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, December 5, 2010

Gallery: Fifth Anniversary Birdhouses

Darlene Rolls
by Beckie Holso
by Cathy Calamas
by Tami Roth
by Karen Boatright
by Letha Richardson


Foil Art by Cathy Calamas

Foil Art (ATC size) Gift Ornaments


Finished ornaments

Start by building your base.
I used cardboard cut into 2.5x3.5 inch size.
Layer with shapes and chipboard letters.
Glued down with Alene's tacky glue.

Wrap a lightly crumpled piece of foil around.
Just tape one edge to hold in place so that the
foil will not be pulled too tight.
You need some give as you press around the objects
or it will rip.

Gently start pressing foil around shapes,
working from middle to outside edges.
Use your finger or anything with a rounded tip.
I used a chopstick for smaller areas.

Wrapping done. Now time for embellishment.

I used Adirondack Alcohol Inks in
latte, caramel and ginger colors.
Made an applicator with an old rubber stamp,
velcro and white felt square.

Apply inks to stamp pad.

Apply to foil. I did several layers to get some definition.

Let the ink dry. It dries pretty quickly.
I then applied white acrylic paint with a soft brush.
Note: white paint will pick up some of the color of the
ink as it dries so you will get a lightly tinted paint color
depending on the color of the ink.
If you use black paint this will not happen.

Before the paint dries, quickly and
gently dab off the white paint with a moistened cloth towel.
I used a piece of a cotton washcloth.
Take off as much or as little of the paint as you want.

After the white paint was dry, I printed some vintage Santas
and holiday scenes onto card stock and
cut them out and glued them onto the ornaments.

Next I applied some bronze acrylic paint to
highlight the creases, letters and edges of
the design.

To finish off the ornaments I glued gold ribbon
to the back for the hanger and some
green scrapbooking card stock.

Finished "Noel"
Finished "Joy"

Thanks to Karen Boatright over at
Paper_Traders Yahoo Art Group
for inspiring me with her foil art.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Gallery: Christmas Inchie Ornaments

by Beckie Holso
by Cathy Calamas
by Karen Boatright
by Letha Richardson

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Gallery: Ten Days of Christmas Ornaments

by Beckie Holso
by Cathee Stegall
by Karen Boatright
by Lorna Sommer
by Darlene Rolls
by Connie Holso
by Mary Ann Severin

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Postage Stamp ATCs

by Karen Boatright
by Quincy Richardson
by Beckie Holso
by Cathy Calamas
by Connie Holso

Friday, October 8, 2010

Creepy Cottages

by Beckie Holso
by Connie Holso
by Letha Richardson
by Tami Roth
by Quincy Richardson