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I got a message from my ATC friend Candace this morning. She plans to offer ATCs to color at her upcoming event. What a great idea!
I've colored (and traded) a few cards over the years. Coloring is a great way to "enter" the world of ATCs.
There are, of course, a whole bunch of coloring books out there, with gorgeous designs. Cut 'em up! Color away!
In the interest of transparency, I like to give credit to the source. On the back of the card, I include a statement like this:
Cut from the Designs for Adults to Color book by Ima Artist colored by LuAnn P.
Here's an example of an ATC made from a coloring book page:
I also bought a wonderful STAMP, designed by the administrator of the popular Facebook group Emily Houtz. EVENTUALLY I will find the photo I took of the stamp and the cards I made. What do I look up? Stamp? Emily? I Love ATCs? No... it was I HEART ATCs so search is going to be tricky!
Once in a while, you may find a commercial stamp that is exactly ATC size. I made a bi-fold card using one of these commercial stamps. At the time I made this card, I did not have any fine-tip markers. My coloring is pretty poor! But it was fun.
Once I learned to use Procreate, I started making black and white cards that can be colored. I still do not quite have perfect technique... but I am improving.
Of course, the first "coloring book style" image was of the "Doodle Cats." Here's the first version of the "Doodle Cat" card, drawn on August 28, 2024:
I went through SEVEN versions of this design before I came up with the one that I use for trading now. What's wrong with the first image?
It has my "L" signature, which does not appear on later versions of the design.
The dots are all very round and mechanical and I later designed a "brush" with less even edges. It looks more like my handmade cards that way.
Some of the cats are too small to color easily
Here is "DCH7," the current version of the image:
And here is my most recent "coloring book style" image:
