Wednesday, May 28, 2014

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 149: PINK, TURQUOISE & POLKA DOTS!

Another fun Stampotique Designers' Challenge has been posted, and it is the lovely Sam Read and her glamorous assistant Poppy, also known as Princess Wiggle Pants and Floppy Poppy Do Dah, who are giving us direction. Here's what Sam has to say:

I'm so excited to be sharing with you my love for polka dots. Almost everything I own is dotty!  Polka dots are great fun as a main feature or as a delicate accent to artwork.  My other love  is my favourite colour combination, pink and turquoise.  So, for this week's challenge, I'm inviting you to have fun with my favourite things:  Pink, Turquoise and Polka Dots!  I can't wait to see your creations, so get your rubber out and have lots of fun creating :)
It seemed a bit of an odd challenge to me at first, but, once I got the pink and turquoise on my tag and started to play with acrylic paints and a stencil, it quickly turned to fun!  It was also fun because I got to play with two new Stampotique Originals' stamps (you can find all the new stamps here!).  My focal image is by the newest stamp designer, Magda Polakow, and is called Agatha Star.  For the second, my sentiment, I have used a portion of one of France Papillon's newest designs, Barcode Text.  A fun ribbon from my stash both for grounding my image and for an embellishment, and done!


Thanks for stopping by today, and for your supportive comments!  I hope you will get crafty and create something for this great challenge!  You can find the details and submit your artwork here.  Why not grab a chance to win one of the two $30 gift certificates given away at the end of each month?  

Cheers!



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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 148: STEAMPUNK

It's Wednesday, and the Stampotique Designer's Challenge is up and brimming with excitement as the talented Kathi Rerek has challenged us to create something in the steampunk vein.  Here's what Kathi has to say:
"Steampunk is an inspired movement of creativity and imagination. With a backdrop of either Victorian England or America’s Wild West at hand, modern technologies are re-imagined and realized as elaborate works of art, fashion, and mechanics. If Jules Verne or H.G. Wells were writing their science fiction today, it would be considered “steampunk.”
Although many artists take great liberties in calling their work steampunk, it actually is clearly defined by Dictionary.com as a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy featuring advanced machines and other technology based on steam power of the 19th century and taking place in a recognizable historical period of a fantasy world. 

 I chose four Stampotique Originals' stamps for my card today:

Medium Bee (wings)

I used a kraft card blank and adhered a previously-rejected background I had created using Wendy Vecchi's reinkers and alcohol (details here).  The colors for this project seemed perfect!  I first used the border stamp to create...well...a border on the card!  Where the stamped images would meet, I made a mask of the last portion of the image so they wouldn't overlap.  Where I misjudged the meeting place and was left with a gap, I used a thin black Sharpie to do a bit of creative doodling! 

Next, I stamped "Rear View Mirror" on Ranger Specialty Paper and coated it with black archival ink using a blending tool, then cut out the image, ran it through my Xyron and adhered it to my card.  I then stamped the "Medium Bee" on the same paper using black archival ink.  After cutting out the wings and edging them with the same ink using the blending tool, I adhered the wings to my image. 

 Lastly, I chose my words from the "Tall  Word Collage," and done! I have made this card for my friend Janet who is being faced with challenges in every aspect of her life.  Here's my steampunk card (where inside it reads "You can do this!):


 I hope you will get crafty and create something for this great challenge!  You can get all the details and submit your art here. Why not grab a chance to win one of the two Stampotique $30 gift certificates randomly awarded at the end of each month?

Thanks for being here, and especially for your comments.  I read and appreciate each and every one!

 Cheers!
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Thursday, May 15, 2014

"BRING OUR GIRLS BACK" ART AUCTION GOES LIVE!

Thank you for being here again today and for checking out the "Bring Our Girls Back" art auction that begins this morning at 7:00 EDT and ends on Saturday, May 17, at 3:00 p.m., EDT.

 To get right to the auction and bidding, you can go directly here.  I would hope, however, that you might take a moment first to learn something about the fate of almost 300 Nigerian school girls who were abducted on their way to school.  There are several sites with information, but I have found this one to be most reliable and current:

http://girlrising.com/nigeria-action/
I would also like to thank each of the artists who has donated artwork to the auction.  They are all truly talented men and women, and their generosity is amazing.  We have all come together to focus attention on the importance of education of our world's children, especially the education of young women in countries where it is considered "unnecessary."  You can visit the blogs of each of the artists and get more details about their projects available at the auction.
URLS of participating artists
Marjie Kemper   http://www.marjiekemper.com
Lisa Pace   http://lisapace.com
France Papillon   http://www.france-papillon.com
Sally Lynn MacDonald   http://www.SallyLynnMacDonald.com
Marybeth Shaw   http://mbshaw.blogspot.com/
Jill Meyer www.jillmeyer.com
Kerry C. Mitchell http://kerrycmitchell.com

Whether you have $5.00, $50.00 or $500.00 to add a piece of art to your home or office, this is a wonderful place to "go shopping" and, at the same time, to make a difference in a young child's educational journey.

 Here is my artwork donated to the auction.  You can find the creative details on another blog post here.  

Thank you for being here today and, especially for continuing on to the auction and making a purchase...and making a difference!

 Cheers!
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 147: INCORPORATE A TAG

Happy to see you here today!  Yep, it's Wednesday, and that means the Stampotique Designers' Challenge has been posted on the main page!  It is sweet Kaz Boughton who is hosting this week, and she wants to see us incorporate a tag into our artwork today.  In her own words:
I love using tags on things I make, so my challenge is simple: whatever you make, put a tag on it. You can make a tag for the challenge, but it has to have a tag on it!!
I decided to make a birthday card today with Kraft paper, definitely with masculine undertones:


I have used two of Daniel Torrente's new stamps today, and Wilbur, an old favorite:

I appreciate your visit today, and hope you will join in on the challenge this week--and every week--showing off your stamping skills!  You can enter once for each challenge during the month and be entered into a random drawing at the end of the month for one of two $30 gift certificates for Stampotique products.  You can find both the directions for submitting your art and the rules here.  

Cheers!

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 146: PINK/ORANGE BACKGROUND COLORS

Another great challenge this week from Stampotique Designers' Challenge, though not so simple for some--like me.  It has taken me a long time to embrace the color orange (and I now do so wholeheartedly), but I am still on the fence about pink!  But, wait, let's hear what the delightful Corrie Herriman has to say about this challenge:

"Hello everybody and happy Wednesday to you.  I am hosting today's Challenge and I would like you to use pink and orange in your background.  Now my mother used to tell me that orange and pink don't go together but because I am a rebel, I think they do!!!  So I would like you to use pink and orange in the background of your project.  I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  Happy crafting."
I started with a white card blank, a brayer, and two acrylic paints...yep, orange and pink!  I then raided my scraps drawer and found a small piece of patterned paper in the same colors.  I used another scrap of pink to mat the patterned paper, then stamped Spidergrass using black archival ink.  Next came rub-on letters to add the sentiment.  Here's the card I created:

I hope you will get crafty and create something for this great challenge!  You can get all the details and rules, then submit your artwork here. Why not grab a chance to win one of the two $30 gift certificates randomly awarded at the end of the month?

Thanks for visiting today!  

 Cheers!
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