Friday, May 14, 2010

Artist Trading Cards

It was ATC night at the Bizzy B scrapbook store tonight. My friend Marilyn and I went along to find out what it is all about and were kindly welcomed into the group. They meet on the second Friday of each month to swap cards. About a week beforehand, you email in to advise if you will be attending and planning to swap. You can choose to make every card the same, or make a variety. The rule is, if you don't bring ATC's to swap, you don't get any from the other group members present but you can still attend whether or not you bring cards. If you make cards, you have to make an extra one to donate to the store. It's a social evening and a chance to share information and art.

ATC's are small cards measuring 2.5 by 3.5 inches in size. Each month, there is a different theme. Tonight's was "house and home" and nine women exchanged cards, although there were at least 16 of us in attendance. Everyone's art was completely different from the next person's and it was fascinating to see what everyone had made. Some people used stamps, some fabric, different types of paper stock, paints - you name it, it is possible to incorporate just about anything into an ATC. One woman's cards featured origami that could be changed from a house to a couch to a piano - amazing!

My favourites were the ones made by a woman named Sue who took a picture of her own home and then made 9 different cards using that photo together with themes such as "fly away home" - which was a goose carrying the house on its wings, "mobile home" - a turtle carrying the house on its back, "home sweet home" - a cupcake with the house in the design - you get the idea. Very clever and beautifully done.

I was too shy to ask to take pictures of the cards made by the group members tonight but I did take some shots of some of the cards they had on display in the store before we got started. Some appear to have the theme of "time" but I also loved the one about the manual typewriter! (My apologies to the artists for not giving their names, I didn't realize until later that people sign their cards on the back.)

Marilyn and I were definitely inspired to try our hand at this art form next month. Stay tuned!

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