Welcome to our August guest designer ...

Amy Prior with her take on this month's inspiration.  If ever there was a Queen of backgrounds Amy is that special person.  Her detail and colour combination is truly astonishing and this layout is no exception.  We asked for backgrounds that stand out and this one fits that brief in spades!

 

Where you can find Amy - 

Website is www.amyprior.com

Facebook is www.fb.com/amypriorcom

and here are some more examples of her work ...

Thank you for joining us this month Amy.  We have loved having you inspire us.

Remember ....

You still have time until the end of the month to upload your own take on this challenge.  All details are on the blog sidebar. We'd love to see what you can do with our inspiration this month.

Our mid August reveal ...

Welcome to our mid month reveal.   We are working with this amazing painting by Kirra Jamison called Over The Moon.   

CRITERIA is all about the background - use stencils, gesso, paint, ink, texture ... whatever you want to make those backgrounds a feature of your page.

Be inspired by our team ...

STINA

I have made a card for this month´s challenge and made the background myself. I started by misting the paper with different tones of pink and purple. After that I put some water drops on. Then I stamped with different kind of stampes and finally I used a mask and some modeling paste to make the flowers.

WENDY

Just like the inspirational artwork I was "over the moon" to catch up with family from overseas and interstate over Easter. We had such a fun few days at our house. In keeping with the celebratory nature of the occasion, I kept my colour palette lighter than that used in the inspirational artwork. I did, however, use lots of stamping and stencilling to create texture on the background. I also included several photos on the page to show how much fun was had by both young and old(er).

TONE-LILL

I just love this month's inspiration picture, it was the Black and White patterns that inspired me and the owl made me think of "free spirit" and this photo of my son. It was such great fun to work on a simple page just using strips of patterned papers and washi tape.

DI

I was inspired by the dark background and twinkle of stars (as well as a favourite bird of mine). I've used a black and white photo of one of my little tawny frogmouths and placed this on a black background. The leaves have been stencilled with modelling paste (mother of pearl colour). I've added gemstones to represent stars and bursts of flowers simillar to those that are on the tree in These have been drawn with a silver sharpie.

LESLEY

I really enjoyed layering this journal cover, I used stamps, template, inks and paints to blend the colours and give a depth of texture. I loved the dark colours used in our inspiration piece and hoe even with all the busy the owl stood out. What messy fun!

JANE

I used various digital techniques to build up my background and then was inspired by the sweet owl to document a memory from my own childhood.

Now it is your turn, we'd love to see what you can do ...

 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 and you are most welcome to combine with a maximum of two additional challenges.  We offer two prizes determined by team vote and one other prize purely chosen by random draw - so anyone can be a winner regardless of style or level of experience.  You have until 11.55pm on the last day of the month to submit your entry.

Please pop back on the 22nd when we introduce you to our August guest designer, the super talented and very creative Amy Prior.

August 3T's and some July winners ...

I will be announcing our July winners shortly but first I would like to introduce you to our next edition of Tips, Tricks and Techniques for 2015 presented by our very creative team member, Deb Kupfer.

DELI WRAP by Deb Kupfer

When I created my art journal page for this month’s challenge, I had beside me a piece of deli paper.

As I worked on my page, I repeated some of the steps I had done in the journal, onto the sheet of deli paper and ended up with some gift wrap.

I did some stamping with black stazon ink on the journal page then onto the deli paper…….

Then some doodling with a permanent waterproof marker……..

Added some colour using inktense blocks (blue and mustard) and a grey gelato.  I applied one colour at a time  eg the blue sections first then the mustard followed by the grey and wiped over each section with a baby wipe.

A little more stamping with a script stamp and splatters of mist……

Putting the journal aside for a bit and working on the deli paper, I scrumpled it into a ball, straightened it out and lightly swiped the stazon ink pad over the top just to catch the top of the crumples and there was my deli wrapping paper.

Then using a chipboard owl, I traced the pieces and made 2 from patterned paper……..one for my journal page in similar colours to this month’s  inspiration art work and the other to use as a gift tag with the wrap……..

These are just so adorable Deb, I hope everyone enjoys using them on their pages.  

and now onto our July winners .....

  Thank you everyone for playing along with us last month - we were overwhelmed with all the wonderful entries.  

 Debi Clark is our winner of the prize pack from Flourish with a Bling. 

Jasmine Shea is our winner of the prize pack from Mystical Scrapbooks.

Our random draw winner of a lovely prize donated by DT member Jo Tritton is Marie-Christine Denis.

Congratulations ladies.

Could the winners please contact me with their postal details.  You have until the announcement of the winners for next  month to do so. Don't forget to grab our winners badge from the sidebar.  Could I just remind everyone that while we welcome you combining with other challenges our limit is two - so ours plus two others only and this includes items you may have done as part of a DT.

Our Creative Team highlight from last month is Lizzy Hill with this stunning page.  She will receive a little surprise something from me.

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

Please pop back on the 15th when we will have more delightful team inspiration to show you.

Somehow July became August ...

