ATCs: Little Cards With a Large Appeal!
For hundreds of years artists have enjoyed creating in miniature, and more recently people have enjoyed acquiring and building up sets of sports trading cards, and various themed cards packaged with cigarettes and other products such as breakfast cereals and tea. In 1996, the two art forms came together in the form of the first Artist Trading Cards (ATCs): the inspiration of Swiss artist Vanci Stirnemann, who, in May 1997, showcased over 1000 of these tiny works of art at a Gallery in Zurich. Visitors attending the show were told that they were not for sale but could instead be exchanged for a small card of their own creation. And so Artist Trading Cards were born. A Canadian visitor took the idea back home with him, and from there ATCs spread to the USA, eventually becoming popular all over the world.
Anyone can create an ATC in any medium; you can make them as simple or as fanciful as you wish! And there are virtually no restrictions, just two basic rules: they must be 2.5" by 3.5" (64mm by 89mm) in size, and they definitely must be traded and not sold. Each card may be a single unique creation, part of an edition of several identical cards, or one of a series with a similar theme.
In general the ATC base is made from a piece of firm card, but the card can be created from paper, card, metal, acetate, fabric or any other suitable materials. You can buy ready cut cards in various colours with square or curved corners, or you can cut your own, and this is something that is very easy to do with your Craft Robo.
Many cards are designed as a basic "flat" rectangle to showcase various artistic techniques,
but ATCs can also be made three dimensional by using decoupage or other dimensional embellishments.
They may also be cut in different shapes and styles as long theses remain within the basic 2.5" by 3.5"
rectangle, and it is also possible (and great fun) to create "action" type ATCs,
in the form of shaker boxes for example, or using waterfall or slider mechanisms. Again all these
types can be designed and cut using your Craft Robo.
Convention suggests that certain information should be provided on the back of each ATC, and this may include the following details: name/signature, contact details (e.g.email address), date of creation, title or theme name, and series or edition number if applicable. I like also to include a few details of the media and/or techniques I've used to create each card. Cards are available with these details and sometimes also a suitable design printed on the back, or you can now buy various designs of rubber stamps for this purpose. It's also possible to print and cut your ATCs with your own details on one side.
For storage, you can use individual transparent covers, albums with pages of transparent pockets, etc, or again you can cut envelopes and little storage boxes with your Craft Robo.
A small free ATC template kit in gsd format can be downloaded to start you off; other templates will be available later.
Template Downloads
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