purchased but never sent...

       This vintage card has been in my possession ever since I was small. I suppose that someone had purchased it to send to my great grandmother Morrison but, she passed away before it could be done. My grandmother gave it to me because of my fascination for it. The bedroom windows open into the outdoors inside the card, if that makes since? The printed message in the card reads:

Because you're dear and very sweet

And mean the world and all,

This lovely wish is for all joys--

The big ones, and the small!

       Three potted geraniums rest on a yellow window seal and ruffled, white cotton curtains frame the quaint view for the recipient. The front of the card reads, "With Love to Dear Grandmother."

Video by Carly Simon

print and stitch cards old and new

A mother carries her baby in a basket over her shoulder. She is dressed in a folk costume from a region of Cantabria Spain.
Print and stitch cards come in and out of fashion. 

        This greeting card was perhaps made in the 1940s or 1950s? It came from Cantabria Spain. Made for the tourist trade; there are many versions of it. The skirt is a pleated ribbon, the blouse is hand-stitched with black threads and the cap with red threads. The mother and baby are hand-painted with watercolors and so are her shoes and also the tiny farmer with oxen and cart in the background. Usually cards such as these illustrated the customary folk costume of the local people who crafted them for visitors to their village. There is a tiny drawing of the arms of Cantabria in the top right hand corner of the greeting card.

Left, a detail of her ribbon skirt. Center, all of her facial features are painted with watercolors. Right, the current coat of arms of Cantabria Spain.

       Below is a video illustrating a modern variation of the same craft. Click on their youtube video to visit the company's web pages for free patterns and ideas.

Video tutorial showing how to make a note card that 

you can hand stitch with embroidery floss. 

Visit downloadandprint for a free sample.

i've restored charming christmas cards by children

This introduction by Edmund Dulac, 1922
Read his biography here.

      We have all been brought up with the superstition, that efficiency in drawing and painting is the privilege of a few adults, that it can only be achieved after a long and arduous struggle, and by means only revealed to an intellectual oligarchy.

      From time to time, however, the performance of some extraordinary child seems to throw a doubt on this belief and starts us wondering whether in face of such achievements, the result of a few tender years' work, the long efforts of maturity are not so much waste of misplaced energy.

"Santa Claus in his workshop" by Marta Zehenter

      But quite recently in a comprehensive exhibition organized in London by Mr. Hawker, we were shown not a few isolated examples, but an impressive number of works by children between the ages of 6 and 16 done in the schools directed by Professor Cizek of Vienna. These displayed not only the most vivid imagination, and uncanny power of observation, but an unusual freshness of vision, and remarkable ability.

      The importance of the problem cannot be overlooked any longer. It goes further than aesthetic pure and simple, it opens a door upon the unexplored and somewhat disturbing processes of the human mind, and the child prodigy can no longer be looked upon as a freak.

      Life, some will have it, is a never ending attempt at solving the sempiternal problems that have faced man since his first contact with realities; by seeking his knowledge through them, he evolved Science ; when he stretched his activities beyond contingencies in an endeavor to organize the forces hidden behind his consciousness, Art was born, Art, which was at the beginning Magic, and has remained Magic.

      The Artist put at man's disposal a tangible world of unrealities by means of the most illusory elements, things that have no existence outside our senses, color, lines, sound, and made him master if he wished of a world that he could conjure up at will.

      Through Art man becomes a child again, that is, his consciousness is lulled back into that sleep full of wonders from which he was tragically awakened by the phenomenon of the real world, and whose phantasmagoria lingered through his younger years.

      We forget that we had those treasures of imagination, open to our hands and eyes and that we have deliberately buried them under the burden of our growing consciousness, and all the while the child is there refusing to part with them and sometimes making them visible and tangible for us and as perfect as the sophisticated fantasies of those of more mature years!

      To our utter astonishment, he uses a technique which we associate with a training of many years, a fact most worthy of notice, for it is evident that a very good knowledge of drawing can be acquired in an incredibly short space of time, and this may lead to an extension of the methods that have accomplished such good results, not only in art, but in all branches of educational training: a different and better comprehension and use of all the different kinds of memories and associations of ideas.

"The Christmas Tree" by Bella Vichon

      We fail, in general, to realize that technique is based on memory, the regulating element of most subconscious phenomena. The artist, even in drawing from nature, is reproducing forms that are memorized between the moment he looks at his model and the moment he puts his pencil on paper. Whether the model is immediately in front of him or was, a day or a month before, the process is the same, and it should not be any more difficult to keep an impression of a form for many hours or even days than for the short space of time required in drawing from nature.

