STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 131: STARS!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I love both your visits and comments!  If you have not already done so, take a minute to join as a follower of my blog, then follow by e-mail (both in the right-hand sidebar) and you won't miss an update here!

Today I want to share with you my art for the Stampotique Designers' Challenge.  It's Samantha Read at the helm today, and she is challenging us to use stars!  Here's her challenge:

I don't know one person who doesn't enjoy looking at the stars. Stars fill us with a sense of fascination and wonderment. Earliest societies mapped and traced stars. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second and because stars are so distant, many of them millions of light years away means we look in to the sky from the distant past. Therefore, I am inviting you to use stars in your creation this week, as the main image or as an accent. I can't wait to see what you make, have fun!

I think I am experimenting with my "dark side" because I used black and white last week, and now black and grey.  I do think that the motivational quote counterbalances this rather pallid palette!  The main image is Angel by stamp design artist Daniel Torrente.  The cascade of stars in the background was created using the Design Cube by stamp design artist France Papillon.  The text stamp, To Be A Star, is from Carol's Collection.

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 at the end of the month to win one of two $30 gift certificates for your choice of Stampotique products.  Details for submissions are here.
Cheers!

STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 130: USING SOMETHING NEW-IST!

Hi, and thanks for stopping by to check out what I have made this week for the Stampotique Designers' Challenge, which is to use something new!  Our SDC host this week is Kaz Boughton, who is being just a "little bit nosey"!  Here's here challenge:

"I am just a little bit nosey, so for this challenge I'd like you to use something that Santa brought you! Don't worry if you didn't get crafty stash, just use something that you recently bought for yourself. If you really want to, you could make something with the theme of something new as well. Just make sure you enjoy making it."

Let me preface all this by saying than in my family, birthdays are a big deal; Christmas is all about the children.  That said, it won't then surprise you that I got nothing for Christmas!  But, I do have new crafty stash I acquired on a trip to my local craft store during December.  OK, so I just might have gifted myself! 

The newest stamp design artist to join the Stampotique Originals' family is Linda Peterson, and I applaud this addition.  In fact, I have fallen in love with Hazel, Linda's signature character.  There are 13 Hazel stamps, most with coordinating text stamps.  I have used two today:

Find Your Balance

Find Your Balance Text

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!

Cheers!

MONTH-LONG BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY!

Only once is a person allowed to be 70, and this is my month-long celebration of my 70th birthday!  I want to share my joy with you with a 7-piece giveaway!  Here's the loot (including a brand new Stampotique image!):

Here's the detail:

• Stampotique image "Heart Boy"
• Inkssentials Craft Scrubbie
• Artist's Loft watercolor brushes
• Dyan Reaveley's "My Creative Journal Journey"
• Heidi Swapp's chipboard stickers
• Wendy Vecchi's Modeling Film
• An original ATC by...yep, me!

And here's all you need to do:

• Sign up as a follower if you have not already done so!  (After that, if you sign up to follow by e-mail, you will not miss any updates!)
• Leave a comment here telling me something about you that I might not know!
• Share with your friends if you are not selfish!  ;-)  (No proof required!)

I will allow random.com to select the lucky winner on January 31.  I will ship internationally, so my worldly friends are invited to participate without fear of being eliminated!

Thank you for participating, and good luck!

Cheers!

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!