Oh, I asked people to look at my old ATCs on my flickr account in another post, and I aske the same here...the link is on my profile!. I just went through them myself, and cringed when I saw many of them, they were some of my very first, and are not good at all. But...each one has a story, especially the bipolar ones, those that are really not made correctly. Anyway, go check them out please, and let me know what y'all think.

I have received through the Bot some great ATCs too but also others I am not so fond of. But that's mainly because tastes differ. After all beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. (And this goes for ATCs as well as for works of acclaimed painters for instance. There are some works of "art" sold for millions at auctions, that I wouldn't even hang on my wall if given for free.) :o)

100% honest opinions on my ATCs (craft and art) are welcome for me too (link to flickr on my profile, look in the crafts album), although I am a bit scared of what you'll all say about it ...

Susi, I had a look at your ATCS and in the assorted album there are quite a few that I like (seeing double, black magic, bckgrnd beauty, ...). Maybe we can swap someday :o)

My 'Witchy Woman' ATC. As you can see I used the same image of a cat and a broom as is shown in Cajunlady's first ATC on page 1. They are very different though. I only used part of the image combined with other images plus red card, glitter, black card and a transparency. Only a few dots of glitter have shown up on the photo.

This is an excellent illustration of how we all interpret and create differently. I think they are both equally nice cards.

Please feel free to comment on any of my work. Check out my flickr for more. I would love some constructive criticism.

magicjessnrach I LOVE your oil painted ATC! I could stare at it for hours, seriously. It looks like a path on a autum hill during a storm, and there's a tree off to the side, but you can't see the trunk. In the further hill it's easy to see faces... kinda like you might if you were walking on a path, alone on a dark and stormy night. :P

My sister does oil painting, it's an amazing medium, even though she doesn't try I can always tell the mood she was in while she created it.

Thanks HWT :) I love to paint in oils but they are really bad for you!

Ceinwyn I wasn't sure which were your ATC's, and then got side tracked by your zentangles, which are amazing. I love how you used animal shapes instead of blobs. beautiful.

Yeah, my sister can't use them at her new place because she doesn't have enough room on her patio :( I bought her a watercolor set for Christmas :)

Ceinwyn, I love your ATCs especially the zentangles.

I have a friend who, at 88 years old, is an award winning artist, in the Who's Who of Women Artists, member of several prestigious art associations, and sells her art to collectors around the world for big bucks. She's a painter and a collagist and from her I have learned a lot about what good art is, and what it isn't--with objectivity--personal taste and opinion aside.

Once, early in our relationship, I showed her a little box that I'd covered with little images of wild animals, and nature landscapes, and sealed with acrylic medium. She took a look and dismissed it instantly saying, "Oh, that's just decoupage". I realized just then that she was right and there was nothing of "me" in it except how I applied the glue and the cut out magazine clippings.

After that I made a point of never using other people's actual images in any of my "serious" work, only parts that applied to my own vision of what the piece should be, and recently I had a collage accepted into a prestigious local juried art show! It didn't win a prize, but out of over 400 entrants, I was one of the 100 who got chosen to show.

I haven't really done as much "serious" art in my swapped ATCs over the past few months as I should, but this thread has convinced me that I really need to focus more and not send anything that my friend would wrinkle her nose at! I'll be doing more photography and real collages, drawings, paintings and make sure I put my all into each little bit.

Cyn

mjr, that oil painted atc makes me think of either a path or a river between hills... and i love paths and rivers... beautiful!

Okee doke, I love constructive criticism . Here's one that I did about a month or so ago. Yeah the gray see-through paper is supposed to be cut funny...I really can't cut straight but it's actually supposed to look like that lol.

Somewhere around here, I have a matchbox that I did back in Dec that, I think, turned out pretty good.

Oh, found the matchbox. What you can't see is that there is black lace around the edges underneath of the black bows. The matchbox was initially sort of a beige color and I covered over it in white cardstock.

I lovvvvvvvvvvve this! Black and white is one of my favorite combos - very elegant, very naughty but nice:) Bows and lace only make it better!

LoL Salfra...now that you mention it, it does look a bit naughty. It was originally supposed to be for a Gothic Lolita swap.

