Saturday, December 17, 2011

Artist Trading Cards and ACEO's

Have you heard of them? Well, I had, but had not given them much thought until a member of our Central Coast Textile Artists suggested that we all make some for an upcoming show at the Santa Cruz Art League.
Okay, why not? The Artist Trading Card is a miniature work of art for which the standard size  is 2 1/2" by 3 1/2". It just so happens that I had woven this piece as a sample and didn't know what to do with it. It was just shy of 2 1/2" wide and the diamond pattern repeat was just about 3 1/2" long. Bingo! 

I added some beads to it and glued it to the properly-sized card. 

It is currently in the show until January 8th. At the show's end, the curator will return cards. Not to their makers, however. You see, the whole thing is a trade. Enter one and get someone else's back.

Artist Trading Cards (or ATC's) are based on the idea of baseball cards. The size is the same and they are made to trade. A version has spun off known as ACEO's ( Art Cards, Editions and Originals ) .  
These are often sold and I've put together the following treasury on Etsy to showcase some of them. 


'ACEO Explorations' by ASpinnerWeaver

I became interested in this mini art formrecently and love exploring the various ways that artists can express themselves when limited to a few square inches of paper.


ACEO Flower No. 14: Rose No....
$15.00

Letter D White Wicker Chair ...
$4.00

Aceo, Jewelry Box with Sweet...
$50.00

Original Drawing ACEO Black ...
$10.00

ACEO ATC Giclee Print: Canad...
$5.00

Skull with 2 Crows OOPS Sign...
$5.00

Sandstorm, ACEO card, sunset...
$10.00

Original Drawing ACEO Greens...
$10.00

ACEO Print from My Original ...
$5.00

East of I95 // ACEO
$5.00

ACEO Blue Aspen Dream Altere...
$5.00

SPIRIT SEEKER 3 - Original ...
$15.00

Handpainted Fuchsia Pink Flo...
$9.50

Textile ACEO - 'Little F...
$10.00

ACEO Painting Kismet -Abstra...
$22.00

Consider the Ant in Pink, Ho...
$4.00


This blog post has the best and most thorough information I've seen about making Artist Trading Cards. It will blow your mind with ideas, suggestions and possibilites. It includes a lot of how-to information. Have fun but beware, as I'm told it can be addicting!   And if you want to know about how to get involved in trading, this website will help you. 

4 comments:

  1. Quilters often do amazing little postcards to share and mail. I'm heading off to check that information site out. Great little artist card with the beads added. Love it!

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  2. ACEO's are cool! I've never seen a woven one ... it's beautiful. Saw your info to the right...funny, I started weaving when I was 17 too ... tapestry :)

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  3. Theresa, I have seen some of those and they are quite interesting. I found a few of these trading cards that used quilting techniques, but I think that only one of them made it into this collection.
    Spinning- Thanks and here's to a life of weaving enjoyment!

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  4. Hi Annie! I hadn't given them much thought (atc's) til reading your post--now I'm envisioning one with braid-fragments trailing through it...Thanks for the images and the links!
    --Ingrid

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