Trick or Treat, Blog Candy Style!

It is finally here; the day I draw a name from the hat for the printer's tray blog candy! And the name is....

But first I wanted to say thanks again to Donna of Meme's Art Place for donating  this fabulous blog candy. I have to say I personally have NEVER seen blog candy this wonderful, and I know the lucky recipient will be thrilled. Let's take one last look:

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The lucky recipent, you ask?

The winner is. . . But before we get there, I just wanted to say how effective the blog candy has been at publicizing The Altered Alice, and thanks to ALL of YOU for spreading the word! The blog began on Oct. 4th with my welcome message, and the first artwork was posted later that day.  Word was spreading pretty well for a brand new blog, and we had 27 followers (25 Google; 2 Facebook) on Oct. 21, when Donna offered the blog candy. Since then we have TRIPLED with 77 followers (69 Google; 8 Facebook). THANK again to EVERYONE who helped!

Ok. I had to put all my waffle first because I knew I'd lose you after the winner. We had 29 participants and I used Random.org to select the winner.

Linky entry #24 corresponds to Creations by Tee! Congratulations! Please contact me within a week from this blog post (email link in the left sidebar).  If I don't hear from you within that time period, we will draw a new name.  Tee responded VERY quickly, so no second chance drawing will be held!

Of course I checked to be sure that Tee had followed the rules of the contest, so I can assure you that Tee spread the word. She made two blog posts, one about The Altered Alice and one about the Blog Candy and had the blog candy picture AND the blog badge in her sidebar! You all may enjoy visiting Creations by Tee. She makes handmade art pendants from Scrabble tiles which she sells in her Etsy shop and in the past some have featured Alice in Wonderland! She also makes lovely ATCs and other cool things that you can see on her blog.  Who knows, perhaps we will find a future featured artist here one day, and I never would have seen her blog if she hadn't entered the contest! Don't you love blogging?

Well, I sure hope all of you will remain followers and continue to display our blog badge now that the blog candy is over.  Remember you can submit your artwork for consideration, it doesn't matter when you made it. If you see cool Alice stuff on another blog, there is a place to add a link for that also, or you can email me to point out cool finds.

I'd also like to thank Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY for acting as unofficial talent scout. Many of the past and upcoming posts are from pieces that Sue emailed me about, made by artists I never would have found on my own. YOU can be a talent scout too! Remember that The Altered Alice is a community experience and continue participating with your comments, your artwork submissions, and sharing links to other Alice stuff.  I always contact the artist first for permission, so just send me the blog post links or submit them through the Linky Tool and I'll take it from there!

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL!  And leave me a comment, I sure love getting them!

Sue Roddis: Halloween Variations on a Theme

Featured Artist: Sue Roddis
Blog: JABBERWOCKY
Location: Kazakhstan

NOTE: It is the LAST DAY to enter the blog candy drawing!
I have to admit I am behind on my Halloween postings due to an overload of work and an unexpected out-of-town trip. My real life is really interfering with my blogging! I know you all understand exactly what I mean. So we are going to continue our Halloween tricks and treats into November as I have more amazing projects to share with you!

As one of the predominant features of these two art journal pages by altered artist Sue Roddis is Alice's witch hat, it seemed fitting that they be featured in our last pre-Halloween treat. Sue's first version wound up at The Stamper's Attic, and enjoyed the process so much that she made a variation to keep! It is fun to see both the similarities and the differences.  Take a look:

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I really love this assembly of Alices! One of the themes of the story was how a people change, particularly Alice! As she said when she was talking to the caterpillar:

`Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'

I love the way she has taken the cutout of Alice pulling the curtain back and jusxtaposed it next to the fleeting rabbit. Now two of the Alice's seem to be contemplating his departure, and the positioning also adds a feeling of depth.  The flourishes filling the open space are very nice, it is hard to go wrong with fourishes after all. But what I love most about this page, design-wise, are the dots!

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There are dots along the outlines of everything, and they really integrate these ivory Alices into the white of the page. they also unify the dark green and black elements, the ivory and black Alices, and the graceful lines of the flourishes.  There is also a sort of altered Jabberwocky-style connection to folk or tole painting which often uses white dots around painted elements on a dark background.

