The ACEO Swap

by FabricGreetings

A few months ago I wrote about an ACEO swap that I had decided to participate it. I was teamed with a fellow from Flower Mound, Texas and we had to decide on a theme for our swap. Since it was the middle of Winter, we decided on "Winter" as out theme. I know - not all that original, but it gave us some common ground to work with.

I immediately knew what I was going to do. The only other men I get excited about besides my wonderful husband - known on our Etsy team as Mr. Fabric - are snowmen. I simply love them. So my ACEO card would be a fabric snowman appliqued to some wintery looking sky fabric. Of course the snowman needs earmuffs and a scarf to keep away the chill. The finishing touch would be some alphabet beads spelling "brr". This is what my card looked like when it was finished.

It was exciting to wait for my swap card to come. The fellow I was teamed with is a portrait artist. He works in acrylics, watercolors and colored pencils. When my card arrived, it thrilled me to pieces.

Here was this little figure walking in a snowstorm with a scarf blowing in the wind. It is called "Blizzard Stroll".  Now here is the interesting part of this swap. I grew up in Connecticut and we walked to school. There were no school buses and very few days when school was canceled because of snow. So all of us wore scarves tied around our necks and/or over our faces to protect from the winter winds and snow. And more often than not, those scarves blew in the wind just like the one on my ACEO. What a fun memory this little card has stirred up.

If you would like to see all of the cards that were swapped, check out this blog -
http://theaceochallenge.blogspot.ca

We are starting a new series of blog posts by our team members, focusing on some topic that interests them.


A New Adventure

by FabricGreetings

In 2004 I was reading an article in Quilting Arts Magazine about Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). It was a fairly new thing that the editor of the magazine was encouraging readers to try. These cards had to be the size of regular sports trading cards. She promised that if you sent one in to the magazine, you would get one from her in return. I wonder if she had any idea of what she was asking for. So I tried my very first ATC. It was a photo transfer picture of a doll (the result of a class I took from epbailey and another story in itself) appliqued to some fabric and a few embellishments. In October of that year, I was attending the international Quilt Market in Houston and saw my card on display - with the hundreds of others she got – in the Quilting Arts Booth. What a thrill that was! Sort of like being published.

Since then I have made ATCs for fun – never for trading. After joining etsy in 2009, I discovered that they are actually (now) called ACEOs.....Art Cards Editions Originals. I am not sure why the name change. I also found out that there are ACEO teams and many collectors right here on etsy. So I have continued to make these ACEOs and offer them for sale in my Fabric Greetings shop on etsy.

Recently on the Acetsy team there was an announcement about an ACEO swap. I decided to give it a try and see what happened. In my mind I would be paired up with another etsy seller and be able to check out his/her medium. Imagine my surprise when I was paired with a gentleman (I have no idea of his age nor does it matter) from Texas who is not a member of etsy. His only web presence is a blog he recently started. So I have seen his work. He is a portrait artist. We have agreed on a theme of “Winter” since our swap has to be completed by February 15^th. I am anxious to see what I receive. It will be like Christmas all over again. I will try and post a picture of what I send to him. I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to do. And when I receive my swap, I will add that to the mix.

What new adventure are you trying for 2013?

CRAFTY CORNER

WHAT ARE ACEO's AND ATC's?

By FabricGreetings

ACEO's stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. They are also known as ATC's – Artist Trading Cards.

I first heard of artist trading cards in an article in “Quilting Arts” magazine in 2004. Pokey Bolton, who was the editor, had challenged readers to send in a ATC. In return, she would send everyone who participated a card she had made. I sent her a card and received one in return that September. Then in October when I was attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas, I was thrilled to see my card displayed along with all the others she had received on a wall of her booth at the show. Since then, I have been making them. The challenge is to get your design into such a small space.

These little work of art are a specific size -2.5” x 3.5” or 64mm x89mm. They are the same size as sports trading cards. And they are traded by artists and collectors all over the world. Many groups are organized and plan weekly trades.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/artisttradingcards/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artisttradingcards/

ACEO's are often designed using watercolors, pen and ink, screen printed, mixed media or fabric.

There is a team of ACEO artists on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/teams/6297/acetsy-aceo-etsy-street-team

Two of our HHU Members also sell ACEO's. Both sellers use very different techniques.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/anikasart

http://www.FabricGreetings.etsy.com

A CRAFTY DESTINATION

By FabricGreetings

There are some places you hear about and just want to see – The Statue of Liberty, 
The Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore... the list can go on forever. Many years ago I
was attending a sewing event and heard someone mention a fabric store in North Carolina.
I immediately filed it away in my memory bank. Since my sister moved to Georgia and we
drive to see her, I get to visit this “find”. And a find it is.

Mary Jo's Cloth Store is located in Gastonia, NC. Right off of I-85.  
Over the years, we have made Gastonia our overnight stop on our trip south. It has been
said that if they do not have it, you do not want it. Located in this  32,000 sq foot store
is everything a sewist could want....fabric, trims,  buttons, notions, and on and on. 
They are most helpful when you call and offer a mail order service that is fantastic.
They now have a web site and a blog.

So I encourage you to read about this little bit of heaven in the following article.
I am heading there in a couple of weeks and am already making my list.


mhttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/2008/08/23/148179/landmark-store-
is-the-fabric-of.htl


http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/6948/a-special-trip-to-mary-jos-cloth-store


http://maryjos.com/ 

http://maryjoscloth-design.blogspot.com/