Calling all ATC Artists!

[webchyck]

Hi there fellow Quirks! Our ATC (artist trading cards) gallery is starting to fill up, and that is so exciting!!! I recognize several of the digital artists that have discovered the simple joy of creating ATCs, and would love to hear how all of you found this art form! So, if you make ATCs (digital or otherwise), chime in here and let us know your story! I'll start!

I'm Becky (aka webchyck) and I made my first ATC back in December 2005. I was seeing all these things called ATCs in various online galleries, so I did a little research on the topic and thought it was just so clever. The TRADING part is what intrigued me! There's just something fun about sending and receiving these little jewels in the mail, a personal connection you don't always have with online relationships.

So, I think most of the swaps I initiate will be the snail mail variety, at least a monthly one, but if someone wants to start a thread challenging Quirks to create ATCs of a particular theme to simply share in our gallery, that would be fine, too. Just call it a digital trade when you post.

Okay, stay tuned for our first themed snail mail swap coming May 1st! Tell all your friends!

[SteinwaysMom]

I'm Debra (SteinwaysMom), Steinway being my pet bunny. I just got into digital collage a few months ago and learned about ATC's. My biggest hurdle is printing them but I just figured out you can put 2 ATC's on a 3.5 x 5" photo so I am going to get them printed at Scrapbookphotos on matte paper and see how it goes. I saw some on E-bay before that and they looked really cute and fun.

[CathyRose]

Hi I am Cathy, and I am so happy to see this site! I love ATC's! I was introduced to the paper ones by my DD. After participating in a digital swap a while back I started looking for a group of digital artists that were doing cards that were a little more artsy than what I was finding in the average swap. I found tons of regular ATC sites but not what I was looking for in digital. Well, this looks like just what I was looking for! Now I will warn you, I have a tough time pushing myself out of the box and I often do "neat and pretty" when I do layouts. I really want to learn to let go of that and let my creativity soar. If anyone can drag me over to the dark side of this art, I think you girls can. I love what I see in the gallery, and I'm looking forward to learning a lot and sharing too.

[akissling]

I am Alison and I am addicted to atcs! In my real life I have a family and am a librarian. I started making digital ones last summer for a swap through another site. I don't know whether it is the small size or being able to put wings, crowns, flowers etc on them that makes me want to make them. I am truly passionate about them. The best part about doing them digitally (aside from the fact that you are not "stuck" using glue ha ha) is that you can make just about anything that you need to adorn them. Can't wait to get started!

[happyrobyn]

Hello Quirks! I am Robyn England (happyrobyn in these parts) and I discovered ATC's about 4 months ago. But didn't create one until about December. I have only been involved in one real mail swap. And it was a ton of fun. If you would like to see the cards I made for that swap and/or download them, CLICK HERE (http://robynengland.com/atc). I love to share them.

I enjoy all types of ATC's but my favorite to make are the ones I do with family photos (memory art). I can't wait for the fun to begin!!

[mishou]

Hi, my name is Michelle (a.k.a. mishou) and I am an ATC virgin. That's right. You heard me! As much as I love altered art/collage I have never attempted an ATC. I think it's the restrictive size that scares me. I don't know why but I always feel like I *need* a big canvas. Switching from 12x12 to 8x8 when I turned digital was VERY painful for me! LOL
In all honesty though it's something I've been wanting to try for a long time and the ATC gallery here is SO SO SO inspiring that I think you guys are going to convince me to give it a shot.
I'm excited (and kind of nervous!) for the first swap!

[Fiddlette]

I'm Christine, aka Fiddlette...and I LOVE creating ATC's!! I love the way they look printed out, and I love trading them....I'm fairly new at them, only a few months have I been doing it...

I think I like the idea of mixed media trading cards...I love creating the card with digi software, but I love the idea of printing the card out on a variety of materials, like artist canvas, or vellum, or transparencies...and using attachments to enhance the IRL experience of holding one...

For example, in the one swap I was in, I sewed pockets for holders, and attached ribbons to give the presentation a mardi gras look...

