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Sunday 8 December 2013

Introducing Karen Findlay ...

our guest designer for December with a selection of beautiful Christmas projects inspired by some of the words from our Wordle challenge this month.





Hi, I'm Karen and I live in the beautiful province of Alberta in Canada.  I am married and love to travel with my husband.  I have two Labrador's who fill our home with fun, love and dog hair.  I started paper crafting about 2004 when someone from work invited me to a Stampin Up class.  I instantly fell in love with card making.  Over time I gave scrapbooking a try as well and suddenly I was hooked.  There was no turning back!
 


 
 
 Here are some more projects from Karen ...

CC19
CC13
Welcome to ARTastic Karen - we are pleased you could share some lovely Christmas spirit with us.
Remember you have until 11.55pm on January 5th to submit your own entries.  We'd love to see your Christmas wordle inspired projects.
And now some worthy winners from November.  Many thanks to those who played along with us last month - I know it is a very busy time of the year for most people so your efforts are appreciated.
We'd also like to thank our two main sponsors this month,  James from Alacraft and Peta from Scrapbooking From Scratch for their generous support.

ARTastic followers can enjoy 20% off at Alacraft with discount code ARTS20.


Alacraft has free product giveaways every month. Please visit the site and enter your email address on the homepage or on the page indicated in the link and you will be automatically entered into the draw for $25 of free products for that month. People are welcome to enter as many months as they like, they just need to enter their email address each time.
 Alacraft is a family business originating from an established bricks-and-mortar store and stocks a range of quality materials including lace, ribbon, yarn, scrapbooking supplies, stickers, iron-on motifs, quilting fabric, craft flowers and much more.
  Check out Alacraft today!
 
 

Scrapbooking from Scratch is an online scrapbooking site specialising in Designer Scrapbooking Kits but we carry many other scrapping products from NEW releases to those essential items we all need. My talented design team work with 1 -2 kits per month each to give you inspiration & ideas.
 
Please note my kits are never released on a set day of the month - just whenever I receive new stock so join my newsletter or connect with me on Facebook to get the latest release notifications and updates on blind challenges and monthly comps. 

 
Congratulations go to ...

 Helena who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.
 
 Doreen who has won a lovely prize from Scrapbooking From Scratch.
 
Di Hasthorpe has won the Director's prize donated and awarded by DT Julie Short.

Random draw prize goes to Shaunagh.

Due to the close proximity to Christmas we won't be offering a guest designer spot for January.

I think the entire team did an outstanding job last month - each and every layout was a winner in its own right so I've done the only democratic thing I could do and put all their names into a container and drew out a lucky winner - DEBI who will receive a little RAK from me.

Congratulations everyone. If all these winners could please email me at jjjustjane@bigpond.com with your postal details I will see your prize gets out to you although due to my impending family vacation this will not be until after Christmas.
 
and finally ....  all of us on ARTastic would like to wish all of you a wonderful and fun filled Christmas. Stay safe and we'll see you in 2014 !!
 
 
 
 

Sunday 1 December 2013

Christmas wishes in December ...

Oh gosh 24 sleeps until Christmas !!!!   Welcome to December.

This month we are taking a bit of a step back from our formal challenges and issuing you something simple, easy and stress-free for the lead up to Christmas.

We have a Wordle for you.  These are great fun to produce - kids especially love playing around with them so steer them to the blog and let them create.

 
The idea this month is to let a word or words inspire you to create your page.  You don't have to use the actual word on your project (unless you want to) but please let us know in your post which word(s) you used as inspiration and why.
 
Inlinkz will be left open until 11.55pm on January 5th, 2014 to give you ample time to create your pages.  Snatch a few minutes for yourself over Christmas and enjoy some crafty time.
 
Now it's time for some delightful Christmas inspiration from our wonderful creative team.
 
 
 
 I used a number of the words to create this page about some homemade Christmas cards I have created.
 
 
 
 
For us the holiday season is all about being together as a family and enjoying time together.
 
