ATC step by step

I recently started to get hooked onto making ATC's (artist trading cards). The definition of ATC straight from Wikipedia is:

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards,[1] or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm),[2] small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets.[3] The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.[4] Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.

What's great about them is that they come together quickly, you can try new mixed media techniques out on them without the fear of ruining or wasting a canvas or other large item, and that they really are beautiful miniature pieces of art.

Here's a quick step by step for you:

The ATC below was made using a masking technique which utilized the "trash" from the back of some paper tape and some spray ink. When I separate paper tape from the backing I always save the backing paper to use later for projects just like this.

Step 1: Remove the plastic backing from your paper tape.

Step 2: Wrap it around your ATC and secure with removable tape on back.

Step 3: Spray your ATC with a few different colors of spray ink or mist, then remove the backing.

Step 4: Finish off your ATC.

Thanks for stopping by!