      Now, the child has this faculty developed to an extraordinary degree, because his subconscious organization is still unimpaired, and his mnemonic stimulants have not yet been completely replaced by conscious habits. The younger he is, the easier the process. Why then, should we view such accomplishments with wonder, and sometimes suspicion seeing that we take it for granted that the learning of languages, which involves a far more complicated mechanism, and is sometimes an impossibility to grown-ups, is the natural privilege of children?

      Professor Cizek has successfully demonstrated with his methods that the scope of these unspoiled memory reflexes can be enlarged, and that because a child is taught to paint, he need not necessarily have in view Art as an end and a profession. Understood in that manner, it ought merely to form part of every child's education; it should not consist any more in the drudgery of drawing plaster casts or stuffed animals, but should aim at preserving the freshness and spontaneity of the subconscious machine that is still at our disposal in the lumber room of our childhood.

      This would help us to develop a greater sense of balance between objective and subjective worlds, to lose the fear engendered by the paralyzing respect for cur own habits, and we might be able instead of taking our cue from the puzzling contingencies that surround us, to time realities to the rhythm within ourselves, and realize perhaps the perfect harmony described by the Chinese philosopher when he said:

"Last night, I dreamt I was a butterfly, and now that I am

awake, I do not know any more whether 1 am a man who dreamt

he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he is a man."
 

"The Village Church on Christmas Day" by Steffi Kraus

"A Christmas Dream" by Ine Probsta

"The Three Kings" by Herta Zuckermann

"Christmas Treasure" by Steffi Krauss

"Christmas Stockings" by Trautl Conrad

"Tired Out" by Marie Kind

"A world of toys" by Gretl Hanus

"A Christmas Feast" by Herta Zukermann

"Christmas Preparations" by Trautl Conrad

"On the Way to Church" by Herta Zuckermann

"Silent Night" by Gretl Hanus

"At the last moment" by Bella Vichon

where do steampunk designs come from?

Author G. D. Falksen, wearing
a steampunk-styled arm
prosthesis (created by
 Thomas Willeford),
 exemplifying one take
on steampunk fashion.

      Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialised Western civilisation during the 19th century. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century's British Victorian era or American "Wild West", in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. Steampunk perhaps most recognisably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era's perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Such technology may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the modern authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, Stephen Hunt and China Miéville. Other examples of steampunk contain alternative history-style presentations of such technology as lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.

      Steampunk may also, though not necessarily, incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. The term steampunk's first known appearance was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created even as far back as the 1950s or 1960s.

      Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century. Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk. Read more . . .

Steampunk Art and Design Links:

• Off Book: Steampunk 
• My Steampunk Pinboard for Card Design Ideas 

 Popular Film's Designed Around Steampunk Imagery:

• Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
• "The Vampire's Assistant"

Steampunk Printables:

• Our free steampunk scraps

  A fantastic Steampunk birthday card!

types of greeting cards

Greeting cards come in all types and themes.

      A greeting card is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feeling. Greeting cards, usually packaged with an envelope, come in a variety of styles. There are both mass-produced as well as handmade versions that are distributed by hundreds of companies large and small. While typically inexpensive, more elaborate cards with die-cuts or glued-on decorations may be more expensive.

