Go Make Something » Artist Trading Cards

A Formula for ATCs

Lisa Vollrath — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 17:51:09 +0000

First, we’ll need some backgrounds. Backgrounds are just what they sound like—something that acts as a surface on which to build your layers. ATC backgrounds can be made of pretty much anything you choose. I generally start with a plain piece of cardstock cut to size (2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches), and build up. Here’s an assortment of patterned papers, painted text pages, clay tiles and whatever else was laying around on my work table:

Notice there are no solid backgrounds here? That’s intentional. If it started out solid, I painted over it, stamped it, or did something to add visual interest. Just because it’s a background doesn’t mean it has to be boring!

Sometimes, those basic backgrounds need something, because let’s face it—starting out with just a piece of paper isn’t very exciting. Let’s make some of these basic backgrounds a little more interesting:

Top left: I added three strips of yellow cardstock. I almost always work in odd numbers rather than even. If I’m going to add something, it will be one, three or five. An art teacher once told me that the eye accepts odd numbers more easily than even. I don’t know if that’s true, but my eye certainly likes them better.

Top center: I added one torn strip of lighter text. Notice on both of these first two cards that my additions don’t split the card into two even halves, but into two different sized sections? That’s another thing most people’s eyes will accept more easily than an exact split in half.

Top right: My favorite thing to do with lightweight background papers is to trim them down slightly smaller, and mount them on a solid color cardstock to create a frame.

Bottom left: I added three dots, just to break up the design a bit.

Bottom center: I added a torn piece of blue, set to one side of the card.

Bottom right: I like to work dark on the bottom, light on the top, so to give this card some light, I added a torn piece of lighter paper to the top right corner.

OK, now we have some interesting backgrounds—next come focal images. A focal image is the main image that draws the eye. It’s the thing the viewer should see first. In most collaged cards, it’s a person or thing, so let’s try a few people and things:

This can be an image rubber stamped directly onto the card like the one at upper left, or stamped onto a transparent paper like the one at upper right. I like to use printed images of people that have been cut away from their backgrounds, like the two center cards. I also grabbed an image on a tag, and one on a faux postage stamp, because focal points can always be things like tags, stamps or other applied pieces. The one thing all these images have in common is that they’re fairly large on the cards, and on each card, there is only one. Pick one big thing to take focus rather than choosing a bunch of little things.

Now it’s time to embellish the card. This is where a lot of people dump everything in their junk drawer onto the card. I try to pick one or two things—or one thing that I use several times:

The key to embellishing is to make sure that whatever you choose is smaller than the focal image, and doesn’t obscure it in any way. So, starting at the top left, the moon face was left unembellished, because that card is already has more than enough stuff going on. Top center, the African girl in one corner gets balanced out by a big yellow daisy in the opposite corner. The stamped image at top right got a strip of measuring tape placed to keep me from wondering where the top of her head went. Lower left, the tag needed a brad in its little hole, and I chose a star shape just for fun. This image is large enough that it doesn’t need much more. Center, the card was wrapped with magenta fibers tied in a knot, and a small coin. Right, I simply added four small brads to the corners of the stamp.

I like to use words on many of my ATCs, so the very last step is to add a word in a convenient empty spot:

There ya go—finished ATCs in just a few easy steps!

(No paper was harmed in the creation of this lesson. These cards were all created digitally!)

Two Styles of Faux Postage ATCs

Lisa Vollrath — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:46:10 +0000

Now, I could have just whipped out any one of the bazillion sheets of faux postage I sell at Ten Two Studios, and made ATCs with them, but I was in the mood for something new. I decided to create faux postage stamps from pieces of paper instead, turning them into collages that represented postage stamps. Here’s how I made the first style, shown at right:

I thought of this card in terms of layers, with each layer getting progressively smaller. I decided to mount my ATCs on solid backgrounds, cut at the standard 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inch size. On top of the background, I placed a layer of plain white cardstock cut with scalloped scissors at about 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches.

On top of the white scalloped layer, I put a printed paper, which acted as the background for my stamp. These pieces were cut at roughly 2-1/8 x 3-1/8 inches. I found through trial and error that lighter backgrounds worked better than darker ones.

On top of the backgrounds, I placed figures that had been sized to fit, and cut out to eliminate their backgrounds. I tried to position these to one side rather than centering them, to allow room for a little text.

When I was happy with the placement, I glued the three stamp layers together, using a glue stick. For now, I left the stamp collage separate from its background, because I’m sort of a messy stamper.

I stamped some text onto the faux postage collages—some words, and a denomination. I used my new magnetic alphabet from Making Memories, which was this week’s impulse purchase.

When I was finished stamping and all the ink had dried, I mounted the faux postage collage onto its background.

This is the second style I made, using my little 1 inch collage square backgrounds from a few weeks back. I received a few of these from other people that reminded me of postage stamp designs, so I decided to make my own, adding the scalloped border. The process is pretty much the same as the stamp made above—just quite a bit smaller:

I cut white paper with scalloped scissors, and mounted the 1 inch squares. After making a few, I found that it was easier to cut the 1 inch square, mount it on white cardstock leaving a border around each side, and trim it down with scalloped scissors.

