Journals & Collaborative Projects

Below you will find a sampling our members' work from previous collaborative projects.  Click on images to view them larger. We hope this will inspire you to come and play with us! If you are interested in joining our group, please visit us at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paper_Traders/

Tutorials & Techniques

Below are some of our favorite tricks for adding depth and dimension to your art.  We hope you have fun giving these a try!

Current Group Swaps & Projects

Below is a list of current swaps and projects available to group members. If you are interested in joining our group and participating in these projects, please visit us at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paper_Traders/.  

For existing group members, you can sign up to participate  in these projects here: Swaps & Current Projects.  

We look forward to swapping with you.  Happy Arting!

Member Gallery for Group Swaps
 
Below you will find a sampling our members' work from previous group swaps and projects.  Click on images to view them larger. We hope this will inspire you to come and play with us! If you are interested in joining our group, please visit us at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paper_Traders/.
 
Come play with us... Join today!

Paper Traders is a friendly online community of artists from around the world. We nurture and value creativity, embrace new ideas, products, and techniques yet also value tried and true methods of artistic expression. Our projects consist primarily of paper arts, mixed media collage, artist trading cards, altered art, assemblages, collaborative journals, mail art, and more.

We are interested in creative individuals of varied skill levels who wish to challenge themselves artistically and help build a supportive community. We are at our best when we can share our creative efforts as well as techniques, resources, feedback, and insights. We encourage conversation about art, the art process, and what it means to be an artist.

Paper Traders is hosted on Yahoo Groups at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paper_Traders/.
We hope you will consider joining us on an artistic journey!

In order to prevent spammers and to insure that all applicants are actual persons interested in creating art, a questionnaire will be sent to all potential members. When applying, please submit digital examples of your work or direct us to a website where we can view your art. The intent of the questionnaire is not to judge the merits of your art but to safeguard the integrity of our community.

Free Images for Download

Below you will find images that are owned by our group members and offered for your personal use as well as images found in the public domain. Images may be freely used in your personal artwork but may not be used for commercial purposes of any kind without written permission of the owner. No images may be used to create collage sheets or image collections for resale.

To download, follow the link provided. In some cases, you may be able to just click on the image to enlarge it, then right-click and select "save image as". Content changes frequently and many images are available for a limited time.  Please check back often for newly posted images to use in your art journey.

Open Art Challenges !

We're changing things up here at Paper Traders. Instead of the monthly challenges of the past, we'll now be hosting special challenges that might feature a specific technique or product and will be rewarded with actual prizes sponsored by our group members.

Our new challenge for 2013 is a year long word prompt journaling project/challenge. Each specific challenge will be open for one month and all art bloggers can participate, whether you are a Paper Traders member or not. Each artist will comment with a link to their blog post that features the artwork for that particular challenge. For each challenge, a winner will be selected whose art best exemplifies the challenge. The winning artist will be featured here and get a "Trader Treasure" blog button to display on their own blog. They also will receive one chance for each entry for the end of the year prize drawing. Watch this page for more details and challenge announcements.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

2012 Version of the Your Stuff / My Stuff Swap

open to Paper Traders group members only

2012 Your Stuff / My Stuff Swap
One-for-One Ephemera & ATC swap
Any theme
Skill Level: 2 - Budding
Hosted by: Beckie H
Sign-up deadline: August 10th
Partners announced: August 13th
Supply mail-out deadline: August 20th
ATC mailout deadline: September 17th

Last year, we hosted one of these swaps and it was a huge success so we decided to do it again! One of the benefits of hosting swaps is all the wonderful ephemera that the participants often send along with their art - it can be a new source of inspiration and make you think outside of your own supply world and the things you are usually drawn to. This is the concept for a fun swap where your creation is made from someone else's supplies. Here are the details:

  1. Sign up by August 10th in the Database on the main Paper Traders Yahoo site.  On August 13th, I will randomly assign partners and post it on the blog as well as in the database.
  2. By August 20th, mail your partner an A9 (Diplomat, 5¾ × 8¾ inches or 146.1 × 222.3 mm) or A10 (Willow, 6 × 9½ inches or 152.4 × 241.3 mm) size envelope of supplies and ephemera. Don't buy anything special, just raid your stash!! Try to include a variety of type and style. Please do not "direct" your partner on what to make - let them be inspired by the items you send.
  3. Make an ATC using the supplies you receive from your partner. Yes, you can incorporate some of your own supplies in, but please try to use mostly the new supplies in keeping with the spirit of the swap.
  4. Mail your ATC back to your partner by September 17th. You can keep whatever ephemera is left over.
  5. Don't forget to post a photo your ATC in the project album on the Paper Traders Swaps Yahoo site.  And please mention whose supplies you used in the description.
Beckie

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