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, October 15, 2011

Addicted to Altering

I think we as artists see objects differently that others.   What is it that they say, "One man's garbage is another man's treasure".   This applies to the little gems that we have tucked away in our art rooms (and other places throughout the house) awaiting inspiration.   I asked the question of Paper Traders members a couple of weeks ago, "What is the most interesting item that you ever altered?" and got some very creative responses.

Actually the idea was spawned by Lorna's altered hat box.   How amazing is this?  From hat box to stage!



Beckie Holso altered a box and a glove:


You can read more about Beckie's process of altering the box here and the glove here on her blog.

The clever Aimslee transformed a cigar humidor for her husband:


 
And yes, my cupboards are full to brimming with alterable objects too!   Here are some of my creations:

Altered CDs:


Microscope Slide Mailer:



A package that once held chipboard letters (I actually bought it for the box!!):


A wooden Christmas box:


As you can see, anything is fair game for altering!   Thank you to all of the talented artists who shared their artwork.

6 comments:

Francine said...

Oh my, these are so wonderful! You all did such a nice job. I am going to try to alter something now. I need to watch some tutorials on that. Keep up the great work! Hugs, Francine

Heather Robinson said...

Ah, thanks Francine! I warn you, this is very addictive. You are going to need an addition on your house to accommodate all of the potentially alterable objects you collect!!LOL

Kathy said...

It is addictive! Personally, I think it's that we're all sniffing glue.
hahahaha! Loved this! - Kathy

artbeckons said...

Heehee... Kathy, your comment literally made me laugh out loud! Did you see my prior post about all the glues I have? =)

Susanne said...

Amazing works.... Love them all and wish I could be so creative :)

Hugs Susanne

aprilmariecole.blogspot.com said...

Just love altering things... very inspiring post! :]
Thank you for sharing such wonderful 'eye candy"!