• Counter cards: Greeting cards that are sold individually. This contrasts with boxed cards.
• Standard Greeting Cards: A standard greeting card is printed on high-quality paper (such as card stock), and is rectangular and folded, with a picture or decorative motif on the front. Inside is a pre-printed message appropriate for the occasion, along with a blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. A matching envelope is sold with the card. Some cards and envelopes feature fancy materials, such as gold leaf, ribbons or glitter.
• Photo Greeting Cards: In recent years, photo greeting cards have gained widespread popularity and come in two main types. The first type are photo insert cards in which a hole has been cut in the center. Your photo slides in just like a frame. The second type are printed photo cards in which the photo is combined with artwork and printed, usually on a high-end digital press, directly onto the face of the card. Both types are most popular for sending holiday greetings such as Christmas, Hanukkah & for baby showers.
• Personalized Greeting Cards: Websites using special personalization technology allow consumers to personalize a card which is then printed and sent directly to the recipient.
• Reusable Greeting Cards: These are greeting cards for the budget conscious. There are two common formats for reusable cards. Firstly there are cards with slits in them positioned to hold pages. Secondly there notepad style cards where pages stick to the back of the cards. The pages that have been used for reusable cards can be removed after being received and fresh pages can be used to reuse the cards.
• Risqué Greeting Cards: Some companies offer risqué greeting cards, with adult-based humor and cartoons. The humor in these cards can sometimes be offensive to more conservative parts of the population.
• Musical Greeting Cards: Recently greeting cards have been made that play music or sound when they are opened. They are commonly 3D handmade birthday cards which play traditional celebration songs such as Happy Birthday To You.
• Electronic Greeting Cards: (also called E-cards) Greeting cards can also be sent electronically. Flash-based cards can be sent by email, and many sites such as Facebook enable you to send greetings. More recently, services have launched which enable you to send greetings to a mobile phone by text message. Many of these electronic services offer open or anonymous chat, to enable further discussion.
• Pop-Up Cards: Pop-Up Cards are normally cards that, once opened, have a picture coming outward, giving the reader a surprise. Pictures and printed messages in greeting cards come in various styles, from fine art to humorous to profane. Non-specific cards, unrelated to any occasion, might feature a picture (or a pocket to paste in a personal photograph) but no pre-printed message.

"Swing cards are so much fun to make! Follow this step by step tutorial and you will be creating this fancy fold card in no time."

More Examples of Swing Cards:

• Double swing card (praying hands)
• Double swing card featuring Stampin' Up!
  

      "Handmade from elaborately die cut printed paper this unique rubber band activated pop-up Christmas card design is another creation of artist, illustrator and master paper engineer, Lowell Hess, one of the foremost pop-up card designers of the twentieth century. These whimsical pop-up greeting cards are fully assembled, complete with envelopes for Christmas greetings and other occasions. Matching gift tags attached to each card can be personalized by hand or custom imprinted for business. Designed and manufactured in North America for the holidays and sold directly by Graphics3 Inc. of Jupiter, FL. Not sold in stores. http://www.graphics3inc.com"

More Examples of Pop-Up Rocking Cards:

• Rocking Cards by Santoro

      Telescoping in mechanics describes the movement of one part sliding out from another, lengthening an object (such as a telescope or the lift arm of an aerial work platform) from its rest state. In modern equipment this is often done by hydraulics, but pulleys are used for simpler designs such as extendible ladders & amateur radio antennae. When making paper greeting cards you can achieve this action with pull tabs or by inserting brass brads.

More Examples of Telescoping Cards:

• Telescoping Card in Action
• Two Telescope-cards from Molly Scrap
• a snowman telescope card
• telescoping circles card

iris folding

     Iris folding is a paper craft technique that involves folding strips of colored paper in such a way to form a design. The center of the design forms an iris — a shape reminiscent of the iris diaphragm of a camera lens.

      Iris folding originated in Holland, where early craft persons made their designs using patterned paper cut from the inside of envelopes. Today, crafters use any light weight paper, such as scrapbook paper, origami paper, wrapping paper, the inside of envelopes or pages of magazines. Ribbon is also used.

      Iris folding is done with a pattern. The crafter uses the finished product to decorate the front of a greeting card, as a scrapbook embellishment, to decorate an altered book or a mixed media collage, or in various other ways.

      Supplies for iris folding include a pattern, strips of colored paper, permanent transparent tape, cutting tools and a temporary tape such as painters tape. The temporary tape is used to hold the pattern in place while the craftperson creates the design.

      Iris folding patterns are available from booksellers or as downloadable files made available on Internet web sites. Other craft persons doing iris folding create their own patterns.

    Iris folding is an attractive paper craft technique used in card making,
 scrapbooking and other projects. The craft person folds a variety
 of colored papers to form a shape. This video demonstrates making
 a Halloween card with iris folding.

graduation cards

Graduation cards given to my husband during the 1970s

      Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as graduands. The date of graduation is often called graduation day. The graduation itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation, though in some cases inaccurately.

      At the University of Cambridge, the occasion on which most graduands receive their BA degree is known as general admission. After degree completion, graduates can be referred to by their graduating year. In the United States and Canada, the term is additionally increasingly being used to refer to the advancement from a primary or secondary school level. When ceremonies are associated, they usually include a procession of the academic staff and candidates. At the college and university level the faculty will usually wear academic dress at the formal ceremonies, as will the trustees and degree candidates.

      "Graduation" at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or in mass even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony. 

      Many families and friends of graduates often send cards, letters and money gifts to recognize this honorary occasion. Some families even celebrate the graduation of their child from one grade to the next with a party.

