Artists store their ATC's in various forms. Many of us use the traditional trading card sleeves that hold 9 per page. These are made of plastic that is acid-free and safe to use for our ATC's helping us to preserve them from the elements. They are made to fit inside a letter size, 3-ring binder. Here's what the trading card sleeves look like when they are in a binder:




The cards slide into the sleeve through an opening that's at the top of each of the nine storage slots. They are clear through and through, so when I flip this page over I can easily see the artists' info on the backside of the card.

On the right is a photo of the same page taken out of my 3-ring binder. I've added an arrow so you can see how some of the "dangly" elements can still stick outside the top of the slot. See the fuzzy "hair" in the top middle ATC and the raffia fiber in the bottom right ATC? These elements are not tucked into the slot. Credits: Top Row- EP Pear by Malia aka dragonfly; My Favorite Dress by Suzi Uogh; Royal Children by Janny Loddema Middle Row- Victorian Scraps by Linda Pierce; Shopping Bag by Marcie aka beachmom3; Bright Souls by Shari "Rtist" Bottom Row- The Beauty of Nature by Cheryl Gebhart; Feathered Hat by Sondra Long aka Stamp Witch; April Beehive by Renmeleon

When trading single ATC's many times artists will send them inside a greeting card, hand made envelope the size of the ATC, or even in a plastic bag to protect them while traveling through the mail. These little plastic bags sometimes include a zip-lock type top opening. Like the one shown below:


You can see that even in these little zip-lock style bags there is room for some dangly type elements to squeeze their way in. I've taken the picture so you can hopefully see that there is "wiggle room" in this type of sleeve where 3-D elements can easily fit as well.

Now with that said, understand that not all collectors store their ATC's in sleeves. Some artists store them in boxes, or fastened inside a mini-scrapbook just the right size for displaying their ATC's. You could even frame them and use them in your decor. If you do this, I recommend you place them so they are not in direct sunlight.