(Fans of Alfred Hitchcock - please read the following in your best "Hitchcockian" voice)

Good evening....

I am your humble host for the October-November ATC trade. It is my hope that you will find this trade interesting, fun and a little scary. As for the subject....

You know who they are. You first met them as a child. They hid in your closet. They waited for you under the bed, always ready to reach out with a hairy paw and grab you. On windy nights, they tap tap tapped on your window with a bony claw sending you running to your mommy's room as fast as your pajama-clad feet could carry you.

The monsters.

They were real, weren't they? Even when your mum took you back to your room and showed you that there were no monsters, it was only a branch tapping at the window, that nothing was in the closet or under the bed, you knew they were hiding - just waiting to come back. Soon the other children told you too that monsters were make-believe, just like Santa Claus, and you said that you knew that and you didn't REALLY believe in monsters.

But did you? Do you still check under the bed? Do you turn on a light before you reach into the closet? Of course, because you know they will return.

They have returned - the theme for your ATC trade is your old friends - the monsters. No camera required. No research necessary. You know them. You know what they look like. Come and draw them!

They have missed you.

Now for the technical stuff:
Sign up begins tonight and if the monsters don't get you will end Saturday night. We will then begin drawing and trading until November 14th or so. Please use the standard size art trading card to draw your monsters on. I believe the dimensions are 2.5 x 3.5 inches or 6.35 x 8.89 cm. You may work in any medium you wish - monsters are flexible and love to be depicted in different ways. Only art that is drawn by you is to be submitted into the trade-no computer art please. Really, computers can't capture the real look of monsters. As you sign up, please pm your mailing address to me (ncgirl) and at the end of the sign up, I'll send them out to the group. If I've forgotten any technical stuff, let me know, I'll put it on later posts.

Let's go!

Traders are as follows:

chomaee
jimm2003
bigs
dolphin-paradise
katdyd
rhemoria
Frithy
Mindy
shadow2b63

I'll have to think about it.. so is it like we draw a monster like out of our imagination? Like it could be anything? I'm just a little confused thats all lol

I am still afraid of the monsters under my bed
Kat

I would like to try a ATC trade and would be very interested in this one!

Jim

p.s. here is a scary (and true) story that happened to me...

Even as a teenager I was convinced that one night as I had just climbed into bed, a dim light from the street lamp shone through my window, I could see the outline of a 6 foot Ogre standing at the corner of my brother's bunk bed. I clearly saw the outline of a face that was very long in comparson to the other bodily proportions. Long nose, long drooping chin. He held very still (he was waiting for me to make the first move). I knew that if I tried to get out of bed to turn on a light he would grab me with, what I saw as hands as big as baseball gloves. So it was a standoff. He didn't move, but the longer I studied his form in the bad light, the more clearly I could make out his hideous features. (hunched back with long arms that nearly reached the floor, drool dripping from slack jaw). I could see him watching me from his long wrinkled face, but trying not to be obvious about it. I lay awake and still as possible for all the night hours peeking over the edge of my blanket, until the dawn arrived and with it's power turned the horrible Ogre into a blanket and a coat draped over the post of the bunk bed!

Sometimes our imaginations can lead to sleepless nights.

Yes, it can be anything that looks like a monster to you. Monsters come in all shapes and sizes.

Wow - that would have scared me too! Don't feel alone though - I moved away from home at 17 and every night after I came home from work I would walk through the entire house with a bat and my cat PorkChop following along looking for monsters. We did find a possum in the storage room one night - I'm not sure who was screaming the loudest: me, PorkChop, or the possum!

I'll sign you up - Be sure to include a drawing of the ogre in the trade!

Me too! Drawing them helps though! Would you like to sign up for the trade?

Oh I am naughty....I really shouldn't do this one I have lots to do............but as someone who loves Edgar Allen Poe, Murders in the Rue Morgue.........The Tell Tale Heart...........The Fall of the House of Usher............The Premature Burial etc etc..........oooh all things that make your spine tingle. And heavens there are the modern monsters too, like Freddy Kruger etc. So many things to play with


I'm in! And I really did have that breathy Hitchcock voice reading your intro...........imagination is a wonderful thing isn't it !

Love it! I'm a big Poe fan too. Loved all of his stories and in my opinion, one of the best versions of "The Raven" was performed on an episode of The Simpsons by James Earl Jones (quoth the raven "eat my shorts").

Welcome to the trade Sue!

Sorry, but I'll give this one a miss. I live alone and can't even watch creepy films. I'll keep an eye on your cards, but not last thing at night!

I'm sorry you will miss the trade, but totally understand about living alone and watching scary movies - you sleep with the blankets over your head for a week after!

One of the perks of hosting is that you get to draw a card or two ahead of time. Here's one of my monsters.
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sorry hi He isn't scarry sooooo I'm still thinking on this.It is a hard topic! Joanna P.S You are a great hostess love your intro!!!!

ok you can add me

Thanks! I hope you can join! Monsters can be fun too!

Welcome to the trade Roxy! No need to send your address, I still have it from the last one!

Thank you that's great, I'm pretty sure I still have all the addresses from all the trades I've been in. I've done one card well I drew it I just didn't colour it yet.