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This time, the focus is more on TIME. The next spread uses the same assembly of Alices, but the spread is unified, not by dots but clocks! The clock faces throughout really unify the piece and we can almost here the clock ticking away!Of course we have the White Rabbit who was so concerned with time. Alices many changes were distressing to her as they happened in such a short space of time:

`I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because I'm not myself, you see.'

`I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.

`I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, `for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'

I hope you will visit Sue's blog and leave her some love. You will find the first piece on this blog post and the second one here, where you will also find Alice reaching out to the transformed Absolem, a caterpillar no more.

Please be sure you are entered in the blog candy contest for Donna's fabulous printer's tray, and please leave me a comment here before you go!

Linda Cain's Halloween Printer's Tray

Featured Artist: Linda Cain
Blog Post: Friends in Art
Location: United States

Linda Cain is an amazing artist. She is on the Tim Holtz design team, among others, and her mixed-media creations are well worth a look! Linda started with a 7gypsies Artists Printers Tray which has 12 artist's trading card sized openings and one (or two) 8 x 8 inch pads of Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland. When she saw the printers tray, she said it would be like decorating a doll's house! And she has decorated each "room" in the most amazing way. Look - and you really MUST click to enlarge!

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Where do I begin to describe what I love about this amazing creation?  First, I guess her concept of "doll house rooms" really applies, because each block could stand alone as a mini piece of art, or indeed a collection of incredible ATCs. Lots of pop-dots and layers were used to give each scene dimension and amazing depth!  I love the way many scenes add to the sense of depth by breaking the boundaries of thier box. Notice how the tea service in the left column breaks the boundaries, so it almost seems as though the tea table is extending towards us; in our imagination maybe we too have a place at the table! The Mad Hatter's top hat extends above the top of the next box to the right, so he is in front of that block but not really in it. Does he tiptoe from block to block when we're not looking?  The pumpkin and one of the living flowers in the lower right corner start from outside their block, in fact they begin as part of the border as though they are growing into the tray. And Alice in the upper right corner is looking over all, the real queen of all she surveys.

Because there is so much going on, the bold checkerboard boundary really helps to contain all the energy and give cohesiveness to all. There is a lot of careful balance between light and dark areas as well as large and small scale scenes. The tall Alice in the upper right corner is balanced by the White Rabbit extending above the top in the upper left corner.  The elements that float above the background,coming to the front of the frames, are carefully staggered - the lower right corner garden, the middle left tea set, and the purple title of the piece in the upper middle right.  So all the frantic energy, the plethora of tiny scenes, and the rich vivid colors are actually balanced and harmonious instead of chaotic.

Linda is a published artist whose work has been featured in Altered Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Bead Trends, Scrapbook News and Review, Stamper's Sampler, and Artella.  She has designed pieces for Tim Holtz Idea-ology, Ranger,Teresa Collins, Vintaj, Petaloo, Creative Imaginations, and Small Studio Productions.  If you are really lucky, you can take a class from Linda, as she teaches in scrapbooking stores in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.

In addition, Linda is a paper hoarder! I can really identify with that, can't you?  She recommends buying TWO pads so you can leave one intact to just look at, and admits it is a sickness! Must be catching because a lot of us are infected!!!

Please visit Linda' blog, Friends in Art to see more of her amazing work! You will find more details about Linda's amazing printer's tray on this post, and leave her some love while you are there!

This tray is very different from Donna's tray, which was clearly designed as a whole single piece in a very different style.  Remember Donna has DONATED her GORGEOUS tray for us to offer as blog candy in our drive for more followers. Please remember to check THIS POST on how to enter the drawing!  You have until Oct. 30 to enter, but we want you to help us get the word out about The Altered Alice, so the sooner the better!

Please leave a comment here for me before you go!

Sam Royal's Amazing Interactive Halloween Mini-Book!

Featured Artist: Sam Royal
Blog Post: Arty Pants
Location: England, United Kingdom

Sam submitted this fascinating mini-book through the Submit Your ALICE Artwork link at the top of the page. I went to her blog post, but there was a very small sized video that flipped you through the pages. I just KNEW there were wonderful details but I just couldn't SEE them. So I asked Sam if she would take still photos so I could showcase her mini-book here on The Altered Alice, and I am SO HAPPY to show you all the wonders of this charming book.

