The Stitchscape Swap!
Welcome to the Stitchscape Swap gallery! The Stitchscape Swap is a monthly challenge whereby members sign up and create two 'Artist Trading Cards', or ATCs, a month on a different theme. One of these will be for you to keep, and the other will be sent by post to Dotty Textiles to be swapped with someone else's beautiful creation for you to receive back as happy mail.
For more details on how to sign up to the monthly swap, please email sales@dottytextiles.com so that we can return an email with further information.
Origins of the ATC
The concept of Artist Trading Cards was first developed in the late 1990s by Swiss artist, M. Vänci Stirnemann, who created a catalogue of small artworks for an exhibition and invited other artists to create similar pieces in their own style to ‘trade’ at the end of the exhibition.
They are always a set size; 2.5 x 3.5 Inches and are often more usually made as a paper item, either painted or collaged for example, but, for the purposes of this swap, they must include fabric and embroidery.
Monthly Galleries
Click on the images to see the full month's collection
featuring the beautiful work that has already been swapped
November:
Starry Night Sky
Constellations, the moon and stars, sparkling beads, black velvet
December:
Festive Greenery
Holly & Ivy, Christmas trees, green and red, mistletoe
Check back each month to see the next collection of swapped ATCs!
Looking ahead to 2023
We are thrilled at the great success of the Stitchscape Swap 2022 and can reveal that there are more themes to continue swapping next year! Hopefully these themes will continue to challenge and inspire and we look forward to the swap continuing.
The Themes...
and a few ideas to help spark your inspiration...
January: Frosted Dew Droplets
Misty morning walk, frozen spider webs, droplets on seed heads, glitter, sequin sparkles, shaped crystals
February: Snowdrop Carpet
Snowdrop clusters, woodland with Snowdrops, hedgerows, flower detailling
March: Morning Chorus
Musical notes, hedgerow birds, garden birds, sunrise and bird silhouettes, starlings on telegraph lines
April: Butterfly House
Butterfly species, butterfly friendly plants/flowers, butterfly tunnels, chyrsalises, caterpillars, comic butterfly in a house
May: On the Edge of the Cliff
White cliffs, bird nests, chalk crags, erosion, sediment layers, human activities on cliffs, scrub plants
June: Waterlily Pond
Waterlily House at Kew Gardens, flower detailling, lily pads, Sheffield Park Waterlily festival, Monet painting, the view from underneath
July: Patchwork Fields/Birds Eye View
Fields from above, rape fields, ploughed fields, wheatfields, satellite views, hot air balloon/ helicopter/ aeroplane views, paper piecing
August: The Allotment Garden
Fruit & Vegetables, allotments, orchards, cutting gardens, raised plant beds, gardening tools, tool sheds, greenhouses
September: Rockpooling
Sea creatures, shells, rockpooling equipment, tidal rockpools, crabs, seaweed, bucket & spade, holiday memories
October: Toadstool Treasure
Mushrooms, red & white toadstools, the forest floor, fungus, tree mushrooms, fungi clusters, the underside, frills, toadstool fairy
November: Thunder & Lightning
Lightning, dark clouds, silver rain, silver linings, moody landscapes, flashes of light, black and white, electricity, metallic threads
December: Still Reflections
Lakes, Ponds, Puddles, Mountain Mirrors, Urban reflections in glass, shiny baubles or decorations, mirrors, self portrait,