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Monday 22 September 2014

Welcome to our September guest designer ...


Adele Beck with her delightful take on our challenge this month..


 I used twine to stitch along the wire the diecut birds are sitting on.


Heya, my name's Adele.  I currently live in Utah in the USA, but I'm really from all over.  I love to travel, and I've been lucky enough to live in various parts of the US, Chile, Spain and several places in the UK.  I'm a linguist by trade, and I've lectured in the UK and the US. I started my PhD, but it's currently on hold. I'm hoping to pick it back up in December, in Australia. 

I started scrapping as a Freshman at Uni. I mostly scrap my travels, but 4 years ago, when my first nephew was born, I started keeping his books. In January I got a second nephew, so now I have two boys to scrap.

To see more of Adele's lovely work please see her blog - www.dleebug.wordpress.com.


Here are two more layouts showcasing her work.






Thank you so much for guesting with us on ARTastic this month Adele. Your pages are so full of energy and life.  It has been wonderful 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 inspiration artwork this month.

Monday 15 September 2014

August winners and September inspiration ...

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


We'd also like to thank our sponsors for August -  Time to Create and Mystical Scrapbooks. 

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.



At Mystical Scrapbooks we aim to make your shopping experience enjoyable & fun! Our products cover all your scrapbooking needs.  


Some more lovely entries last month - thank you for playing along with us everyone.

Our winners are ...

 Chris Sexton who has won a store voucher from Time to Create.


Evelyn Walter who has won a lovely prize pack from Mystical Scrapbooks.


and our random draw prize (courtesy of DT member Deb Kupfer) goes to Maria.



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 Lesley who will receive a little something from me.



And now some gorgeous inspiration from our remaining design team using this gorgeous piece by Dominque Falla with the added criteria of twine or string.

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We welcome another member to our team this month, Mary Bennetts.  Mary does the most beautiful work so I am sure you will be truly delighted with her layouts.   Please see her blog for more lovely inspiration.



As soon as I saw the challenge was to use string and I saw the word relax , it took me straight back to lying in the hammock at Navutu Island Fiji. Each Bure had it's own hammock and it was heaven laying in it surrounded by lush palm trees and vines and a view to the ocean. I have added white string to represent the strings on the hammock and the word relax. It was total Bliss

WENDY

This piece of artwork with its "Relax and Unwind" theme made me think of holidays because that's the time when I truly relax. So I went searching for a holiday snap to scrap and I ended up using a family holiday snap taken at Monterey Bay a couple of years ago. I often use string or baker's twine on my layouts so this time I decided to use twine in a different way. This I did by including the twine on a tag.  I then used that tag on my layout - the very first tag I've ever made.

DI

With my layout this month I was inspired  by the inspiration image, to go retro and reproduce the '70's string and nail designs on paper. The photos I chose certainly drove the design I made... a cobweb, using metallic yarn.



I loved the colours of the art piece this month, soft yet vibrant and I wanted a page that reflected a relax and unwind moment. Then I found the photos of us going on holiday, we hadn't quite got to that part yet but it didn't take long. I have only used a small amount of twine but reflected the lines with my stamps


STINA


I love to use twine on my projects, they are so useful. Here I´ve used it on the tag and also made a bow out of it. I love the text on the artwork, relax and unwind, and I decided to make them determine the sense of the layout. So I made it in harmonic and peaceful colours.


JANE

I adored the soft muted feel of the inspiration piece and the classic combination of colours.

Now it is your turn - we'd love to see what you can do with some string.

 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 wonderful September guest designer, Adele Beck.


Wednesday 10 September 2014

September 3T's ...

Sharing My Secrets!

Hello it's Julie here sharing my tips and techniques for September.

I have my hand up as I am a fully paid up member of the FIBRE A'HOLICS CLUB!  I cannot walk past the wool and fibres section in a store without stopping to look. And buy!


Thin braids are used as outlines on this layout

I inherited a BIG stash of sewing cottons from my mum who was a seamstress. I think she was the President of the club for a long time!

