Challenges have been discontinued, but I hope you will enjoy browsing through this wonderful archive of Alice-inspired art!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

CHAPTER 4 Challenge - Week 5: Winner & Honorable Mentions

Today we are awarding the prize from our gnerous sponsor, Fresh Brewed Designs! The randomly chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive five digi stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store. Heather has drawn the fabulous Alice in Wonderland digi images  that the design team has used to inspire you, and who knows? Maybe the winner will choose some of them as part of their prize.


The winner was randomly chosen by random.org, and entries that featured some aspect of Wonderland were entered twice for the prize drawing!

The Winner:

Name: Lola Azul
Blog: Apuntes des Colores
Winning Project: Alice in Wonderland Clock Book [Spanish | English translation]


Lola was chosen as the winner randomly, but I could not be more pleased that she was selected as she really put her heart, and a great deal of TIME, into this very special creation! Lola capitalized the fact that Alice in Wonderland has twelve chapters, the year has twelve months, and day and night have 12 hours in this amazing round tabbed book that is all about time; minutes and hours, months and seasons.


Lola, you are now entitled to display this Challenge Winner blog badge! Contact me through the email link at the top of the left column, and I will forward your information to Heather to arrange your prize!


Lola is a girl after my own heart as she started with recycled cereal packaging! The details are fascinating and you will really want to see all other pictures, including one of each page! The clock cover features moveable clock hands. To tie in with the calendar months, each one is coded with a little white symbol to represent the season. Each chapter is illustrated with her own original illustration from the appropriate chapter of Alice in Wonderland!

Please visit Lola's blog to leave her a comment and to read all the details in Spanish or English (or any other language you would like to translate)!

Honorable Mentions:

This is the most difficult month so far! ALL of the entries were interesting and amazing, and I would like to thank EVERYONE who played along. We really appreciate your participation and I hope you will play again next month, when we have something very, very special planned.


Those mentioned here today are awarded this Honorable Mention blog badge, and I hope you will display it on your blogs with pride! I wish I had time to mention each and every one of you, but I think it would take me until next week to say what I loved about each entry.


Julie Dandy, a.k.a. "ScrappyDandyDoo" of It's a Scrappy Life really wowed me with this fantastic entry! Every single detail applies to the story and I just LOVE it! The background is text from the story. Notice the Rabbit is three inches high (to the top of his head anyway, without the ears) which is a height Alice and the Caterpillar shared for a while. Alice kept shrinking and growing, and Julie stamped Alice onto shrink plastic and suspending her in the tiny "drink me" bottle, along with a teeny-tiny key! Love the layering of background stamps and distress inks, and that rabbit image is FANTASTIC! Hmmmm. . . I wonder if this stamp company would like to sponsor a challenge?

Julie is also trying to get the word out about a special raffle to help a special dog, so after you leave a comment on her Alice project, perhaps you can check that out as well!


The tulle overlay on this card gave such an interesting texture to the image, so I had to mention this card by Heather of Heather's Coffee Break! I can't believe how much the tulle overlay adds to this card. Heather's coloring is wonderul, and I like the way she has used yellow and purple together - they are opposites on the color wheel so it is a combo that creates a lot of energy. I also love the way she has inset a larger scale detail in the center of the clock. Notice that the gleam in Alice's eye is in the shape of the White Rabbit, running away.  How often to you get the actual stamp artist playing along in the challenge?  Heather, we are so glad you not only sponsored the challenge but also journeyed down the rabbit hole with us and entered the challenge!


Debbie Buckland, a.k.a. "godzoned" of Arty Crafty, created this incredibly detailed and incredibly small sculpture (only 4 inches high) from paper clay! She used acrylic paints, reinkers, Flower Soft, glitter glue, and more to create this wonderful White Rabbit! Be sure to visit Debbie's blog to see all the other photos and leave her a comment.


I love all the Cricut-cut stacked layers on this wonderful shaped card by Donna Mundinger of Popsicle Toes! Her Octopode images are showcased on a clock and a flourished hat, and the detail is really amazing, so be sure to click to see the bigger view. Donna almost ran out of TIME - she completed her post minutes before the deadline, but the Linky list was prematurely closed. Luckily she left a link to her post in a blog comment here, and it WAS minutes before the deadline, so I manually added her entry and I am SO GLAD she made it! And now I know that the clock on the Linky server looks to be about seven minutes fast, so I'll adjust for that next time.  Be sure to visit Donna's blog and leave her some comments and sympathy, and read the comments on her post which are almost as interesting as the post itself, LOL!


I absolutely cannot resist the incredible, intensely saturated color in this creation from Hazel, of Hazel's Creative Moments!  Hazel was the lucky winner of a previous challenge and we are always happy to see her work!



