Starbucks ATC Book

Back in 2002-2003 I participated in quite a few ATC (Artist Trading Card) swaps through an online site called Nervousness - now just a sad shadow of its former self.  One of my favorite themes was 'coffee' facilitated by my daughter coming into possession of a bag full of Starbucks stickers.  You will note that I changed cups from the original challenge photo, simply because the ATC's wouldn't fit in the smaller cup, I couldn't figure out how to hinge it, and having a transparent 'binding' seemed like a very good idea.

I put beans in the bottom (smells really good when you open it up)

I had a great poem I had saved relevant to coffee, and I can only assume Seattle, which I printed and stuck in the back of the cup.  The ATC's were put in cut-down plastic sleeves and I bound them into an old promo booklet emptied of inside pages.  I used linen thread, the perforations in the sleeves, and the original staple holes to bind the book.  Then I glued the book to a straw, secured it with an empty sugar packet, and for good measure to keep the back page flat I glued in a Starbucks gift card.

The two ATCs shown are mine, you may recognize the stickers. The rubber stamp was hand cut by my daughter.  Altogether there are 7 ATCs in the book.

 Here is the poem:

A New Lifestyle
People in this town drink too much
coffee. They're jumpy all the time. You
see them drinking out of their big plastic
mugs while they're driving. They cut in
front of you, they steal your parking places.
Teenagers in the cemeteries knocking over
tombstones are slurping café au lait.
Recycling men hanging onto their trucks are
sipping espresso. Dogcatchers running down
the street with their nets are savoring
their cups of mocha java. The holdup man
entering a convenience store first pours
himself a nice warm cup of coffee. Down
the funeral parlor driveway a boy on a
skateboard is spilling his. They're so
serious about their coffee, it's all they
can think about, nothing else matters.
Everyone's wide awake but looks incredibly
tired.                -James Tate

I have so many wonderful poems saved from my daily Writer's Almanac email, I hope I can find a way to use more of them.

Copper Book: Part Two

Most of the pages in the book are black scrapbook paper with a very soft finish.  I made the book to a specific square size so I could use two envelopes I had, one black and one metallic copper.  This gave me several places to put items that for whatever reason didn't fit on any of the regular pages.

The black envelope with postage stamps, bits of stamped handmade paper, and a mulberry paper with copper colored seed heads in it.



Vintage photo, vintage ticket stubs, vintage postcard, wax seal, postage stamps.



Feathers, postage stamps, top of wine bottle foil, and rubber stamping.  The crows are stamped on a little booklet with vintage drawings of roosters.



Blank greeting card embellished with metallic rubber stamping and metalic pen.  The inside is covered with bits of Japanese newsprint. 



Vintage photo in metallic photo corners on the copper envelope with small tassel attached.



Vintage page, small envelope and tags, yarn.



Some of the items in pockets: Handcolored ATC, rubber stamping, collage materials.  In the upper right is a small booklet shown at the top of the photo below.



Postage stamps, rubber stamping, vintage postcard of Paris flower seller.


My daughter is back to being a dishwater blond again, but for now, she has the Copper Book to commemorate her redheaded years.