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Thursday 22 August 2013

Introducing Chris Sexton ...


the winner of our guest designer in July with her wonderful interpretation of the August inspiration ...

 
I brushed a piece of white cardstock with water, leaving the outer edges dry. I then dropped yellow and blue watercolour paint around the page and blew the paint with a straw towards the outer edges of the page, allowing some of the colour to mix. I then spattered the page with a small amount of red. Lastly I sprinkled salt in some areas, then dried the whole sheet with a heat gun. It helps to minimise warping if you tape the page to a solid base before you start.


Hello, I'm Chris Sexton. I'm married (40 years in Dec)  and live in far north east NSW. I'm a retired school teacher and was introduced to scrapping just before I retired about 5 years ago. I fell in love with the craft and have been creating ever since. I have made many albums for family and friends plus loads for myself about me, my family, my travels, my house and my garden. One of my biggest problems is storage, both for my albums and my stash. It's starting to take over my life (not to mention my bank account).

I don't have a set scrapbooking style except to say my layouts are usually clean and uncomplicated. The one thing I love is pattern paper. There are so many gorgeous papers around and I tend to buy impulsively. If I love it I have to have it  and worry about how I'm going to use it later. I enjoy visiting blogs and leafing through magazines to get inspiration for my layouts. There are so many clever, creative scrappers out there. I have especially enjoyed entering the challenges on the ARTastic website, which I started doing at the end of last year. They have both inspired me and stretched me and I'm now prepared to take more risks and be a little more adventurous.

When I'm not scrapping, I love to read, take photos, paint with watercolours, work in my garden, look after my dear old mum, spend time with my precious family and travel with my husband. Retirement has opened up another world for me and I love that I can now indulge my passions.

I had breast cancer ten years ago when I was 50 and that was a big wake-up call . I now endeavour to make the most of every day and make more time for the people who are most important to me; my family and friends. I am grateful for the little things and feel that every day of the last ten years has been a special blessing. Life is GREAT!

Thanks so much for the opportunity to be a guest designer at ARTastic for August.  You can see more of my work  HERE.
 
I've included two more of my layouts ...
 
"Just too cute" - a layout depicting two of my gorgeous nephews
 
  
"Timeless Beauty" - a layout of my paternal grandmother as a young teen
 
 
Welcome Chris.  We are delighted to have you join us on ARTastic this month.
 
Remember you have until 11.55pm on August 31st to submit your entries.  We'd love to see what you do.
 

Thursday 15 August 2013

July winners and some more August inspiration ...

Time for some July winners and 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 July winners
 
 thank you to all who entered, all your work was delightful and I wish we could award all of you a prize however for July ...

Congratulations go to ...

 Samantha Klaebe who has won a $25 gift voucher from Alacraft.
 
Renee Johnson who has won a lovely prize from Scrapbooking From Scratch.

 Deb K who has won the Director's prize.

Random draw prize goes to Kathleen White.

We would like to offer Lizzy Hill a guest designer spot for September.

Our Creative Team winner for July is the lovely Lesley 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.
 

AND NOW -  Some more wonderful August inspiration from our remaining creative team members ...





 
 

We'd love to see what you can create using some paint or water - in fact you don't even need to use paint!  Tone-Lill has used ink and water on her page and my own layout is done digitally and as you can see you can still create wonderful effects. 
 
 Remember we happily accept all forms of paper crafting for your entry and encourage both digital and 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 challenge if you wish.  You have until midnight last day of the month to submit your entry.
 
 
 
Next week we will be introducing you to the June winner of a guest designer spot, Chris Sexton.
 
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!!
 
 


Thursday 8 August 2013

Introducing Dale Tiernan ...

our first guest designer for August with her interpretation of the inspiration piece this month.


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Hi, I'm Dale, married with two sons and live in Western Australia. I started keeping scrapbooks when I was very young. After going to a Creative Memories class I started scrapping in earnest in February 2003. Since then I have completed over 50 albums, many cards and quite a few off the page projects. I have found my passion in life. I just love to create and share my creations with others. Not only that but I feel like I am my family's historian. I'm keeping my boys' childhood memories alive by capturing them on film and by putting them into scrapbooks with the stories behind them.

I'm currently a Designer for From Screen 2 Scrap Challenge blog, Soul Scrappers and Mystical Scrapbooks. I have had my work published in Scrapbook News and Review online magazine and am regularly published at Scrapbooking.com online magazine.  I'd be happy for you to take a look at my blog, which is www.daleys-dailies.blogspot.com I have done a post for this layout which includes a list of products I have used.
 
Thanks Jane for having me as a Guest Designer. I love the creative nature of this challenge site.
 
Here are two more of Dale's layouts ...
 

 
 
Welcome Dale.  It is lovely to have you with us on ARTastic this month.
 
Remember you have until midnight August 31st to submit your entries.  This month is a really fun challenge and a great excuse to get creative.  We'd love to see your work - you can even combine your entry with a sketch or colour challenge if you like.

Thursday 1 August 2013

It's August on ARTastic ...

and we have another wonderful inspirational challenge for you.

Introducing  ...

Alan Louis  with Splash (watercolour on paper)

I paint mainly with watercolours on paper. Painting is my way of expressing how I appreciate life and the beauty that I see in even the most ordinary and mundane things. Whether I am painting a street scene, river scene, people, landscapes, flowers, even a single leaf, I derive joy and satisfaction from being able to freely express my own interpretations of what I perceive, guided only by my emotions and innermost feelings.

Criteria – Raid the kids craft cupboard or pull out those old watercolour pencils you have had forever - let’s try a little paint and water on our page!  If you don't have specific watercolour paints then by all means use the normal variety but please water these down so the look is more wishy washy.
 
 
Just look at the delightful variations we have from the first of our creative team ...
 


 
 
Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on August 31st, 2013. 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 or colour challenge).
 
Looking forward to seeing what you all create this month. 

 
Our first Guest Designer for August, Dale Tiernan will be joining us next week.  Please call back to see her take on the challenge for this month.