Making LOTs of ATCs

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Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are wonderful little pieces of art that are traded between crafters. For a crafting show, ATCs are often traded between other attendees as a memento of the occasion. Sometimes there may be a theme to guide the participants. The challenge of making lots of ATCs for these shows is to keep the design simple and one you can easily replicate many times.

What is an ATC?
Artist Trading Cards are small pieces of art made with the intent to be traded between fellow crafters. There are all manner of groups on the internet that have swaps and challenges based around these cards.

An ATC must be the set size of 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ . They are usually in portrait orientation but don’t have to be. Besides the size, there are no other rules to ATCs – you can make them from cardboard or fabric or any other thin material. And you can decorate them with paints or stamping or collage or quilting or any other craft you like.

The back of the ATC is to contain your details, like a business card would. Your name and e-mail address (or postal address, if you wish) is  a minimum. Sometimes the title of the ATC, or theme or occasion, and it’s number or edition is also included.

There is one other rule regarding ATCs – I have been always told that ATCs are only ever for trading and never to be bought or sold. Some crafters will create what are called ACEOs (Art Card, Editions and Originals), which are ATCs to sell. I believe that is against the spirit in which ATCs are created.

Key points to making lots of ATCs
– Start with large sheets of card (12″ x 12″ or A4) which can easily be decorated to make the background and then cut to size
– Stamping allows you to reproduce the same image many times
– Consider embellishments like punches or cutter dies that can create lots of the same in a short amount of time and for little cost
– They don’t all have to be exactly the same; if making cards to a theme, you can still alter the colour or type of some elements
– Instead of written your details on the back of many ATCs, use your computer to type out your main details (name and e-mail address) then cut and stick these to the back of your ATC. You can then sign it.

How I make lots of ATCs
1. Use walnut ink or tea or coffee stain to antique many sheets of card for the background. Use the same method to antique sheets of text from an old book or conference proceedings (if the sheets curl, place them under a heavy book to flatten, after they are dry)


2. Using a large background stamp, cover the background card (lots of small stamps will also create the same effect)

3. Cut background card into 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ piece

4. Cut the text pages into 3 1/2″ strips. Then tear them into smaller strips at about 1/3 of ATC width. Use a brown or sepia ink to sponge the torn edge of each piece.

5. Glue text strip to backgrounds using a glue stick

6. Add image or embellishments: I cut these T’s using  a puzzles cutter.

7. To finish the ATC, edge the entire card, using the inked directly onto the edges and stamp “time” using alphabet stamps in a lighter colour.

8. Don’t forget to add your details onto the back. This can be done by hand, using a ATC template stamp or using your computer.

The final part of ATCs is to go and swap them freely. I will always remember one of my first craft shows I ever attended and I didn’t know anything about this swapping thing. Many ladies were very generous and happy to give me an ATC when I had nothing to give in return. And this is the spirit in which I attend craft shows today.

If you are a little shy, place your ATCs in a plastic bag and use a safety pin to attach them to your carry bag or jacket, then anyone else who has ATCs can see you have some and you can start a conversation. Some craft shows will have a time and place that people can meet up to swap.

And remember the spirit of ATCs – if you are going to a show where you are going to meet people you know, you can make some special ATCs for those people, but keep them separate, so they are easy to find and you don’t accidentally hurt someone elses feelings. I have heard of occasions of some people refusing to swap their ATCs when they see the other persons ATCs and it didn’t meet their standard. Thankfully these incidents are few and between but remember that we all had to start somewhere, so be generous with your ATCs.

Happy Creating,
Michelle

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Mixed Media Art Backgrounds

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This article is written by Linda Giese

For the past year I’ve been putting papers over my plastic covered workspace. It began when I found a roll of thermofax for a dollar at a thrift store.  I put it on my workspace and soon it filled up with random stamps, paint splatters, doodles and notes.  I tore off another sheet and saved the first for collage fodder. I progressed to large sheets of newsprint that came as packing material in boxes.  A friend even gave me old architectural plans she was going to throw away.

Backgrounds

This is an easy way of making original collage papers to make your art unlike anyone else, and it won’t even take extra time!  Now I glory in messing up my surface papers with ideas and oversprays.  Since I teach at my dining room table, there are class notes and ideas for what my students want to learn next.  I test out new stamps and “stamp off” ones I’m using.  There are scribbles trying to get a pen to write or see what color it is.  Sometimes there is even a random fruit label!

Backgrounds

I’m not likely to run out of clean papers to mess up, but thought of an idea if I did.  I’d take sheets of junk mail with clean backs and tape them together.  Or as I’ve done, use sheets of scrapbook paper I don’t like that perhaps came in a stack of paper.  If you take a class, perhaps you can mess up newspapers under your work there too!  Good luck and happy splatters!

Backgrounds

Materials I used for my canvas:
Underpainting is blended background of Americana orchid, butter and baby blue
I applied the torn collage papers with Americana DecouPage as well as the Dover clip art woman image
I used the above paints plus Americana cad red, bright yellow(to make the flesh color) and true blue for shading

Backgrounds

Backgrounds

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Linda Giese encourages comments, questions, and sharing your art journey at linda.giese@yahoo.com

She teaches classes privately and at a local scrapbook store, The Stamp Addict

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What is Viva Décor Paper-Soft-Color?

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This article is written by Barbara Rankin

What exactly is Viva Décor Paper-Soft-Color?

How does it differ from other products you may already own?  This article is intended to demystify this product.

When you open the jar, you will see a jar that appears to be full of paint on a sponge.

Product picture with a view inside jar

Removing the top sponge reveals the paint distribution system.  You will need to replace the top sponge for use.

Product picture with top sponge removed.