• The stories behind graduation traditions
• Nine graduation traditions you didn't know existed
• Some unusual customs at Wheaton College

graduation card samples from 1970 something

visiting cards or calling cards

Victorian scrap and the caller's signature would be included
on a small white card. This card would be left on a table at
the front entrance of a home in order to inform  or
remind those living at the  residence that a "call"
or a visit had been paid by the person who had signed
the card. 

      A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small paper card with one's name printed on it, and often bearing an artistic design. In 18th century Europe the footmen of aristocrats and royalty would deliver these first European visiting cards to the servants of their prospective hosts solemnly introducing the arrival of their owners.

      Visiting cards became an indispensable tool of etiquette, with sophisticated rules governing their use. The essential convention was that one person would not expect to see another person in her own home (unless invited or introduced) without first leaving his visiting card for the person at her home. Upon leaving the card, he would not expect to be admitted at first, but might receive a card at his own home in response. This would serve as a signal that a personal visit and meeting at home would be welcome. On the other hand, if no card were forthcoming, or if a card were sent in an envelope, a personal visit was thereby discouraged. As an adoption from French and English etiquette, visiting cards became common amongst the aristocracy of Europe, and also in the United States. The whole procedure depended upon there being servants to open the door and receive the cards and it was, therefore, confined to the social classes which employed servants.

       If a card was left with a turned corner it indicated that the card had been left in person rather than by a servant

      Some visiting cards included refined engraved ornaments, embossed lettering, and fantastic coats of arms. However, the standard form visiting card in the 19th century in the United Kingdom was a plain card with nothing more than the bearer's name on it. Sometimes the name of a gentlemen's club might be added, but addresses were not otherwise included. Visiting cards were kept in highly decorated card cases.

       The visiting card is no longer the universal feature of upper middle class and upper class life that it once was in Europe and North America. Much more common is the business card, in which contact details, including address and telephone number, are essential. This has led to the inclusion of such details even on modern domestic visiting cards, a practice endorsed by modern books of etiquette, such as Debrett's New Etiquette.

• A History of Victorian Calling Cards
• Calling Card Etiquette
• Social Calls in the Edwardian era
• The Etiquette of Using Calling Cards
• Collection of calling cards received by Mrs. John Beckwith, Chicago at the Newberry Library
• Order Custom Calling Cards

japonism is very popular in card design

Americans have always loved imagery influenced by Japanese art and design. Themes such as these are still proliferated by card artists today.

      Japonism (from the French Japonisme, first used in 1872) is the influence of the Japanese art, culture, and aesthetics. The term is used particularly to refer to Japanese influence on European art, especially in impressionism. In France the term Japonisme refers to a specific French style which mainly found expression in fine arts from 1864, while in England it initially had an impact on decorative arts with the first documented pieces of furniture influenced by Japonism in 1862, even if the term Anglo-Japanese was used as early as 1851.

      From the 1860s, ukiyo-e, Japanese wood-block prints, became a source of inspiration for many European impressionist painters in France and elsewhere, and eventually for Art Nouveau and Cubism. Artists were especially affected by the lack of perspective and shadow, the flat areas of strong color, and the compositional freedom gained by placing the subject off-center, mostly with a low diagonal axis to the background. Read More . . .

More Content Related Japonism:

• Restored images from Japan here at our blog
• "Japonisme" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History
• Influence on Vincent van Gogh under header "An overview"
• "Orientalism, Absence, and Quick~Firing Guns:The Emergence of Japan as a Western Text"
• "Japonisme: Exploration and Celebration"
• "Japonism" from the Museu Picasso Barcelona
• Marc Maison's Gallery specialized in Japonism
• Our free collection of Japonsim Scraps

samples of confirmation cards

      Confirmation is a rite of initiation in several Christian denominations, normally carried out through anointing, the laying on of hands, and prayer, for the purpose of bestowing the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

      In Christianity, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant made in Holy Baptism. In some denominations, confirmation also bestows full membership in a local congregation upon the recipient. In others, such as the Roman Catholic Church, confirmation "renders the bond with the Church more perfect", because a baptized person is already a full member.

      Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and many Anglicans view Confirmation as a sacrament. In the East it is conferred immediately after baptism. In the West, this practice is followed when adults are baptized, but in the case of infants not in danger of death it is administered, ordinarily by a bishop, only when the child reaches the age of reason or early adolescence. Among those Catholics who practice teen-aged confirmation, the practice may be perceived, secondarily, as a "coming of age" rite.

