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, January 28, 2012

Chinese New Year Swap Gallery

We recently had a "Chinese New Year" Swap among our group members.  Below are a few of the cards that resulted:
Debra Claxton

Beckie Holso

Cathy Calamas

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012

Chinese New Year ATC Swap

For Paper Traders Members Only.  Please join us if you would like to participate in this or our other swaps by clicking on the purple button on the right sidebar.  We will be happy to send you information on how to join our group.

image courtesy of  vectorgraphicsblog.com

Chinese New Year ATC Swap
Hosted by: Connie Holso
5-for-5 ATC swap
Due Date: received by January 18, 2012

This is the year of the Dragon on the Chinese calendar.  What a fun theme for a swap!  We hope you will join!  Please make 5 ATCs, they can be similar or all different as long as they depict the year of the Dragon in some way...  Then consider also entering an image in our Paper Traders Blog Challenge here:
http://papertraders-art.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenges

Mail your cards to reach Connie no later than January18th so she can get them back to you by the first day of the Chinese New Year.  Please include $1 for postage.  International players may send ephemera in lieu of postage.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Chinese New Year Challenge

This challenge is now closed
Happy New Year!!
Our first challenge of 2012 is the theme "Chinese New Year"
And  this year is the year of the Dragon. 
What does ChineseNewYear2012.net have to say about the year of the Dragon? 

 In 2012, the Dragon is welcomed back after the 2011 year of the Rabbit. Each of these animals are thought to bestow their characteristics to the people born in their year. 

 While the Year of the Rabbit was characterized by calm and tranquility, the Year of the Dragon will be marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity. The Rabbit imbues people with a sense of cautious optimism, but people respond to the spirit of the Dragon with energy, vitality and unbridled enthusiasm, often throwing all caution to the wind. 

You don't have to be a member of Paper_Traders Yahoo Art group to participate but if you would like to join us and be privy to even more great paper crafting swaps and challenges plus better than ever artistic support, that would be super!

When the challenge closes, we will pick a winning piece that best showcases the theme of the challenge and/or supply requirement.

Challenge Rules
  1. Make a paper craft, mixed media or digital piece of art ( any size). The theme is "Chinese New Year".
  2. Post your art to your blog, Flickr, Picasa (online albums). Mention our name PaperTraders Art Blog with a link back to this post. You are more than welcome to grab our button and post it on your blog as well. The last day to post for this challenge is Jan.,31st 2012.
  3. After posting your "Chinese New Year" art on your site, come back to this post and leave us a comment with link to your post/image. You must include a direct link to your image or post, not a general link to your album or blog. All you will need to do is copy and paste the url address of your post found at the top of your browser window.
  4. The winner(s) will be awarded our "Trader Treasure" blog badge which they can choose to feature on their blog. Their art will also be posted on the PaperTraders Art Blog for 2 weeks.
Member Inspiration