I love the look of paper crafted ATC's, but the convenience of digi...so that is one way you can have the best of both worlds!! :)

[Chinook]

Hi - I'm Karen Aicken, aka Chinook. First and foremost, I'm a rubber stamper. 3 years ago, I realized too late that I could be trading ATC's at the April stamp convention here in Calgary. I watched in envy at the other traders, and got on board for the next stamp convention here in 2005. It was much harder to find people who were trading ... I wasn't used to it ... but I DID find some, and oh - had SO much fun. That was it - I was addicted. But no time to figure out the mail swaps that I was seeing advertised, to see if they were my style or not.

I'm lucky to have pen-pals that I trade collaged ATC's with via snail mail, and some of them even tolerate my digital ones (LOL). So having a digital site here is going to be WONDERFUL!!! I really enjoy the freedom that digital gives me, and also being able to add dimentional pieces after they are printed off is just TOO MUCH FUN.

I don't always do funky ATCs -- whatever my mood is, is what I end up creating. I used to say that "I stamp whatever the little voices tell me to" ... now I'm the same with digital. LOL.

Cheers!

[webchyck]

Welcome all! So glad to have you all here! I think we're going to have a blast.

Love Debra's idea about how to get her ATCs printed! Clever! Iffen you don't want to do them at home.

Cathy, don't worry--we'll have "neat and pretty" swaps as well as challenges that will get you outside the box a bit. We definitely want to explore some of the tougher parts of life here.

That's right Alison, we don't need no stinkin' glue! LOL! Of course, you can use it if you want, but we all know what you mean!

Robyn's post reminded me that I also have a web page of my first ATC swap pieces...you can check them out HERE (http://home.comcast.net/~webchyck/atcswap01.htm).

Michelle, just make the canvas big when you're working on your ATCs digitally and then reduce them to a smaller size for printing! You will trick your brain that way into thinking you have all this real estate for creating. LOL! (Is that really a good tip? I'm not sure! LOL!)

I was in Christine's swap where she did the pocket/ribbon thing! It was so delightful to receive this gem in the mail! Really, it's so much fun!

Chinook, I will be more than happy to contribute to the little voices in your head! heh heh heh! Who knows what we can get you to do!

Welcome aboard everyone! Can't wait to get started!

[happyrobyn]

Wow Becky! That was a very thorough reply!! LOL! Welcome everyone! So glad to see so many ATC artists.

[CathyRose]

Hey Becky, your ATC are gorgeous, thanks for sharing the link!

[webchyck]

Thanks, Cathy! I was on a real roll there for a few days! I was so wanting to play with my supplies and yet felt I had nothing to scrapbook, so the ATC swap was just the thing. It's simply PLAYTIME then!

[Kazadoodle]

Hi all - I first discovered ATCs about - let's see - seven (7) years ago and made a few through my on-line rubber stamping group - I got bored with that and joined Nervouness.org and made a few there - then nothing for a long, long time and now I like making digi ATCs - it's easier because I don't have to unpack and pack up all my stuff

[webchyck]

No doubt digi is a lot easier!

[AmyK]

Hey, how did I miss this thread? I am a notorious "New Posts" user, when I really need to get down and dirty in the forums.

I discovered ATCs roughly 2 years ago. I was in a card-making phase and found out about them from... somewhere? But I joined in a whole bunch of swaps right away and have some of the most gorgeous cards in my collection! I really like the smaller format, and have done a couple of digi ATC swaps in the last year or so. The last 5 days since finding this site, I've cranked out 4, and I am having so much fun with them! I think I'm basically doing my art journaling in ATC size. I don't think I have patience for anything bigger. :rolleyes:

[Vania16]

I'm really new to the whole ATC world too. I started seeing them at Scrapartist and eventually volunteered to do one for the Muse. I've done a few since then, but I'm still learning :) They're lots of fun to create - I like the small size as it really gets me to think about each piece that I'm adding, a helpful skill for me in all the things I create!

[kygirl]

As Robyn says, I'm an ATC virgin no longer. I posted my first to the gallery this week.
I've known about ATCs for awhile, but didn't know anyone else who was interested. At the time I learned of them, hand-crafted ATCs were mostly being traded at private get-togethers.
Love the idea of digital ATCs. You'll be seeing a lot more from me now that I have the bug.