Welcome to August and our final month of winter - here's to warmer days to come :)  

This month we hope to inspire you with this amazing painting by Kirra Jamison called Over The Moon.  The background of this painting is simply astonishing and we wanted to inspire you to create one of your own so this month our CRITERIA is all about the background - use stencils, gesso, paint, ink, texture ... whatever you want to make those backgrounds a feature of your page.

A little about Kirra Jamison -

Kirra Jamison is an Australian artist born in 1982 in Sydney. Kirra grew up in Byron Bay and is currently Melbourne based. Selected solo exhibitions include, Love me two times, Linden Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2011); Surrender Star, Firstdraft, Sydney (2010); Slow down, you move too fast, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne (2009); Dreamweaver, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (2009); Crying Wolf, Museum of Brisbane (2007);Pretty Faults and Petty Concerns, Ryan Renshaw Gallery, Brisbane (2006). Group shows include The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery (2011), Recent Acquisitions, New Castle Regional Art Gallery (2008),neo goth back in black, University Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane (2008), Fresh Cut, Institute of Modern, Brisbane (2006). In 2011 Kirra received a new work grant from the Australia Council and in 2007 she was the recipient of an Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship.

http://kirrajamison.com/

And now some inspiration from the first of our team ...

LIZZY

My inspiration came from the background on this art piece. I love the black and white contrast! I've used black gesso because white pens work MUCH better on gesso than cardstock!

JO

 I've used heaps of inks/sprays, stamps, paper, stencils, whipped spackle, Structure, and lace on the background. My owl is hand drawn by me.

ELAINE

I loved the stars all over the background and chose to use this as my inspiration for my page using flowers instead.  I used ink to colour my modelling paste and after I had stencilled my flowers I left the mask on and splattered the ink on top as well.  I used washi tape in the corner to create a background for my little flower cluster.

DEB

The artwork inspired me to use an owl on my journal page in similar colours.    On the background I’ve  included doodling, stamping, paint, inks and paper.

HELENE

I used three different masks to create some extra flowers and branches on the background. I dabbed with acrylic paint and highlighted them with a black pen.

MARY

I decided to use the page from my Art Book that I was using for left over paint etc as my background. It's a crazy, messy background with leftover mist from a stencil,  paint, texture paste ,tissue paper , and even scraps of pattern paper and painted backgrounds. The little pieces of torn up tissue paper were sent to me from my pen pal, so I added that to the Chaos as well

And now it is your turn ......

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on August 31st, 2015.  We'd love to see your new paper, digital, mixed media or off the page entries. Why not try doing a pocket page spread?  Please no back-dated submissions.  

 You may combine our challenge with a sketch and a product/technique challenge (so two additional challenges).  Please include our inspirational picture and challenge details on your blog post as well as provide a link back to us at ARTastic  ... and don't forget to tell us how you were inspired by our challenge.  

You may enter more than once in any month as long as each submission is with a different creation.  International entries are very welcome. 

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques brought to you this month by our  wonderfully talented team member, Deb Kupfer. 

Our July winners will also be announced at this time so please make sure you call past.

Welcome to our July guest ...

Sue Smith from beautiful New Zealand with her take on this month's inspiration.  I just love how she has picked up the purple and gold aspects of the painting and make it work for her own page.

I was inspired by the striking gold and purple colours, the umbrellas, the vague arches in the background and the diamond shapes on the wet paving. Such a beautiful painting! My son and DIL have just come home from Singapore and sent me this perfect pic!

Hi! My name is Sue Smith and I live in the north of New Zealand.  I have been scrapping for about 15 years and still LOVE it! After scrapping teenagers and weddings, I now mostly scrap my beautiful little grandies!! Too many photos, not enough hours!!

I love to try different scrapping styles, which is why I have enough scrapping supplies of every kind to last forever. Sorry kids! In order to get more done, this year, my motto is ‘KISS’ (Keep It Simple Sue). I’m trying!!

I am really excited to be Guest Designing this month and hope I can inspire you to join the challenge.

Please visit my blog at: http://patriciasue.blogspot.co.nz

Here are some more examples of my work.

Thank you for joining us this month Sue.  We have loved having you join us.

Remember ....

You still have time until the end of the month to upload your own take on this challenge.  All details are on the blog sidebar. We'd love to see what you can do with our inspiration this month.

Our mid July reveal ...

Welcome to our mid month reveal.   We are working with this wonderful painting by Shirley Charlton (aka Shirlroma) called "Umbrellas, wet street".  

CRITERIA is to use water (liquid) in some way on your page (ink spray, gelatos, paper crumple, watered down paint, make handmade flowers etc).  Just tell us how water was applied.

TONE-LILL

 It has been a rather miserable spring and early summer here in Norway this year, with lots if rain and low temperature, so this month's challenge picture was perfect for me ;)

I have made a box card with "a rainy day" stamp. I made my own pattern paper using stamps and stencils with  Distress ink and stain,  Dylusion spray ink, Glimmer Mist,  acrylic paint and water with a spray mist. Every layer was dried well before adding the next one.

