Wednesday, August 1, 2018

4th Annual Artist Trading Card Swap Announcement


We are doing it again folks! The Artist Trading Card Swap is officially being announced today, Aug. 1st. For those of you who have participated in the past, the short of this announcement is that you will be able to sign up on Friday, August 10th. For the rest of you, new to the ATC swap, let me share more.

What is an Artist Trading Card?

An ATC is a 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch work of art that is created by an Artist with the intent to give it away in a swap.

Who can Participate?

In this ATC swap, I have had students from preschool to high school. I have had public schools, private schools, and homeschools. Afterschool clubs have participated and even the teachers who sign up can participate as well. Here is the exciting part. We had over 95 schools participated last year from all over the United States and from several global trades as well.  I had Australia, Jordan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Italy represented last year. Actually, 22 schools in Italy participated.

What do I need to make an Artist Trading Card?

To make an ATC for this swap, I request that participants use a high-quality substrate... Cardboard, chipboard, 80lb paper or higher. The cards can be created with most mediums but they do need to fit into an ATC sleeve, so three-dimensional cards must be a very low relief. If using any kind of collage, assure that it will not fall apart when traveling or after it's received by its new owner.

What is the timeline for this activity?

On Friday, August 10th, I will open up the trade for people to sign up.  I do not require the cards to come to me until February 1st of 2019.  That sounds like a long time away, but trust me, it's not. Then I try to get the cards turned around and back to you within the month of March (or before).

How do I sign up?

On Aug. 10th, I will open the ATC sign up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I will have links to it all over social media and also here on my blog.  In the past, I have had to shut the sign up down quickly because so many educators sign up, so fast.  When you sign up, you get a google doc that explains in detail, when, where, how... and has lots of examples and activities of how other educators have created cards in the past. The cost of the ATC swap is a way for me to pay to send back all of the cards.


Consider if this project and timeline are going to work for you and your students this year. I would love to have you join in the fun! If you have more questions, please visit past posts by clicking here. The way that this project is celebrated online not only connects students with a physical work of art that they can keep, but also it connects classrooms and teachers online and via social media. Stay tuned for Aug. 10th for the ATC sign up.

1 comment:

  1. Nic, can you tell me the cost so I can ask and consider if my school could participate? (If i make it on the list)

    ReplyDelete