What is an " Artist Trading Book " ?

Hello there! By now you’ve probably heard the buzz about the relished hobby of creating Artist Trading Books. We thought we should create a post laying out what this is all about, and how everyone can get involved!

The idea of Artist Trading Books hit us as we were thinking about how much fun it is to create these beautiful up cycled books and how displaying them in a hutch or display case would be so much fun. It dawned on us that it’s much like any other wonderful collection bug. Each one as unique as the artist that pours into them, they have a heart and soul all their own. Like anything worthy of collecting, each one is precious and not easily found. How much fun would it be to not only host your own beautifully up-cycled books, but also to gather the books of friends known and unknown, near and far… and so “Artist Trading Books” was born.

col·lect1
kəˈlekt/
verb
1.
bring or gather together (things, typically when scattered or widespread).

What makes this fun is the idea of artists all over the world pouring themselves into a book and then sharing with one another. Sharing, trading and collecting gives you a wonderful excuse to create endlessly, book after book. Think art journals, wedding or baby journals ( for yourself or as a gift!) , heritage cook books that include not only photos of the dish but also of your family enjoying each other around a shared meal. The list truly and delightfully goes on and on. For example now with the ever-growing number of women who love to DIY their decor there is a whole new way to approach art books. There are no boundaries or limitations to how you transform and up-cycle your books.

What? For decor? Wether you prefer modern, farmhouse, vintage eclectic, traditional, or ethnic grunge ( I made that last one up, but hey maybe it will take off?) these can be a delightful way to get creative and enhance your space! Previously embraced by the super artsy and mixed media crowd ( is that you? we love you, we’re just opening the doors wider so you have more friends to play with) this hobby can take off in a whole new way as everyone loves to get creative and at the same time enhance their space… ( picture these all lined up bohemian style in all their mixed patterned glory on a rustic wood shelf or vintage cottage hutch or modern slim line ledge or _________)

It’s what’s inside that counts. Well, we should say it ALSO counts. I love seeing what secrets lie beneath the cover of an art book. For me, I’m finding a new home for my brand new obsession of hand lettering. I ADORE bible journaling, but have not yet been able to bring myself to attempt it in my bible. What a wonderful home for my free play at this. Like I mentioned above, you can also use these as memory books, journals, cook books, planners… you name it!

We’ve created a Facebook group to facilitate inspiration and discussion HERE and you can follow us on instagram HERE

We hope this brief and first of many posts about artist trading books has inspired you to jump into this beautiful and expressive art form yourself!