I have to admit that I look at some mini-books and think "that's very pretty but what do I do with it?"  Don't shoot me! There are other mini-books that I just adore.  Looking at Sam's creation made me realize that it is the interactivity of some books that really sets them apart. The really great mini books allow us to EXPLORE! It may be a variety of textures, materials and image treatments.  It may be interesting construction and lots of tabs to explore like Sue's mini-book. It may be thought provoking. It may be like Hel's mini-book where we are invited to sing The White Rabbit.  They are not just to look at, they are made to experience!

So let's explore and experience Sam's Halloween in Wonderland through these wonderful photos that take us page by page through her creation. There are lots of pockets and envelopes, tags and other items tucked in, panels to open! Click on any of the photos for larger view.

 

Pull the tab - BOO!

Do you recognize these words on the next page? The a verse from the poem at the end of Through the Looking Glass: 

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

I love this clever pocket that holds one tag inside, then another is tucked horizontally behind the pocket itself.

 The tag shapes are interesting and the tassels are wonderful. I love the transparent watch faces on the Mad Hatter tag!

And here is the pocket again with both tags removed.

Another pocket with two tags. I love the way the trimmed out Mad Hatter forms such an interesting pocket shape!

I am not sure what is in this pocket, but we see the pocket with the tag removed below:

Don't you want to untie the flap on that little patterned envelope and see what kind of treasure hides inside?

This attached trifold panel opens up with more scenes inside!

The flight of punched bat shapes continues from the cover to inside the first flap.

Now both flaps are spread open. The large scale of the hand with its minimal detail in the center is balanced by the smaller scale of the scenes on each side, which are just full of rich detail!

 The End - and perhaps the frog footman with his invitation for the Duchess is asking us back in to explore some more!

Isn't this a wonderful little book? There are so many details to love, even the basic things like the brass eyelets on every page. I love the way all the cutout shapes are rimmed with black. I love it that she chose black rather than silver or gold rings to hold the book together, and all the ribbons tied on are so exuberant yet they are anchored by the black polka dot ribbon!  The color black acts as both a thread and an anchor as we travel through the book.

 I so wish I could see it in person as it invites you to play! I want to turn the pages, pull the tabs, pull the tags out of the pockets.  These photos give us some sense of that experience, and I hope you have enjoyed exploring Sam's creation as much as I have!

Please visit Sam's blog, Arty Pants, to leave her some love. Sam says that she loves to create little pieces of art, is quite mad, and spends too much money on crafts.  I would say all three of those traits came together to create this marvelous little book!  Sam is fairly new to this type of crafting, which makes her mini-book all the more amazing! I hope this post on The Altered Alice will encourage her to continue in this direction!

We have some AMAZING blog candy up for grabs, so please go to THIS POST to find out how to enter the drawing for Donna's incredible Alice Printer's Tray! You have until Oct. 30 to enter, but we want you to help us get the word out about The Altered Alice, so the sooner the better!

Please leave a comment here for me before you go!

Blog Candy from Donna - Printer's Tray Give Away!!!

Featured Artist: Donna "Meme"
Blog Post: Meme's Art Place
Location: Blaine, Minnesota, United States



The Altered Alice is a brand new blog, and our last featured artist, Donna (Meme), knows how hard I am trying to get the word out. Donna has very generously donated her FABULOUS printer's tray as a give-away to the followers of The Altered Alice!  THANKS DONNA!

The winner will be coming away with quite a prize. Donna's artwork has been featured in many Stampington publications including Somerset Gallery, Somerset Studio, and Somerset Memories.  One of her amazing altered dress forms has a home at Graphic 45, along with many other display pieces. Another of her altered dress forms has a home in Tim Holtz's studio; Tim insisted she sign the dress form before he triumphantly carried it home to Arizona!

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Blog Candy Details:
The purpose of the give away is to promote The Altered Alice, so there are a few rules!

