Dictionary Challenge - Q

The problem with doing 2 separate alphabet based challenges this year is trying to keep them distinct ie not getting confused and trying to choose different words. This is not always easy and my first hurdle came in week 2 of the Craft Barn Dictionary Challenge where the letter chosen was Q. This, by pure coincidence, was also the letter for this month's ATC Alphabet swap. I don't want to repeat a word even though the format is completely different but Q? It's a tough one. Anyway I finally decided on Q for Quotation which confusingly also reminded me of the Quotes & Lyrics Challenge run by the Craft Barn 2 years ago. Yes I got myself into a pickle over this one but as I had time to make something today I decided it had to be done. so here's a quotation about quotations.

The quotation is by Mehmet Murat Ildan, a Turkish playwright. Staring at the blank piece of 13x18cm paper I decided to give it a light brush of squeezed lemonade DI. From there I thought of Tim Holtz's stencil called Scribbles which reminds me of roses, so I sponged Victorian velvet DI randomly over the stencil. Next came Christine Adolph's flower cube in Brilliance Victorian violet. A small bubble circle stamp in Brilliance aurora and another flower stamp in Brilliance yellow completed the background. I added the quotation and the definition (which I almost forgot) and some diecut quotation marks but it didn't look quite finished. I think the colours were all a bit meh and lacking in oomph. I added a tiny flower stamp in ripe persimmon DI which lifted the page.
It was great to view all the entries for the first letter last week and to renew contact with crafters who I became acquainted with in the first dictionary challenge and the quotes & lyrics challenge. I look forward to seeing your work every fortnight.

A New Challenge - Craft Barn Dictionary Challenge

A new dictionary challenge has started over on the Craft Barn blog. You can read all the details here but basically there will be a new letter every fortnight and what you do is up to you as long as you are consistent in your format and use a dictionary definition of your chosen word somewhere on your artwork.
The last time (2013) we did this year long challenge I used an actual dictionary and you can see the finished article here. I have had problems finding a suitable dictionary in the charity shops and also I didn't want to follow the same format as last time so I have decided to do each letter on a separate page and then bind it into a book on completion. I'm using definitions from the 2013 dictionary, enlarging and copying them as I go. Each page is 13x18cm / 5x7in. and I've decided to do my pages with a portrait orientation rather than landscape. So that's all the basics out of the way, the first letter is B.

 

I've chosen bamboo as my word, mainly because I have this well-used bamboo stamp that I bought years ago from a company called Joroco. Actually it's 2 stamps - one the bamboo stem and the second the leafy branch. I stamped both several times in Impress emerald, spring green and chartreuse ink to give the colour variations you see. I added some Crafty Individuals birds and the definition.
I do try and visit as many participants as I can but it's not always possible. Also I am unable to comment on Google Plus, Flicker, Instagram or Facebook.

UK Stampers Alphabet ATC Swap - Q for Quilling

For my final ATC this month I decided to use the word Quilling. I had an old quilling set I bought ages ago that I had used once and put away so I thought it would be great to use it again. BIG MISTAKE!!!! There is a reason you don't see any quilling on this blog and this is probably the only time you will ever see any so enjoy (?) it while you can. After 5 minutes I wondered what had possessed me to try this craft again. I just don't have the fingers for this sort of fiddly intricate work. My attempt at a vase of flowers was so bad that it was quickly consigned to the bin. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my coils to look uniform. Maybe I should say 'Q for Questionable Quilling'?

UK Stampers ATC Swap - Q for Question

The background for this is part of the sheet I made from an old kraft card blank here. I added a bubble stamp to the background with pearlescent ink. The question mark is a chipboard piece covered with patterned paper and stamped with Katzelkrafts dotty stamp. I printed out the words in different fonts and added a scribbled frame around each one.

UK Stampers ATC Swap - Q for Queen

This month's letter is Q. Not much to say about this really. The image and text are from Non Sequitur's Every Woman is a Star sheet. I've added glossy accents to the hearts and raised the text on foam pads.
.

UK Stampers Postcard Swap - January/ Let's Play with Carolyn Dube

The first swap I'm taking part in this year is the postcard swap on UK Stampers. Jilly has asked us to make a postcard based on a New Year's Resolution we have made.
I was inspired by Carolyn Dube's new workshop 'Let's Play'. The theme this month is to use something that would have been thrown away. Just before reading her blog I had had a tidy up of my desk and a clear out of old cards that I had made that (to put it bluntly) were rubbish. After reading the article I pulled a Christmas card out of the bin and pulled off the panel I had made for the front. That went back into the bin and I decided to use the kraft base for my 'play'. I started by writing various affirmations in gel crayons across the card such as 'do it now', 'renew & refresh'. This was an idea I got from Carolyn Dube who got things out of her system by writing on an AJ page when she was stressed. I smeared paint through some stencils and with my fingers. Inks and stencils were next and then some stamping and a white gel crayon. The letters were cut with Sizzix Block Talk alphabet die and then I stamped them with a Katzelkraft dotted stamp and Brilliance pearlescent beige. The 'or' is cut from the word 'forever'. My resolution is to use the things I have this year and not 'save' them.
I was pleased that I used several items for the first time - the paints, both stencils, the round motif stamp and the word 'or'.

Happy New Year!

I hope the coming year brings you happiness, health and peace. It's nice to be able to start using the calendar I made for the Craft Barn calendar challenge last year.