The invite we made in December to join us in our Pocket Change adventure is now at the exchange phase, which is very exciting! Yes! Hundreds of artist trading cards from all over the world in the US, Canada, Italy, Australia, India, Mexico, and New Zealand arrived to Beth’s mailbox in Decatur, Georgia as their first stop in this project.
A big thank you to Beth for serving as Pocket Change Headquarters during the last month! Beth’s done a great job in receiving all the creative goodness arriving since January, including confirming their delivery with participants, scanning ATCs and dividing the ATCs to mail to Hannah and I for exchanging. Hannah, Beth, and I will now be working on exchanging all the ATCs received and mailing them back to everyone, as well as posting all the ATCs online for everyone to view.
As I started to take in all the good vibes and creative mojo from the mailings & packages I received in my exchange batch from Beth, the intention of this swap really shined through. Not just in the ATC art created or the image’s messages, but also the attached notes of gratitude & kindness and extra tokens of generosity in the form of creating more than four ATCs to share or including another SASE envelope in case someone forgot theirs.
Act of Creative Kindness from Molly Doerner-Santa Fe, New Mexico
In this post I also wanted to share some of the love received among Pocket Changers involved with this special project and their experience, ideas, and artist trading card making:
Artist Trading Cards – Love, Life and Death: Art Heals Austin: “Since participating in the Pocket Change project, I’ve found myself gravitating toward this art form of creating tiny inspirational artworks. I find it more manageable and easily accessible. And my detail-oriented artistic style still allows for deep focus and a cathartic process.” You can also see the ATCs created for this exchange by Art Heals Austin via this post.
Almost Ready to Go- Beth Rommel Studio | “The love and goodwill sent to my door is a beautiful reflection on the true meaning of pocket change, a little something to make a positive change.”
Art Break Wednesday: Artist Trading Cards for Pocket Change- artsyletters | “I sent in my cards and am looking forward to surprises in the mail later, plus seeing the whole group and learning how the creativity behind all of these cards – and there are hundreds and hundreds of cards – has enriched lives in small and large ways.”
Artist Trading Cards: Promoting Community, Creativity, and Acts of Kindness- Creativity in Therapy | “Not only was creating my ATCs an enjoyable time for creativity, I loved the idea of participating in a collaborative and community-building activity with other artists and art therapists.”
Mending Walls and Making Change- Hannah Klaus Hunter | “I’ve arranged the artist trading cards, in various stages of completion, at a discreet distance from where I sand. I can see them while I work, their bright colors shining, offering the possibility of almost instant gratification.”
Mid-week pondering: Inspiration from the Pocket Exchage ATCs project – artevolutions | “It’s fascinating to follow this creative flow starting from all the Pocket Exchangers spreading across the globe creating something, communicating and inspiring others…Thinking about the journey of these ATCs hopping from one creative hub to another and spreading the message connecting more people in the process…Wonderful…”
Pocket Change Artist Trading Cards- Holistic Art Expressions | “I really got very involved in making this cards today that i am considering leaving some in various public places where people can find them.”
Artist Trading Cards: Small, simple inspirations- La Zattera dell’ArteTerapia | “The idea that small images may offer positivity, joy and beauty to different people makes me happy.”
Pocket Change Power & The Art of Kindness- Creativity in Motion | “Just think about the awesome power & positive Pocket Change energy coming in from around the world and its potential impact…”
itsy bitsy art – innercanvas | “Several years ago, I helped 25 homeless teens make some ATC’s to art “bomb” their neighborhood with. They used their innate stealth to sneak ATC’s into coffee shop menus, used book store shelves, and corner store newsstands. We had so much fun creating them and giving them to strangers.”
Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) & Building Community – Art Therapy Spot | “I was aware of how different it is to create on a small scale. Although I found myself working rather quickly at times, at other moments the small size helped me to slow down and become more familiar with the details.”
Tiny Weekends | “Tiny steps…tiny pieces of art.”
Stay connected here to receive an update of when the ATCs from this project are available to view online, as well as opportunities to read reflections about the impact of Pocket Changing!
6 Degrees of Creativity 
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Reblogged this on creativity in motion and commented:
Pocket Change Artist Trading Card swap update- including some of the inspiring blogging happening among Pocket Changers in cyberspace… Let the exchanging begin!
What a wonderful idea! I’d like to reblog, with your permission 🙂
Thanks for wanting to help spread the good vibes! 🙂 Feel free to re-blog–. ❤
This is awesome Gretchen/Beth/Hannah
I wished at the time I could have been more focused and completed the brief more succinctly but the inherent beauty in this for me was that I knew I could just send my cards, in all their messiness and incompleteness. I knew and trusted that each of you would understand and accept this and me and I felt safe to send them. On reflection they didn’t meet my standard of making, but they did reflect where I was at the time. The project also gave me a focus outside of myself and my grief and it was mine. A place of rest. thank you x KAT
Thanks for posting Kat and checking in here— your written story and meaning about the front and back of your ATCs was very touching and it was powerful to hold them in my hand (I received your ATCs to exchange from Beth!)- Gratitude for including several ATCs beyond what was needed to share with everyone… so kind……. Creative goodness in the form of Pocket Change will be coming your way soon…… 🙂 xxxooo
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Thank you very much for this fantastic experience! Four ATCs landed in Piario, Bergamo, Italy to light, warm & snuggle my days…Beautiful feeling!!! 😀
Reblogged this on Misty Ramos and commented:
Thank you Gretchen for motivating me to spread the love!
My artist trading cards were based on an inspiring Cornerstone of Hope staff retreat that focused on L.O.V.E.
Listen, be Open, be Vulnerable and Excited.
It was a wonderful treat to receive ATCs from around the world and feel the love!