 
 
 
My layout was inspired by Peace, Love and Family.
I hope no matter where you are, no matter how you celebrate that the festive season for you is filled with the wish for peace and the love for friends and family.
Don't forget to keep you camera handy for those perfect photo opportunities too!
 
 
 
 
The inspiration words I used are Snow, Winter, Children, Present and Toy. The photo is of my nephew driving in his new Christmas present, an electric car on Christmas day in the snow. There was no way he was going to wait for the snow to disappear before he tried it.....
 
 
 
 
I have been inspired by the words gifts, presents and children - showing my daughter delighted with what she received on Christmas morning.
 
 
 
This layout is one of my family and I have hidden journaling behind the tabs at the side of the picture.  It was a wonderful day full of love, family and 'Christmas Joy'.
 
 
 
A layout about Santa, gifts, a beautiful Christmas tree and festive celebration.  Merry Christmas everyone.
 
 
 
 
 Christmas to me is all about love, happiness and being together as a family.
 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on January 5th, 2014. We'd love to see your paper, digital, or off the page submissions.  Please no back-dated submissions.  You may combine with a sketch and/or colour/technique challenge.  
 
 
Karen Findlay is our Guest Designer this month - she makes the most delightful cards so please call back on the 8th to see her take on our Wordle challenge. We will also be announcing our November winners a bit earlier than usual this month as they will go up on the 8th as well.

Friday 22 November 2013

Introducing Margaret Crawford ...

our second guest designer for November with her take on our challenge this month ...

 


Hi, Margaret here.

As a child sitting with my mother at her sewing machine as she sewed beautiful garments or as she knitted I was destined to follow her example and create with my hands.

After retrenchment in the late 80’s, from a major bank,  I started my own business teaching patchwork and embroidery, doing commission work and the market circuit.  I had completed a Commercial Needlecraft Certificate at TAFE earlier.  I did this for 8 years and then went to work for another major bank – whilst there I completed a Certificate 4 in Training and Development, and spent a lot of time travelling Australia training staff on new systems.  Patchwork was just impossible to complete when travelling, so one wet and windy day I ended up at Papercraft store in Bendigo, Victoria.  My paper obsession began – both cardmaking and scrapbooking.

In 2008 I spent a year in China teaching English at a University and not long after I returned to Australia I left full time work.  Moving to the Central Coast this year has been inspirational. I want to make a difference – I know it is a cliché – but I love to see people’s reaction when they create something they never thought they could – be it a card or a layout.  I make scrapbook pages for charity and making cards for  Australian Defence Force troops overseas.

My scrapbooking style has evolved, I still like to design around the photos and make them the focus of my pages, however this year I have stretched myself and delved into more mixed media pages – I think I have a long way to go and will continue to challenge myself to learn new techniques.

In this layout I have used a patterned paper that had flowers and writing, Impasto Medium over a brick mask and then when dry Gelato crayons to colour match the outfits we were wearing and of course our hair colours..  The cousins quote came from the internet and so I raided all my stash to find flowers to add to the layout.

 
Here are more lovely layouts from Margaret ...
 
 
 
Welcome to ARTastic Margaret.  It's lovely to have you join us on ARTastic this month.
 
 
Remember you have until 11.55pm on November 30th submit your entries.  We'd love to see your take on this challenge.

 


Friday 15 November 2013

October winners and a little November inspiration ...

Time for some more lovely winners.

We'd also like to thank our two main sponsors this month,  James from Alacraft and Peta from Scrapbooking From Scratch for their generous support.

ARTastic followers can enjoy 20% off at Alacraft with discount code ARTS20.
 
Alacraft has free product giveaways every month. Please visit the site and enter your email address on the homepage or on the page indicated in the link and you will be automatically entered into the draw for $25 of free products for that month. People are welcome to enter as many months as they like, they just need to enter their email address each time.
 