      In Protestant churches, the rite tends to be seen rather as a mature statement of faith by an already baptised person. It is also required by most Protestant denominations for membership in the respective church, in particular for traditional Protestant churches. In traditional Protestant churches (Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran etc.) it is recognized by a coming of age ceremony. Confirmation is not practised in Baptist, Anabaptist and other groups that teach believer's baptism.

      There is an analogous ceremony also called Confirmation in the Jewish religion, which is not to be confused with Bar Mitzvah. The early Jewish Reformers instituted a ceremony where young Jews who are older than Bar Mitzvah age study both traditional and contemporary sources of Jewish philosophy in order to learn what it means to be Jewish. The age instituted was older than that of Bar Mitzvah because some of these topics were considered too complicated for thirteen-year-old minds to grasp. Nowadays, Confirmation has gained widespread adherence among congregations affiliated with the Reform movement, but has not gained as much traction in Conservative and Orthodox Jewish groups. The way Confirmation differs from Bar Mitzvah is that Confirmation is considered a more communal confirmation of one's being Jewish, and Bar Mitzvah is more of a personal confirmation of joining that covenant.

More Examples of Manufactured Confirmation Cards:

• Confirmation Certificates at Concordia Publishing House
• The current selection of Confirmation Cards from The Catholic Company
• Confirmation Cards at The Printery House
• Confirmation Cards at Eden.co.uk
• Confirmation and Baptism Certificates from Augsburg Fortress

the pop-up carousel card

      A carousel or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gearwork to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music. This leads to one of the alternative names, the galloper. Other popular names are jumper, roundabout, horseabout and flying horses.

      Carousels are commonly populated with horses, each horse weighing roughly 100 lbs (45 kg), but may include diverse varieties of mounts, like pigs, zebras, tigers, or mythological creatures such as dragons or unicorns. Sometimes, chairlike or benchlike seats are used as well, and occasionally mounts can be shaped like airplanes or cars.

      A carousel greeting card does not always have spinning parts as does the one shown in the video above. However most carousel cards are actual depictions of literal merry-go-rounds even though the term "carousel" is not always used to describe a merry-go-round. Sometimes the term is used to describe a spinning mechanism.

      Any rotating platform may also be called a carousel. In a playground, a roundabout or merry-go-round is usually a simple, child-powered rotating platform with bars or handles to which children can cling while riding. At an airport, rotating conveyors in the baggage claim area are often called carousels. Various photographic slide projectors, notably those made by Kodak until 2004, used rotating trays or magazines called carousels to hold the slides and were often known as "carousel projectors".

      Carousel cards have been popular for over a century. You can find rare examples of these in museum collections or in collections belonging to enthusiastic individuals. I have include below: card samples of carousels and links to actual carousels that you may wish visit in order to develop your own unique designs.

 
 Examples of Pop-Up Carousel Cards:

• A Classic Carousel Pop-Up from Any Occasion Gift Cards
• A Christmas Carousel from Arrowfile
• Pop-Up Sight 'N Sound Carousel Card
• A Carousel Storyteller Book
• How to Make A Carousel Pop-Up Card 

More Links to Actual Carousels:

• Allan Herschell Carousel Factory
• Carousel of Progress — a novel theater that revolves a seated audience around central stages
• C. W. Parker Carousel
• Chair-O-Planes, aka a swing carousel
• Charles I. D. Looff
• Crescent Park Looff Carousel
• Philadelphia Toboggan Company

controversial picture postcards

Left, A typical seaside postcard Right, A
 typical "saucy" postcard by Donald McGill

