Welcome to our May guest designer ...

Stina Westbom, with her totally amazing piece for our challenge this month.

Hello, I'm Stina, a creative educator who likes to spend time outdoors when I'm not sitting in my scrap room. I live in Piteå with my boyfriend Tomas , our wonderful son Jonathan and our English Setter Peak. I have been scrapping since 2005 and slipped into this hobby when I was looking for material to do a birthday card to a friend. There was never any doubt that this was something for me. I'm into most things within scrapbooking both layouts, mini albums, altered, mixed media and art journaling. I love to scrap in the colors brown, turquoise, white and green, and my style is a bit of a mix between romantic and tough.

In 2009 I was involved in starting a scrapbooking association that I now sit in the chair for. I 'm also a design team member at Scrap-Ateljén and Inkido/Papercraft Scandinavia.

Scrapbooking is a way for me to express my creativity, to get creative with my hands gives me joy and brings peace. My inspiration I find, among other things at scrap meetings in our local association, we are good at sharing tips, ideas, techniques and tutorials. Then there is the great source of inspiration on the internet where I`m inspired by blogs, forums, groups on Facebook and especially Pinterest which is a real gold mine.

Hope you find my work inspiring and take time to stop by my blog: http://ztinaspysselvra.wordpress.com.

Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us on ARTastic this month Stina.  It's been truly delightful seeing your work.

I hope you have been inspired to join us - there is still time to upload your own take on the challenge this month and we would love to see your take on our Mother and Child theme.

April winners and more May inspiration ...

Welcome to our mid month reveal and the announcement of our April winners.

We'd like to especially thank our sponsors for April,  Julie from The Scrappers Garden, James from Alacraft, and Julie from Time to Create. 

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!

Time To Create is a family business. We share a passion to create, share and develop the best that we imagine!  We only stock products that we use and believe in. Our stock is always priced at the keenest costing we can do. We support Australian manufacturers and many Australian suppliers and try to have as wide a variety as possible.

Try us and see.

The Scrappers Garden stock the most delightful flower and handmade papercraft and resin range.  Stop by and be delighted.    

We had some gorgeous entries last month -  a huge thank you to all of you who made time to enter.

Our TOP 3 winners are ...

 Mandysea who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.

 Lizzy Hill who has won a $15 gift voucher from Time to Create.

Maria who has won a prize pack from Scrappers Garden.

#11  Anita was our random draw winner for April.

Congratulations ladies.

Could the winners please contact me at jjjustjane@bigpond.com with their postal details.  Don't forget to grab our winners badge from the sidebar. 

Our team  favourite for April was Deb Kupfer who will receive a little something from me.

Next some more delightful inspiration from the remainder of our design team.  We are working with this painting,  Amarys by Robert Hagan with the added criteria of Mother and Child.

I'd like to say a fond farewell to team member Leanne Kroschel who leaves us this month.  It has been wonderful having you on the team Leanne and we all wish you well in wherever life takes you.

LEANNE

Inspired by the soft muted feel of this artwork and the feathery look of the grasses.

KYLIE

This painting was wonderful. I loved the colours and the mother-daughter theme!

AUBRIE

My son is my ray of sunshine, so I wanted a page that would be happy and fun, with lots of primary colors.  The sky, sun, and grass were all created using different techniques with bleeding art paper.  Stop by next month for our 3T's and I will show you exactly how I did it!  

LESLEY 

I have always had a close bond with my Mum, but we don't get many photos together. This photo, while not the best, shows me just how similar we are and it really makes me grateful for having her as a Mum. I wouldn't be who I am today if not for her! I decided to go with simple colours as I wanted to photo to really stand out. Love you Mum xxooxx

JANE

I have so few photographs of me with my Mother - due to the cost we just didn't take many when I was little.  I smile when I think of the several hundred images most people in this digital age will take of a single event - my entire babyhood can be found contained within a single packet of black and white photographs.  I guess it just makes each one more treasured.  I've tried to pick up the colours from the painting and replicate that soft, muted feel.

TONE-LILL

As it is Mother and Child as a criteria this month, it was perfect to use this photo of my niece and sister, still making pages for my niece's album. It was the flowers on the dresses from the inspiration picture that inspired made me to make a page with lots of flowers, as well as using a similar colour palette.

DI

 I was inspired by the beauty of nature, serenity and the love shown in Robert Hagan's art.  As my background paper was so full of the colours in the painting, I decided to keep the flowers a neutral colour. These have been die cut from organza's and mulberry bark. A couple of purchased hessian flowers were also used.

Such beautiful pages - we have certainly had some standout work from the team this month.  Thank you everyone.

Now 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 a new 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 May guest designer, Stina Westbom.

May 3T's ...

Welcome to our May round of ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques where each month one of our creative team will show you are few quick tips and/or techniques to use on your layouts.  This month we feature team member Helene Bogren.