[happyrobyn]

YAY DOnna!!!!

[webchyck]

So glad you've caught the ATC bug Donna!

[Cre8tvlyYrs]

Well...I've finally decided to venture over here on my way to MADness! I've actually done only one snail mail ATC swap a few years back but I was highly involved in many tag swaps that were basically the same as the ATC's but in tag shapes. I used to be a heavy stamper up until a couple of years ago since switching over to digi but I once in a while get my hands in the ink! I agree...digi ATC's are cool cause you don't get as dirty although once in a while I prefer the latter!

[webchyck]

We're glad to have you here Gina! Hope you catch next month's mail swap!

[Madge]

Hi, I first started making touchy-feely ATCs a couple of years ago, but soon became disillusioned when it became apparent the the word 'swap' wasn't taken too seriously on that particular forum. :rolleyes:

Just recently I started creating DATCs but it was hard to find anyone who appreciated them. Now I've found the Quirk Zone, I'm so happy! I get such pleasure from seeing the quiet perfection of a beautifully printed DATC and I'm sure you all think the same.

My one stumbling block is the fact that I live in the UK so the cost of postage is going to be too high. Perhaps at some future point we could have an email swap, although I know this means they won't be signed. Another way round this is to gather together all the UK resident Quirks to do a swap. The same for others in different parts of the world. :) As more people join this fab site, I'm sure that will be possible.

[mishou]

Those are some really awesome ideas Madge! I'm sure everyone would appreciate some European-Only swaps or Aussie-Only swaps.

I'd be up for email swaps too. Actually, I don't even really need an official swap to trade . . . if someone just PM'd me out of the blue and said 'hey, I like you're ATC's wanna trade?' I'd happily zip it all up and trade away. LOL

We have some "digital shares" going on right now where the idea is to just make them and put them in galleries here. But again, if everyone wanted to turn that into a swap that would be really easy. Actually I'm pretty sure all of us Losties were gonna zip and trade our Lost ATC's . . .

Anyway, again, great ideas Madge . . .I think you'll find lots of people open to what you've suggested . . .

[Pixeldigger]

Fiddlette suggested I come here and post, so ... herewith an ATC

My life (http://www.digitalartquirks.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1242&cat=501&limit=recent)

[happyrobyn]

So glad to have you here Pixeldigger! So much fun goin' on at all times of the day and night!

[Cardee]

Hi everyone!

I recognize lots of you from another digi-scrappin site! I've taken a long break from digi-scrappin' but lately I've wanted to get goin' again. I just have to be doing something creative.

I've decided to jump back in with ATC's. I just made my first one a few weeks ago. They are fun and challenging for sure. A few of my friend's and I have been trading them through email, and we've had a lot of fun. This site has so much talent. I'm getting through the galleries slowly but surely!

[Nevermore]

Cardee! Oh my! I am so thrilled to see you here! I can't wait to see your ATCs. I certainly remember spending hours looking at your stuff and trying to figure out the "Cardee" secret behind the Cardee style :)

[happyrobyn]

Hey Cardee! So great to have you join us!!! Can't wait to see your quirk style!

[webchyck]

Welcome Cardee! So glad you've made it to our little neck of the woods! If you ever want to give a mail ATC swap a try, we have one every month! Can't wait to see your ATCs!

[PamPie]

Yay, it's Carla! It will be fun to see your work in the galleries :cool: Glad you stepped into the DAQ world....

[Pixeldigger]

digi ATC's are cool cause you don't get as dirty although once in a while I prefer the latter!

So why not print out a digi and then add a few elements onto it? That way, you get the best of both.

