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.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

August Freebie - Halloween preview

It's time for another freebie courtesy of your Paper Traders Moderators. A great big THANK YOU to Connie Holso for preparing this terrific offering for your personal use. Please use the link BELOW the photo to download the high resolution file. Enjoy!

Download Hi-Res version HERE:

Friday, August 5, 2016

New Swap - Tombstone Diorama

This project is for Paper Traders members only but we would love to have you join us. Please click on the purple Yahoo button in the sidebar for more information on how to join.


Hostess: Connie Holso
Sign Up by: September 20, 2016
One for one
Mail to partner by: September 30, 2016
Skill level: 2 - Budding**

I love Halloween - the silly, whimsical, kind of spooky, stuff. When I saw these darling dioramas by Annette I just fell in love and decided we should do a swap like this.
Each participant will make a diorama and post a picture in the album on the PT Gallery site by September 20,2016 . I will randomize the names on September 21, 2016 and only participants who have posted their images will be swapped.  Swappers will mail directly to their partners by September 30, 2016.  If you wish to swap more than one diorama, please let me know via email and post the image of each in the album.
I made a pattern for the shadowbox, including a cutting file for those who have Silhouette machines. There is even an advance copy of the August Blog Freebie in the folder as I included some alternate tombstone shapes in it. You can find it all, plus instructions at the link available in the swap email.
You can, of course. make your own tombstone shaped shadowbox. This is just to help you get started and to help those who are less experienced with making structures. Please try to keep your shadowboxes about the same size: approximately 3.5 to 4 inches x 4.5 to 5 inches when finished.

Please sign up in the database and post your pictures in the album.  See my Pinterest board for ideas.

**2) BUDDING - Participants will be open to trying new ideas and materials, without necessarily being competent yet with their applications

Monday, August 1, 2016

Speed Swap - Cubism

This project is for Paper Traders members only but we would love to have you join us. Please click on the purple Yahoo button in the sidebar for more information on how to join.

Georges Braque

2-for-2 Speed Swap
Skill: 2 - Budding
Sign up by: Aug 15th
Mail out by: Aug 31st

Swap details
This swap covers the era of Cubism which was an art movement led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque during the early 20th century.  The definition of Cubism is as follows:
In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context.   (Wikipedia)
For this swap, we want you to make two pieces of art
in the Cubism style.  Create a picture and cut it into pieces and rearrange the pieces to represent a Cubist creation. Here are couple of links, one is strictly Picasso’s work, the other is a Cubism board in my Pinterest account:

We will be swapping two pieces of art,
3.5”x5”size. Notice the size change, a half inch wider.

Sign-up in the database.
Post your Speed Swap Artwork to the swap album.


Each month, on the 1st, we will announce
a theme or technique for your art.
Anyone interested will have until the 15th to
sign up. The list will be randomized,
announced on the 16th,
and you will mail one 3'x5” piece of art directly to each of
the next two people on the list.
A total of two pieces of art each month for the speed swaps.
You don't have to sign up every month,
just when you feel like it or like the theme
or have the time.

We don't anticipate this costing more to mail
as a 3.5”x5” will still fit in a standard note card.
It's approximately $1.20 to mail internationally for
one ATC in a note card envelope. You must be able
to mail internationally to participate in this swap.

New themes will be announced on the 1st of each month.

Thanks!