I love creating ATCs ( Artist Trading Cards) and ICADs ( Index Card a Day) and over the period of 2 years that I have been doing mixed media I have quite the collection. I admit it I have a hard time giving away or even trading my little pieces of art. I imagine many of you are just like me , with a growing pile of ATCs , ICADs etc. So what do you do with them?
Initially I bought baseball card plastic sheets and stored my ATCs in them in a binder. This works well but I found that I didn’t look through it often. And I wanted to see my art,and be inspired by it. My ICADS I hole punched and put on a ring. This kept them together, but was hard to display and I feel like I damaged my art by punching a hole in it.
One day shortly after we had moved my husband and I got onto the task of hanging pictures. Some of the things we had previously hung no longer appealed or ” fit” our new home. By the end of it, we had a stack of unused frames of various sizes and shapes. This is when I got my idea. Now that I had an actual art studio dedicated to my creativity I wanted to hang some of my creations. I gathered up all the unused frames onto the dining room table and took out all my creations that were not in a journal. Here’s what I came up with.
Now I didn’t do anything fancy, such as get custom matting for them- but you definitely could do this. Part of my plan was to use what I had without buying anything new. This also meant that I could just get this done and hang the frames without delay or procrastination.
These two frames that are basically two panes of glass surrounded by wood . I believe they are called “float” picture frames. These work particularily well since they will fit a variety of sizes of my art. If I wanted I could paint a background that would go with the selected ICADS/ATCs and mount the ATCs/ICADs on it. For now I like the look of the wall showing through. Gives it a sort of 3 D effect.
Here are a couple links to similar frames
Wood Float Frame 10X20 – http://amzn.to/2kkBXxV
Wood Float Frame 51/2 X 13 – http://amzn.to/2jnJ6xZ
This frame had a pre cut mat that was intended to use with 3 5 by 7 photos. The size of the opening was too big for just one ATC so I paired them up and mounted them on the backing. The matting really makes these ATCs pop. Afterwards, I realized that I could have used foam tape or dots to adhere the ATCs. This little change would set them off even more.
These multi-picture frames come in a variety of orientations, but are the perfect size for either ATCs or ICADs. I loved that I could use my ICADs that went horizontally as well as vertically in this frame. I simply mounted them on the black background without adding any backing paper. At a later time I could mount them on matt board or get a matt cut. ( My husband purchased a matt cutter when I first got into art. I may have to nudge him to get it out and start using it).
Here are some links to similar frames if interested
Puzzle Collage Picture Frame – http://amzn.to/2jnPJjG
10 Opening Collage – http://amzn.to/2kN3XH1
The best part of having my art in frames is I get to enjoy them in a way I couldn’t before. It inspires me to have my art hanging in my work space. Plus, whenever it strikes my fancy I can change the arrangements putting in other favorites or newer creations.
Have fun “framing” your art.
CreativeKady
CreativeKady 