Mixed Media Flowers by Helene Bogren.

We all have different scrap styles and when I saw this month challenge I realized I have not used flowers for ages. Of course I could show you a tutorial on how to make a homemade flower anyway, but I thought I might not be the only one, so I chose to make a tutorial on how to make simple “mixed media flowers” instead. These flowers were really easy to make.

First I stamped some flowers on my background. Make sure to use water proof ink.

Then I colored them with water color, which is my favorite mixed media product at the moment. Water colors give your layout a soft feeling even if you use colorful shades. They are also transparent so a patterned background paper can shine through.

The last step was to decorate the page. Personally I prefer a more “rough” look and I use stamps and washi tape to create that. In order to let the flowers play the main role I only used three embellishments this time.

Here is the final result ...

Simply gorgeous Helene and so very effective.  Hope you all have fun trying this fab technique.

Don't forget this month's challenge - details in the left sidebar.  Remember you have until the end of the month to submit your entry.

Welcome to May ...

Welcome to our challenge this month.  Some totally amazing entries last month - thank you so much for supporting us.  We have another wonderful inspirational artwork for you for May which I am sure you will all adore. We look forward to seeing how this artwork inspires you in your creative travels.

This month we welcome Kylie from  Shop and Crop Scrapbooking as our monthly sponsor.

As a family business we strive to bring you all the latest from the Scrapbooking and Papercraft Industry, all our staff are very experienced and talented scrapbookers...We pride ourselves on great customer service, with a quick turn around of your orders of instock items.  We cater to both the online customers and through our store front at 10/335 Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay.  We love nothing better than for everyone to drop in, have a coffee on us and browse and enjoy all the great scrapbooking products.

We also thank James from Alacraft and Julie from Time to Create for their continued support throughout this year.

This month in honour of Mother's Day which is celebrated in many countries around the world sometime during May, we present to you  Amarys by Robert Hagan.

Criteria - Mother and child

A little about Robert Hagan

"I’ve been pushing paint around for about 30 years and still enjoy every moment of it- so its still a hobby I guess. My boyhood was spent exploring the rainforests of the Tweed Valley in Australia while stepping around snakes that basked in the midday sun. School was as little bookwork as possible and moments of unconsciousness on the football field. A 16 hour steam train trip to the ‘big smoke’ and 4 years later I graduated from University with a bit of knowledge about history, economics and drinking. Painting started about the same time as I started working and it increasingly challenged the latter as the most relaxing and rewarding way forward. It finally took over and traveling the world followed. A number of great relationships later, 2 fabulous boys and painting in USA, the UK and Asia and the years slipped by. A few books about painting then a glancing shot at a TV series and I’m here!"

http://www.roberthagan.com/

and now onto some gorgeous pages from our very talented design team.  I'd also like to make mention that this will be team member Debi Clark's last month with us.  Debi has been with ARTastic for a very long time and been both a true inspiration and valued member of the team.  We'll miss you Debi, all the best.

DEBI

I loved this gorgeous May inspiration and decided to use this photo of  my beautiful daughter Jade & I.  I have used flowers like I have never done before!

ELAINE

I really love this painting; the beauty of mother and daughter. I have scrapped a photo of my daughter and I enjoying a day at the park. I was inspired by the grass of the painting. I used spray mist for my background, first spraying in green for the grass then splattering drops of red and pink for the effect of flowers amongst the grass. I used texture paint for some of my flowers, doing some before misting and some after for 2 different effects. I added other flowers to my page by making lollipop flowers with pattern paper, fussy cutting some flowers and lastly using purchased flowers.

MAJA

My take on May challenge... Mother and child. I loved that peaceful

look in the painting... and started looking for a peaceful photo taken outdoors.

This is what I came up with. Me and my son chatting in our garden a few

years ago. Love talking with my kids... they have so much wisdom to share.

JULIE

My inspiration this month was the beautiful image. I have used my history filled image to reflect on how I feel as another Mother's Day passes without my mum.

DEB

I was inspired by the colours and beauty of the artwork.  I’ve painted the stamped flowers and flower lace with mists.

HELENE

The photo shows me and my daughter. She tells me every day that she loves me more than space (lucky me!). I am not allowed to respond with the same words so I answer that I love her more than universe. I wanted to save it to the future so I wrote it in two speech bubbles.

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on May 31st, 2014. We'd love to see your new paper, digital, or off the page entries.  Please no back-dated submissions.  You may combine with a sketch and/or colour/technique challenge and international entries are always welcome.   Remember we are Australian based so you need to allow for the different time zones - if in doubt check our clock.  

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques brought to you this month by the team member Helene Bogren.  Helen does some amazing work and I am sure her tutorial will inspire you.

We welcome Monique ...

our guest designer for April.