      The initial appearance of picture postcards (and the enthusiasm with which the new medium was embraced) raised some legal issues. Picture postcards allowed and encouraged many individuals to send images across national borders, and the legal availability of a postcard image in one country did not guarantee that the card would be considered "proper" in the destination country, or in the intermediate countries that the card would have to pass through. Some countries might refuse to handle postcards containing sexual references (in seaside postcards) or images of full or partial nudity (for instance, in images of classical statuary or paintings).
      In 1894, British publishers were given permission by the Royal Mail to manufacture and distribute picture postcards, which could be sent through the post. The first UK postcards were produced by printing firm Stewarts of Edinburgh and early postcards were pictures of landmarks, scenic views, photographs or drawings of celebrities and so on. With steam locomotives providing fast and affordable travel, the seaside became a popular tourist destination, and generated its own souvenir-industry.
      In the early 1930s, cartoon-style saucy postcards became widespread, and at the peak of their popularity the sale of saucy postcards reached a massive 16 million a year. They were often bawdy in nature, making use of innuendo and double entendres and traditionally featured stereotypical characters such as vicars, large ladies and put-upon husbands, in the same vein as the Carry On films. In the early 1950s, the newly elected Conservative government were concerned at the apparent deterioration of morals in Britain and decided on a crackdown on these postcards. The main target on their hit list was the postcard artist Donald McGill. In the more liberal 1960s, the saucy postcard was revived and later became to be considered, by some as an art form. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, the quality of the artwork and humor started to deteriorate and, with changing attitudes towards the cards' content, the demise of the saucy postcard occurred. Original postcards are now highly sought after, and rare examples can command high prices at auction. The best-known saucy seaside postcards were created by a publishing company called Bamforths, based in the town of Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England.
      Despite the decline in popularity of postcards that are overtly 'saucy', postcards continue to be a significant economic and cultural aspect of British seaside tourism. Sold by newsagents and street vendors, as well as by specialist souvenir shops, modern seaside postcards often feature multiple depictions of the resort in unusually favorable weather conditions. John Hinde, the British photographer, used saturated color and meticulously planned his photographs, which made his postcards of the later twentieth century become collected and admired as kitsch. Such cards are also respected as important documents of social history, and have been influential on the work of Martin Parr.

ACEO (art cards, editions and originals) movement

A set of nine ATC's (Artist trading cards)

      ACEOs are valued in much the same way as artist prints. However there are a few differences particular to this type of collectable. I have included here a listing of those attributes collectors keep in mind when selecting cards for their own collections. Not all of these attributes may be relevant to every collector. Some people collect ACEOs and ACTs primarily for sentimental reasons and are completely uninterested in the monetary "value" given to cards within their possession. 

• Appropriate information about the artist located on the back of the card. What is most usually listed? A full signature, copyright symbol and date, printed name of that same artist, title of art or set, theme, eBay ID, website, email, city where the artist lives, medium, trademark, etc... Remember that not all artists bother with this detailed information and copyrights are automatic for artworks unless your artwork primarily includes the collage of copyrighted or public domain images. 
• A collaged image should never be misrepresented by the individual using it for his or her own creation. If this imagery is cut from printed product and that product is currently copyrighted it may be collaged into a unique work but not copyrighted. The image should never be photo-copied and then pasted within the collage. Only the actual product may be collaged in order for the production of the ACT or ACEO to be legitimately crafted without legal ramifications. For instance, you may cut apart an original comic book to collage onto collectible card, but you should never duplicate copyrighted comic by either means of a photocopier or by hand and then paste this material on your own creation; this conduct is considered illegal.
• If your collaged elements are from the public domain and you have printed and pasted these into a crafted ACT or ACEO, you may do so without fear of breaking the law. That being said, however, it is unethical to misrepresent these as your own artwork. Collaged public domain imagery is considered acceptable but not something you may copyright unless you have altered it quite significantly. Copyright law will not defend those copyrights that have entered the public domain, hence, the term "public domain." This means the public is free to use the copy freely.
• Copyright is automatic in the United States for original artworks. Artists do not need to copyright their drawings or paintings in order to successfully file lawsuits against someone who infringes upon their work. However the burden of proof falls upon the artist. Artwork that is published, exhibited and publicly attributed to a living artist should never be copied or photographed and included in an ACT or ACEO without prior consent of that artist and this prior consent must be obvious and legally binding. 
• Print editions on ACEOs should be attributed on the backside of the card in the depiction of a fraction. The top number shown is the specific number applied to that unique card, the bottom number shown is the number of prints made for that artist's particular limited edition printing. So if the edition mark looks something like this 3/300, it means that this is the third card printed out of three hundred cards that will be printed and sold of that particular image. The lower the number printed in the entire addition, the more valuable the print. If your edition is 35 compared to 305, the edition is more collectible. Artist additions for prints traditionally number below 50.
• Authentic papers and period correct imagery are important to sophisticated collectors. Many collectors are very discerning when it comes to graphics and ephemera included in a collaged or hand-sewn ACEO.  They will look for those trading cards that include both patterns and graphics originating from the same time period. In other words, if an artist collages a 20s flapper girl, the collector will also look to see if the background graphics originate from the 1920s. 
• ACEOs including valuable embellishments such as original antique photographs, fragments of actual maps, old textiles, bobbin lace, needle point, collectible buttons and stamps are considered more desirable.
• Original artwork is more collectible than prints made from photographed artworks. Expect these art cards to be priced differently.
• If a printed ACEO is embellished with hand-coloring, it's value is greater than a "untouched print." 
• Savvy collectors also look for authentic signatures belonging to artists not printed signatures. However, these signatures need not include the artists full name if that particular artist does not typically sign their larger works in such a manner.
• The topic or themes illustrated in art cards also will affect the collectability of a card and/or set of cards. Both popularity and rarity are important. Topics that are in demand are frequently produced by artists and collectors have a tendency to assume that this means that popular topics are more important. That being said, rarity of a particular subject also will influence a sophisticated collector, although these cards may be initially more difficult to sell.
• Card condition is one aspect of trading cards that determine the value of a card. There are four areas of interest in determining a cards condition. Centering, corners, edges and surface are taken into consideration, for imperfections, such as color spots and blurred images, and wear, such as creases, scratches and tears, when determining a trading cards value. Cards are considered poor to pristine based on their condition, or in some cases rated 1 through 10. A card in pristine condition, for example, will generally be valued higher than a card in poor condition.

