Some of my favorite ATCs

ATCs, Artist Trading Cards, are small pieces of artwork created to trade with other artists. The dimensions of the ATC must be 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, but otherwise, there are not a lot of rules about how they should look-though they are always traded, never sold. The initial ATC project, http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/ was initiated in 1997 by Zurich, Switzerland artist m.vänçi stirnemann, and ATCs are now traded globally. Just Google it for swap groups! It's a lot of fun, and you can even give your ATCs away without anyone knowing... Some of my positive psychology and art therapy students did so when we had them do a Secret Good Deed. This exercise was adapted from Christopher Peterson’s work at the University of Michigan. Students were asked to do something kind for someone else without attracting any attention to themselves or taking any credit whatsoever. Art therapy students were been encouraged to use their artistic skills if possible in the completion of the good deed....they had a lot of fun with this, and learned a lot, too.