• You must be a new or existing follower of The Altered Alice.
• If you have a Google Account, please use the left column to follow through Google Friends Connect (preferred).
• Otherwise, you can follow through Facebook Networked Blogs at the bottom of the right column. 
• Spread the word! Make a post sharing what The Altered Alice is all about, or put the blog candy picture in your sidebar and link it to this post. If you don't have a blog, please mention The Altered Alice on your Facebook page.
• Once you have completed the above items, please enter your name in the LinkTools below by October 30, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
• A randomly selected follower will be chosen and announced on Halloween, October 31! The winner will have one week to contact me. Should the winner not respond in that time period, we will draw a new winner and start the clock again! Don't be late for this very important date!
• Donna will ship the tray at no cost within the U.S., and will provide up to $15 towards international shipping. Should an international follower win the tray, they would be responsible for any shipping cost above $15 USD.

Please leave a regular comment on this post to thank Donna for her wonderfully generous contribution to The Altered Alice!  I feel so incredibly blessed to have this amazing piece of Alice artwork to enable us to really spread the word about The Altered Alice!

Be sure to visit Donna's blog, Meme's Art Place, you will be truly inspired by what you find there!  Go look for her AMAZING altered dress forms! You can read her post about the printer's tray here.  I have one more Halloween project from Donna that I'll share later this month! In the mean time, sign up below!

I have met all the criteria listed above, and I want to enter to win Donna's fabulous printer's tray:

Donna's Halloween Printer's Tray

Featured Artist: Donna "Meme"
Blog Post: Meme's Art Place
Location: Blaine, Minnesota, United States



I am on the design team for Oh, Alice!, where the weekly challenges are derived from Alice in Wonderland. You can imagine how thrilled I was when Donna, a.k.a. Meme, agreed to be the October guest designer! This meant she was unable to escape my pleading and whining to show some of her stuff on The Altered Alice!  Take a look:

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Donna started with one of the 7 Gypsies printer's trays and the Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper collection. She mixed that with a healthy shot of Tim Holtz ideaology goodes and the results are incredible!

There are so many things that I love about this, but two of my favorites are in opposite corners. In the lower right corner, the clear filmstrip tape adds a great 3D shiny element as it rolls away and back towards the back of the cubby; in the upper left corner, the oversized shiny bottlecap acts as a mirror. Anyone looking at this piece in person would see themselves reflected from inside this art piece, with the work "Imagine" above their face; the viewer becomes part of the art. One more thing that appeals tremendously is the way Donna has broken the boundaries of the little cubbyholes by having Alice and the Cheshire Cat straddling the dividers!  Art is all about breaking boundaries, isn't it? 

You can see many more photos on Donna's blog post about this wonderful tray!

I wanted to show you one more item from Donna. We had a teabag folding challenge on Oh, Alice! and I really loved Donna's entry using these same Graphic 45 papers, combined with a wonderfully coordinated origami paper:

Isn't it wonderful? The eye is pleased no matter where it travels on this card. Such a delightful mix of things; The diagonal text background and multicolored band provide strong striped elements. The punch of the black polka dotted band and word frightful help to ground the brighter colors in the card. The rich blue and green of the origami paper are reflected in the striped pattern and the mat.  The composition is also interesting; The Mad Hatter is looking towards Alice, but Alice is looking away. We don't know what has captured her gaze and this moves our eyes outside the boundaries of the card.  Just lovely!  Not to mention great teabag folding!

Be sure to visit Donna's blog, Meme's Art Place, you will be truly inspired by what you find there!  Be sure to leave her a comment about these wonderful projects! You can read about the printer's tray here and the teabag folding card here.  I have one more Halloween project from Donna that I'll share later this month!

And please remember to leave a comment here before you go to leave Donna some love; your comments are what make this effort worthwhile! :-)

Halloween in Wonderland Begins with a Mini-Book from Sue Roddis

Featured Artist: Sue Roddis
Blog Post: JABBERWOCKY
Location: Kazakhstan

Graphic 45, a paper company we all adore, released the amazing Halloween in Wonderland collection earlier this year. This set of papers and tags took the original classic Alice illustrations by John Tenniel and recolored them in deep rich fall colors, added witch's hats, pumpkins and other spooky elements, and has probably been the most popular collection they've ever released! To celebrate all the inspiring artwork inspired by these papers, I thought it would be fun to display a series of these creations between now and Halloween!

