Artist Trading Cards

Project objective: I was to create a series of artist trading cards based on the theme "Rites of Passage". The given guidelines were to create 16 cards- one for each student in the class. I was to include gesso, tea as a dye, photo transfer, and maps.
One form of rite of passage is marriage. I chose to focus on the lives and marriage of my grandparents. I collected many old photographs, love letters, etc.
I began with 16 playing cards and started by covering the surface with gesso. I then lightly sanded the surface to create a more textured surface for other objects to be applied. On the backside of each card I used lace and spray paint to create a pattern. I added tea-stained lace and a photo of a vintage key for embellishment.
I painted the front side of each card to create a green background then glued and transferred various images. To transfer an image I used a Xeroxed image and covered the front with packing tape. I then soaked the image in warm water until the paper softened enough to peel from the tape. The image was left on the tape to transfer onto the cards.
For some images I printed photos on translucent vellum paper. Using glue caused the ink to bleed so I used my sewing machine to attach the vellum to the cards.