These cotton have become  my "go to" for making some of the braids that I create for Time To Create Handmade.

Here's How I make Sewn Braids!



I take a selection of these sewing cottons -the number determines the thickness.


I set my machine up. I like black thread in top and bottom.  Any colour will work!  The machine is set to Zig Zag and the stitch length and density is determined by what works for your machine.

  
To achieve consistent tension I hold my hands like I have shown and I concentrate!  I usually make 1 bobbin length at a time. Sounds a lot but when you start to use these braids you will find many uses for them.


The colour combinations are only limited by your fibre collection!


When you are comfortable with the cotton braids you can get much fancier. Here I made a braid with string and crochet cotton.

WARNING -- Be very careful and clean out the bobbin area after each braid. A lot of lint is created so you will also need to oil your machine more than you usually do!



As you play you will discover that you can build wider braids. The strings can wobble about and you can get really interesting effects.


I have made long detailed pieces that I use as totally unique scarves. I'm usually asked what my scarves are made from!



Adding these braids to clothing is also fun. They are totally washable and can revamp clothing in a quick and interesting way.

I do hope you try making some of these braids.  Be WARNED though, the fibre journey is an exciting and addictive one that will have you experimenting.

Julie

PS over on my Blog - Time To Create Handmade Treasure -  I love exploring and mixing all sorts of materials and techniques together.  I'd love you to become a follower so I can share my discoveries with you.

Monday 1 September 2014

And now it's September ...

Oh good grief !!   September????  Already???  What !!

This month we are being inspired by an artwork with a difference.  This amazing piece by 
Dominique Falla called Tipografia and yes this is all about the string !!  Although you may well also be inspired by the words or the colours of the image.


Criteria is to use string or twine on your work


A little about Dominique Falla -  

Dominique Falla is an Australian designer/artist who works in a variety of craft mediums and combines them with a digital aesthetic to make tactile typography pieces. She is currently interested in the New Aesthetic and exploring ways in which the digital world can inhabit the real one using typography.

This month we have two main sponsors - each offering vouchers to their stores.


 Julie from Time to Create




and Kylie from Shop and Crop


and of course every month we also offer a prize pack totally by random draw - this month donated by team member Julie, owner of Time to Create


This month I'd like to introduce and welcome a new member to our team -  the lovely Lizzy Hill.  I am sure many of you have seen and admired the gorgeous work Lizzy creates in the scrappy world - she is super talented and will no doubt inspire you with her amazing designs.  Please check out her blog for more of what she does!

LIZZY
I really loved the texture in the art work, so used a plastic doily with ink sprays to get the background effect. Gelatos coloured it up nicely – once again, taking the tones from the picture. And I simply HAD to ‘adapt’ that saying! So now I have a lovely bit of wall art for my scrap room! The green glittery thread has wire in it, so works well for ‘word art’.

DEB
 I found my inspiration from the colours.

Helene used the lovely muted colours.

This months inspiration picture gives so much opportunity  for ways to get inspired. It was the "blue/pinkish" colours I was drawn to and with the word  "Relax" comes thoughts of home. A  place to "chill" and enjoy the fun of  scrapbooking and paper crafts. A few ribbons of string was added to the canvas as this months criteria is to use string or twine on your project. 

For this page I have used a photo of my girl relaxing on her Dad's leg, inspired by the words from the inspirational piece. I also pulled the colours from the piece and used them on my page. I love twine on my pages; here I have used it as loops behind my flower clusters.
I have an ongoing love affair with fibres. My piece has all sorts of recycled  and reused pieces in it that caught my eye in a quite random way.  The piece is 55cm wide by 62cm long and is destined for my sewing room. Check out the details on my blog and come and have a look at the 3T's post later in the month for some of my fibre tips and ideas.

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques to see how Julie has put this absolutely amazing work together.  I am sure you will be inspired.

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on September 30th, 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.