Lisa J. Mails Elementary

Come join us every Friday in front of the library (inside if it's cold or rainy) to trade Artist Trading Cards! Bring the ones you have made or collected and trade with Mrs. Wallace and her Creative Crew. Parents are invited to join in the fun - Mrs. Wallace is always looking for creative types to help!

 

Click to download the informational flyer about Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

 

We have a creative art movement at Lisa J. Mails - it's called Artist Trading Cards. (Google it for more information on the internet.)

 

Similar to trading sports cards or Pokemon cards, ATCs are standard trading card-sized pieces of miniature art that artists create and then trade and collect. This is a "thing" out there in the world of art/art journaling that I have been a part of that I thought would be great to share with our students. It's an opportunity for anyone to make art and be creative.

 

The only rule about ATCs is their size - they are a standard trading card size of 2.5 x 3.5 inches, which also happens to be the size of a standard poker playing card. You can make your own 'blank' cards to make art on using any type of paper (heavier than regular paper) such as manila folders, cardstock, old greeting cards, poker-size playing cards, scrapbook paper, cereal or other paperboard boxes, cardboard...the list goes on.

 

It's easy to make ATCs from a sheet of cardstock. Click here for a tutorial.

 

You can make any kind of art you want using whatever art supplies you have.  

 

This is a long-term ongoing project at Mails and we encourage everyone to get involved.

 

Here's how you can encourage your kids to participate:

• Help them put together a small art kit that they can easily take with them places. Some easy to use supplies include colored pencils, markers, pencils, scissors and a glue stick. 
• Help them look for materials they can make their own ATCs with - old greeting cards, old (or new) manila folders, cardstock, even junk mail envelopes that you get that are heavier paper stock can be used.
• Provide old magazines and catalogs with pictures and patterns they can cut up and glue down to make collage style cards.
• Sit down with them to make ATCs - it's a great way to spend some quiet time having fun and using your brain to create. Making art can be amazingly therapeutic. You will find that the more time you spend being creative, the more creative you will be.
• You can purchase trading card storage pages at the store for your artist to keep their ATCs and the ones they trade. They are the same ones you use for baseball cards or Pokemon cards.

 

Be inspired!

Mrs. Wallace