone!
PS: Thank you so much for the wonderful comments and personal emails from the other day...I'm still answering them and visiting your blogs...I do a few each day, so I'll be *talking* to you soon!
