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.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Member Spotlight Time - Mel Dunkley

At Paper Traders, we love learning more about
our fabulous members and so
this month our Spotlight is shining on
Mel Dunkley. 



I found Paper Traders by searching in the Yahoo groups for a new group with different challenges. I have been on other groups for a few years, but it is nice to branch out, get different ideas and be inspired by different artists.

I live in Oakham, a small town in a rural area of the middle of England (near Leicester/Nottingham), with my husband, two children (8 and 14) and my little pug dog, Katie. I work in mental health in Leicester and it is lovely to drive back to such beautiful countryside at the end of a busy day.

I grew up in Yorkshire, in the north of England and always enjoyed creating things from an early age. I remember learning to knit, sew and crochet, made my own clothes and dabbled in jewellery making. I was always useless at art at school and quickly realised that I cannot draw at all. It was only in adult life that I realised I could create artwork without having to!

With a full time job, two kids and a house to look after, I don't have spare time to do anything much other than art, although I love socialising with friends. Recently, my son stopped using the conservatory as a play room, so it has evolved into my craft space. I love having an area that can be messy all the time!

I love Van Gogh, Picasso and Kandinsky, but am equally inspired by modern day artists like Teesha Moore, Tracy Bautista and many of the artists' work that I come across on groups like this. And, of course, my craft room would be half empty if it wasn't for Sir Tim Holtz.

If you would like to join Paper Traders and be a fabulous member
 like Mel, click on the purple yahoo
button in the right sidebar for more information.

4 comments:

RBPratt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RBPratt said...

Love your artwork, that was fun to read about you!

RBPratt said...

My login was weird, so I ended up writing the same thing twice. I deleted one, now THAT looks weird...ugh! Haha:)

fairyrocks said...

So nice to have a peep into your day to day world Mel. I hear you with the unable to draw, but want to play with paper. I read it with the accent I don't have ;). England is on my bucket list, just sayin. Keep smiling and creating thanks for sharing