Collecting And Displaying Artist Trading Cards

There are of course many ways of keeping your artist trading cards in one piece and in good condition.It is a generally good idea to keep any artwork in a cool, dry and low light environment but Artist Trading Cards are so inexpensive, there are some times when we can forget about this. Some of the methods I use are:-

1. plastic wallets


It is possible to purchase flexible plastic pockets or semi-rigid top-loaders to keep the cards fresh, clean and uncreased. Many retail outlets that sell the popular trading cards will also sell these.








2.loose leaf wallets
For convenience, you may want to use A4 loose leaf folders which feature 9 pockets per page. These do need to be used thoughtfully. Note here how the cards are in both landscape and portrait format which means the viewer has to keep twisting the book around.




Also there is no separation between the cards. Quick, but needs thinking about to give a good effect.You can see the rear of the cards on the left-hand page. Where you will see various information that the artist has included, their signature, date, media, etc.



3. Mounting with card mat


I often mount my cards and put them in a suitable container for display when I am attending sales or exhibitions.










4. Simple cardboard box




The cards can be stored in a suitably sized box, which can of course be decorated to your own requirements.

It is best if stored in plastic wallets to avoid contamination from greasy fingers.

But it is great to be able to shuffle them in your hands and really feel them between your fingers. So much more personal than staring at gallery walls.

5. For a personalised envelope, try making your own using a template designed by Mirkwood Designs.
Don't forget you can paint or collage the envelope in any way that you like.

Why not make sure that all your friends know that you are an art collector. It may not have cost you very much but if you've got it ... flaunt it!

a pair of photo frames displaying two artist trading cards




A single frame with a pair of complementary art trading cards




the mounted pair from the last shot




Of course, I have been talking about paintings here which are nice and flat. But you can frame mixed media collages, etc which may have 3-D embellishments on them. I give a few examples of framing without using a mat with an aperture which fits over the art card in another lens. this also includes more ideas on framing your art cards.

K. Madison offers a new way of collecting & protecting your new art cards with a custom designed CD case and inserts.
You can open the case as a frame and display the artist trading card in a color co-ordinated mat. A description of the Art is displayed on the left inside mat panel Label.
The CD Cover has a Side Title Label for easy access if you would like to start collecting art cards in CD Form.

Another neat alternative is to use a small (custom made?) artists' easel, to display the artist trading card. Again it can be matted, framed or if it is suitable, just as it is. Very similar to the plate stand idea below.

A novel way of displaying your collection of art cards is by pegging them to a cord or ribbon hung across a wall, in the manner of greeting cards.

Just use your imagination, the skies the limit.

A cute ( but seldom used way of utilising the artist trading cards is as doll's house artworks. You would need a custom made frame for this I suspect.

- use as a bookmark
- put under a glass-topped coffee table
- use as a scrapbook embellishment
- use as a gift tag
- or what about making greeeting cards



some of these uses, would be easier and cheaper with prints but check that you are not breaking copyright laws. You may buy the aceo but the copyright remains with the artist.

Please contact me if you have any other ways of displaying or storing your aceo's, I would very much like to grow this list.I would of course make reference to any contributors.

This is not a new Idea, I have seen it before on the Internet, but I recently won what is in effect a raflle. In one of my Groups for swapping artist trading cards we held a "winner takes all" challenge. In effect your entry is an artist trading card, the prize is all those entered. My particular theme was not greatly subscribed to but I did win a total of nine cards including my own entry. What to do with these to keep them together? Put them into a book! Not inside the usual loose leaf folder but I just happened to have available a small hand-made blank book. I collaged and stamped a minimal backing and glued the cards onto the pages of the book. I will be writing a lens on this because I see this as a wonderful idea for keeping a group of themes artist trading cards together.

That is as long as you don't mind glueing them down. But of course there are ways of holding the cards and I will be describing them in the lens I have just referred to. From photo mounts to transparent pockets and more. I will add the link as soon as it is published. I have made several of these now and just love the idea. Since I first mentioned the idea of a book, Sebenta has made a blog post about ways of displaying art cards and #14 is a blank journal. The cards are held in by photo corners.

Talking of single pockets in the home-made book above, why not just a simple (or not so simple pocket) The first image here is a delightfully created lace pocket for an artist trading card.

Just the thing for presenting an art card to a (female?) trading partner or a friend as a gift. This is another creation from Theresa Hall, and posted on the PDA (Paper and Digital Art by Kim) site.

Lydia (AKA Kenning Stone) has a more artsy approach to atc pockets, here is one that caught my eye, a full pocket with a tie to close the flap over the ATC.

and another with a wrap around cover, again a tie to keep the wrapping closed.

The wrapping paper is also hand-made by Lydia.

Of course you can use the idea of a hand-made book for presenting your trading card to your trading partner. This would obviously delight any artist receiving one of these, I know as I have recently traded with Tee Hall who sent me this delightful hand-made book containing two art cards. (Tee was good enough to post a tutorial if you want to create one of these for yourself)

The inside simply contains two pockets for two art cards - couldn't be simpler and so good looking.

Although a great idea for presentation of two art cards it could be used with just one pocket as an alternative.

Click chicklet to submit your lenses