Earth Day Fair at the Oregon Garden

It was a fun, busy day at the Earth Day Fair at the Oregon Garden. It’s estimated that 4500 or more Earth-loving fans showed up to celebrate. And who could blame them. With local food (ahem, you NEED to try the Old Oak Oven Pizza in Silverton if you haven’t already) activities, music, and fun for the whole family, it was a fabulous day. But if you weren’t able to come, let me fill you in on our activity.

DIY Studio pulled out our donated books (thanks to Karla), pencils, pens, upcyled dodads, embellishments, and glue. And of course we brought along our 2.5″ × 3.5″ cards, our blank canvases. Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) were first created by M. Vänçi Stirnemann in Zurich, Switzerland in 1997. He created 1200 cards for an exhibit. When people wanted to buy them, he instead encouraged them to come back on the last day of showing for a swap. Since then, people have been trading ATCs around the globe at swaps, galleries and through the post.

To encourage our swap, DIY Studio made a trading post out of reclaimed metal tubing and the ever so glorious duct tape. We also created a hand carved stamp for the back of the cards. Children and adults alike spent time creating their miniature works of art and waited just as long to decided which work of art to take in return. Turning the card to look at the back, each participant could see who made the artwork and the title of the piece. And our reward was watching the smiles and sense of pride on each creators’ face.

ATCs are a great way to use up bits of scrap papers, fabrics and supplies. Use cereal boxes as a base or any other cardstock and let your imagination soar. Just remember to swap it with a friend!