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Sunday 9 December 2012

November winners and some Christmas wishes ...

 
Congratulations to our November winners - this past month what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality with some amazing layouts. 
 
Main winner (as voted by the team) - Maja Stokk
Curators Prize - Polly Libby
Random Draw - Di Hasthorpe
Creative Team (as voted by the team) - Julie
 
   
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my brilliant Creative Team for all their beautiful creations this year and for their dedication and commitment. ARTastic would not function without them.
 
I'd also like to wish Chantelle all the very best as she is stepping down from the team this month. I am sure we will continue to see her amazing work popping up here and there. Thank you Chantelle for sharing a small piece of yourself with us.
 
Thank you also to our wonderful supporters - you make what we all do worthwhile. The Creative Team and myself wish you all a safe, happy Christmas and wonderful things for 2013.  Please come back and support us next year.

Introducing the lovely Sarah ...

Hi there,
 
I am a mum of 3 beautiful and busy children and wife to a Defence Force member which makes our lives very interesting, moving every 3 -4 years. We are living in the beautiful city of Adelaide at the moment which we call our home but come January we are off to Sydney for a couple of years.
 
Scrapbooking has become a great way to meet new people when I move around, and develop wonderful friendships.
 
I have now been scrapbooking for 11 years, since my first son was 6 months old. So much has changed in the scrapping world since then and I too have changed how I decorate a page. I, however, am still a very simple, little fuss scrapper. I love patterned paper and using it on my page, mixing the patterns and colours together to make the photos I take really stand out. Scrapbooking to me is about telling the story of the photo you have taken so when I am long and gone my family will have a pictorial record of the lives we lived. Most importantly I like having humour in my pages, putting a smile on some ones face who is looking at it, is a great reward.
 
To all the ARTastic Design Team and followers I thank you all for all your lovely comments you have left me over the year and I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a fulfilling new year.
 
Sarah xxoo
 
 
 
 
Bloom where you are planted
 
Freeze Frame Liam
 
Short Story
 
 
I hope you can find time in this busy month to join us in our love of bright and bold patterned paper.  We'd love to see your creations.
 
 

Saturday 1 December 2012

Now how did that happen? It's December!


Our December inspiration will come to you from canvas and body artist, Emma Hack, and is hosted by our creative team member Sarah.
 
Added Criteria - large, bold patterned paper or paint
 
A little about Emma Hack
 
Adelaide-based artist, Emma Hack, has been exhibiting extensively throughout Australia since 1999. Through a combination of painting on canvas, body painting and studio-based photography, Emma's works evoke a rich array of visual narrative and magical realism.

Emma's recent collaboration on Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know' has seen her profile skyrocket with the single in UK, Europe and US charts and over 100 million hits on YouTube.

and now some beautiful inspiration from our creative team ...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by midnight on December 31st, 2012. We'd love to see your paper, digital, card or off the page submissions but please remember we appreciate original entries (you may combine with a sketch).

 
Due to my imminent departure for a family vacation the winners for November will be revealed a little earlier this month on the 9th December.  Please pop back and see us then.








Thursday 15 November 2012

More November inspiration and announcing our October winners ...

We'd love to see some more entries - come on ladies this really isn't hard.  Fabric can be ribbon, a scrap of material  or even a store bought fabric embellishment.  Stitching can be as simple as sewing on a button or putting some running stitch around your photo.  Give it a try !!


Some more delightful November inspiration from our talented team ...

 

 
 
 
 
 
 I hope these lovely pieces inspire you to create an entry for November.  All details for this months challenge located HERE and to the top left.
 
Congratulations to our wonderful October winners.  Please contact me with your postal details so I can arrange for your prizes to be sent to you.
 

Thursday 1 November 2012

Our November inspiration ...

comes to you by the very talented fabric artist Kay D. Haerland with her gorgeous art quilt Under the Canopy.  (yes people, this is a quilt!!).

 
Additional criteria - fabric and stitching
 
 
A little about Kay D Haerland
 
"We have a very International household. Growing up in unspoiled New Zealand, I developed a strong love of nature, which I share with my Norwegian-born husband Bård. We have lived in several European countries, and in Pennsylvania, USA, for 20 years. That was where my quilting journey started.... and it is now well into another phase with our family move to Australia, continuing our International lifestyle. Our son David was born in England, and is now here in Australia with us.
Nature is a constant source of inspiration for me. There I find endless variety of shape and texture, all with its own innate logic of geometry and coloration. My quilts are often intricately realistic in detail, and require a lot of research.

