Valentine ATC trade

These cards from Ohio were a hit! They were complete with a removable handmade clay pin.

Happy Valentine's Day! I really enjoy getting old-fashioned mail - you know, letters in the mailbox and stuff...: )  So my 4th graders have been excited about sending and receiving our Love and Friendship themed Artist Trading Cards. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the teachers and students around the country who participated this year! A few of our friends from up north were affected by the blizzard, so we look forward to seeing your cards as soon as they arrive - hope you are thawing out!

Super cute package from Ohio - I was so excited I tore into it before snapping a pic!

Meaningful cards from Alabama, our neighbor state, enhanced with quotes

Super creative layered zentangles from Ms. Kruse's students in South Carolina

Mixed media mini masterpieces! -North Carolina

Oregon's finest ATC's from multiple age groups

Cute hearts from our neighbor to the north, Tennessee!

Bold graphic designs from Pennsylvania

Each student wrote comparisons of the cards they made and the cards they received, and we also mapped our trades.

Spreading the LOVE

The Artist Trading Cards are officially in the mail! We had so much fun trading ATC's last year that we definitely wanted to do it again this year, using Valentine's Day: Love and Friendship as our theme. Each 4th grader made 4-6 cards, two designs were made by my instruction (an optical illusion style and a word art) and the remainder were done with the students' own interpretations of the theme. We are trading several through the mail and a couple with classmates.
We have mapped our trades, starting with the heart in Georgia, and branching out to 8 other states. We are so looking forward to receiving our trades! I will post the results when everything arrives.

Each school receives a set of cards, a tracking map, and a description of our school and community

The addition of aluminum foil scraps was a simple but effective way to get a little sparkle!

Will you be our Valentines, ATC style?

A little early, I know, but I'm a planner. We really enjoyed our international ATC swap last year, and I thought that we might plan our swap this year around Valentine's Day - there are SO many ways to be inspired for a Valentine's day theme, and who doesn't love getting a Valentine in the mail?
If you would like to participate in a swap with my 4th and 5th graders next year, let me know with a comment or an email to knighth@fultonschools.org.



There will be more specifics in the fall, but here's what I'm hoping for:

• I need about 10 different participating teachers who can submit 25 or 50 cards from your school - trying to keep it in sets of 25 this year, I went a little nuts last year organizing random numbers :P
•  We would like to trade with a variety of grade levels.
• We are hoping to trade with as many different states and countries as possible - would love to trade again with last year's friends!
• Cards need to be complete and in the mail by the end of January to ensure all students get one on Valentine's Day.
• If you haven't done a trade before, the cards are handmade on 2.5 x 3.5" paper, and are labeled on the back with student name, school name, age/grade, city, state, country, date and title of art.

Hope to hear from you!

a few ATC's I made for friends last year... so fun!

A Belated Thank You to My Fellow Traders...

Please forgive my tardiness!  I posted a while back about the progress of our Artist Trading Card project, with the intentions of publicly listing and thanking all the schools who participated.  I got a little sidetracked, but better late than never!
This ATC trade ended up being one of the highlights of the year.  My 3rd and 4th graders traded with 6 different schools, from 3 other states and 3 other countries. We looked at websites from the various schools and cities, and shared our information with all of them. It was fun to see all the mascots, favorite places, and activities other students enjoy. THANK YOU so much to the following art teachers and students for making this happen:
Anna Pietrolungo, Melbourne Australia, Imagine Explore Create - amazing Egyptian themed cards
Sylvia Marshall, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - "Lines Blowing in the Wind " theme, using technology!
Angela Harris, Tulsa Oklahoma - Fall trees theme
Becca Witherow, Crossville TN - Still life/Fall theme
Esther Vlaar, The Netherlands - Op Art illusion theme 
Katie Morris, Topeka, Kansas - Adventures of an Art Teacher - Fall Sunflower theme from the Sunflower state
Click these links to see our mapping and preparations:
http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/12/mapping-our-atcs.html
http://dolvinartknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/atcs-ready-for-shipment.html


keeping track of our trades



mapping our ATC's


As we are receiving packets of ATC's from around the world, we are mapping them as we go.  This is getting exciting!  Here is a sneak peek, and I will post in detail once we have received from everyone. 

Mapping our trades



A few exciting examples from our ATC collection bucket

ATC's: ready for shipment!

Dolvin 3rd and 4th graders have been making Artist Trading Cards - miniature artworks on 2.5 x 3.5" cards - which are now labeled and ready to ship to students in several other states and countries.  Third graders stamped legos to create colorful nonobjective designs that students thought resembled clock parts or aerial views.  Thank you to FilthWizardry for sharing this idea!
Fourth graders worked with the open-ended theme of "Fall," and we discussed how Fall might be different in the places these cards will travel to, such as Australia.  We are really looking forward to receiving our ATC's and starting our collections!

selecting the card area

careful cutting

ready to go!

inspiration for 4th grade theme

ready to go!

3rd grade update

Third graders have been very busy lately, finishing up our shaded still life drawings and beginning our ATC's - Artist Trading Cards - which we will be sending off to schools around the country and even a few other countries.  We are getting excited about making our trades, so check out a sneak peek of what we've been putting together (below the still life drawings):

finding value changes within the hues

drawing from observation

this student added streaks of light coming from our overhead lighting after discussing the "light source"

s stylistic approach

using cool colors for shadows instead of darker value

nice color scheme

love the patterns

varieties and values of orange



This is just a preview of the ATC's in progress - we will post some pics of the
final product after the cards have been sent.....



Let's trade ATC's this fall!

Last year I was asked to do an Artist Trading Card exchange with Ms. Hahn at Mini Matisse.  She was very helpful in sharing the how-tos of ATC's.  My fourth graders had a ball doing it.  I would like to do it again this fall with all of my fourth grade classes (I am expecting to have about five 4th grade classes of about  26 each) and possibly another grade level too if we have enough participation.
I would love to possibly exchange with some older art students as well as other 4th grade classes.
If your class would like to do an exchange this fall, please send an email to me at knighth@fultonschools.org, and we can email each other the information once the school year gets started.  I know it's a little early to plan for next year, but I was hoping to just get a list of people over the summer who were interested, before the craziness of the new year hits!
Also, if you have ideas or experience with themes or techniques for ATC's that you've found success in, please share in the comments.  Thanks!

4th grade Art Trade!

Thanks so much to Ms. Hahn at Mini Matisse for including our school in the ATC: artist trading cards project.  Two of my fourth grade classes traded prints with her school in Minnesota, Rogers Elementary.  We sent in prints we made recently of lighthouses and sailboats (scroll down a little to see that post) and we received adorable snowmen in return.  We also enjoyed viewing the slideshow she put together about life in their town, including ice fishing photos!  Here is a shot of the ATC's we received from Minnesota.