My First ATC's

ATC's or Artist Trading Cards are usually made for swapping (in very much the same way that baseball cards are swapped.)  The main rule is they all conform to one size which is - 2 1/2  x  3 1/2 inches.  They can be made horizontally or vertically and you can basically use anything you want to decorate them.

I'll write an instructional guide to ATC's at another time.

I found myself not feeling inspired by anything in particular but I really wanted to do something crafty so a couple of months ago I decided I would start making a few ATC's.  I have no intention of swapping them, I'm just doing it for the fun of it.  It was my mum's birthday earlier this month and I made her a card by mounting an ATC I had previously made, onto some cardstock. It turned out really nice.  I'm going to write quotes onto the backs of some of these cards and give them to Jade for the inspirational quote box I made her.  I believe that 7Gypsies sells some sort of wall hanging on which you can display your ATC's.  That's something I may look into in the future.  But for now I'm just making them to use up small scraps and to have a bit of fun.

Over the next few days I'll upload the ones I've made so far.  I decided to take photos of them instead of scanning them and now wish I had used my scanner.  The quality isn't too good (and in some cases they are a bit blurry.)  I'll scan any new ones I make.  I hope you like them :)

Click on pictures for the full sized version (which look a lot crisper and nicer than the small size)

On the first one I used butterflies which I printed onto transparencies. The words are from a magazine.  The second and third ones have buttons and the fourth one has some fibres (I really must start using ribbons and fibres a lot more.  They are perfect for ATC's)

I love brown and blue together. On the first and second cards I strung some beads onto some wire.  The word "graceful"on the third card was a pre-made metal sticker. I used some sandpaper to remove and scratch up some of the metal which made the word really pop. The pink jewel heart on the fourth card used to belong to my daughter's barbie doll.