SOAPBOX - Artist Trading Cards Part 1

ATCs: WHAT ARE THEY? WHO WANTS THEM? ARE THEY FUN? WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THEM?  mmmmm well this is my view

What are they?
3 1/2 by 2 1/2 card stock YOU decorate and OTHERS collect.  People make, swap and collect. Between friends, in groups, via your local scrapbooking shop, via internet groups.

     ATC Fun are a terrific group on yahoo

Are they easy to make? Not everyone finds it easy to start off.  Sometimes a theme will drive you towards just one idea and the card is done in minutes.  This is what happened to me when I made my dragonfly ATC.  I was embroidering something at the time and really loved the metallic thread... which reminded me, when I thought about it, of how the whole dragonfly shimmers in the light.

Other themes or ideas can take a while to get together.

So how do I start?  I think the easiest way to begin is to find a photo (it is going to be for inspiration so copyright is fine) and then use ink, paint, crayon, decoupage or whatever you are in to....reproduce it.  "Reproduce" is not really what you will be doing.  You only have a small surface are so you will probably find one section of the picture that really appeals to you.  From here... you make a card that is an interpretation of what you love about the photo.

I found a Christmas card that I really liked and used fabrics to reproduce a snowman. I guess Ive pinched the hat shape but really the Christmas fabrics I had guided me to his final look.  I had some copper like paper that I used to cut out a wood nose.  I chose some handmade paper that had some texture to it... for the head so I got a "snow" look.

NEXT time : why on earth? and what do I do with them all?  how do you feel about inchies?

TIME AFTER THAT : can the digital world help me make wilder (read contemporary, exciting, original)  ATCs?

Zentangles are really popular!  But where do you start?  I live in Australia and love walking through nature looking at the vegetation and color.  So I Googled forest floor images....and found a line drawing of some fungi.  I draw up some cards using the fungi grouping which seemed to give a nice "natural" feel.  Then I browsed clever artists' pages to find some zen patterns.  Here are 3 in the make... and one I just have to leave alone now... it is finished.