Joy in an Envelope: The Marian ATC Swap 2010

This afternoon, we received our artist trading cards (ATCs) from the Marian ATC swap Kimberlee hosted.

To say that we were excited to receive them is an understatement. First of all, little kids hardly ever receive mail ... but when they do, it's always Something Good.

The creativity and sweetness evident in the cards just made us all smile and say, "Awww" about a hundred times. (No, I am not exaggerating.) The gorgeous cards remind us of the richness of the Catholic Church in that our expressions of love are so uniquely us.

I'm posting pictures of the adorable little treasures that we received, so if you recognize one that you did, well, thank you so much from the Paper Dali family.  (I did recognize Jessica's name in the envelope addressed to me and was delighted. ♥ One of her children's cards also showed up in the envelope of one of my children.)

In my eight-year-old son's envelope: (Visit here to see what he sent out.)

In my 9-year-old daughter's envelope: (Visit here to see what she sent out.)

In my envelope: (Visit here to see what I sent out.)

These dear little treasures need to be placed where they won't get lost or dog-eared like all our books. I'd like to do something creative to store them, but for now, I've found a few templates for making an ATC storage case:

Mirkwood Designs
Trading Card Holder from TLC (Just switch a picture of Mary for the baseball on the cover. *grin*)
Trading Card Holder (in a traditional plastic baseball-card sheet format)

If you made any of the above ATCs, please know that they were most happily received and have found a good home. We appreciate dearly the time and imagination taken to make each one ...

Marian ATC Swap: Vee's Edition

(I finished up the last card for the Marian ATC swap and am dropping these all in the mail today, juuuuuust making the postmarked deadline. Phew!)

Below are my contribution to the Marian ATC Swap. If you receive them, please know they were not drawn by a child. It's a grown-up's drawing ... a grown-up who draws like a happy child and enjoys doing so! ♥

 (This was the first card I made, which was on canvas ATC material. Painting it was rather fun, but unfortunately, due to myriad events at Clubhouse Dali, I couldn't paint the remainder cards. Pressed for time, I turned to my beloved colored pencils.)

Marian ATC Swap: Oldest Son Edition

At the last minute, my oldest son (age 8) decided that the Marian ATC Swap wasn't something he wanted to miss! Below are his contributions to the swap, too. Some of the details are lost in the scanning (he draws minute details), but they're still perty dang kuh-yoot.

Above left: The Immaculate Conception, of course!

Above right: Joseph and Mary heading out to Bethlehem. I like their matching green shirts.

Above: The Nativity Scene ... Baby Jesus is sleeping. Shhh, don't wake him up.

Above: Our Lady of Guadalupe ... How can you not love our Lady when she's wearing purple?

Above: Mary holding baby Jesus ... He is very, very tiny, but he's there. Look very closely. Jesus is always with us.

Marian ATC Swap: My Daughter's Edition

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." (Pablo Picasso) 

My daughter and I are participating in the Marian ATC Swap, hosted by Pondering in My Heart.  I'll share mine before I send them out, but this post is about my daughter's cards.

When she showed me her ATCs, I was moved by the joyful spirit and imagination of each one. More than artistic stuffiness or theory or anything formal, her drawings focused on a Mary that is very much a real living person, a mom and wife. I asked for my 9-year-old girl's permission to share these with you, and she was happy to do so:

Above left picture: "Mary feeding the Child Jesus

The simplicity of this picture makes it one of my favorites. Jesus, as a child, needed to eat. Mary is his mom, so she fed him. That's that.

Above right picture: "Our Lady of Guadalupe"

La Virgen de Guadalupe is my favorite apparition, and it made me happy to see that my own love of this one has spread to my daughter.

Above left picture: "Mary in the Manger"

Above right picture: "The Coronation of Mary"

She looks so cheerful, doesn't she? Like she can hardly contain her grin, and her hands are clutched in anticipation on her lap. My daughter's Mary is full of smiles and peace. She doesn't have a nose because my daughter doesn't want her to have one. And I love that she's confident enough to just skip it and depend on the strength of the rest of the picture.

Above: "Mary with Joseph"

My favorite part of this is her cute rounded belly and the fact that Joseph is showing his love for her with a big bright heart.

Whoever receives these pictures in the swap should know they were drawn with a great amount of love and cheer. I think it shows.