Artist Trading Cards - The Four Elements

I joined an artist trading card swap on http://www.swap-bot.com and the theme was The Four Elements with one card for each element. Artist trading cards are small pieces of art that are 2.5 x 3.5 inches and you decorate them however you like and then include your contact information on the back of them. They're supposed to be a way for artists to connect with each other. Anyway, here are my four elements:



First we have Earth. I made a base of cardstock and then cut a piece of felt to the same size. I punched holes in them and threaded them together with ribbon, then attached some sparkly leaves (I didn't make the leaves, they came from the craft store :)).

Next is Air. I made a double thickness cardstock base this time and fronted it with some blue origami paper that I drew some wind patterns onto. I cut some clouds out of more origami paper and shaded them with glitter, then attached rhinestones to the wind whorls.

After Air is Fire. This one is more abstract than the others. The base for this is thick cardboard and the front is some shiny origami paper. I attached some ribbons and rhinestones in an angular pattern to suggest flames.

Last is Water. The base is again thick cardboard, which I wrapped with multicolored ribbon. Since this covered the back as well as the front, I attached some cardstock to the back so I could write on it. The fish is made from felt and ribbon and the bubbles are rhinestones and seed beads.

I had a lot of fun making these and I was a little sad to part with them. My husband liked Earth the best, but I think I like Air. It just seemed cheery to me for some reason. :)