Ok, here it goes. This is my first ATC. I've gotten some good comments on it, but since we're critiquing I might as well toss it out to the group.

I know some of the cuts could be more precise, and I realize some of the edges aren't a crisp as they could be. The center area is recessed with a pewter charm glues in the hollow. The right side-bar is all raised/layered.

I also need someone to suggest a better options for gluing thin strips together. I was using a wide glue stick and it was so hard to get it on the 14" and 1/8" strips cleanly.

Hi ladies:

I'm having a little bit of a problem with this thread. I hope you will bear with me and give me your opinion. :-)

When I joined Swap-Bot I had never heard of ATCs or anything altered. I immediately fell in love with matchboxes and ATCs. However, one of the reasons I did was because there are SO many different styles, levels of abilities and type of media used.

I enjoyed the fact that although my style and how I make my ATCs might not be to one person's taste, that they would be to someone else's.

I think it is really sad that you all are questioning your abilities because some people were rude and said inappropriate things about other people's art.

Isn't Swap-Bot about having fun and finding out new ways of creating? Why do we feel a need to question ourselves and others?

EVERYONE here has really beuatiful art and I would be proud to add any one to my collection.

Yes, I have received ATCs that were either not my taste, or not necessarily the "best" quality (in my opinion), however, I know that each of them did what they felt was their best and so I won't critique them or make them feel as if they aren't worthy of making ATCs.

You are all wonderful artists - embrace that. gentle smile

AMEN!

Thanks bastcrystal :)

na195097 I love your ATC. The charm is gorgeous and I think you did it justice with your simplicity of lines.

I've seen all of the ATC's etc in this thread and i think they're all great. I agree with BastCrystal and i too think its a shame that some people are questioning their art. I would be pleased to swap with anyone here and i've actually learnt a lot from the ATC's i've received. I've tried a few new things that didn;t turn out so well (waterfall cards is one example) but i enjoyed trying something new. I think i've grown over time and got a bit better (i hope so anyway!) and i know others have too. I actually had a look at Lucky's ATC's and i noticed that over time she's got better, i especially like her Audrey Hepburn ATC. I love your one above na195097, and i love spinjennys cherry blossom ATC's, plus i could go into more but i'd lose my post. Keep up the good work all of you x

I would like to say that I think this is a great thread and it is great to see everyones art work. I love that these people are so brave and that they want opinions. It really makes me want to do some ATC swaps and to get opinions of my work.

Ooh! Kelli, I'd love to see some of your work.

I'm with BastCrystal about swapping just to see the different styles. I've only gotten a few ATCs that I've been really unhappy with, 2 with obvious lack of effort and 1 that the glue didn't hold. There are plenty that just aren't my taste, but I still like them because....well, because someone took the time to make them.

Of course, I still much prefer painted or drawn cards, but I've learned to accept ATC for what it's become. And when I want more "Artist" to my cards, I can go swap in one of my Ebay groups where people regularly make ACEOs.

amen bastcrystal! thats exactly what i said!

@cajunlady - my favorite of your Halloween ATCs is the Black cat with the Pumpkin. The cat looks EXACTLY like my "Alexander" I would love to swap you for that card, if you were willing.

@everyone else - thanks for your opinions and I fully agree. :-)

@elle "Of course, I still much prefer painted or drawn cards, but I've learned to accept ATC for what it's become. And when I want more "Artist" to my cards, I can go swap in one of my Ebay groups where people regularly make ACEOs." - I agree here also, we can always go to other sites and enter ATC juried events or trades. I love the fact that on Swap-Bot we usually are not required to be a professional artist" I personally don't sign-up for swaps that put severe rules on their swaps. ie: "Absolutely no stickers"

I quite often sign-up for swaps where the coordinator says "Have fun and be creative"

However, if the swap has a special request for the swap itself, that's different. ie: One I hosted where I asked for a particular type of background and even though I originally requested that a particular type of dye be used, I opened it up so that others who were unable to get the dye could still swap. That way they could still try the different technique and decide if they liked doing that technique.

I would show mine but after seeing others I already know they are not as good. I don't join ones where there are high expectations in fear of disappointing my partner.

Maybe with some practice and experimenting more I will improve.