Hello, my name is Monique Nicole Fox.  

I live in Maryland, USA and work in DC with the federal government. 
I am the mother of an 11 y/o pretty cat named Angel and a handsome 10 y/o boy.
I love going to concerts, crops, the movies, and friends/family events.
I love being on design teams and meeting new people.  This brings me joy.
I love participating in sketch challenges and manufacturer challenges. 
I love shopping, poetry, goofing off on Pinterest, Facebook, and Scrapbook.com.

I love that ARTastic selected me as a Guest Designer. They are the bomb!!

Please visit me at http://living-in-the-positive.blogspot.com/

Here is Monique's take on our inspiration this month.  Such a fun page - totally perfect for this challenge

and two other lovely pages Monique has done.

Thank you so much for guesting with us on ARTastic this month Monique.  It's been lovely having you join us.

You still have time until the end of the month to upload your own take on this challenge.  We'd love to see what you can do with our bright and fun filled inspiration this month.  

Mid month reveal and March winners ...

Welcome to our mid month reveal and the announcement of our March winners.

We'd like to thank our sponsors for March,  James from Alacraft, Julie from Time to Create and Kylie from Shop and Crop Scrapbooking 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!

Time To Create is a family business. We share a passion to create, share and develop the best that we imagine!  We only stock products that we use and believe in. Our stock is always priced at the keenest costing we can do. We support Australian manufacturers and many Australian suppliers and try to have as wide a variety as possible.

Try us and see.

Shop and Crop Scrapbooking is a family business and we strive to bring you all the latest from the Scrapbooking and Papercraft Industry, all our staff are very experienced and talented scrapbookers...We pride ourselves on great customer service, with a quick turn around of your orders of instock items.  We cater to both the online customers and through our store front at 10/335 Hillsborough Road Warners Bay,  We love nothing better than for everyone to drop in, have a coffee on us and browse and enjoy all the great scrapbooking products.

We had some outstanding entries last month so a very big thank you to everyone who entered.

Out TOP 3 winners are ...

Drea Slee who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.

Wendy O'Keefe who has won a store voucher from Shop and Crop.

  Buffy Burnside who has won a lovely prize from Time to Create.

and our random draw prize goes to Yvonne Yam.

Congratulations ladies.

Could the winners please contact me at jjjustjane@bigpond.com with their postal details.  Don't forget to grab our winners badge from the sidebar. 

Our Creative Team  favourite this month is Debi Clark who will receive a little something from me.

Next some more fabulous inspiration from our design team.  We are working with the below painting, The Chess Game by  Charles Blackman  with the added criteria of crazy antics, silliness or just having loads of fun.

KYLE

WOW. That was some challenge! I loved the Alice in Wonderland inspired painting and had to go back into my archives BC(d) (before digital camera) to find the pics I wanted to use for this. I took a photo of the chess pieces strewn on a table top and then just cut out the background around it. The chess set is one we got from Mr Bunker after he passed away in the early 1980's. In the photos is myself and my brother.

DI

I've used some of the colours that can be seen in the inspiration image, and made my own background again. This cardstock has had the works, with sprays, gesso stencilling, smooshing with Distress Inks, and stamping.  The photos are of my son, around about 13months old. He loved to get into my washing basket and rock it around the yard. There were often the Woops! moments, when he rocked too hard, but he always popped up laughing. Great fun!

LEANNE

This challenge reminded straight away of my son on his 13th birthday. We went away to do fishing( his passion) and I had smuggled a sponge cake, cream, jelly and beaters in the caravan, for a surprise cake. Good old Michael to all our amazement....went and stuck his face in his serving of cake! At the time I can’t remember whether I thought it was funny or if I was cheesed off....considering all my smuggling efforts! Now I just think......typical Michael!

TONE-LILL

I think it was the silliness and fun that inspired me here. As I still have some pages to finish for my nieces album, I looked through the pile of photos and found some "silly" ones to use and added some fun and silly embellishments to go along with the rest.

LESLEY

I knew straight away that these photos needed to be used for a silly theme! My girls always have to have that silly photo after the nice serious ones. I was inspired to used colourful papers by the bright colours in the painting. Reflecting my colourful, fun-loving girl.


AUBRIE

I knew when I saw silly, I wanted pics from my son's first birthday!  I was inspired by all of the bright colors, and did a lot of tiny fussy cuts in layers to form a bar of birthday fun down the center of the photo.  I used different amounts of foam squares under the pieces to create depth at different levels.

JANE

I've gone all out this month using the colour combination of yellow, orange and black from the painting as well as the theme of chess and of course added in my own dash of madness courtesy of my son and one of those  "things they say" moments.

What fun pages - the team have certainly gotten into the spirit of the challenge this month.

Now 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 new 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 April guest designer, Monique Nicole Fox..