 Alacraft is a family business originating from an established bricks-and-mortar store and stocks a range of quality materials including lace, ribbon, yarn, scrapbooking supplies, stickers, iron-on motifs, quilting fabric, craft flowers and much more.
  Check out Alacraft today!
 
 

Scrapbooking from Scratch is an online scrapbooking site specialising in Designer Scrapbooking Kits but we carry many other scrapping products from NEW releases to those essential items we all need. My talented design team work with 1 -2 kits per month each to give you inspiration & ideas.
 
Please note my kits are never released on a set day of the month - just whenever I receive new stock so join my newsletter or connect with me on Facebook to get the latest release notifications and updates on blind challenges and monthly comps. 

 ............................
 
and now onto our October winners
 
numbers were down a little bit last month but still some delightful layouts submitted so again a big thank you to those who made the effort to enter ...


Congratulations go to ...

 Angie B who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.
 
 Dale T who has won a lovely prize from Scrapbooking From Scratch.

 Kathleen White who has won the Director's prize.

Random draw prize goes to Heidi.

Due to the close proximity to Christmas we won't be offering a guest designer spot for December.

Our Creative Team winner for October is the very talented Tone-Lill who will receive a little RAK from me.

Great work everyone. If all these winners could please email me at jjjustjane@bigpond.com with your postal details I will see your prize gets out to you.
 

AND NOW -  Some more November inspiration from our remaining creative team members.  Hopefully this will inspire you to create, create, create.  We'd love to see your work.
 
I really enjoyed putting this page together and I'm thrilled with how it has come out.
 
I was particularly taken with the use of printed media on the background of the artwork and the use of texture and paint across the canvas.

The November inspiration is  such a great piece of art and gives so many possibilities. I used tissue paper and  Ranger glue on the background with  a mix of gesso , glaze, Glimmer mist, and TH  metallic dabbers on top, after cutting out from the background paper creating the raised folded paper petals. The photo was the last to be added, gluing it from the underneath.
 
We'd love to see your interpretations of our inspiration this month.
 
 Remember we happily accept all forms of paper crafting for your entry including digital and encourage international submissions.  All we ask is that you create an original entry for our challenge although you are most welcome to combine with a sketch and/or colour challenge if you wish.  You have until 11.55pm on the last day of the month to submit your entry.
  
 
Next week we will be introducing you to our second guest designer of the month, Margaret Crawford.
 

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Welcoming Julene Matthews ...

our first guest on ARTastic this month.

Hello I’m Julene Matthews from Sydney in NSW.I started scrapping when I won some Fiskars products and wanted to get the use from them.

I still use my scissors every day. That was 12 years ago and my style has evolved over time.

I prefer clean cut to lumpy bumpy, can use mixed media, but usually don’t. I prefer traditional items like buttons, laces, ribbons etc.


This artwork reminded my quite a lot of the Polish mixed media artist Finnabair's work.You can find her on Facebook and on her blog.


Earlier this year I was lucky enough to attend one of her classes when she visited Australia.

We were asked not to divulge her technique in detail online, but I can say do all the flat & wet things first, then add the 3D items. Lastly use the mists, pastes etc to bring out your colours.

This is the layout we made in class.

 

The second one is made using the more earthy colours from the inspiration piece.

If you would like to try this sort of style for yourself - have fun but remember to cover your desk or table with plastic first - it can get very messy!

 
http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Here are some more layouts from Julene ...




 
Great to have you join us Julene.
 
 
Remember you have until 11.55pm on November 30th to submit your entries.  We'd love to see your take on this challenge.

Friday 1 November 2013

November on ARTastic ...

Oh wow it's November - this year has flown past even faster than the last!

Please don't forget ARTastic is currently on the lookout for a number of new team members and guest  designers for 2014.  Applications close on November 6.  Full details can be found HERE We'd love to see you join us.

and now for this month's inspiration ...

This month on ARTastic we are featuring a delightful mixed media artwork called Listen by New Zealander, Jenny Grant.

