Winner & Honorable Mentions, CHAPTER 20: Twinkle like a Bat, Shine like a Tea Tray!

Happy Hallowe'en from The Altered Alice!

Our sponsor this month is Smeared Ink, home of edgy, wild and fun designs in rubber and digital forms has released a Wonderland Collection; images are available individually or as a set. The randomly-chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive a $15 shopping spree in their online store.  But first. . .

One Last DT Project!

A two-page art journal spread from Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio (me!). It was a real joy to color these complex detailed images despite it being a huge departure from my usual style, LOL! I really enjoyed the way the Queen of Heart's looking glass acted like a window into Alice in the garden and I wanted to have the two images next to each other to reinforce the connection. Here are some closeups of the images and my coloring:

I would love it if you would stop by my personal blog, Savvy Sisters Studio, and leave a comment there for me!

Our Winner:


Our sponsor this month is Smeared Ink, home of edgy, wild and fun designs will give the randomly-chosen winner of this month's challenge  a $15 shopping spree in their online store.   Smeared and Smudged is an online community of rubber stampers and crafters who enjoy using alternative, gothic, edgy, and unique stamps in their designs. We thrive on different and unusual. We welcome the macabre and devious side of things, and most of all, we embrace ALL types and styles of art. Whether or not you “come to the dark side”, your creations should be a reflection of you. At Smeared and Smudged, the most important thing is being yourself. There are lots of ways to interact with the community! [ Ning Community | Challenge Blog | Facebook Group ]

The winner of this month's challenge is #2 as chosen by random.org, so that means that Shahrul Niza of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is the lucky one! Check out her amazing exploding box!

Be sure to visit her blog, Such Pretty Canvas, for many more pictures showing all the amazing detail! Shahrul, please email me through the link in the left column so I can forward your info to Smeared Ink for your shopping spree! You may also add this badge to your blog, linking it to this post:

Thanks again to Smeared Ink for being such a great sponsor!

Honorable Mentions

Artwolf2009 from Munich, Germany brings us this scary entry along with a charming story! Be sure to visit her blog for the tale.

The wrinkled background texture behind these twinkly bats is fantastic. Kudos to Keren Howell of Altered Ego for trying a great new technique!

Leintje brings the very first shaker card to The Altered Alice and shiny metallic gold hearts make the perfect "snow".  The image of Alice with the playing cards flying about is just perfect for a shaker card! I love the way she used the bell jar shape, charming!

I love the quirky Cheshire Cat shape of this twice-altered clock from Blackdragon, who titled the piece The 31 Days of Hallowe'en. The outer border makes me think of board game trails to go along with that theme! Love the hand too!

WendyLynn's Paper Whimsies poses the question "is everyone in wonderland batty?" and I would have to say "why YES!" It made me laugh so it is in for a Mention!

Marcelo Carbone from Brazil and living in Italy, brings us the undead Queen of Hearts and her undead vampire playing cards! Eeeek! He calls this Alice's Hallowe'en Nightmare; who knew an altered doll could be so scary?

I had such fun watching the video by EmeraldQueen of TatteredRoses41 showing the creation of this art journal page Be sure to visit her blog to watch the video!

I am out of time to describe what I like about each project, but everyone did such a great job this month that ALL ENTRIES get an Honorable Mention! Thanks to all our participants for doing such a great job! See the other entries below:
Please leave a comment before you go!

Week 3, CHAPTER 16: Going Postal!

The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter, nearly as large as himself, and this he handed over to the other, saying, in a solemn tone, `For the Duchess. An invitation from the Queen to play croquet.' The Frog-Footman repeated, in the same solemn tone, only changing the order of the words a little, `From the Queen. An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet.'
Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together.
--Chapter 6, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Just like the Queen's letter to the Duchess, our challenge this month is to create something with a postal theme - stamps, postcards, letters, envelopes; however you choose to interpret that. As always, all entries that meet the challenge theme are accepted but Wonderland entries are encouraged (they get two chances instead of one in the prize drawing). Friday, June 22 is the last day to enter this month's challenge.

Our sponsor is Stamp Attack, a British company that is well known (among other things) for their fantastic Alice stamp plates which have sold to customers all over the world. In fact, Helena Bonham Carter, the actress who played the Red Queen in the Tim Burton Alice movie, purchased sets of Alice stamps from Stamp Attack, which were then delivered to the studio!  Enabler alert: Stamp Attack offers speedy worldwide shipping for only £1 on unmounted stamp orders, so go on and check out their beautiful stamps!

The winner will receive a Stamp Attack gift certificate for £13.50, which is equivalent to one of the Alice stamp plates! We will be showing off two new offerings from Stamp Attack: Alice Faux Postage and Mouses Tail, aren't they great?
Your Weekly Inspiration

Click to enlarge

My project (Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio) is an accordion chipboard album where each panel is three inches square, a perfect size to show off all these fabulous stamps! Each panel was painted, then randomly stamped with the Mouses Tail stamp to make a fun text pattern. It is mostly covered on the front, but you can see it on the back:

Click to enlarge

Of course it begins with the Frog Footman (from the Alice 2 set) and the Queen's letter:

And it ends with the White Rabbit, because he's always running late:

Please stop by my blog, Savvy Sisters Studio, to see close up photos of all the panels and especially to leave a comment for me over there, because I do so treasure your comments!