Crafty Steph of Cardiff, Wales just started papercrafting in January of this year, and I'd say she is off to a great start! Love the assemblage of elements that contrast elegance with grunge! The mix of shiny metal elements, the duller finish of the metal gears and sprockets, the wrinkled and distressed paper, the lace, all in a very neutral color pallette makes a very strong and unified presentation. My favorite bit is the journaling that asks us "Remember when you first discovered Alice?" You can give her your answer when you stop by to leave a comment on her blog!


Sarah Cooper of Scrapbooking is Cheaper Than Therapy (love that!) altered a REAL working clock and it now hangs in her scrap room!  It was such a literal interpretation of the challenge that I had to give it a mention. The White Rabbit's arms are the hour and minute hands, and the heart suit of cards marks the hours from ace to Queen of Hearts.  Just think, you could have your elevenses at Jack or Knave o'clock!   I am also going to be on the lookout for a cheap clock to alter, I think this idea has a LOT of possibilities!

I have run out of time for more Honorable Mentions. I hope you will visit ALL the blogs of the entrants as every project was so special! Even though I wanted to, I could not give Valerianas Studio  a mention as her entry was posted before the challenge date (back-linking is not allowed for the challenges), but do go and visit her Alice im Wunderland category, as she is an amazing digital artist! 

Be sure to pop back next week, as we have something really special and quite different planned! And thanks again to Heather of Fresh Brewed Designs for being such a great sponsor!  Please leave a comment here before you go!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

CHAPTER 4 Challenge - Week 4: TIME


Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
`If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
`I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.
`Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
`Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.'
`Ah! that accounts for it,' said the Hatter. `He won't stand beating.'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Time marches on so it's time for a new challege, and the challenge is to make something that represents TIME! Take your time, you have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation!

Our sponsor this month is Fresh Brewed Designs, and they have some fabulous Alice in Wonderland digi images that some of the design team will be using. The randomly chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive five digi stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store!

While it is not required that you use Alice in Wonderland images, we do encourage it. Entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland will be entered twice for the prize drawing! 

Your Weekly Inspiration:



Please welcome Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog to the team, and take a moment to enjoy her Tea Time in Wonderland collage!  What a wonderful debut, there are so many details that I could look at this for a long, long time! I love the mix of pastels and deep, saturated colors. You know how I LOVE text and letters, so all the different fonts and styles of letters are making me really, really happy! Ephemera is another love, so the colorful layered receipts are another element that makes me happy!



I love how Retta has included 6:00 o'clock (as it's always tea time at the Mad Hatter's table) with the cut up text, the big chipboard 6, and with the game spinner on the metal clock charm. Notice how she has done a transfer technique on the background of her piece with the Fresh Brewed Designs "Tick Tock" background image.  Love the ornate spoon on the "T" of Tea Time!



Retta has used the Fresh Brewed Designs "I'm Late" image as a focal point. I love the clockwork gears and sprockets nestled along its edge!  Please be sure to stop by Retta's blog to leave her a comment on her lovely collage and to welcome her to The Altered Alice!



Let's extend a warm welcome to Tracy/CuddlyBunny of Not a Moment to Spare as we admire her wonderful wall hanging! Tracy's piece features Fresh Brewed Designs "Wait for Me" image, and I really like the way she has trimmed it out closely. The clockwork gears and sprockets sprinkled on the swirls of the tree are a great touch! I also love the way she has put different time cliches all around the canvas!


Here is Tracy's colored image before she trimmed it out. Love the colors she chose!


The shimmer on top of the colorwashed canvas really highlights the texture of the piece! Be sure to visit Tracy/CuddlyBunny's blog to welcome her to the team and let her know how you like this wonderful creation!


Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio (me!) made a little tabletop piece using  the wonderful "Hatter Madness" collage image. I love these Alice images so much, I had to create another couple projects! For the background on this card, I embossed some River Rock SU card stock with the Cuttlebug Clockworks folder, then sprayed it heavily with Perfect Pearls Mist.



Why is it so hard to photograph shimmer?  This view shows the clock that was a silver charm until I cut the loop off and colored it with Copics!  This image was so much fun to color. I'll have the details on my blog, Savvy Sisters Studio, so please stop by and let me know what you think!



I also make a card using "Wait for Me" and the "Tick Tock" background.  I made the background lighter and put two copies together before printing and coloring it, then used at as my background patterned paper.  More details on my blog, Savvy Sisters Studio, and I'd be thrilled if you would stop by and leave me a comment!

We also have some bonus Alice sightings on our design team blogs; very Alice but not dealing with our challenge theme of time. I just knew you would want to see them!


Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY created this wonderful Queen of Hearts spread in her art journal!



Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog created a second project using the Fresh Brewed Designs "Queen of Hearts" image and it makes me laugh out loud to see it!  I love the pink, gray, green and blue colors which make a fantastic color palette, but it is the inside of the card that makes it really great:

The juxtaposition of "Thinking of You" after the "Bitch, bitch, bitch" on the front just makes me laugh! I would love to send a card like this to some of my close friends, LOL!  Stop by and leave Retta a comment about this hilarious card!

