Today is Friday and I’m back with another project to show you. This one is quite different as I am making Artist Trading Coins. You may ask what are Artist Trading Coins? These are coins that one creates from paper that are 2.5 inches in diameter, very sturdy and have unique designs. They are not to be sold, but are to be traded or given away.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that my husband and I are the ministry team of a small church in Tucson, Arizona. We also do a lot of online ministry on various social media platforms. It had been on my heart for a while to have some form of outreach tool in everyday settings, for both ourselves and any congregation members that would want to participate. Then I had the idea that Artist Trading Coins may be the good way to accomplish this mission.
The standard size for an artist trading coin is 2.5 inches in diameter. I purchased a 2.5 inch paper punch in order to facilitate the coin creation process. I spent a day going through my script bin and cutting up all pieces that were still big enough to punch 2.5 inch circles. The base of the coins are four 110 pound cardstock circles glued together. This made very sturdy coins. Once all the layers are glued together, I sanded the edge to smooth it out.
I spent one Saturday afternoon in my craft room and created a number of coins. Some of them have concentric circles and some of them have small die cuts. They all boast a sentiment cut from white cardstock with a black shadow.
All of the Artist Trading Coins have patterned paper on the reverse side. This is another welcome use of the small pieces of patterned paper that filled my scrap box. I placed a QR code with a link to a YouTube video in the center of the reverse side of each coin. I use Silhouette Studio to print and cut some pages of codes on full sheet sticker paper. I also use coordinating ink colors to ink the edges of the coins so that there is no white showing.
I plan to enlist the help of some of the ladies in the church in order to create more of these Artist Trading Coins and maybe also light a spark of creativity in them.
I have created coins like this before and I really do love doing them. Because they are so sturdy, Artist Trading Coins are a very unique papercrafting project. Of course working in the small format is both a challenge and a joy and allows for playing with many different techniques.
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Monica