After more than 20 years of quilting, - this whole field is more fascinating than ever. It even seems to change faster all the time, with new ideas and means of expression,- stretching the borders and embracing the entire creative spectrum.

Art Quilts are my passion today, and my development has taken me from traditional quilts to pictorial quilts, miniatures and abstract, with an emphasis on surface embellishment. I have no formal art or textile training, but I sure have been to a great school of experience. I also enjoy teaching, which is remarkably rewarding."

If you would like to see some of Kay's quilts up close and personal, she is holding a solo exhibition at the Gosford Regional Art gallery from December 1st until January 9th.
 
Gosford Regional Art Gallery
36 Webb St,
East Gosford, NSW 2250 (1½ hrs North of Sydney)
 
For further information please see Kay's website.


And now some wonderful inspiration from the first half of our Creative Team ...

 
 
 
 
 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by midnight on November 31st, 2012. We'd love to see your paper, digital, card and off the page submissions but please remember we appreciate original entries (you may combine with a sketch).
 
Don't forget to pop back on the 15th when we will reveal more inspiration from our talented team and also announce the winners for October.
 
 
Until then ... Happy scrapping!
 

Monday 15 October 2012

More inspiration ...

from our Creative Team.


 
 
 
Elaine used layered fabric and paper to create her flowers.
 
 
 
Julie used stamping to create her flowers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Many congratulations to our September winners.
 
Angie Budden - Scrap Therapy Voucher
Chris Sexton - Curators Prize
Jacki Edwards - Random Draw Prize
 
Julie - Creative Team winner
 
Could you please contact me with your postal details so I can arrange for you to receive your prizes.
 
 
 
 

Sunday 7 October 2012

Introducing the delightful Chantelle ...


Hello,
I'm a mum to four boys and wife to a wonderful man. We live in Busselton, a pretty sea-side town in Western Australia. My family provides me with inspiration to scrapbook - their handsome faces will often grace my pages. I enjoy the whole process: from taking the pictures, to planning the page, to playing with pretty papers and embellishments. My style has evolved over the years. I love seeing the new styles of papers that come out and enjoy keeping up with new techniques. I like to tell the story behind my pictures, but also really enjoy the arty side to scrapbooking - my pages will include paint, ink, mist and texture. My style of scrapbooking often depends on what challenge I'm playing along with or collection of papers I'm working with. I love to share what I create - you can view all my work at: Chantelle's Creative Space
 


Scrapbooking provides many opportunities and I've met some wonderful people who inspire me. I'm fortunate to be on a few design teams and I love the challenges they provide.
 
Here is a sample of my scrapbook pages:
 
 
 
 
Please join Chantelle and  ARTastic creative team in this months challege.  You might like to view her wonderful step by step tutorial to see how she put her gorgeous mixed media piece together and create your own to share with us.
 


.

Monday 1 October 2012

Our October inspiration ...

will come to you from mixed media artist, Liza Posar and is hosted by our creative team member, Chantelle.

Criteria - handmade flowers
 
 
 
A little about Liza Posar.
 
Liza was born in Melbourne in 1960 and studied Fashion/Textiles at Strathfield School of Textiles, Sydney 1984-87, and for a number of years worked in the fashion industry. She then started exploring different mediums and found that it gave her the freedom to express herself on canvas using a visual language that brings together drawn images of fantasy, reality, collaged images and the written word. When creating she uses watercolours, acrylics, fabric, chalks, inks, oils, markers, decorative paper, stickers, glitter and found objects and many more. Her funky, shabby artwork is based on everything that inspires her everyday: people, nature and life. Liza's work has been published in various Australian papercraft magazines and has exhibited in a number of exhibitions.


 

And now some wonderful inspiration from our talented ceative team.
 
 
Please see Chantelle's step-by-step tutorial on how she put this amazing canvas together HERE.
 
  
 
If you would like to see how Sarah made these delight flowers please view her tutorial ...
 
 
... the handmade flowers are easy peasy, basically just layer a dyed doily with paper flowers and add a blingy centre and voila ,a gorgeous flower.
 

 
... My handmade flowers are doodled and covered with paint.
 
 
 
 
I have used a Prima Mixed Media canvas album.