Hmmm, time is flying, but you still have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation! The randomly drawn winner will get five digital images of their choice from Fresh Brewed Designs, but you can also play along for the glory of an Honorable Mention

To enter your creation, use the linky tool below - just click the red link below the thumbnail images. Please list a name when you link your entry, your name or the name of your blog. (Note - if you are viewing this in email or through a reader, you will need to click on the title of this post to view it on the blog.)



Please leave a comment for the Design Team and me before you go!  I think all our new designers are fitting in really well, don't you agree?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

CHAPTER 4 Challenge - Week 3: TIME


Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
`If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
`I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.
`Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
`Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.'
`Ah! that accounts for it,' said the Hatter. `He won't stand beating.'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Time marches on so it's time for a new challege, and the challenge is to make something that represents TIME! Take your time, you have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation!

Our sponsor this month is Fresh Brewed Designs, and they have some fabulous Alice in Wonderland digi images that some of the design team will be using. The randomly chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive five digi stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store!

While it is not required that you use Alice in Wonderland images, we do encourage it. Entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland will be entered twice for the prize drawing! 

Your Weekly Inspiration:


The many layers of this piece by Donna, a.k.a. Meme of Meme's Art Place, give it an incredible depth and richness - you can actually look into the layers! The Fresh Brewed Designs image is "Wait For Me" from theWonderland collection. Matte medium is the key to this piece! Donna started her layers by attaching G-45 paper to regular hardboard with matte medium. Next she coated the paper with matte medium, added a layer of muslin and coated it with more matte medium, which serves to keep the fabric somewhat transparent. Donna traced the digi image from FBD onto white tissue paper, then took matte medium again and attached it over the muslin. She let it all dry, then started to paint with Ranger Distress inks. Outlined and distressed it some more and stamped the sentiment.

Don't you love the way the clocks on the patterned paper ghost through all the layers? The matte medium makes each layer somewhat transparent, and the fabric and tissue paper layers add great texture! Please be sure to stop by Meme's Art Place to leave a comment for Donna about this wonderful layered creation!


Terri DeVine of DeVine Designs by Terri added amazing detail to the Queen of Hearts image by Fresh Brewed Designs! It's TIME for the Queen's arrival, and she is displayed on a red layer embossed with clockworks and sponged with a deeper red.  The sentiment is perfect for this image!


Terri used the Red Queen from the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie as her inspiration for how to color the queen, from the blue eyeshadow down to the richly patterened skirt. She has added all kinds of wonderful details and patterns to the fabric and the coloring is just wonderful! Please stop by Terri's blog to let her know how you like her lovely Queen of Hearts!


You are in for a real treat as this vividly colored group of ATCs from our guest designer Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary are fascinating as Jess has zoomed in on specific parts of each image; we do not see any of the images in full. Each acts as a window into the larger image. The artist's trading cards are simply matted; Jess' use of Prismacolor pencil coloring and blending with odorless mineral spirits is the focus of each card.


This ATC features the "I'm Late" image from FBD. The back of each trading card is embellished with clocks and time related papers and images. A blank area has been left for contact information!


The Queen of Hearts. I love it that her heart-shaped bodice and lips are the only saturated color in the whole piece, which makes the red a very strong statement!

This image is called "Hatter Madness" and notice all the details around the hat!


This image is called "Wonderland" and notice how Jess has enlarged parts of the image and excluded others.  This is the real magic of digital stamp images; the ability to customize!


Be sure to click on these images to view an enlarged version where you can see all the details; in this "Drink Me" image Alice is scaling the side of the mushroom! Love the cut up text and clock embellishment.


This is the same "Wait for Me" image that Donna used in her layered piece. Notice how different the image is when we are zoomed in on one detail - and now you can see that the highlight in Alice's eye is actually in the shape of the White Rabbit!  Lovely coloring.


Jess has turned the "Tick Tock" background image into a focal point with her beatiful coloring!

And in this last ATC of the set, we have the magic mushroom receding into infinity!  What a wonderful Wonderland debut by Jess!!! Be sure to stop by My Scrap Diary and let her know what you think of her creations!

Hmmm, time is flying, but you still have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation! The randomly drawn winner will get five digital images of their choice from Fresh Brewed Designs, but you can also play along for the glory of an Honorable Mention

To enter your creation, use the linky tool below - just click the red link below the thumbnail images. (Note - if you are viewing this in email or through a reader, you may need to click on the title of this post to view it on the blog.)



