A new challenge blog ....

Look out for the new sister challenge blog to ARTastic called Pixels and Paper launching on the 1st of July - we'd love for you to pop over and support us.

Going sporty ...

Scrap the Boys is calling for a layout about 'SPORT' and the use of a photo smaller than 6x4.  We are to include some stamping and at least one of these colours: Red - Teal - Orange  or Yellow.

I've done a page on a swimming carnival my son attended a few months ago and I've used a mixture of the above colours with stamped stars.  The photo has been trimmed down from a 6x4.

 

 

Winter colours ...

Scrap the Girls is asking for layouts in winter colours this month.  Here is my interpretation.

Use Your Words ...

There is a new challenge blog about to start up and are on the look out for an initial DT.  It's called Use Your Words and will be using words to base your layouts upon.  Call past and check them out.

 

Seeing stars ...

It is sketch time on Another Freaking Scrap Challenge and this one features big stars.

 

and guess what  ... I had me some !!!

 

 

Pretty in pink ...

It's musks and spots over on The Lollipop Ladies for their second challenge this month.

 

I decided to interpret the "dots" as circles and incorporated these into the main centre on my Princess card and of course used lots of pink.

 

 

 

 

It was really nice to be asked to Guest Design for The Lollipop Ladies last month along with Margaret - it was a real shame no-one bothered to contact me about this or at the very least respond to my email to them. 

Going cruising ...

The second inspirational tune on Scrap It With a Song this month is Cruise by Florida Georgia Line  and is much more my style - I like this one :)

I could have gone the cruise route - in fact I have a few hundred photographs of the cruise we took last year aboard The Celebrity Solstice ...

 but well ... I rarely go the obvious direction.

Instead I decided on using parts of the chorus ...

Baby you a song
You make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise
Down a back road blowin’ stop signs through the middle
Every little farm town with you

 

Don't we all wish we could just let it all go - if only for a little while !!

SIWAS is having a DT call this month - check out all the details on their blog.

Who's the leader of the club ...

The second inspiration on Child's Play Challenges this month is a TV show I'm not familiar with, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as my own children are long past this targeted age group.

It did, however, bring back some childhood memories of my own when I watched reruns of a different Mickey Mouse Club made for yet another generation of little boys and girls.

 

 

 

Child's Play Challenges are having a DT call this month.  Check out their blog for all the details.

A proposal ...

Another Freaking Scrap Challenge asks ...

How did your spouse propose to you? Where? How did you propose to your spouse? If this has never happened to you ‐ how did you dream it would? Or did you ever want that to happen to you?

It was after dinner at the Balmoral Pavilion restaurant in Sydney - he asked and I said yes and the rest, as they say, is history :)

Not quite a suit and tie ...

First challenge on Scrap It With a Song this month is Design Team choice and we lead off with Justin Timberlake with Suit and Tie,  a fav for Becky apparently.

Can't say I share her choice in music but we'd be a boring old world if we all liked the same thing, now wouldn't we? 

 

Here is my take on the song using the lyric line Going hot, so hot, just like an oven as my inspiration. 

 

 

 

My family were fortunate to take a cruise last December aboard the Celebrity Solstice.  On board they had a Hot Glass Show which was both fascinating and extremely educational - we actually spent a number of nights huddled together on the upper deck of the ship watching the glassblowers at their trade - brilliant stuff.

 

 

Scrap It With a Song is having a Design team call at the moment - full details can be found on their blog.

Our little red wagon ...

Child's Play Challenges  is using the classic Radio Flyer little red wagon as their inspiration piece for their first challenge this month.

 

 

I'm not sure we ever had these in Australia - I certainly don't recall seeing them but guess we may have had similar but neither of my children had one.

I decided to go with the big boy version of something bright and swanky :)

 

 

Child's Play Challenges is having a design team call this month - check out all the details on their blog.

Bugs and creepy crawlies ...

First challenge this month on The Lollipop Ladies involves bugs  ....

 

and I couldn't resist doing a cute little ladybug card.

 

 

 

 

Why not pop over to their blog and play along !!

 

From Screen to Scrap for June ...

The inspiration on From Screen 2 Scrap this month is the movie poster of "Oz The great and powerful" - I haven't seen the movie but I do love the poster.

Added Criteria...

 

1pt = A Fence
2 pts = Gold/Yellow title
3 pts = Hot Air Balloon/s

 

I went with a very tongue in cheek page about a hot air balloon commissioned to celebrate the 100 year centenary of the settling of Canberra.

 

 

 

 

Archi-scraps for June ...

Archi-scraps is hosting an interesting inspiration challenge this month.

 

These are nylon air houses from Life  Magazine.

Think jellyfish, Parachutes, seashells, hot air balloons. Whatever inspires you. If you want to use these colours that is fine too but not essential.

 

The added criteria is Silhouettes.
Layouts or cards not containing the set criteria will not be considered for judging.

 

 

This is the dome in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, Rome. 

I have used black cardstock as the base and kept the two photos to the middle of the page with strips of a mixture of paper behind them to try to give the feeling of height which is such a feature of the real dome.  I’ve added gold rubons which are carefully positioned to carry your eye up the page to focus on the dome - the minimal embellishments all have touches of gold to highlight the richness of the Basilica.  I finished the layout off with a quote by John Muir - “The power of imagination makes us infinite”, which I felt was fitting for this amazing structure.

June inspiration on ARTastic ...

It's June and time for another challenge on ARTastic.

Introducing Robin's Nest by environmental artist  Susan Schenk. 

 

Criteria - the use of recycled material to feature prominently on your work (ie minimal commercial products).  Hint - think ephemera and recycled items

 

If you think this can't be done then look at the amazing work our creative team has come up with this month - all without the use of expensive commercial products.  It is incredible what can be done with a little creative thought!!

 

A little about Susan Schenk

 My art is an invitation to see beyond the apparent. From a distance, my collages appear to be paintings. Up close, they are complicated jumbles of disparate parts. These collages are similar to our own lives; appealing when viewed from afar but somewhat fractured when inspected more intimately.

My use of discarded materials as paint fosters the idea of finding beauty in the overlooked. I find treasures hidden in the trash. By using recycled magazines, maps and other ephemera, I leave a small carbon footprint and more importantly, carve out a trail of enjoyment for others.

 

Please pop past the blog and see all the delightful work from our creative team.  We'd love to see your take on the challenge this month.

 

Here is mine ...

 

I've used wallpaper in place of patterned paper, flowers cut from a vintage vinyl tablecloth, old buttons, lace and an old office invoice.