Artist Trading Cards!

Oh goodness! Have I found a new hobby or what? My friend Janeen introduced me to ATC today. She came over to do some paper art with me after she saw my post about scrapbooking through the Bible. She also brought me two lovely pieces of homemade paper that she created out of the tear-off part of the Netflix mailer. You can see the bright flecks of Netflix red in this lavender-hue paper. I was so impressed and so touched that she would think of me. Anyway, she brought her album of Artist Trading Cards. These are traditional baseball-trading card-sized works of art...some were painted, some were penned, some were papers and some were mixed media but they were all incredibly lovely and just as unique as the individual artists who created them. In Janeen's album there are tiny pieces of art from all over the world!

During our time of fellowship I completed my "F" page for my Scripture Scrapbook. I used a bit of the homemade paper and was so thrilled with how it turned out! Then, I promptly set about creating my miniature masterpieces! I used an ugly, bent, worn-out (or you could use a brand-spanking-new) playing card as my base. You can purchase ATC blank card stock "canvas" but I like the idea of using up those cards that have seen a few too many hours of canasta. Besides, I usually don't play with a full deck so re-purposing playing cards makes me feel ... um.... green.

I carefully tore a piece of the homemade paper into a rectangle roughly the size of the card. (I think there is some rule against using scissors on homemade paper, but I'm not sure.) I glued it to the card and then added some fabric scraps. I stamped a small piece of card stock with a quaint saying and brushed some ink around it and smudged the ink a bit. On purpose. Then I added a metal disc with an "r" on it. (I made this one for my friend Rachel.) I put some paper in a complimentary color on the back of the card because I didn't want the king of spades to show. I signed my creation (as all artists do) and admired my work.
Wanna see?

I made one for Janeen before she left (I didn't get a picture of that one). I'm looking forward to starting my own collection of ATC from around the world. I think I will buy one of these to display my collection as it grows.
Kinda neat, huh? Wanna trade with me? Leave me a comment and we'll make arrangements to trad ATC.