I gesseod my album, then glimmermisted with two colours, drying between each layer as I wanted a soft muted effect. Then I added some colour sprinkles for a touch of extra pink.
 
I certainly had fun adding my embellishments, including my handmade flowers. I watched the tutorial below, and this technique is what my flowers are based on. 
 

I had purchased a scrap of lovely fabric long ago, but I actually don’t know what it is…slightly heavier that chiffon, but still flowy & soft, and using the heat gun on this was so easy. The edges of the fabric melted so quickly, using my trusty pliers made things easier. I have added a photo of the goodies I used as well. I stitched only 2 or 3 layers together, as they were gloriously curled& looking lovely!
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by midnight on October 31st, 2012. We'd love to see your paper, digital, card and off the page submissions but please remember we appreciate original entries (you may combine with a sketch).
 
Happy scrapping!
 


Saturday 1 September 2012

More Creative Team inspiration and August winners announced ...

... and now some inspiring work from the second half of our Creative Team.

Please see the inspirational work from the remainder of our team at the top under Creative Team Inspiration.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by midnight September 30th, 2012.
 
We'd love to see your paper, digital, card and off the page submissions but please remember we appreciate original entries so no doubling up with another challenge (you may combine with a sketch).
 
Congratulations to all our August winners announced on the LEFT.  If you could please contact me with your postal details I will see that your prizes are sent out to you.
 
 

Friday 31 August 2012

*** NEWSFLASH ***

Just letting you know that Scrap Therapy have wonderful new stock to share with you IN STORE NOW.  The new PRIMA is to die for!!  Don't delay - check them out today.

Our August inspiration, July winners and our latest Creative Team reveal...

is going to be a little different.  This month our focus Creative Team member is Helene Bogren and she will be leading us with a tutorial on one of the ways to use mixed media on your layout.  She has produced this absolutely delightful layout.



She has also provided us with an inspiration piece by Swedish artist C.O. Hultén entitled “Om färgernas mörkerseende” which can be translated as “Night Vision Colors”. 


Carl Otto Hultén was born in 1916 and has enjoyed a long and rich career as an artist. He is a major figure in Swedish art history. Early on in his career, CO Hultén became convinced that art was about spontaneous creation, not realistic depiction. His quest for alternative role models, and his demand that painting should generate its own reality, distanced him from formal, academic painting and led him towards genres such as cubism and surrealism.


You can read more about him here .



What I love most about Helene's inclusion of this artist is the personal family connection she shares with us. 

Helene says ...C.O. Hultén is an artist from my region in Sweden. He’s 95 years old and has been an artist for more than 70 years! I don’t know if he’s famous abroad but he’s certainly a famous national artist. A funny thing is that he was a friend of my grandpa. My grandpa was the owner of a small printing office and as he was printing lithographs he came to know some of the local artists at that time. They used to come to his house and my mother has told me that Hultén was the one she liked most as he was very kind to her.
So this month you have a choice ...
1.  You may use the tutorial and do a mixed media layout along the lines of the one Helene has produced.  You can make this as detailed as you like or merely take parts of it what Helene has shown you (using mist, ink, acrylic paint, gesso, modeling paste etc) in any way on the background.
2.  You may use the oil on canvas painting by C.O. Hultén to inspire you (think diamond shapes, grey, blue and peach tones or night-time things).
or
3.  You can combine them both and see where this takes you.

Helene will also be choosing a winner from amongst the entries for a delightful prize of some lovely supplies to use on your mixed media layouts.


Here is the second half of our Creative Team reveal.  We are introducing you to the first inspiration pieces from our two new team members, Julie and Elaine.




Please scroll to the the posts below this one to learn more about them and see some of their beautiful work.  Welcome ladies to the ARTastic team - I hope you enjoy your time with us.





and a digital piece from me just to show you all that you can achieve a mixed media look from your computer.


Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by midnight on August 31st, 2012. We'd love to see your paper, digital, card and off the page submissions but please remember we appreciate original entries (you may combine with a sketch).



Congratulations to our July winners ...

The voucher from our main sponsor Scrap Therapy goes to Elaine Schoof.

The Curator's prize goes to Anita Bownds and

our random draw prize (donated by Shazza Bishop) goes to Angie Budden.

Our Creative Team winner is Chantelle.

Please email me your postage addresses and I will see your prizes get out to you.



Many thanks for all your wonderful entries last month.  They were all amazing.