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.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Vintage Family Holidays

by Mary Ann Severin
by Beckie Holso
by Connie Holso
by Melanie Hall

Monday, December 1, 2008

Third Anniversary Frame Pendants

by Cathee Stegall
by Connie Holso
by Hermine Koster
by Keron Lee
by Letha Richardson
by Melanie Hall
by Beckie Holso
by Mary Ann Severin

Friday, November 21, 2008

Cutie Two Shoes

by Beckie Holso

by Connie Holso

by Letha Richardson

by Melanie Hall

Anything Zetti

by Letha Richardson
by Marion Bockelmann
by Connie Holso
by Beckie Holso

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Friday, September 5, 2008

Round Robin Journal Project 2008-09

Keron Lee, Connie Holso, Letha Richardson, Beckie Holso
Connie Holso, Beckie Holso, Letha Richardson, Keron Lee

Connie Holso, Beckie Holso, Keron Lee

Keron Lee, Beckie Holso, Connie Holso,Letha Richardson

Connie Holso, Keron Lee, Beckie Holso, Letha Richardson

Beckie Holso, Letha Richardson, Keron Lee
Beckie Holso, Connie Holso, Keron Lee, Letha Richardson

Letha Richardson, Connie Holso, Keron Lee, Beckie Holso

Keron Lee, Beckie Holso, Letha Richardson, Connie Holso

 Beckie Holso, Keron Lee, Connie Holso

Beckie Holso, Connie Holso, Letha Richardson, Keron Lee

Friday, August 15, 2008

Birdie! Birdie! Chipboard Book

by Letha Richardson
by Marion Bockelmann
by Beckie Holso

by Connie Holso

Friday, August 1, 2008

Beeswax Art

by Letha Richardson
by Beckie Holso
by Connie Holso

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Where in the World

by Beckie Holso

by Letha Richardson
by Connie Holso

Friday, May 23, 2008

Twisted Paper Dolls

by Beckie Holso

by Connie Holso

by Letha Richardson

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Spray Webbing Paper

(by Connie Holso)


One of my favorite textures is what I call Spray Webbing Paper. If you have never made Spray Webbing Paper you are in for a treat. It turns out beautiful every time and is very easy to do...although a bit messy. :-) You can use any color of cardstock for this as it is completely covered in the end so it is a great way to use up colors from multi-packs that you don't like! If you want to use it for book covers use lightweight cardboard or chipboard.

§  To make this paper you need:
1.      Cardstock (or cardboard) for a base
2.      Acrylic paints in several colors
3.      Spray webbing
4.      Optional...you can also add spray glitter if you love more sparkle!

§  To get started first spread out newspaper or a dropcloth to cover your table...this is messy! Then lay out several sheets of cardstock (cardboard) and smear different colors of acrylic paints over each sheet until it is completely covered. Use lots of contrast on this and don't blend the colors very much...you want it to be very blotchy.

§  This next step is optional: Use a paint brush to drip or spatter drops of black, white or a very strong color over your blotchy page.

§  Let it dry.

§  Then take it outside or into the garage and spray it with webbing spray. (You can find it in the paint section of the craft store.) Let it dry and you are done...unless you like glitter...then you can overspray it with glitter spray for extra sparkle!!

A TIP: You will need to cover your floor or patio with paper or cardboard to protect it. I use a large shipping box opened out ...I just keep it folded up against the garage wall when I am not using it and spread it on the floor when I want to spray things. If you don't have this kind of room, you can make a spray station by cutting a hole in the side of a cardboard box, then lay your sheets (one at a time) in the box to spray...the box will contain the overspray.