ATCs Ones I'm not going to trade

White Spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle 2017

When I go to the Artist Trading Card workshop this week, I am not taking this card. I'll call it my no-trade card. I've made lots of spiders to trade this October. In fact, most of the 45 cards I'm taking this week are spiders. But when I finished this card, I decided to keep it.

Most of my spiders are black, their bodies treated with a craft product, Glossy Accents (available in craft stores near you). The clear acrylic creates a 3-D look. The spiders look like they're ready to crawl off the page onto your hand. That's kind of Halloween creepy to me. they are fun to drw on a variety of backgrounds.

Last month I tore out a bunch of ads from magazines to treat variously for making ATC college grounds for cards I was approaching without a real plan. Among them ws a man's black pinstripe suit. Last week while looking at it I decided to cut it into triangles to fit together. It was fun to create and looked nice to me. With spiders on my brain I decided to imagine it as a web of sorts and draw a white spider on it. My research has discovered spiders in an amazing array of colors. I liked this one so much I decided to keep it for myself.

Halloween ATCs by Phillip Hoyle 2017

Among other cards I made in the past week, ghosts came back into the picture and other new spiders. So I will trade "Giant Ghost House" and "The Three Creeps." 

And I look forward to the costumed neighbors who next week will be begging at our door for treats. Perhaps their costumes will inspire new Halloween art for next fall. Have fun. I'm planning to do so. Oh, take time to make an ATC or two and find someone to trade with.

I save a few cards, at least one a month, to enter into the Artist Trading Cards display at the Denver County Fair Art Show.

Creepy Artist Trading Cards

Ghost in my Bed ATCs, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Although my ATCs tend not to be very creepy, a lot of other artists made very creepy cards. I like humor over gore wuss that I am. I was a childhood fan of Casper the Friendly Ghost although I also liked the designs of the bad boy ghosts who caused him trouble. I'm sure it's a quirk of personality. But I was happy to trade about 30 cards on Saturday at CORE New Art Space. The artists really love October for its Halloween and Day of the Dead themes using the same themes each year.

Eclipse Spider ATCs, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Walking up 17th Avenue on the solar eclipse day I noticed strange and beautiful shadows on the sidewalks. Luckily I had my camera and so took shots up to Clarkson then down the alley and on up 16th Avenue. I realized the designs were the shape of the sun as the eclipse continued to make it smaller and smaller. I was thrilled to see the eclipse a hundred times at a glance while never threatening my already weak eyes. I began taking the photos to make backgrounds for spiders. Here are a few of them that I traded on Saturday. Oh, Happy Halloween. It's just over two weeks away!

Ghosts in my Library, Phillip Hoyle 2017

Halloween Artist Trading Cards

Artist Trading Cards by Phillip Hoyle 2016

The people I trade cards with seem to be crazy about Halloween, so much so that both groups I trade with have the same October theme: Halloween or Day of the Dead. Every year!

I knew what to expect but always wonder what I will care to do. I'm not particularly interested in scary things. Perhaps I'm just too nervous for that. Like a couple of other years I decided to make spiders. Looking online for images I thought, among other selections, to click on orange--orange spiders, that is. So I could have Halloween spiders. 

The trade went well. I returned home with only one of my own spiders plus quite a few cards made by others in the group. Ghouls, goblins, jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and much more. I'm happy for it will help get me in the mood to decorate the front porch and room in preparation for all the little ghouls and goblins that will ring the doorbell on October 31. And when they ring the bell, a hairy grey spider will drop from its perch to startle them.

More spiders by Phillip Hoyle 2016

Happy Halloween. You have only three weeks to get ready for tricks or treats.

Denver, 2016