The best way to apply this product is with a sponge brush. Here are two examples of sponge brushes that I think work well.  The red handled sponge applicator is by Viva Décor, and the white handled applicators are by Martha Stewart.  A nice, dense sponge works best.

Viva Décor and Martha Stewart sponge applicators

Paper-Soft-Color is perfect for making soft, gradated colored backgrounds.  They blend extremely well and are super simple to use.  If you are familiar with distress inks and how to blend them, then you will find that Paper-Soft-Color is much easier to blend, and you can obtain more even coverage in a shorter amount of time.  The colors are very soft and they are quite transparent.  There are 20 colors.

First, load the sponge brush by dipping it into the jar’s sponge.  You will use very little paint, thereby making it excellent for stenciling with very little to no bleeding.  Using different colors will give you a graduated, soft effect, to make a beautiful background.  You can even stamp with Paper-Soft by dabbing the color onto your rubber or silicone stamp for amazingly crisp results.

For my example, I first cut a silhouette flower image onto light blue adhesive-backed card stock with a cut file from my Silhouette machine.  I adhered it to a #8 manila tag and began coloring the background, beginning with the lightest colors:  Lime Green, Light Carmine Red, Moss Green, and Light Blue.   I used a heat gun to dry the tag between each color while using a separate sponge for each color.

Photo of tag with colored background

Not only can you see how well the colors blended into each other, but also how the colors on the light blue die cut changed, as well.

I love distressing the edges of most everything I make, and so I distressed the edges of the tag all around and colored with Walnut Brown Paper Soft.  The technique would be the same as when you do this with distress inks and a foam blending tool, but again, the Paper-Soft-Color process is much faster and just as effective.

Photo showing how to distress edges of tag with brown Paper Soft.

I wanted to share the stencil technique with you, also, so I used a scrap of Punchinella  to stencil the dots with the Walnut Brown Paper Soft.  I deliberately sponged some areas darker than others to show how you can blend the stenciled areas right into the background.

Adding color through a stencil.

Moss Green Paper Soft was sponged directly onto the “PEACE” wood veneer and adhered at the bottom of the tag, thereby proving it works well on wood, too.

Adding Paper Soft to wood.

Moss Green, Light Blue, and Light Carmine Red Paper Soft colors were added in sections to a piece of off-white seam binding and thread through a decorative button, then through the tag hole at the top.  Again, this product works well on fabric, too!

Adding Paper Soft to fabric

Scrap lace was added to the bottom of the tag.

One last thing I wanted to share is how to take a simple silhouette image and give it some detail.  By simply adding a large dot of the Cream Pearl Pen and pulling it out towards the end of each flower with a pin, it dries shimmery and dimensional.  You can also apply the paint through a stencil with a spatula for a dimensional look. Add glitter to the paint while still wet for added sparkle.

Viva Décor Paint Pen uses

You can further embellish the tag to your heart’s content.

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Barbara Rankin is a mixed media artist who loves to teach.  She loves to learn new techniques and to share her knowledge with other artists.    She is a contributing artist in a book:  Make it in Minutes: Mini Albums, and has been published in several paper and online magazines.  She is currently on two design teams, Sin City Stamps and Altered Pages, and has served as a design team member for The Robin’s Nest and Creative Paperclay®, as well as guest designer for Craftwell USA and an upcoming issue of Unruly Paper Arts.

She lives in the Memphis, Tennessee, with her very supportive husband of 32 years, and her two Yorkies, Chloe and Zoe.

You can see more of Barbara’s work on her blog at Black Hole Art Studio or via Facebook – Black Hole Art Studio

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Creating Your Own One of a Kind ATC Backgrounds

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This article is written by Shari Welch

I came up with this tutorial out of need. I needed to find a way to produce a series of artists trading cards with the same background color scheme, with each one being an original little piece of art in itself. I needed to get these out soon so I had to be creative with my time as well. GelliArts gel printing plate to the rescue!

Those of us who have used a Gelli plate will admit, it is VERY addicting. A few of the many facts I love about the gel plate is that it is reusable and cleans up easily. If you haven’t used one, the link below takes you to the Gelli Arts website. Their site will give you a better understanding of what the gel printing plate is, and what you can create using it. Besides instructions, projects, and a You tube video, you can order a plate too. www.gelliarts.com

I thought that I would print up two or three pages. But like I said, it is very addicting.

gelli plate, printed papers, and stencils

Materials I used:

  • 8×10 printing plate
  • Rubber brayer
  • White card stock 8.5×11 (cut to 8×10 after printing)
  • DecoArt acrylic paints
  • Yarn, texture tool, cut out decorative paper
  • Flower masks and stencils by Heidi Swapp
  • Stencils by Tim Holtz
  • Stencils by Prima

This template shows 8 artists trading card that can be produce out of a single gel print page if you are using the 8×10 size.

ATC template

I had a fall color theme in mind, so here are the two finished ATC background sets I choose. I still have a lot of gel prints left for yet another project. I won’t complain.

Pic of 8 ATC cards
ATC cards 2nd sheet
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Shari Welch is a mixed media artist living in Denton Texas. She is known for using reuse and recycle materials in her artwork. She volunteers for SCRAP Denton where she is on the education committee, teaches workshops, art camps, and performs art demos. She is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys helping others discover their creativity.

Shari studied graphic design in Portland, Oregon before moving to Denton. Besides writing for mixed media art, she is currently a blogger for DecoArt, was featured in Mixed Media May, and has been in a number of art shows in her hometown of Denton including GDAC “It’s in the bag”, Thirty for thirty art show, and 3arthwurks gallery show.

You can see more of Shari’s artwork at www.facebook.com/my.altered.life
and on her blog shariwelch.blogspot.com

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