Use hearts in a variety of colors and sizes. - JMG
Creating ATCs to collect or exchange for Valentine's Day is a quick and easy project for mixed-media artists of all ages and abilities.
To some, creating an ATC is an instant gratification project they can whip up in no time at all. However, there are other mixed-media artist that treat these miniature pieces of canvas with detail and intricacy. No matter where the artist falls on this spectrum, the creation of ATCs for Valentine’s Day exchanges or card collections is sure to leave a lasting impression.
Materials:
- Cutting mat or piece of cardboard
- ATC blanks (any Valentine’s Day themed color)
- Glitter gel pens, assorted colors
- Glitter glue, assorted colors
- Valentine’s Day themed brads
- Hole punch for brads
- Heart shaped hole punch
- Miniature envelope
- Decorative scrapbook paper (Valentine’s themed)
- White multi-purpose paper
- Heavy-duty glue stick
- Straight edge or decorative edge scissors
Instructions:
- If you don’t have any pre-cut ATC blanks, you can find a template here: Mirkwood Designs. Set out all of your materials on a cutting mat or piece of cardboard.
- Punch a hole in all four corners of the ATC, and insert the brads. (You can also use eylets and an eyelet setter if you prefer.)
- Run a line of glitter glue in a straight, wavy, or dotted line from one brad to the next to create a border. Allow the glue to dry completely before moving on to the next step.
- Affix the miniature envelope to the bottom left hand corner of the ATC at an angle.
- Punch hearts out of the decorative paper, and affix them to the ATC in random places, including on the envelope.
- Cut a small piece from the white paper into a heart, rectangle or square. Write a greeting, love note, or quotation on it, and put it inside the miniature envelope.
- Place small dots of glitter glue on to the miniature envelope, as well as on some blank areas of the ATC.
Variations:
- Add the punched out hearts first, and then affix the brads and miniature envelope.
- Use acrylic paint, rather than glitter glue.
- Use an envelope that is slightly smaller than the ATC, affix it to the center, and decorate the entire piece so the envelope flap still opens. Insert your greeting.
- Rather than using an envelope, use folded pieces of paper to write small greetings on.
- Pick up a variety of Valentine’s Day themed embellishments, and create the ATCs using these materials.
These ATCs are a basic introduction to embellishing art cards for trading or exchanging. As you can see, these cards are basic enough to work on with young children to exchange with their classmates. If this is the case, you may wish to make some ATC envelopes to enclose them into. You can find these envelopes here: Mirkwood Designs.
Copyright Jenn Greenleaf. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
