ATC's are in the mail!

The girls' artist trading cards are out the door and in the mail.  We missed the mailing deadline after I realized that the post office does indeed close at noon on Saturday.  Oops.  They went in the mail yesterday and Jane had two arrive in our mailbox for her!

While doing this project, I found my children have such different approaches to their art.  Jane is detailed and meticulous.  She sat down for long periods of time and drew.  She chose creatures from the Spiderwick Chronicles as her subject matter and used pencil and colored pencil on each one.  She drew 11 cards and from those, chose the best 9 to send (she was in two groups).  There was one that I really liked, but she didn't.  No amount of discussing could convince her to send it so now it's mine.

Kate, on the other hand, had quick bursts of energy.  She drew what she saw, the flowers sitting around the house:  an orchid, a hyacinth, some daisies, forsythia and alstroemeria.  She finished three cards right away and then for days, she wouldn't even attempt to do the other two.  In the end, she sat down and did them together - right before the deadline.  I cringe to think that she is a procrastinator like her mother.  But then I remember, that sometimes it takes a long time for all those ideas to brew.  Or in Kate's case, maybe she was waiting to see what other flowers I brought home.

I loved this exercise for my kids.  Blair has said that the small size of the canvas gave her kids confidence in a way that a large piece of paper cannot.  I found the same to be true for my girls.  The smaller they had to draw, the more time they took, the more detailed they were.  If you take a look at the flickr pool, I think you could say the same for these young artists.  I sure hope that those of you who joined the swap, enjoyed it just as much as we did.

Comments

[Gina]

We missed the deadline too. But ours was due to having the flu.
The cards look great. My kids had totally different views too. My son showed his humor. My youngest could have sat and made a million of them. My oldest daughter actually had a hard time with the small art. She asked if she could take a break, only to go paint something (for herself) on art paper. Maybe I should do some more sharing with her art swaps..lol She seems to struggle with that.

[SpiderWomanKnits]

Ours went out on Saturday and we received two the same day!

I wish I had taken pictures before ours went out the door :( But my son kept churning out the Art Cards so we still have a big stack.

This was so much fun. Thanks again for organizing this swap.

[Sarah Jackson]

Ours went out yesterday too for the same reason. Oops!

I love both of their work. I found similar differences in my kids. Annika pulled out the watercolors and started experimenting right away, and Gunnar had to think for a while on what he would do.

I'll confess that I wasn't as happy with Annika's because she tried to work with a broad brush on a small canvas and didn't achieve the detail that she usually does. She was thrilled with it, so then I was too. :)

[Tracy]

I think it's funny how size impacts how we work. I remember as a young artist I sometimes had a hard time with small sizes, but at the same time, the expanse of a large canvas was intimidating. And I still feel that way at 30 years old, sometimes.

[Andrea]

Ours are in the mail too, and I had my sons do an extra one to keep. My plan is to frame all 6 of them together when the others arrive in the post.
My 3 year-old daughter did her own art too, so I hope there will be repeat next year so she can join in for real.

[Heather B]

Thank you for organizing the swap. It was a fun activity to do with the kids during Feb. break, and now they are enjoying the cards they are receiving in the mail.

[Cynthia]

We had so much fun doing this. And this morning my 10 y/o received 2 emails from swap friends.

She was over the moon to hear what these girls thought of her cards and to make new friends!

Thanks.

[Mary-- The Yellow Door Paperie]

These are awesome! Love the idea.

[Kristin]

how FUN! I love the atc cards the kids did :)

I'm also having a call for people who might be interested in doing a weekly painting challenge. Thought you might be interested. If so, pop on by and lemme know. :) hugs!

Kristin

[Aruna]

Erin, thank you for organizing this swap. It was such a good idea and our family enjoyed it very much (especially the 7-year-old who participated.

[Maribeth]

We loved participating in the ATC. We have also enjoyed viewing the Flickr group. I found that my kids, too, approached the project with wildly different styles.

[caroline]

Lily got her first two this morning. They were fantastic!

[Holly]

Thank you for organizing this exchange. My daughter is three and so did not participate, but if you do this again when she is within the age limits, I'll definitely sign her up.

[Eliane Zimmermann]

Hello Erin, I got a Friendship Award for my blog and I have to pass it to eight other inspiring bloggers. May I throw the stick over the waste Atlantic Ocean and praise your beautiful blog. Thank you so much, hugs from Eliane in Ireland just a few feet from the Atlantic! Both our countries are suffering from a deep recession. Hopefully creativity and friendship will help against too much suffering and despair. Have a look at http://scents-and-senses.blogspot.com

[Vanessa]

That was great fun! My daughter got really inspired after she got her first one in the mail and made some thoughtful little pictures as she imagined what the kid who got it would say when they opened it.
Thanks

[Account Deleted]

it was so fun, and *you* planted the seed that started it. Emma has gotten 3 and gets more excited every time. I will be excited to see Ian collecting his too.

[carolyn jurrjens]

Thankyou for oraganizing this wonderful swap and thankyou for such a beautiful blog,it's been heaps of fun and was a great way for my daughter to focus on something that she realy enjoys doing and l loved watching and talking to her about how much thought and feeling she was putting into the whole thing.

[beki]

I'm glad I'm not alone - ours went out on Monday too (stupid noon closing time).

[leslie]

oh shoot. mine still haven't gone out.
i left strict instructions to get them finished while i was away.
i think my hubby had them too busy.
yes. let me blame him. :)

[leslie]

and oops! i forgot to thank you.
thank you SO much for taking the time to put this together!!!

[stefani]

These are so fantastic, Erin! You're girls are so creative!

[cate]

Thank you Erin so much for the chance. It was so wonderful watching my daughter create her cards, all of them so different and yet so relevant to her stage and time in life. I posted pictures on my blog for al to see I am so proud of her wonderful art. We received two already in the post and it's been so exciting! Well done, when can we do it again? x
www.cateryan.blogspot.com