ATC Swap

These are ATC's that I just made for a swap that I'm participating in.  ATC's are Artist Trading Cards.  People trade them, sort of like baseball cards.  Only prettier.  :)  They are the size of a standard playing card, 2.5 x 3.5".  They are supposed to be traded, never sold.  :)

I'd never done one before.  The third one down, in fact, Music Makes the Heart Light, is the first one I'd ever done.  Some people think they're too small to work with.... too confining... they like a big page or canvas to work on.  Others love this little size, because it's less intimidating....not so much space to fill.  I can see both points.  Probably depends on your mood at the time!  :)  This last two weeks, for me, these have been the perfect size.  It does mean having smaller images on hand ("inchies" work well) or being able to print out images that you love - in a smaller format.

This "Boo to You!" one was made for my friend, Jana, who is hosting the swap.  It's up to her to gather them, spread them all out and randomly choose (without looking at the images) however many (if you put in two, you get two back; four, you get four back, etc.......)  for each participant and get them all mailed back to each person in a timely fashion.  I knew that Jana had originally wanted the theme to be Halloween, but we realized we'd run out of time... by the time people got them done and mailed to her, Halloween would be long-gone.  So, then, we decided to make the theme "open"... so, you could do anything you wanted!  But, I knew that Jana wanted Halloween ones, but also Thanksgiving ones... so, I did one of each for her, because I couldn't decide!  :)

I tried some new background techniques on these.  Another great thing about the smaller size.... it's not too much of an investment - either financially, physically or emotionally - because the area is so small!  That's not to say that it didn't still take a lot of time.  I'm not quick about these things.  Of course, I have other things I'm doing in my life, but even when I carve out time to do art and don't have too many interruptions... I only get one done a day...maybe the start of a second one.  But, I never got two completed in a day.

Anyway, they were loads of fun to do... I look forward to doing more!

I hope you enjoy looking at them!

Happy Fall and Happy Halloween!!

      ~   Teri