Dang it ! you had to go and make it interestingly fun ...count me in

I'm having a blast with this subject! Halloween season! I've already got 5-6 cards done. (including a 3-D Godzilla!)
I once hosted a one man art show (as a nine year old) of nothing but pictures of monsters and other scary creatures.
My parents had a card game going so I made everyone parade though my bedroom to see my chamber of horrors.

count me in

Thanks for adding me

You're welcome and thanks for joining! We're off and running on this trade - that's great! I've had the worst time getting (and staying) online today, my apologies to everyone for the silence. I'll try to catch up before I get booted off again!

Thanks for joining Kim! I don't think I have your address from previous trades, so if you can pm it to me that would be great!

Wow you've been really busy - Can't wait to see the Godzilla! Does anyone remember those movies??? And congratulations on the success of your art show did you keep your interest in drawing all through your life?

Kat thanks for joining and please pm your address to me when you get a chance. The monsters are happy to see you in the trade!

I'll join! I've been waiting for another ATC trade to participate in.

I'll post the Gozilla now because the format is something I've been toying with lately and might be fun for the other members to try. I drew it with the red/blue 3D optical illusion effect that tricks our brain to see depth on a flat object. By using a green pencil and an orange pencil, I drew the different objects in the picture and offset the 2 colors by different measurments based on how close/far I wanted them to appear. If you have any of those 3D glasses lying around you might be able to see the effect on your monitor. (although it works best in person)

Yes, realizing that with a pencil and paper I could create things got me interested in art. I've done it ever since and the Drawspace site has given me an excuse to keep it up.
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I don't have 3d glasses at home but I work at the movie theatre and we have 3d glasses there but they're just clear i hope it works anyways. I'll try to remember to pick up a pair tomorrow

Sorry, they would have to be the ones with the blue and red lenses (I think the clear ones use light polarity instead of color). (check your DVD collection)

Just get a bit of blue and red cellophane and make your own.......that should work!

I have about 10 cards sketched out, but I have only half finished one. I have a mix of monsters, and creatures of the night ..............such fun! I can't wait to see more scary and not so scary monsters.

Oh.. that sucks I don't have any of those 3D glasses, I barely have any dvds but i'll try to find some at store or something.

Thanks for joining and welcome! Please send me a pm with your address. We're going to have lots of monsters going through the mail!

There's lots of girls here at work who do crafts, I'm going to see if they have the red & blue cellophane and try my hand at 3D glasses - coooool! Sue does it matter which color is on which side?

Sounds like everybody is busy drawing monsters - so quick question - who remembers the first time they saw Michael Jackson's video "Thriller"? I thought of it this morning (the "oldies" station played it, how do you like that?) - I was watching it at 11:00 at night while baby-sitting, dark house, windy outside - all I needed was the guy from "Halloween" to crash through the window. Eeeeeeeee!

Put the blue on the right side, red on the left.

Thanks - I'll give it a try - don't forget to pm your address to me!

I just can't resist - another monster card!
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I am thinking about it I don't know, I was one of those kids who had there head covered up in fear of looking out. I slept in the middle of the bed..I hate scary movies because I think of them when I am alone at night or when driving alone at night. My mother loved scary movies and I am still traumatized. I do not even like clowns maybe I should leave the monsters in the past Hee Hee...the architecture left me half nuts...shadow2b

how many people are in the trade ?

I would like to join in the fun to, I was just at a wedding for my niece and she married into the ADAMS family.

Counting me and Frithy, who just signed up we have 9 total.

Welcome to the trade and please pm your address to me - I don't think I kept it. Ha! I loved the Addams family - Gomez was my favorite!

I hope you can join shadow! Monsters can be fun and cute too! Did you see the Monsters, Inc. movie a couple of years back? I watched way too many Halloween and Friday the 13th movies when I was a teenager. Cute monsters were a welcome change.

Please add me too. I've been looking up images of some of the movie monsters that have scared me the most in my life. I wonder if the tornado from the movie "twister" counts as a monster, it sure gave me a lot of nightmares... *yes, even the flying cow*

Welcome to the trade Mindy and thanks for joining!

Twister was a good movie, great special effects!

It worked .. I have a pair !!! Kewl !!!

It worked .. I have a pair !!! Kewl !!!

OH.........great minds think alike Sandra!

I did one pair of eyes like that for the last Halloween swap I was part of, and I thought I'd do similar but lost of eyes..........just like that old saying "Great minds think alike" but then my mother would remind of the 2nd half of that saying (no offence here) "But fools never differ!" Oh darn!

Actually I am using these eyes as my desktop at the moment.


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I love them! And I think my mom had a similar saying... There were 6 girls in my family (halfs, steps, adopted) so she had to come up with LOTS of sayings! I should put a monster on my desktop - keep those pesky computer techs at a safe distance!

Ok everyone we have 9 people in the trade (kim had to withdraw) and the sign-up period will close tonight at midnight - or whenever the Yankees vs. Angels game ends. (priorities) Please check to make sure I have you on the list in the first post and if you haven't already sent your address to me (I think I have everyone, but I'm known to forget things) please do.

If anyone else wants to join - now is your time!

Going once....

Going twice.... (building anticipation)

Oh who am I kidding - I can't stay up until midnight (translation: baseball game postponed ).

Let's keep the sign-up period open until tomorrow morning, and I'll e-mail out the addresses then.