Thursday, December 31, 2009

Decembers inspiration will come from........

Vermeer's - The Girl with the Pearl Earring'

as suggested by DT member Lisa Hanrahan
.....and my favourite Artist, hence the ARTastic badge design :)



Added criteria:
1. Single portrait style photo
2. An earring somewhere on the page

Note: Vermeer's painting was actually titled "The Head Of A Girl" (1666) but is
otherwise known from the movie with Colin Firth as "The Girl With The Pearl Earring".

I hope you all enjoy this months painting and I look forward to seeing some really gorgeous entries. Will upload the DT submissions over the next few days so as you can gain lots of inspiration from their beautiful work :)


A little about Vermeer.

Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer (baptized on 31 October 1632 as Johannis, and buried in the same city under the name Jan on 16 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, perhaps because he produced relatively few paintings.

Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colours, sometimes expensive pigments, with a preference forcornflower blue and yellow. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work.

Recognized during his lifetime in Delft and The Hague, his modest celebrity gave way to obscurity after his death; he was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbraken's major source book on 17th century Dutch painting (Grand Theatre of Dutch Painters and Women Artists), and was thus omitted from subsequent surveys of Dutch art for nearly two centuries. In the 19th century Vermeer was rediscovered by Gustav Friedrich Waagen and Thore Burger, who published an essay attributing sixty-six pictures to him, (although only thirty-five paintings are firmly attributed to him today). Since that time Vermeer's reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.


Cheers

Shazza

Monday, December 21, 2009

Another beautiful 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' layout from......

Lisa Kamphuis - Crazy for Daisy


I got my mojo back last night and just had to do this months ARTatstic entry.....here it is
Crazy for Daisy - portriat style pic and an earring in the lower right corner..
Thanks for a great comp
Have a Great Christmas and New Year - Lisa K

You sure did get your mojo back Lisa, your entry is just beautiful. Love your angel stamp and the stitched hearts on the side are gorgeous too :) Love the pic you worked with..... Beautiful work!
- Shazza

One more entry and a Runner Up prize
will be added for the month!!

Entries for Decembers Challenge will close on
Tuesday 29th December at midnight SHARP!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Another Fabulous entry, from another newbie ........

Maria Delo - My Wish for You


Hi Shazz,
I finally had some time to try your challenge for December, I have used Bella Papers, various laces, journalling tag, prima vine and a wooden flower clip on earring...
Thanks for a great challenge look forward to January's challenge....
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a fabulous year in 2010....
Maria

Ooh Maria, what a goegeous layout, beautiful papers and lots to look at.... love the flower clip on earring. Love the lace you have used framing the pic. Well done!! - Shazza


Two more entries and a Runner Up prize
will be added for the month!!

Entries for Decembers Challenge will close on
Tuesday 29th December at midnight SHARP!

Cheers
Shazza

Thursday, December 17, 2009

WOW! Another fantastic layout to share, this time from another newbie :)

Anita Bownds - Birthday Girl


hi Shazza
loved the challenge ive covered all Criteria
i wanna wish everyone a
Merry Christmas and a happy new year
Hugs Anita.....


Hi Anita!
Great Layout, love the colors you have used, gorgeous flowers, love how you have journalled around your circle strip. I can see your star earring hanging on your black and white pp.
Well done! - Shazza

Thanks for the Christmas and New Year wishes Anita xxx

Monday, December 14, 2009

Heres another great layout from .........

Christina Aiton - Celebrate Everyday


Here's my layout - 2nd month in a row - looking forward to next month, thanks for the inspiration, -Chris Aiton

What an elegant layout Chris. Love your title font, your flower and skeleton leaves add a lovely touch. Well done - Shazza

Friday, December 11, 2009

A big Thankyou to our sponsor and RAKs donated for the month :)

'Picture This' winning ART prize for December

\

$10 spend at b2create donated by Chris Wormald

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Christmas embellishment RAK prize donated by Amanda Taylor


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Win Erika's Stampbooking 101 Tutorial CD

The "Stampbooking 101" Tutorial CD will walk you through techniques to create pages,
mini albums and your own embellishments, as well as tips on journaling and layout design.

When you start Stampbooking, a whole new creative world opens up to you. You'll find all
new ways to use your stamps and you'll also find a new way to scrapbook. One of the best things
about this course is that the only thing you'll need to think about for supplies is to make sure you have some photos printed.

*******************************************


Thanks ladies for your sponsorship and donations

for the month, its very much appreciated :)

Shazza


Another gorgeous 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' entry.....

Irit Shalom - Beautiful


HELLO!! HERE IS MY ENTRY FOR THIS MONTH CHALLENGE- I HAVE 2 EARRINGS ON THE PHOTO - I JUST ADDED SOME BLING AND MY NEW DIL IS A BIT LIKE THIS GIRL ON THE PAINTING ( I THINK SHE IS)
THE PRODUCTS ARE ALL PRIMA- IT'S NEW AND I JUST WANTED TO USE THEM ASAP.
THE RED CHARM IN BETWEEN THE FLOWERS IS MY OWN HAND MADE RING I BEADED AND USED HERE AS A CHARM. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT - IRIT

This is a gorgeous take on the challenge Irit, beautiful photo of your DIL, love how you have entwined the pink beads around the lace, the new prima flowers are a perfect compliment to this page. Lovely colors you have used. Fantastic!! - Shazza

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Our fifth entry for the month is from a newbie.....

Kirsten Hume - She Puts the 'Tude' in Attitude

Hi there!
I used the colours from the portrait provided and my earring is silver on the circle tag. Thanks for the great challenge - Kirsten

A fab layout Kirsten, the colors are beautiful and blend really well with your flower embellishments, ribbon and tag. A gorgeous portrait style photo. Love the title you used :)
Great work and well done! - Shazza

Our fourth entry for the month comes from.......

Megan May - Sweet Ellie

Heres what Megan said.......I liked the rippled fabric in the photo, so I used that to inspire the rippled gold ribbon on my page. The earring that I used is a bead that I got in the jewelry section intending to make a set of earrings and necklace with. The bead is next to the title, on the right hand side.

Gorgeos take on the challenge Megan, love your rippled ribblon and beautiful pp. Great photo of Ellie for the challenge. Well done!! - Shazza

Megan you were the fourth entry in my email inbox for ARTastic for the month, so you win ... a pack of Holiday fun chipboard pieces.

Cheers
Shazza

Monday, December 7, 2009

Our third entry for the month from....

Jacqui Miles - Purrfect


This is what Jaqui had to say...... This is my LO 
for the Artastic challenge "PURRFECT" It's of my
little girl Olivia 4 Days after she was born.
I made the frame put green and pink tulle down
the right side, I used 2 earrings and rub-ons on
the frame and then I cracked the liquid glass on
frame to make it look like the cat had scratched
it up! - Thanks Jacqui Miles:)

Hi Jacqui! this is such a sweet layout, love the
frame you made with the little mini garden along
the bottom and the cat is so cute!. Love the
letters you used for 'Olivia's' name. - Shazza