STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 129: ANYTHING *STILL* GOES!

The 2014 Stampotique Designers' Challenge Team (on which I am proud to serve) has been given a soft start to the new year!  "Anything Goes" goes around one last time as we continue to be given a break to enjoy our families and the holidays!

I have chosen to make a tag this week, but making a tag isn't always an easy way out of a craft assignment.  A lot of thought still goes into your color palette and creating an interesting background!  You still need to coordinate an image with a sentiment, and there are even other elements to consider--like ribbon or twine and to embellish or not to embellish!

I chose one of Stampotique Originals' text stamps, "One second, One minute, One hour, One day," to remind me to use the time I have been given more wisely.  

Here's my contribution to the challenge this week:

Additionally, I have used the following Stampotique Originals' stamps:

Head (main image)

Design Cube (for background)

I hope you will join me in creating something for the Stampotique Designers' Challenge each week.  The use of Stampotique Originals' stamps is not required.  You can use any rubber or clear stamps (no digital stamps) that you have to participate and gain a chance to win one of two $30 gift certificates for your choice of Stampotique products.  Details for submissions are here.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I appreciate both your visits and your comments.  If you have not already done so, become a follower today...then sign up to follow by e-mail--the surest way not to miss a post and your connection to the Stampotique Design Team Challenges!

A HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EACH OF YOU!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 128 CONTINUES: ANYTHING GOES!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME TO YOU!

This is Week 4 of the Stampotique Designers' Challenge hosted by our Design Team Coordinator Kim Howard.  Although the challenge is the same, this last week is another chance to enter and win a $30 gift certificate from Stampotique Originals for the yummy stamps you see here.  

I made an ATC for the challenge this week.  Perhaps not a Christmas-y creation, but one that has been on my mind as I ponder New Year's resolutions.  The message is a simple one, but finding--or perhaps, creating--the time to read is somewhat problematic for some.  Whether you decide to read Shakespeare, Thomas H. Cook, The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet, or the Bible, join me in reading SOMETHING in 2014!  

For those not familiar with an ATC, it is an Artist Trading Card, similar to a baseball trading card, save for the theme.  They can be gifted, traded, or collected, but never sold.  For my ATC today, I have used two Stampotique Originals' stamps:  Livres, by artist France Papillon, and Tinglyitchiness, by artist Daniel Torrente.  

I wish you all a new year of health and happiness.  Thank you for your visit today, and for your welcomed comments.

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 128 CONTINUES: ANYTHING GOES!

This is Week 3 of the Stampotique Designers' Challenge hosted by our Design Team Coordinator Kim Howard.  Although the challenge is the same, each week is a new chance for you to enter and win a $30 gift certificate from Stampotique Originals for the yummy stamps you see here.  

One of the new stamps I received as a 2014 Stampotique Design Team member is Spiral Velvet Chair by stamp designer Amy Crowe, along with the text stamp Chair Up!  I couldn't wait to use them, so created a card for you today.  

The creative details:  I used a card blank and adhered a piece of vertically striped patterned paper (inked around the edges with a blending tool) as wallpaper in the mini scene I am creating.  Next, using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge on my Cricut Expression, I cut an oval shape ("Buckskin Brown" from The Paper Company) to serve as the rug beneath the chair.  I then stamped the chair image on polka dot paper, cut it out and adhered it atop my rug.  Smile (colored with Ranger Distress Markers and crayons) was added next, one of Daniel Torrente's character stamps.  To keep him company, I added another of Daniel's stamps, Kitty!  Lastly, the sentiment was stamped on white cardstock, trimmed and edged with black ink, then added to the chair back.

I hope my card will spark your creative genes and you will head to your crafting table to create something for the Stampotique Designers' Challenge this week!

I am glad that you stopped by today.  Your visits and your comments are important to me.  I read every one of them!

Cheers!

FEATURED ON LET'S SCRAP WEBSITE!

Some of my fondest creative memories were generated while I served two terms on the Design Team of the popular international website Let's Scrap!  Hosting almost 5,000 members today, it is "home" to scrapbookers and crafters from all over the world.  I was thrilled to be invited back as a "Contributing Design Team" member!

