What the Heck are ATCs?

Today I came across ATCs or Artist Trading Cards when I was reading a post at 37 days, "Carry a talisman." She talks about and displays an ATC that a reader - Donna Miller - designed for her with a quote from her blog. It's fabulous. (I put a small version below so you know what to look for.) But you really have to visit both those blogs.

Reading that post sent me on a journey to learn more about ATCs. You can read about them at Wikipedia if you are interested. The only standard is that the measurements are 2.5" x 3.5" and can be either portrait or landscape. Oh, and that they are traded and not sold, although I did find some for sale, too.

Where have I been? These are so great! I have been enamored by the philosophy of reducing clutter and simplifying life for years. And we have a very small house (by 2007 standards).  So, for those of us who don't have a place to display large works of art, this seems like a neat way to collect and enjoy art in miniature. And they make unique gift items.

Here's a neat tutorial from CedarSeed.
And a site called Artist Trading Cards.
And Artist Trading Card Forums.

Do you collect ATCs?

Comments

[Cam]

Interesting article, many thanks.