Please leave a comment for the Design Team and me before you go!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

CHAPTER 4 Challenge - Week 2: TIME


Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
`If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
`I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.
`Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
`Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.'
`Ah! that accounts for it,' said the Hatter. `He won't stand beating.'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Time marches on so it's time for a new challege, and the challenge is to make something that represents TIME! Take your time, you have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation!  There are so many ways to represent time - you could use a clock or a watch, hourglass, calendar. . .  take some TIME to think about it and then be sure you submit on TIME because TIME flies!  Ok, I think I have it out of my system. . . or is that my clockworks?


Our sponsor this month is Fresh Brewed Designs, and they have some fabulous Alice in Wonderland digi images that some of the design team will be using. The randomly chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive five digi stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store!

While it is not required that you use Alice in Wonderland images, we do encourage it. Entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland will be entered twice for the prize drawing! 

Three guest designers will be joining us for May:  Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary will be sharing her project in our Week 3 post, and Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog and Tracy (CuddlyBunny) of Not a Moment to Spare will be sharing their creations during our Week 4 inspiration post. I know you will enjoy seeing the work of these talented designers, two of whom are past entrants to our challenges!

Your Weekly Inspiration:


Erin Leveille of Stamp till U Cramp has wowed me with the ribbon treatment on her wonderful Wonderland card. The background papers featuring clock faces and numbers could not be more perfect, and I love the neutral color scheme that allows the Alice/Watch image to really glow it its textured setting!


She started with the "I'm Late" image from Fresh Brewed Designs, beautifully colored and matted on a great embossed and distressed panel of clockworks. But I am completely in love with the way she has applied her striped grosgrain ribbon with the twine; the puffed ribbon across the bottom is fab, and check out that little gear she has tied to form a bow at the top!  Please stop by Erin's blog to leave her a comment about her lovely inspiration piece!


Barbara Washington of  Magic Delights must have had a wonderful TIME creating this fun piece of framed wall art! She started by putting inks on glossy paper and blowing them around with canned air;  I think it must be right up there with finger painting in the top ten of fun techniques, lol! When that was dry, she put the colored page through her inkjet to print the "Tick Tock" background image, which she heat embossed the moment it came out of the printer.


She framed the colored "Hatter Madness" image with a clock die cut, LOVE that! I also love the coloring, with both brilliant and subtle colors, very nice! This image is one of my favorite Fresh Brewed Designs images!  Notice that string looped through the clock?


Yup, that string is connected to a teabag that Barbara made out of vellum that was printed with the "Drink Me" image!  And that watch on the teabag tag is such a perfect touch, because it's always time for tea in Wonderland!  Please stop by Barbara's blog for additional details and to leave her a comment on this amazing inspiration piece!

Sue has two projects for us this month, one "unofficial" creation to help kick off Week 1 of the challenge, and then her "official" inspiration piece on her appointed week! We'll start with the "unofficial" time creation:


Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY has brought our challenge quote text to life in this fantastic art journal spread! I love the soft, warm neutrals and all the texture she has added with the layers of stamping all around the edges and inside the clock.


Most of you know I absolutely love the use of text in any form on papercraft creations, and I LOVE the way Sue has printed, cut apart, pasted and doodled around the actual quote from this month's challenge!

I also love the way she has layered an actual metal clock charm over the watch that is sticking out of the Octopode Factory's White Rabbit's head. . . after all, this bunny's got TIME on the brain, lol! Be sure to stop by JABBERWOCKY and thank Sue for creating this "unofficial" challenge kick-off!

Next, prepare to be amazed. . . .


Yes, the amazing Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY covered a teacup and saucer with stamped and printed paper!!!!  We never know what to expect from Sue but it is ALWAYS a delight!


Since the Mad Hatter and Time had a fight, it is now ALWAYS time for tea in Wonderland. Sue has layered pages of bookprint paper and paper that she's stamped with all kinds of clock images over this teacup and saucer!  LOVE it!


Hanging above the cup is this pocket watch with a metal frame attached with large numbers and a picture of the Mad Hatter. The oversized clock hands are an especially neat touch! Be sure to visit Sue's blog for all the construction details and to let her know what you think about this incredible creation!

Last, I thought I would share some other Alice sightings amongst the design team members:


Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary created this lovely clock to announce her appointment to the design team and the beginning of the CHAPTER 4 Time challenge! LOVE the way she included the letters of the word LATE around the clock, and her Prismacolor coloring is wonderful, love the vivid colors!


Jess also created this fun hat card, complete with the Mad Hatter's price tag, and when you open it, there is Alice!

While it is not Time related, the Red Queen was always in a tearing hurry so I thought I'd share this great Queen of Hearts playing card by Tracy/CuddlyBunny of Not a Moment to Spare!

Hmmm, time is ticking away, but you still have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation! The randomly drawn winner will get five digital images of their choice from Fresh Brewed Designs, but you can also play along for the glory of an Honorable Mention



Please leave a comment for the Design Team before you go!