 
Criteria - Free choice, make of this what you will
 

A little about Jenny Grant  Jenny is a self taught mixed media artist that creates her art based on an intuitive process. Most of her paintings evolve as she paints and when she finds her flow, magic happens!  She works with mixed media – acrylic paint, oil pastels, ink, colour pencils, fabrics, paper, photos… anything that comes her way. Her work is very rich with many layers that add depth and texture. Her work is exhibited and for sale both in Sweden and New Zealand as well as on-line.
http://www.flowbyjenny.com/en

We have some simply amazing inspiration from our creative team to show you this month.


 
Julie has prepared this astonishing tutorial for you outlining her process for putting together her mixed media layout.  
 
 You can also find it on her personal blog .
 
 
 
Using stamps, texture paint, masks, mists & glorious laces & doilies & ribbons from Tattered
Inspirations, plus some string.
 
 
 
I textured with scraps of paper and stamping, using the painting background for ideas
 
 
 
This is called “What’s on your mind”? and includes paper layering, mixed media and collage techniques.
 
 
 
 
Inspired by the art piece and the work of  Finnabair.
I used some of Finnabair (Ania Dabrowskas) techniques... but made it my way.
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on November 30th, 2013. We'd love to see your paper, digital, card or off the page submissions.  Please no back-dated submissions.  You may combine with a sketch and/or colour/technique challenge.  
 
Looking forward to seeing what you all create this month. 
 
Our first Guest Designer for November is Julene Matthews.  Please call back next week to see her take on the challenge for this month. 
 
 
 


 

Wednesday 23 October 2013

ARTastic TEAM and GUEST DESIGNER CALL


ARTastic is looking for monthly Guest Designers for 2014 and a yet to be determined number of Creative Team members.   Could this be you?

I don’t care if you have been scrapping for 8 months or 8 years or where you live in this big wide world of ours.  I don’t care what your style is or how much design team experience you may or may not have and I don’t even care if you use paper or your computer to create your work.  Everyone is welcome to apply!
 
What I do care about is your passion for the craft and your commitment to being part of the ARTastic team - be it for a one month guest slot or for many months as a team member.
 
I would ask you to create one layout/project per month using the inspiration and criteria provided.
 
I would ask for your commitment to post your work with a link to ARTastic on your blog/FB once your work has been revealed on the blog and promote us when and where you can.
 
I would ask for your commitment to comment on all entries as they are submitted for each challenge.
 
At the end of the month I will ask you to submit your votes for the winning entries.
 
You will need to have an active blog and it would be preferred if you are on FB so you can access our private group where we interact with each other.
 
Initial term for new Creative Team members will be 1st January to 30th June 2014 and will in all likelihood be extended.  Guest Designer positions will be allocated on a monthly basis throughout 2014.

Please email your interest to jjjustjane@bigpond.com by November 6th, 2013 indicating if you are applying for a team position or for a guest designer spot - please include a link to your blog and a little about yourself. 

Monday 21 October 2013

Introducing Helena Reinedahl ...

our second guest designer for October with her lovely take on our challenge this month ...

This is so very pretty - you forget how tiny those little hands can be !!
 
 
Hi!

My name is Helena and I am a 35 year old librarian and I looove scrapbooking!


I live with my family (husband and three daughters aged 6 and 4 years and 4 months) in Sweden. Children, work, house and garden takes a lot of time, so scrapbooking is an essential hobby that helps me to relax. I also just love being creative and try to make beautiful things out of everything.

I began scrapping about 7 years ago, doing my wedding album, although I didn't realize it was scrapbooking I was doing... After that I got in touch with a scrapbooking group in my home town, and joined them for some time. I learned a lot during that time, but now I mostly scrap at home, late nights, when the kids are sleeping :)

I scrap in different ways, sometimes I'm only thinking about capturing that special moment when the photo was taken, sometimes I start with a sketch, some colours or a technique I want to use and then I pick some photos to match to the LO.

