Artist Trading Cards are a fun way to experiment with colors and techniques. They are also a great way to use up random leftovers from other projects, like I did on this Artist Trading Card wth buttons and trim!
For those unfamiliar with the concept, an ATC (Artist Trading Card) is a 2.5″ by 3.5″ piece of art that is intended to be traded with other artists. The rear of an ATC is usually signed by the artist and indicates if the card is part of a series. A wide variety of substrates are used as bases for ATC’s but popular ones include manila, watercolor paper, mat board, and ephemera like old book pages.
Supplies:
- Ranger Inkssentials Manila Tag
- Ranger Texture Paste
- Tim Holtz “Lace” Tag Stencil
- Tim Holtz “Vogue” trading card stamp
- Ranger Archival Ink in Potting Soil
- Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Tattered Rose, and Ground Espresso
- Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick
- Embroidery Floss
- PPA Matte Adhesive
- 28 Lilac Lane “On Lilac Lane” embellishment bottle
- 28 Lilac Lane “Attic Findings” embellishment kit
This ATC card was created from manila cardstock, cut from a #8 manila tag. I actually stamped the trading card background stamp on the tag first, and then cut out my card base, to make sure that I got perfect placement of the stamp on my card.
Once the base was created, I used a tag stencil with some texture paste to create a flower in the corner of the card on top of the stamped design. Rubbing some Distress Ink on top of the flower gave it a nice pink shade, and I also colored in the image that I wanted to highlight with markers.
I used a scrap of crochet trim from the 28 Lilac Lane “Attic Findings” embellishment kit to fill in the area in the upper left of the card. Then I opened up the “On Lilac Lane” bottle and went to town! The pretty lady got some embellishment for her outfit (see how shiny her buttons are?) from some of the small beads and sequins in the bottle. Then I placed buttons and pearls around the card for pops of color. Some of these elements highlight certain design elements like lines in the stamp or the flower. I purposely varied the size and color shade of the embellishments that I chose to create a more random, artsy effect in the design.
The final step was to use the Archival ink pad that I had stamped with to edge the card and give it some extra “pop”.
Our embellishment kits and bottles are perfect for making Artist Trading Cards with buttons, trim, sequins, beads, and pearls. Their great assortment of embellishments will help you create a one of a kind work of art! Try one today!
