Artist Trading Cards

I had never heard of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) until Elizabeth (of the weekly Altered Book Lover T is for Tuesday blog party) organized a swap of ATCs to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of of the T Tuesday gatherings. I researched ATCs, surprised at how much I found. There's a Wikipedia article, Youtube tutorials, and plenty of web sites.

I signed up for the event, and was able to send my first-ever ATC (pictured at the top of the page) off on an adventure to Brazil! Cool!

It wasn't long before I received a card in the mail from heARTfully inspired by Linda, only it wasn't just a card but a big packet full of treats:

Wow! Look at all that! And the cards (yes, she sent several) are wonderful! If I'm ever involved in a swap again, I'll send more than just a single lonely card.

I've kept making cards and am trying to learn more about how to improve my work. My next 3 cards were Memphis-themed like my first one:

I seem to gravitate to a Memphis concept with these, but I've also made some that fold:

And a few with Bible verses that I can send to our family's surviving elder member, now in a nursing home:

This one folds out so it'll sit on a tray table:

I enjoy putting these together. I've picked up a few embellishments at Michael's where they were having a sale. I've checked out the fabric store and am shocked at how expensive things are there. The cheapest button I liked for ATC purposes, for example, was $4.50! I did find some ribbon that's 2.5 inches wide and marked down because it was out of season. I need to find a cheaper source and wider variety of embellishments. I did find some at The Dollar Tree, of all places, and I'll be keeping an eye on what they have as seasons change.

I trust I'll improve as I make more. I've been playing with a little crayola watercolor set, and I found watercolors in little tubes to replenish that when I use up colors. I found an intro-to-acrylics set at Michael's marked down on clearance, and I'll enjoy trying that out, but I'm so in love with the watercolors. It reminds me of wet-on-wet watercoloring with the kids when they were little.

I've signed up with Tumblr and will post new ones there as I make them. I'm putting them in the post queue to appear once a day.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for introducing me to this activity, and thanks to the T Tuesday community for the encouragement. There's no drink here or I'd have linked yesterday, but I'm sure I'll be making tea- and coffee-related ATCs any day now, so I hope to share those soon.