I wanted to start with Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY (remember her incredible clockworks piece?) because she has been serving as a "talent scout" for The Altered Alice, sending me GREAT Alice links from all over the blogosphere! Thanks Sue! Also, of course, because Sue's mini-book is AMAZING! Take a look!

The covers are actual book covers cut to size from recycled books.

Pages are sewn into the spine.

And what great pages they are! I particularly love the tabs on each page with their distressed and torn edges!

To see more pictures of the pages and to read Sue's description, please visit Sue's JABBERWOCKY blog post and leave her some love! 

There will be many more Halloween in Wonderland projects, including cards, more mini-books, and wall art to share with you and they are all WONDERful, so stay tuned as we gear up for Halloween! Please leave a comment on The Altered Alice before you depart!

The White Rabbit: Hels is playing my tune!

Artist: Hels Sheriden
Blog Post: Ink on My Fingers
Location: Wellingborough, United Kingdom

Well, first off, to get the full effect, this post needs a soundtrack!!! The minute I saw this fabulous mini-book by Hels Sheriden, The White Rabbit began to play in my head. . . and it stayed there for days!! So grab a cup of coffee, hit the play button and enjoy Grace Slick singing with Jefferson Airplane and feast on some eye candy!   NOTE: I absolutely hate going to blogs where the music starts automatically, so please notice that autoplay is turned OFF, so you may enjoy this post with or without the soundtrack as YOU choose!  NOTE: To honor Hel's style of blogging, I am muttering in little tiny text...

Here on The Altered Alice, I am going to share the eye candy and send you back to Hels' blog post for all the details on the stamps and embellishments she used, the lavish use of Distress Ink (both painted and sponged), fabulous embellishments and book construction info.  You can click on any of the images to see an enlarged view!

I love the colors Hels used, and the way she kept the backgrounds simple and really let the stamped images shine! In fact, other than the single background color on each page, the only coloring is on the characters themselves. The use of either the foliage silhouettes on the rabbit pages or flourishes on the other pages gives the book a very cohesive feeling as you pass from color to color. The typewritten lyrics are in keeping with the era of the the original Attwell illustrations. The way she has used 3D embellishments throughout is also wonderful - a touch of assemblage running through all the pages.

Hels is using some charming Alice in Wonderland stamps from the The Artistic Stamper, featuring the artwork of Mabel Lucie Attwell.   Mabel Lucie Attwell was a well known British children's illustrator with a trademark style of round cuddly infants, and some of  those are also available as stamps from The Artistic Stamper! You can see a sampling of the her original color Alice illustrations here. I hope The Artistic Stamper will continue to release more of Attwell's Alice illustrations!  Of course I now *need* these Alice stamps quite deserately, and I mean ALL of them!  Do you think The Artistic Stamper would trade them for ad space? ;-)

I particularly love the vintage look of the characters, which were drawn by Attwell for a 1910 edition of Alice in Wonderland. The simple outlines and lack of cross-hatched shading provide an interesting contrast to Tenniel's original woodcut illustrations! The style actually reminds me of the British art pottery of the same period.

Hels is a talented mixed media artist, and she teaches workshops so check her blog to see what's scheduled. I really love her assemblage style collage canvases, truly inspiring! Her work has been published multiple times, including appearing on the cover, in The Craft Stamper, a UK stamping publication. She is the Creative Coordinatior for The Artistic Stamper Creative Team, and is on  Design Teams for Gingersnap Creations, The Stamp Attic, Craft Stamper Magazine, and Bubbly Funk's Bubbly Scrumptious and Vanilla Sugar.

Please visit Hels' blog to read all the details! You will love her lively style of writing, you can almost HEAR her sitting next to you having a good chinwag, waffling on as she would say! Not only will you see lots of wonderful mixed media projects featuring Grungeboard, metal tooling, and 400 ways to use Claudine Helmuth Traditional Tan paint, but you can also play along with her Sunday Stampers challenge. Just think, all that and Wednesday updates on the state of her Room of Stash, and Alfie the Cat updates too!

So what are you waiting for? Go leave Hels some love and please leave a comment for me before you go!