I cut around some tiny figures to eliminate their backgrounds, and mounted them onto the stamp backgrounds.

I stamped a denomination on each faux postage stamp. There wasn’t much room for text—although, I probably could have done this with words and numbers cut from magazines.

I mounted the stamps on some full-sized ATC backgrounds cut from solid cardstock, and embellished with a little stamped and inked paper. To add a little dimension, I mounted the top and bottom faux postage stamps flat against the card with glue stick, then added the third one sort of floating above the others with a piece of double-stick foam tape.

Simple Folded ATC

Lisa Vollrath — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 17:43:17 +0000

I love making artist trading cards! They’re small and quick to make, even at their most complicated and intricate. I also really enjoy exchanging artwork with other artists—my current collection is getting close to 1000 cards, and each one is a treasure.

Sometimes, I want just a little more room than the standard ATC size allows. As with my altered books, my solution to this need for more space is simply to create a fold-out that will tuck a little extra room behind the front face of the card. This technique is extremely simple. As a plus, it absolutely requires viewers to pick your card up and handle it to get the full effect, so it’s a great ice-breaker at face to face exchanges.

To make a card like this one, you’ll need:

Cardstock or heavy paper for the background
A background stamp and inkpad
A word stamp or other embellishments for interior
Chalk inks for edging
A heart pattern or punch
Photos or images for the heart
Adhesive
Scissors and a paper trimmer

First, we’ll cut the background for the card. I used a solid ivory cardstock, but any heavyweight paper will do. If you’d prefer to use a patterned paper and skip the stamping, your card will come out just as lovely.

Cut a piece of your background paper 5 inches wide by 3-1/2 inches tall. I use a paper trimmer to cut my ATCs, because it gives me a cut that’s truly straight.

If you’d like to stamp a background image, do it now, while the card is flat. Once it’s folded, it becomes a little more awkward to apply a really large stamp like this one. If you’re using patterned paper, you might still want to stamp over the top of it. Try it—you might like it!

Add some color along the edge of your card with some chalk inks. Just swipe the pad along the edge at an angle. If you use pads in ochres or browns, it makes great aging. For this card, I used pink, to cover up the fact that my background stamp didn’t quite make it all the way to the edges of my card.

After your inks have dried completely, fold the card in half, patterned side in. This will leave you with a card that’s 2-1/2″ wide by 3-1/2″ tall—so, your card is now the correct ATC size.

Fold the top layer of the card back, revealing your lovely patterned background. Make sure that you fold it exactly in half, so the card remains the right size.

Print out the photo for your heart shape. If you’re using a punch, flip it over on its back. slide the photo into the punch image side up, and you’ll be able to position your image as you wish in the heart shape before you punch—then, just push down. Don’t worry, your punch will work just fine upside down.

If you’re tracing the heart shape, and need a pattern, you’ll find one uploaded to the Files section of my newsletter group. You have to be a subscriber to access the Files. Print off the heart, cut it out, then trace it onto your photo and cut it out again.

If you wish, edge your photo with some chalk inks. I like to do this with the same color I’ve used on the background, to tie the two pieces together.

Glue the heart to the left side of the folded card. Be sure you only put glue on one half of the heart, otherwise you’ll stick your fold together. (Don’t ask me how I know to tell you this…)

When your glue is dry, open the card and embellish it. I simply stamped a word, positioned so that when the card is closed, it’s hidden behind the heart. I sort of like the idea of hiding things inside, so they can only be seen when the card is open. It’s your card, so you decide how the interior should be decorated. Don’t forget to sign the back when you’re finished!

Simple ATC Books

Lisa Vollrath — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 17:39:17 +0000

On ARTdecos, we’ve done a couple of ATC book projects, where we’ve made books, filled them with our own artist trading cards, and then sent them around. Each artist takes one card made by the book’s originator, and replaces it with one of her own. Each of us came up with her own way of presenting her cards—here’s one way I did mine.

Materials:

Medium weight paper for pages, roughly 18 inches wide

Ruler

Corner punch

Cover stock

Scissors or paper trimmer

To make my pages, I started with a sheet of construction paper that measured 12 x 18 inches, because I want to make several sets of pages at one time. I often pick up pads of this—it’s big, inexpensive, and works well as the base of many deco projects. The key to this book is finding a paper that’s lightweight enough to fold flat, but strong enough to hold the weight of the cards, and take a little handling. Choose accordingly.

Place the paper on your work surface with the long edge in front of you. Using a ruler, measure off 3-1/4 inches from the short edge, and fold. I just use my ruler to make a crease, so there are no marks on my paper.

Using your first fold as a guide, fold the paper back and forth, creating an accordian. You’ll end up with folded pages that are 3-1/4 inches wide x 12 inches tall.

