Week 3, CHAPTER 11: Stripes!

"At the two-yard peg she faced round, and said, 'A pawn goes two squares in its first move, you know.
So you'll go VERY quickly through the Third Square--by railway, I should think--and you'll find
yourself in the Fourth Square in no time. Well, THAT square belongs to Tweedledum and
Tweedledee--the Fifth is mostly water--the Sixth belongs to Humpty Dumpty--But you make no
remark?'
'I--I didn't know I had to make one--just then,' Alice faltered out."
-- Chapter 11, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Happy new year! When I think of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, I always think stripes and plaids. Lewis Carroll does not mention the patterns they are wearing, but so many illustrations and movies have clad them in mismatched stripes and patterns. Your challenge this month is to use STRIPES.

Jenny Doh, formerly the managing editor of the famous Stampington publications, has started an artist's community website called CRESCENDOh. There is an online shop selling all kinds of things including charming CRESCENDOh clear stamps, including the Alice in Wonderland by Danita set that the design team is showing off. But the heart of the site is all the stories; stories by artists of all kinds, stampers, quilters, paper crafters. Each shares a tale of how art has changed their life. For some it is a joyous outlet, but for many others it has been a way to stay afloat in times of tragedy or grief.  As I thought about this challenge, the theme of STRIPES seemed appropriate. The tents of the knights of old were striped, as are circus tents. Many flags are striped and so are rugby shirts, so stripes can symbolize belonging or affiliation. Stripes are birthday wrapping paper and elegant Regency wallpaper. Stripes are the traditional garb of prisoners, and stripes are also how the marks of a whip are described. Stripes can represent so many different things, and the creative process has been many things to the people who have contributed stories to the CRESCENDOh site.

Author Jenny Doh is donating a signed copy of her latest book, Art Saves, which is not only full of eye candy but is also full of the stories of how art changes lives. "Discover not only the HOW but also the WHY, through the stunning projects and unique stories of 20 exciting multi-media artists." Thanks so much to Jenny for contributing such a meaningful prize to start off 2012!

Enter your project featuring stripes by Friday, Jan. 27. The winner will be announced the following Sunday. As always, entries that feature Wonderland will have two chances at the random drawing instead of one. You may enter as often as you like but each entry must be on a separate post. All posts must mention and link back to the challenge.

Your Weekly Inspiration

Remember this?

Amy Bowerman Stucki of Plucking Daisies gives us another installment in the ongoing trash-to-treasure transformation she is performing on a chest of drawers! 

The small Alice in Wonderland by Danita images were the perfect scale for the top row of smaller drawers. Don't they look fab in their bold stripes?

I like the way the stamped textured card stock contrasts with the glossy painted wood!

It is also fun that the stripes go in two different directions, very Wonderland that, don't you think?

Even the drawer pulls have been given a special touch, very cool! You can see previous drawer projects, which Amy submitted as challenge entries before she joined the team, on her blog, Plucking Daisies. Be sure to stop by her blog to see new photos of the whole work-in-progress and to leave a comment on his fantastic piece of work!

Meme of Meme's Art Place painted a board and then attached small stretched canvases to it. I love the warm green with the black checkerboard striped border all the way around, which echoes the black background in the stamped canvases! The multicolor striped background on the canvases is the perfect pattern to pull everything together. It is warm and charming and I just love it!

Meme added a little bonus, just for fun! She called this a "where's Waldo" as we see the Cheshire cat vanishing, chameleon-like, into the stripes of the background! It makes me smile just to see it. . . or not see it, LOL! Be sure to stop by to congratulate Meme on being asked to design for COSMO CRICKET/Advantus! Whoo Hoo! As well as commenting on her charming striped pieces, of course!

So show us your stripes by entering on or before Jan. 27 to have a chance at the wonderful prize! 

Note: If you are reading this in an email or a reader, please click on the title of this post to go to the blog and see all the wonderful entries!

Please leave a comment before you go, we really appreciate hearing from you!