Now it is your turn to have some fun with wet medias. Can't wait to see what you want to share with us :)

LESLEY

This month I was inspired by the dark & vibrant colours used, especially the purple. I have a word template that I have been looking forward to using so thought this would be the layout to do it. I have used Distress Stain, which added to the 'runny, wet' look of the layout. Due to all the words I kept the rest of the layout simple as I felt that the words say it all.

DI

From the inspiration artwork this month, I used the colours of the background,(mine are more muted),  the  umbrellas, and the pops of colour from them and the people.  I also loved the textural effect and started my background with a flagstone-like stencil.  My 'wet' effects were produced using gesso sprayed with various ink mists, water and modelling pastes. I also used Glossy Accents on parts of the umbrellas and the title. As can be seen in the photo, taken in Hobart, rain is starting to fall on the nearby Mt Wellington, before sweeping into the city...... and no, we didn't have umbrellas, but made a dash for cover!

STINA

I love this month´s painting so I was inspired both by the colors and the water element. Besides the gesso and modeling paste I have painted my background with mists and Twinklings H2O.

JANE

 Vivid Sydney is a unique annual event of light, music and ideas, featuring an outdoor 'gallery' of extraordinary lighting sculptures and spectacular illumination of  many of Sydney's iconic buildings.  This year much of the event experienced inclement weather and the image of bustling crowds and colour enhancing reflections on watery streets in the painting very much reminded me of similar scenes in the Sydney CBD.

Now it is your turn, we'd love to see what you can do ...

 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 and you are most welcome to combine with a maximum of two additional challenges.  We offer two prizes determined by team vote and one other prize purely chosen by random draw - so anyone can be a winner regardless of style or level of experience.  You have until 11.55pm on the last day of the month to submit your entry.

Please pop back on the 22nd when we introduce you to our July guest designer from across the ditch, Sue Smith.

July 3T's and some June winners ...

I will be announcing our June winners shortly but first I would like to introduce you to our next edition of Tips, Tricks and Techniques for 2015 presented by our very creative team member, Jo Tritton.


"Faux Quilting" technique by Jo Tritton

Firstly let me say that I am not claiming this as a technique that I invented myself in anyway way. I learnt this technique from a tutorial in a past Scrapbooking Memories Magazine (sorry I can't remember who the Scrapbooking Memories Master was). I recently used this (what I call) "Faux Quilting" technique to make a wall art frame for a baby's nursery. It was done on quite a large scale but I wanted to show you how you can use it on a much smaller project. Following is the instructions on how to use this on a card.

Firstly I punched a square as my template. Here I have used a 1" square punch. It works best if you punch it from a sturdy piece of cardstock. I then punched circles from my chosen pattern paper that I want to use on the project. Here I have used a 1 3/8" circle punch. However I did trim a little bit off my square template to make it fit better within the circle. You can use a large square & circles if you want, depending on the size of your project.

Place the square template on your piece of pattern paper on the side that you want showing. Make sure the corners of the square are sitting neatly at the edge of the circle.

Fold the edges of the circle up around the square, then take away your square template.

Your circle should now look like this.

I made six from co-ordinating papers to fit on a 6x4 sized card.

I used a piece of co-ordinating paper as the base for my card. Play around with your placement before glueing the squares in place so that you are happy with the pattern. After sticking them in place fold down the adjoining edges a bit more so that you can see a bit of the reverse side of the pattern paper.

Now the fun part!  Select little embellishments to sit inside your squares. Or you can leave them empty if you are happy with showcasing your beautiful pattern paper. Personally, I love finding miniature items in my stash to place inside them for interest. As you can see from my Nursery Wall Art I used items that are suitable for a baby. For this card I wanted it to be feminine so I used flowers & pearls. Small buttons and metal charms are also ideal for this technique. To this card I added a "happy" die cut over the top which wasn't too chunky so that you can still see the faux quilting underneath.

I'm going to include this technique in a layout very soon and I'd love to see what creations you can make from it as well. Thanks for looking :)

I am so in love with these Jo, what a sensation technique and could be used in so many ways.  

and now onto our June winners .....

  Thank you everyone for playing along with us last month - again we had some wonderful entries.  Could I just remind everyone that while we welcome you combining with other challenges our limit is two - so ours plus two others only.  I don't want to disqualify anyone from being in the running for our prizes but unfortunately this is what happened with several of our entries last month.

 Karen B is our winner of the prize pack from Flourish with a Bling. 

 Chilli Pip is our winner of the prize pack from Mystical Scrapbooks.

Our random draw winner of a lovely prize donated by DT member Helene Bogren is #1 Deena Otway

Congratulations ladies.

Could the winners please contact me with their postal details.  You have until the announcement of the winners for next  month to do so. Don't forget to grab our winners badge from the sidebar.

Our Creative Team highlight from last month is Wendy with this adorable page.  She will receive a little surprise something from me.

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

Please pop back on the 15th when we will have more delightful team inspiration to show you.