Condition	Description
Pristine	Perfect card. No imperfections or damage to the naked eye and upon close inspection.Shiny
Mint condition	No printing imperfections or damage to the naked eye. Very minor printing imperfections or damage upon close inspection. Clean gloss with one or two scratches.
Near Mint/Mint	No printing imperfections or damage to the naked eye, but slight printing imperfections or damage upon close inspection. Solid gloss with very minor scratches.
Near Mint	Noticeable, but minor, imperfections or wear on the card. Solid gloss with very minor scratches.
Excellent Mint	Noticeable, but minor, imperfections or wear on the card. Mostly solid gloss with minor scratches.
Excellent	Noticeable imperfections or moderate wear on the card. Some gloss lost with minor scratches.
Very Good/Excellent	Noticeable imperfections or moderate wear on the card. Heavy gloss lost with very minor scuffing, and an extremely subtle tear.
Very Good	Heavy imperfections or heavy wear on the card. Almost no gloss. Minor scuffing or very minor tear.
Good	Severe imperfections or wear on the card. No gloss. Noticeable scuffing or tear.
Poor	Destructive imperfections or wear on the card. No gloss. Heavy scuffing, severe tear or heavy creases.

artist trading cards or ATCs

Sample of Michael Leavitt's Art Cards

      Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern trading cards baseball cards, or 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches(64 mm × 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or fiber. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs).

      M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest in the cards spawned the ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) movement.

      An offshoot of artist trading cards are Art Cards, Editions and Originals (ACEOs), which originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition to trading among themselves. Many ACEOs are sold on internet auction sites, such as eBay. As the term suggests, ACEOs may be small original works of art, or editions of small prints.
      Michael Leavitt's Art Cards, hand-painted small portraits of artists, replicated traditional baseball trading cards in style and format. Subjects were drawn from various genres, and included Vincent van Gogh, Bob Ross, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and Michael Jackson. The limited editions were hand-packed in wrappers with bubble gum. Leavitt said, "It's a way I created to compare people and what they do across all kinds of different areas."
      As for an earlier example, in 1991, Cleury Champion first sold his cards through the catalog of his avant-garde magazine eXpErImEnTaL (bAsEmEnT). Champion's most recognized cards were playing cards with experimental poems of John M. Bennett rubber stamped on the face.

• ATC Quarterly
• Trading Card Questions
• Read more about mass produced trading cards

      Below, Bob Rankin explains how to have fun with artist trading cards.

collectable cards or trading cards

      A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other text (attacks, statistics, or trivia). There is a wide variation of different types of cards. Modern cards even go as far as to include swatches of game worn memorabilia, autographs, and even DNA hair samples of their subjects.

Trade cards advertising the product
(not to be confused with trading cards).

      Trading cards are traditionally associated with sports; baseball cards are especially well-known. Cards dealing with other subjects are often considered a separate category from sports cards, known as non-sports trading cards. These often feature cartoons, comic book characters, television series and film stills. In the 1990s, cards designed specifically for playing games became popular enough to develop into a distinct category, collectible card games. These tend to use either fantasy subjects or sports as the basis for game play.