Keep folding the full length of the paper. Your last fold will be a thin one—that’s OK. This will be the piece that attaches to your cover.

Now it’s time to cut your pages to the correct height. Trim them to 4 inches. I do this by opening up a few folds, then cutting with my paper trimmer. Since my paper is 12 inches high, I can get three sets of pages from one sheet of paper.

Punch slots to hold cards using a corner punch. I use just a plain, straight corner punch for this.

Like I said, I wanted to make several sets of pages. I ended up using three different colors of paper for nine sets of pages. I don’t always use them all at once—I’ll tuck the extras in a drawer to use later.

To create a simple cover, just fold a piece of cover stock and trim to 4-1/4 high x 3-1/2 wide. Glue the little tab portion of your pages to the inside back cover as shown.

Flip the pages into position, covering the tab. Decorate the covers, and fill the book with ATCs.

Here’s another one of the world’s simplest covers. Cut a piece of cover stock 11 inches wide x 3-1/2 inches tall. Fold the cover 4 inches from the left edge. Place a set of pages just to the right of the fold. Remember that little short tab? Glue that down to the cover, allowing the pages to expand out from it. Fold the remaining cover piece over the pages. Unfold this shorter flap, and cut as shown to create a tab.

Cut a long slit in the larger flap, and tuck the tab into it to hold your booklet closed.

How To Get 10 ATCs From One Piece Of Cardstock

Lisa Vollrath — Fri, 09 Jan 2004 17:33:44 +0000

Getting ready to make some artist trading cards? Here’s a simple cutting diagram that will give you 10 cards from one sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 inch cardstock:

First, cut three strips from the paper lengthwise. One strip will be 3-1/2 inches wide, and the other two will be 2-1/2 inches wide. (Remember, the dimensions of ATCs are 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches)

Next, cut four 2-1/2 inch pieces from your 3-1/2 inch strip. Cut three 3-1/2 inch pieces from each 2-1/2 inch strip. You’ll have just a tiny piece of waste at the end of each strip.

You should now have 10 perfectly sized cards from one sheet of cardstock.

Tips

Using a paper trimmer instead of scissors makes cutting ATCs a much easier and cleaner process. Fiskars makes several models readily available in craft stores, Wal-Mart, and most office supply stores.

If you usually use plain white cards as your backgrounds, go ahead and cut up half a dozen sheets of paper at once, so you’ll have a stack of backgrounds ready to go next time you’re inspired.

I like to frame my cards with a solid color, like the House of Blues card shown here. To do this, I cut my solid 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches, and my white background cards 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches. The same cutting method can be used with the smaller dimensions to get ten cards from one sheet. Just remember to keep your smaller cards in a different pile!

Artist Trading Card Basics

Lisa Vollrath — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 17:11:56 +0000

Last year, I was introduced to artist trading cards, or ATCs. These tiny works of art are the size of a standard baseball trading card, and are swapped by artists through online trades or organized trading sessions around the world. They”re also highly addictive, since it’s almost impossible to make just one.

ATCs have just one simple rule: they must measure 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches, and be flat enough to slide into a standard trading card sleeve. Media, materials, and techniques are totally up to the individual artist, so cards can be rubber stamped, painted, collaged, screen-printed, or created by any method imaginable. ATCs are ideal for those who like small, quick projects, for testing new techniques, trying out new rubber stamps, or just playing. I generally make mine when I’ve got an idea for a collage or altered book page, and want to see how ink colors, papers and stamp designs look together. The materials are already out on the table and messy, so why not make a dozen ATCs while I’m at it? It’s an easy habit to fall into.

ATC examples are not easy to find, but there are a few artists sharing their work online. Art In Your Pocket offers photos of ATCs from a variety of artists active at Nervousness. Empress Dragon provides art galleries filled with ATC work, and also some great tips and templates for those wanting to get started. Both sites offer lists of links to other ATC artist web sites. I also have a few examples of ATCs posted in my own online gallery.

Places to swap ATCs can be equally elusive unless you’re already involved in some type of mail art. For the newcomer, the easiest place to find other ATC enthusiasts is Nervousness, home of all types of interesting land mail art objects. For rubber stamp enthusiasts, there is ArtTradingCards at Yahoo. For those who are patient and brave, there’s Copy Left, which collects cards until there are enough to make an edition, and then mails them back.

A few ATC tips:

The back of your cards should contain your name, any contact information
you wish to provide, and the number or series of the card. Some artists start numbering their cards with number 1, and just keep going. Others will do series numbering, such as 1 of 7 or 1/7. How you number is totally up to you.
Dimensional embellishment is acceptable, but remember that your finished
card must fit into a standard trading card sleeve. Making cards larger than the established dimensions is poor form, and will make your cards less desirable when swapping.
When choosing stamps and collage materials, remember to scale everything
down a little. The small size of an ATC lends itself to smaller designs that might get lost in larger collages or altered books. Save your littlest items for your ATCs!