[webchyck]

Oh yeah! That's sort of what the Mail Swap ends up being all about. We can't seem to keep from adding little doo-dads to our ATCs after we print them out. BTW, the July swap registration is closing at midnight Eastern. Email me if you want to be included! (mailto:webchyck@comcast.net)

[LRNR49]

Dear Becky,

I am interested in this ATC by snail mail swap you have featured in the forum. You stated it was going to start May 1st. Did you mean August 1st instead? I have been doinf ATC by snail mail for at least 3 years and I just love it because it is so fun to get them in the mail. So, just send me info when this ATC starts so I can start working on the first ATC. I am new to this website etc. but it is exciting. I actually got to it from a blog and they spoke highly of this site.

I am not doing anythink digital. I am a paperscraper but I see things that digital scrappers make that I can print out and use as a paperscrapper maybe not in my scrapbook, but maybe in cardmaking I do or other art work I do, or actually in my scrapbooks.

I am excited about these monthly ATCs. I hope I am not too late and that I can join this group at the beginning.

Barb Brandt
fourkbooks@comcast.net
LRNR49

[Pixeldigger]

I joined for the July swap and now I am a front-door lurker until the postman has been.

[webchyck]

Hi Barb! We have a mail ATC swap every month! So, you're in luck! We're just about to start a new sign-up, so look for the August Mail Swap thread in a couple of days! Participants will have until August 7th to register and then I'll distribute the lists on August 8th. Then, we have until the end of the month to create and mail our cards. We love paper artists around here! I am just starting to print out digital elements to use in ATCs, so that is a lot of fun. All sorts of vintage photos can be found online for ATC creation. Lots of digital papers work really well for this artform, too. We're so glad you're going to join us!

[photojenic]

I'd really love to join in the ATC group. I've been lurking around the edges of the Quirkdom, but am ready to become a more active member.

I learned about ATCs about 3 years ago, and even tried making my own paper version. Sadly, no one I knew had ever heard of them, or was interested. My DD even made a bunch herself, and was met with the same results. We ended up throwing them all away about a year later.

Since then, I discovered digiscrapping, and just recently this site. I'm really excited about trying ATCs again, and I might even be able to convince DD to try again too. She's very creative and loves sharing her artwork.

I'm looking forward to the next swap!

[webchyck]

Oh what a shame you threw them away, Jen! I keep all the printed out copies of my digital ones in a special leather box. Can't decide what to do with my paper ones--probably start trading them somewhere! I think Robyn wants my latest one (Summer Friends). There are lots of paper ATC swaps online now. Some can be found in this article I wrote for DAQ:
http://www.digitalartquirks.com/articles/article_atc_becky_march2006.htm

[happyrobyn]

YES I WANT IT!!!! LOL! Becky - what if we have a special swap for the kids. We could cut them out some 2.5x3.5 cardstock and they could stick on whatever they wanted! That would be a riot!

[webchyck]

hahaha! That's a good idea, Robyn!

But I don't know how to mail things to "happyland"--what the heck? LOL!

[happyrobyn]

Just send it to me in Tejas and I'll be sure to forward it on! I've been visiting happyland all day in preparation for my blog post tomorrow! There's gonna be a big party - complete with party music and a present! LOL! Marty got me a cake today so going to enjoy that a day early and I got a new DVD drive so my computer is gonna have a party when I get some of this crap off of it tonight.

Was that rambling? Am I rambling? So sorry. Just very excited!

[Mish]

Hi everyone! I'm Mish (aka ohiotubagal on other sites) and this is my first ever attempt at quirking or ATC's.

Last night I went to a paper crop and met two ladies who were into ATC's. They showed me their ATC albums and I was instantly intrigued. One gal was telling me about "ephemora" (a term I hadn't heard before) and how she collects what most people consider trash to turn it into trading cards. They have a little group that meets to make and trade cards.

I never "got" the whole ATC thing before, but now that I've seen them in person and had someone explain the process to me, it's just fascinating.

So, without further ado, I proudly present my first ATC/quirk, titled
"Too Much Coffee" (http://www.digitalartquirks.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1713&cat=501&limit=recent). Thanks for looking!

[happyrobyn]

Congratulations Mish and welcome to the world of quirking and ATC's! We have a monthly ATC swap here at DAQ.

[CathyRose]

Hi Mish, so glad you decided to join us! Be careful, ATCs and Quirking are addictive! :)