      Trade cards are the ancestors of trading cards. Some of the earliest prizes found in retail products were cigarette cards — trade cards advertising the product (not to be confused with trading cards) that were inserted into paper packs of cigarettes as stiffeners to protect the contents. Allen and Ginter in the U.S. in 1886, and British company W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1888, were the first tobacco companies to print advertisements. A couple years later, lithograph pictures on the cards with an encyclopedic variety of topics from nature to war to sports — subjects that appealed to men who smoked - began to surface as well. By 1900, there were thousands of tobacco card sets manufactured by 300 different companies. Children would stand outside of stores to ask customers who bought cigarettes for the promotional cards. Following the success of cigarette cards, trade cards were produced by manufacturers of other products and included in the product or handed to the customer by the store clerk at the time of purchase. World War II put an end to cigarette card production due to limited paper resources, and after the war cigarette cards never really made a comeback. After that collectors of prizes from retail products took to collecting tea cards in the UK and bubble gum cards in the US.

• Read more about artist trading cards or ATCs

Collecting cards with pictures of events in ballooning history from 1783 to 1883.

^{No. 1. Le Commandant Coutelle au siège de Mayence (1795)
No. 2. Les utopies de la navigation aérienne au siècle dernier
No. 3. Sébastien Lenormand fait la 1re expérience du parachute, Montpellier (1783)
No. 4. Descente de Jacques Garnerin en parachute (1797)
No. 5. Gay-Lussac et Biot a 4,000 mètres de Hauteur (1804)
No. 6. Le Ballon du couronnement de Napoléon
No. 7. Mort de Mme. Blanchard (1819)
No. 8. Zambeccari et ses deux compagnons dans L'Adriatique (1804)
No. 9. Mort de Harris (1824)
No. 10. Arban est recueilli par des pècheurs Italiens (1846).}

^{No. 1. Les frères Montgolfier ... (1883)
No. 2. 1re expérience aerostatique a Annonay (1783)
No. 3. Charles lance ... à Paris le premier aérostat (1783)
No. 4. Premier voyage aérien ... Pilâtre de Rozier et d'Arlandes (1783)
No. 5. Premier voyage aérien ... par Charles et Robert (1783)
No. 6. 1er essai de direction de ballons ...(1784 Guyton de Morveau)
No. 7. Traversée en balon du Pas-de-Calais par Blanchard et Jefferies (1785)
No. 8. Mort de Pilâtre de Rozier et de Romain (1785)
No. 9. Les Aérostiers de la première République
No. 10. L'Entreprenant, ballon monté par Coutelle ... bataille de Fleurus.} 

pop up cards

This is a pop-up bear and below a flower garden; both cards are
 made by Hallmark for birthday celebrations. These cards are a
part of a collection of sample greeting cards that I show to my
 students before they design their own.

      Pop up Cards are normally cards that, once opened, have a picture coming outward that then giving it a surprise to the reader, giving it a ‘pop out’ effect. They are the most sophisticated cards that can be easily made at home.
      Design and creation of such card art is called "paper engineering." The artistic aspect of paper engineering is related to origami in that the two arts both employ folded paper. Origami in its simplest form doesn't use scissors or glue and tends to be made with very foldable paper; by contrast, pop-ups rely more on glue, cutting, and stiff card stock. Both origami and pop-up designs implement a wide variety of folding techniques however.

Pop-up Terminology:

• Transformations - show a scene made up of vertical slats. When a reader pulls a tab on the side, the slats slide under and over one another to "transform" into a totally different scene.
• Volvelles - are paper constructions with rotating parts.
• Tunnels -  consist of a set of pages bound with two folded concertina strips on each side and viewed through a hole in the cover. Openings in each page allow the viewer to see through the entire book to the back, and images on each page work together to create a dimensional scene inside.

Two card examples using "tunnels" to create a three dimensional effect.

Video About Pop Up Cards:

• Pop up cards “how to” from www.docrafts.co.uk
• Amazing Pop Up Card Tutorial from Peter Dahmen
• Pop up paper peacock for inspiration
• Pop up piano keyboard
• Linked wedding rings pop up card
• 11 Amazing Pop-up Cards
• Carousel Pop-up card
• Garden Pop-Up

More Related Articles:

• 11 Most Creative Pop-up Card Designs (uphaa.com)
• Fun Pop-Up Birthday Card Tutorial (flowerbug.typepad.com)
• Pop-Up Cards – Silhouette Store Files (kolettehall.wordpress.com)
• With sympathy (economist.com)
• Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 69 Distress It (baileyrosy.com)