Middle School students present unique challenges to visual arts teachers, who wonder how they can touch the academic, emotional, and social lives of students entering their early teen years. If lessons are to rate high with them, they must not only appeal academically to their inquisitiveness, but also to their social an emotional development as well. In this article, the author describes one of her favorite Middle School projects: artist trading cards. When she first saw examples of artist trading cards, she felt very drawn to this art form and its premise: artist trading cards can be traded but must never be sold. She relates that perhaps it was the art of bartering that appealed to her as much as the creation of miniature works of art. Obtaining something precious without a monetary transaction was an act she felt would add to her students' emotional growth. (Contains 3 online resources.)