Monday, October 27, 2008

Artist Trading Cards!

Creating collage cards a.k.a. Artist Trading Cards or ATC’s is one of the most popular forms of mixed media collage art today. A basic card, in the most common size, is a 2-1/2” x 3-1/2” rectangle cut from paper, most often cardstock. Scrapbook papers are also fun to use as they offer so many bright and interesting patterns and designs. One sheet of 8 ½” x 11” will yield 10 cards as follows: cut two lengthwise strips 2-1/2” wide, leaving a strip 3-1/2” wide. Then, cut the strips crosswise so that the 2-1/2” strips will be 3-1/2” wide and the 3-1/2” strips will 2-1/2” wide.
Individual cards can be artistically embellished in a number of ways: watercolor markers, crayons, stickers, paints, rubber stamps and really just about any craft you love working with. Any unique idea is fine as long as you are having fun creating your artwork. Making collage cards is an excellent craft project for any age. Children as well as adults can enjoy creating and personalizing their cards.


For the collage cards in the photo, I scanned a few old black & white photos, colored them with watercolor markers, cut the figures out, and pasted them on to the cut cards. Stickers, cut out words, & rubber stamp accents added that extra sparkle!Trading collage cards with friends is great fun especially if you have a group of crafters who love to get together to “make and take” projects. There are also gatherings in various cities, maybe one near you—as well as online trading events open to the public; information is available on Google.

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