My scrapping styles are also different. Either lots of flowers in a sweet romantic style, or more rough with paint, colours, textures and masks. I like the clean and simple style but more often end up with "more is more". Favourites are alphas, masks, texture, flowers and vivid colours. I'm also almost in love with my Silhouette Cameo.

Thank you so much for letting me guest with you this month, my first GD assignment ever!
 
 

Here are some additional pages by Helena -



 
Welcome to ARTastic Helena.  We are delighted to have you join us on ARTastic this month.
 
Remember you have until 11.55pm on October 31st submit your entries.  We'd love to see your take on this challenge.


Tuesday 15 October 2013

Winners and Grinners for September ...

It's time once again to announce winners from our previous challenge and also add some more monthly inspiration from our talented team.

We'd also like to thank our two main sponsors this month,  James from Alacraft and Peta from Scrapbooking From Scratch for their generous support.

ARTastic followers can enjoy 20% off at Alacraft with discount code ARTS20.
 
Alacraft has free product giveaways every month. Please visit the site and enter your email address on the homepage or on the page indicated in the link and you will be automatically entered into the draw for $25 of free products for that month. People are welcome to enter as many months as they like, they just need to enter their email address each time.
 
 Alacraft is a family business originating from an established bricks-and-mortar store and stocks a range of quality materials including lace, ribbon, yarn, scrapbooking supplies, stickers, iron-on motifs, quilting fabric, craft flowers and much more.
  Check out Alacraft today!
 
 


Scrapbooking from Scratch is an online scrapbooking site specialising in Designer Scrapbooking Kits but we carry many other scrapping products from NEW releases to those essential items we all need. My talented design team work with 1 -2 kits per month each to give you inspiration & ideas.
 
Please note my kits are never released on a set day of the month - just whenever I receive new stock so join my newsletter or connect with me on Facebook to get the latest release notifications and updates on blind challenges and monthly comps. 

 ............................
 
and now onto our September winners
 
 another month of some totally delightful layouts so again a huge thank you to all who entered ...



Congratulations go to ...

  Cathie who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.
 
 Di who has won a lovely prize from Scrapbooking From Scratch.

 Chris Sexton who has won the Director's prize.

Random draw prize goes to Libby.

We would like to offer Margaret a guest designer spot for November.

Our Creative Team winner for September is the wonderful Helene who will receive a little RAK from me.



Well done everyone. If all these winners could please email me at jjjustjane@bigpond.com with your postal details I will see your prize gets out to you.
 


AND NOW -  Some more October inspiration from our remaining creative team members ...
 
 
This memory jar came about when I spied a tiny nest that had been left on the ground at our place. It contained wool from my jumper, some of my hair and lots of my dogs. We leave little bird treats with these sorts of goodies out for them.

 
I added in some wooden stems and chipboard feathers.
 

 
I used a wooden camera and wooden person on my layout.
 

 
I have used bark from a birch tree and peacock feathers to create a new background for the photo of my daughter from when we visited Dairy Farm in Cornwall last year. The paper has wood panels pattern with birds and flowers so I have both real and fake wood and feathers on this page.
 
 
 
Using a wood veneer feather.
 
 
We'd love to see your interpretations of this inspiration this month - your project only has to include some wood OR feathers and these can be in any form.  Think wood veneer frames, arrows, speech bubbles, or use patterned paper in this theme - you could even just focus on outdoor photographs which contain trees ;)  
 
 Remember we happily accept all forms of paper crafting for your entry including digital and encourage international submissions.  All we ask is that you create an original entry for our challenge although you are most welcome to combine with a sketch and/or colour challenge if you wish.  You have until 11.55pm on the last day of the month to submit your entry.
 

 
 
Next week we will be introducing you to the August winner of our guest designer spot, Helena Reinedahl.
 
 
Don't forget - Each month we will be selecting someone from amongst our entries to be a guest designer for one of our upcoming challenges - it could be you!!
 
Also stayed tuned for some exciting news concerning 2014 - details end of next week.