Artist Trading Cards

I am a big fan of artist trading cards, otherwise known as ATCs. They're miniature works of art no bigger than your average baseball card--usually 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Originally, the creation of these cards was a way for artists to meet one another, and exchange tiny pieces of their work for free. The concept is generally credited to Swiss artist, M. Vänçi Stirnemann, who initiated the first Trading Sessions. I think the entire idea of artists networking and collecting little works of one another's art is just lovely. You can read a little more about the concept here or on Wikipedia.
Art cards became so popular that some artists started selling them to the public - these are called ACEOs which stands for Art Cards, Editions, and Originals.
A few years ago, I founded a Mail Art Club where artists got together, formed a mailing list, and sent each other small works of art. Though I didn't specify a size, it was sort of like a postal version of a Trading Session. It was fairly successful, but unfortunately my hectic schedule got in the way of my continuing to run the group. While I was participating, however, it was ATCs that I chose to send to other artists. I have also sold some as ACEOs. I thought I'd share a few of these mini-illustrations with you today (you may have seen some of these already):






Maybe a "Creating and Trading Session" would be a fun idea for our group to do during a meeting? We could draw/paint and then exchange our cards with each other. Just an idea. Let me know what you think! And happy Labor Day!