Next up is Amy Bowerman Stucki of Plucking Daisies, who is continuing her series of garden/yard art with a fabulous Wonderland mailbox! Of course she also retains her title as the reigning Queen of Glitterblast spray paint!!!

I'll bet this is amazing in real life as the stamps are embossed on metal! She has embellished with cutouts from the Tim Holtz Postcard embossing folder, I had to use that one on my project also! The cool thing is that it will actually withstand the elements so it can really be used as a mailbox!

I LOVE how she has mounted the sheet metal stamped with the Mouses Tail stamp to the flag! And metal stamped postage is scattered down the sides, as are hearts punched from the backs of real playing cards!

And on the back, we see the rainbow metal embossed with the Postcard folder. Please stop by Plucking Daises to leave a comment for Amy, and to see more photos!

We have a bonus project from our newest design team member; Bonnie McLain of Love Light and Peace has created an exploding box! It does not follow the postal theme, but it features Stamp Attack stamps on every panel. When the lid is on it looks like a simple hexagon box. But what happens when we take off the cover (which is covered with roses painted red)?

Here we have the Mouse telling his Tail Tale, which Alice reckons has gotten to about five bends long! I love the depth Bonnie has created by making one part of the box a fixed backdrop, and popping up the characters all the way around! And here is the mouse alone:

And more of the outside panels featuring Stamp Attack stamps:

But you know what? There is a SECRET hidden inside this box! And to see it, you are going to have to visit Bonnie's blog! Be sure to visit Love Light and Peace and leave a comment for Bonnie; you will find pictures of all the panels there, as well as the hidden SECRET!

Friday, June 22 is the last day to enter this month's challenge, so get busy! Enter below using the Linky Tool. Please put your name as the TITLE when you submit your project
Note - if you are viewing this in email or a reader, you will need to click on the title of the post and go to the blog to see the challenge entries!

Please leave a comment before you go!

Week 2, CHAPTER 15: Any Way You Go Will Get You Somewhere!

`Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'
-- Chapter 6, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Any way you go will get you somewhere, so this month's challenge at The Altered Alice is ANYTHING GOES! It's all up to you, and we can't wait to see what road you will take with YOUR project. Wonderland entries are encouraged; you will be rewarded with two chances at the draw instead of one.  Multiple entries are fine as long as each is on a separate post. You have until May 25 to enter!

ALICE ON SALE!!! 
ALL
Alice in Wonderland
on sale May 6-26, 2012 

Our sponsor this month is the amazing Alpha Stamps [Store | Blog], and Alice fans are in for a real treat when they shop in this magical store! Alpha Stamps features exclusive rubber stamps, collage sheets, paper dolls, kits and collage supplies of all kinds. Their Alice in Wonderland selection is HUGE! Other shopping themes include Steampunk, Birds, French Vintage, Circus, and many more. I love it that you can shop by theme or product type. Be sure to enroll in their newsletter, as the supplies used in the latest artwork from their talented design team are often on sale! They also have fun challenges that are hosted on their Facebook page. The winners are chosen by the number of "likes" each project receives!

The Prize - Anything Goes and Everyone Wins!
The Altered Alice design team will be working with this newly released exclusive "Alice's Adventures" stamp set from Alpha Stamps, plus some Alpha Stamps exclusive collage sheets and other collage supply goodies! 

ONE  randomly drawn winner will receive the same "Alice's Adventures" unmounted rubber sheet that the design team is using!
EVERYONE who participates in the challenge will win a brand new digital White Rabbit ATC Collage Sheet, emailed at the end of the challenge!  SO DON'T BE LATE - enter by May 25 (Eastern daylight time zone)!
And if you just can't play along, you can still enjoy ALL ALICE ON SALE at Alpha Stamps, now until May 26, 2012. So get going and let's see where you go with this fabulous Alpha Stamps challenge!

Your Weekly Inspiration!
Be sure to visit each design team member's blog, as they will have links to all these fabulous Alpha Stamps supplies. Remember you too can stock up on these items while the Alice section of Alpha Stamps is on sale!

First up is Barbara Washington of Magic Delights, who has stamped and collaged a whole unbirthday tea party for our pleasure!

Of course the stamped Fish and Frog Footmen are delivering the invitation!

 A wooden teapot is filled with bubbles of collage sheet characters!

More collage sheet elements are decoupaged into the bottom of the tea tray!

A row of stamped flamingos decorate the teacup (love!!!).

Which of course sits on a lovely stamped saucer, featuring the Humpty Dumpty, Cheshire Cat, and Alice and the Queen of Heart silhouette stamps. Humpty seems very appropriate for a breakable china saucer!

Stamped shrink art decorates the cupcake picks!

The cloth napkin has been stamped with Alice, a lovely detail!

The red rose is displayed in a clever handmade mushroom vase.

And a small shrine decorates the tray! What a wonderful tea party Barbara has prepared for our unbirthday; be sure to stop by her blog to leave a comment and get links to all the Alpha Stamps goodies used!

Erin Leveille of Stamp till U Cramp has altered a vintage children's edition of an Alice in Wonderland book!

Inside, amid the charming vintage book images, