March 12, 2008

Mr. Postman, do you have a letter for me?

Last night the first two envelopes of business cards arrived, as promised. Yippee!!!

I expect more to be rolling in all week. I think I might be getting a little too excited about the prospect...but, c'mon! I opened my mailbox yesterday, and for once it's not stuffed with bills or misdirected pieces of mail. (I'm still getting mail for the previous owners of our place. We've been here for 3 years. And we also still get mail for my MIL. She stayed with us for only 6 months and I swear she gets more mail than we do!) Anyway, it's doubly nice to be getting something that will be an aid to this ginormous typography project that I have looming in front of me. You guys rock.

This is not to say that I don't need any more cards. I do. In fact, I need A LOT of cards. Nothing would make me happier than to be up to my eyeballs in business cards. (o; Like I've been saying all week, if you are an artist/crafter/designer I still need you to send your business cards into me! E-mail me here: honeydewstudio@gmail.com

Moo cards are great. Digital files are perfect. I'll print them up myself. Anything and everything would be great as long as it's a) from a creative person and b) in business card format.

Now, to discuss a different kind of card...As I've previously mentioned in other blogs, lately I've been very interested in ATCs (artist trading cards). I have a book about it and have been doing a little research. From what I can gather, ATC trading was created in 1997 by Zurich artist M.Vänçi Stirnemann. He came up with the idea as a way for artists to get share and socialize with each other.
For those of you who don't know, an ATC is a 2.5" x 3.5" sized original piece of art. Artists trade and collect them. There are a couple general rules about ATCs -first is the aforementioned size restriction. Second, they have to be original works of art. And lastly, they're not sold. You trade one of your cards for one card from another artist. (Generally, you aren't allowed to trade other artists' cards.)
The idea of collecting small works of art became so popular, that many people do sell them, but as ACEOs (art cards, editions and originals). I know ACEOs are available on Etsy.
I'm not looking to sell. I'm interested in the original concept, which is artist-to-artist trading. I'm dying to find out more about them, and to try my hand at making my own when I have some free time. Does anyone out there belong to a good online ATC trading group? I'm interested in joining one and getting more info from someone involved with the process. Leave me a comment if you're an ATC artist. I'd love to hear from you!

6 comments:

Sarah said...

I bought a super cute ACEO on Etsy a few months back and I will tell you this - it is quite difficult to find a cute 2.5" x 3.5 frame! I learned this the hard way.

Nicole Huot said...

Hee-hee. I believe it! I think when I start collecting, I'm going to get one of those collecter's albums for baseball cards. ACEOs are the same size. (o:

Sheikasaurus Rex said...

I've been wanting to try ATCs very badly...ok, I did try a few times but they ended up so lame and boring I hid them. Hope yours come out better than mine!

Sheikasaurus Rex said...

Oh, I just read the rest of your blog and realized you needed business cards! I'm really fickle and change my mind constantly about designs so I have a few old designs I no longer use and my current card. Can you use different designs from the same artist, or does it have to be different each time? If not, I'll gladly send you jpeg versions of my old ones for your class project.

Nicole Huot said...

deabusamor - I would LOVE a business card(s) from you!!! Yes, I have been using different designs from the same artist. You can send jpegs to honeydewstudio@gmail.com

Thanks for helping me out!!!

Anne El-Habre said...

Hey HoneyDew!

I've been into ATCs for almost a year now. I am an illustrator too and you may find, as you look at some of the ATC sites, that it is mainly altered art or collage of one kind or another. Some of them are pretty elaborate and quite beautiful.

There are fewer sites for the strictly hand-drawn/painted variety. I convoed you the web address. I definitely would apply.

ATCs are a great deal of fun but they have a host of other purposes as well. They allow you to experiment, to work out larger pieces, to explore your creativity, and the ATC community is very supportive and invigorating. Hope this helps!

Anne