Today, current Design Team member Jen Leeflang issued a monochromatic challenge:  50 Shades of . . . !  Of course, grey immediately came to mind!  But, when I saw this photo of my first great niece in soft beige tones, my palette was set.  Let me introduce you to Rhea (pronounced ray-a):

For those interested, here are the creative details:

Background pp:  Glitz Design's "French Kiss"
Next layer of pp cut from: DCWV "The Heirloom Stack"
Beige and brown cardstock:  from stash
Circle cut from Cricut with George & Basic Shapes cartridge
Alphas cut from Cricut with Base Camp cartridge
Date base cut from Cricut with Elegant Edges cartridge
Date Stamp:  OffiStamp
Photo printed with Cannon printer on Staples photo paper
Stamp on photograph:  Stampotique Originals
Embellishment:  Heidi Swapp "Make Pretty Things"

I would like to thank Let's Scrap for inviting me back to participate in this great challenge, and I thank you for stopping by today.  I sincerely appreciate both your visits and your comments.

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 128 CONTINUES: ANYTHING GOES!

This is Week 2 of the Stampotique Designers' Challenge hosted by our Design Team Coordinator Kim Howard.  Although the challenge is the same, each week is a new chance for you to enter and win a $30 gift certificate from Stampotique Originals for the yummy stamps you see here.  

If you checked the main page this morning, you got a sneak peek at some of the talent of the 2014 Design Team members! My project for today is featured there!  WooHoo!

Although I am making Christmas cards almost daily now, I decided to take a break from anything "holiday," and to create a fun journal page.  My project shows "Mela" sharing "Aborigine," which describes their philosophy on our presence here on earth.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  Both your visits and your comments are important to me!

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLANGE 128: ANYTHING GOES!

The Stampotique Design Team Coordinator Kim Howard (aka "Basement Stamper") has set this month's Stampotique Designers' Challenge as "Anything Goes."  This challenge will run for the whole month and gives you carte blanche to create whatever you like!  Each week, some of the Design Team Members will share a bit of inspiration, if you're stuck.  You may even get a sneak peek at some of the artwork from the new Design Team Members slated to join the team in 2014 (and that includes me, of course!).

There is a special Christmas song I never tire of hearing, and that is "I'll Be Home For Christmas (if only in my dreams)."  If you haven't heard it, you can listen here.  The meaning of the song for me has changed over the years, and is now a place to which I cannot return.  Still, the memories remain.

I have used two Stampotique Originals' stamps.  First, Stacked Suitcases, created by artist France Papillon; the second, Bob's In Time Out, by artists Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente.  I used Ranger's Distress Markers to color the images.  The song title was generated with my computer software and printer. Have a look:

I hope you will take some time this month to create something for this Anything Goes challenge.  You can find all the details here.  At the end of the month, two lucky winners will be selected from all submissions and receive a $30 gift certificate from Stampotique Originals for any of their products.  One requirement:  use a rubber stamp!  It doesn't have to be a Stampotique image, but it may not be a digital stamp!  That's it! Get creative!

Thank you for joining me here today.  I love it when you visit, and, even more, when you let me know you were here by leaving a comment.

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE ORIGINALS' DESIGN TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT!

                           

 

 

I am thrilled today to share with you "tidings of great joy," in that I have been invited to join the Stampotique Originals' Design Team beginning January 1, 2014!  I will be joining several returning Design Team members, as well as new artists.

 

Stampotique has actually put together two Design Teams, one for the Design Team Blog, the other for the Design Team Challenge site.  Together we will keep you inspired and motivated to create and lose yourself in the wonders of artful pursuits.

 

Please join me in congratulating the following artists from around the world:

Designers' Blog Team

Janet Klein
Roc Nicholas
Coby van Willgenburg
Sarah Anderson
Claudine C.
Valerie Wilson
Astrid Stulemeijer

Designer's Challenge Team:

Carol Fox

Sue Davies

Kaz Boughton

Maria Sabina Raita

Corrie Herriman

Kathi Rerek

Kay Wallace (that's me!)

Samantha Read

France Papillion

Kristen Catalano

Tanja Kewel-Neef

Nellie van Leeuwen

Kim Howard

Arwen McCullen

Magda Polakow

Jackie Payne

Gez Butterworth

I appreciate both your visits and comments, but, especially now, I will appreciate your support!

