ATC Book and ATC trading

I just got an email reminding me that I signed up to participate in the ATC book this year at ArtFest. The idea is to make 35 ATC's that relate to ArtFest in some way and send them in to the book 'editor'. They will then sort them with all the other contributors cards and I will receive a fantastic art memento in book form that includes 35 different ATC's from various individuals. I've done this for the last 3 years and the resulting little books are so creative and colorful. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. There are only a few rules about these cards; they are always the same size as a regular playing card and they can only be traded or given away. They can not be sold.

Making ATC's is a way to be creative in a mini-way. They are art collages in a 2 1/2 X 3 1/2" format. They can be completely hand done, include art stamps and emphemera, photography and even computer generated art. No boundaries on the creativity.

At ArtFest they are a major trade item. I have a binder full of pages (those clear plastic sleeves they put sports trading cards in) from prior years' trades. I also belonged to an online ATC group that had themed trades for a year or so. Then they started including children and that's not the age group I wanted to trade with. I have a few of my ATC's scanned in from when I sent in trades to the ATC group so I've included a couple of them. I'm sure that there are still groups on line that trade ATC's. Stampington, they publish Somerset Studio Magazine, has a nice little softcover book on ATC's, called Artist Trading Cards, that include work from several of the artists who attend and/or teach at ArtFest, Art and Soul and many other venues. It's fun to look through my personal collection and find cards from these same artists.

You don't see much in Somerset Studio Magazine , my favorite magazine, these days about ATC's but there is still a lot on journaling as an art form. I keep promising myself that I'll get back to my art journal. I don't find it hard to decorate and prepare the pages. I just can't make myself write down my inner most thoughts in the book. Perhaps what I need to do is print out these blogs and use them as a starting point. By the way, in looking through the Stampington Co. Web site today, I noticed they have a new publication on "Artful Blogging". I guess I need than one to make my own blog more interesting.