What are Artist Trading Cards?

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are miniature works of art that are traded between artists. Only 2.5" x 3.5", these little canvases are original works of art on cardstock, watercolour paper or board and can be about anything and made with any media, materials, or techniques. They can be produced as one-of-a-kind originals, in limited editions, or in a series based on a particular theme or subject. It's all up to the individual artist.

The rules for ATCs are:

• they must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches (64 X 89 mm),
• they are traded for other cards, not sold, and
• the back should have your name, contact information, date, title of work and a number if it is a part of a series.

For more information about ATCs, check out these websites that I found really helpful: Art Junction and Ellen Hutson's "the CLASSroom".

I have only recently become aware and involved in ATCs. This month I made my first ATC and was involved in an ATC swap between six Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, where the theme of the swap was "Japanese". So here is my Japanese ATC swap card...

Stamps: Asian Artistry (Autumn-Winter Mini Level 2 Hostess), Circle Circus (114375). Card/Paper: Basic Black (106561), Whisper White (106549), Pink Flamingo DSP (113976). Ink: VersaMark (102283). Accessories: Real Red Re-Inker (103287), Kiwi Kiss Re-Inker (111842), Black Stampin' Emboss Powder (109133), White Stampin' Emboss Powder (109132), Linen Thread (104199). Tools: 1-1/4" Square Punch (104400), 1" Circle Punch (109046), 3/4" Circle Punch (107217), 1/16" Handheld Punch (101227), Heat Tool (106586), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

I found this theme really difficult and it really stretched me out of my comfort-zone, which is good! So, to find inspiration for my swap, I wandered around the internet, and what I found was a lot of gorgeous photographs of Cherry Blossom trees, Japan's national flower. The blossom stamp from the Asian Artistry stamp set came to mind and I hoped to capture the essense of these beautiful flowers. On the back of my ATC I wrote, "Inspired by Japanese Cherry Blossoms".

Here is some more information about my ATC:

• The background stamped images are black embossed on Whisper White cardstock and matted onto Basic Black.
• The flower blossoms are white embossed on Whisper White cardstock, saturated with water, then dyed using Real Red and Kiwi Kiss re-inkers.

• The "beads" on the right are made from Real Red patterned paper from the Pink Flamingo DSP pack, then threaded and knotted onto Linen Thread. I got this idea from a lovely card I saw on Bronwyn Eastley's website. There is also a great tutorial there on how to make paper beads.

• The Japanese character was laser printed onto Whisper White cardstock, dyed the same way as the blossoms, then punched out. The kanji character is Sakura, which means "Cherry Blosssom".

Here are the lovely Japanese ATC swaps that I received...