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 127: AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

Wednesday is here already, and it's Nellie Leeuwen from the Stampotique Designers' Challenge who is pushing us to get more Christmas cards made.  This is her challenge:

I always intend to start early making my Christmas cards. But real life often gets in the way and before I know it it's the middle of December and my Christmas cards end up being either very simple and quick or bought in a shop. So, I thought why not set a Stampotique challenge to make Christmas cards in November and force myself to really make an early start. So here is what I came up with. And, of course, I'd love to see your Christmas cards or other Christmas projects!

I have been working on a Christmas project for months, changing it each time it caught my eye in the studio.  Nellie's challenge prompted me to finish my project and to make a card to go inside.  First, my card:

This card is for my great niece Rhea Christine Wonders, who was born in October.  This will be her first Christmas!  I realize this is a pretty grown-up card for an infant, but read on.  Inside the card, I have hand-written the following message to Rhea:

Dear Sweet Rhea,

This box was made by your Great Aunt Kay and given to you on your first Christmas. I hope each year you will collect your favorite cards here--and fondly, each Christmas, remember those who gave them to you.

On the top of this box are two keepsakes for you. The first, an earring worn by your Great Grandmother Irene May Wonders. The second, a cuff link belonging to your Great Grandfather Harry Ross Wonders.
                                                                                       Love, Aunt Kay

The box is a wooden cigar box decorated with Christmas paper, ribbon and flowers, both inside and out:

The Stampotique image I have used on the card is Lissi, and I think she is *almost* as adorable as Rhea!  On the cigar box, you see "Pigtails," also from Stampotique Originals.  

I hope you will join in the fun and create something for Christmas, a card, a decoration, a gift--whatever you choose. By submitting your project, you may win one of two randomly drawn $30 gift certificates for products on the Stampotique website.  The only requirement is that you use a stamp (use of digital stamps will exclude you from the drawing).  Details here.

I appreciate your visit today.  Your visits, as well as you comments, inspire me and are sincerely appreciated.

Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 126: SPLATS AND SPLATTERS

It's Wednesday and, by now, you know that means the Stampotique Designers' Challenge has been posted.  The challenge calls for splats and splatters in our artwork:

Today we are challenging you to use a SPLAT! of paint somewhere on your design.  We all love to get messy once in awhile and this week is your perfect opportunity to throw on some grubby clothes and splatter that paint all over your creation. 

You may think I got carried away, but since I love splats, I used paint and a stamp to create a whole lot of color on my art journal page.  While I was picking my colors, I was reminded of a song I taught my young children to help them learn their colors.  Here it is!

The Stampotique Originals' image I used today is from one of Stampotique's newest stamp designers, Linda Peterson, who has created a whole series of stamps (with coresponding text stamps) featuring Hazel.  This one is called Dreamer.

I learned early on from one of the Stampotique Design Team members (thanks, France Papillon!) that images should be "grounded" and not appear to be floating in space.  However, when creating this journal page, I was more focused on color than grounding, so it was not until I was done that I discovered Hazel's bed was, indeed, floating.  I was now past the point of adding washi tape under the stamped image as a ground. Undaunted, I colored in the bedposts to make them appear more solid, then grabbed a gray stamp pad and my index finger and did some second generation stamping under the bedposts. Not too bad for an afterthought!

I invite you to join me in creating a piece of art today--an ATC, a scrapbooking layout, an art journal page, a postcard, or whatever you like.  The only requirement is that you use a real stamp (digi stamps will not be eligible for the drawing).  At the end of the month, there will be two $30 gift certificates from Stampotique Originals awarded randomly among those who submitted a project!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  Both your visits and your comments are appreciated.

Cheers!

A CHALLENGE FROM WICKED WEDNESDAY

I know, twice in one day!  Stampotique Originals is sponsoring the Wicked Wednesday challenge blog this week, so I couldn't resist poking my head in to say hello to them!  Wicked Wednesday is all about ATCs, and this week "anything goes."

If you know me, you know I love putting humor into art whenever possible, and this little ATC (3-1/2" x 2-1/2") is no exception today.  The Stampotique image I used is called Spykee.  She reminds me a bit of myself when I turned 60 and had my hair cut very short and spiked it!  A bit of a rebellion, perhaps, and definitely "just a little" WICKED!  This text stamp is also from Stampotique!

Glad you stopped by today.  If you are not already a follower of this blog, I would love it if you joined today.  Subscribing by e-mail is your best option, since you get an e-mail when my blog has been updated!  Thanks, too, for leaving a comment so that I will know you were here.

Cheers!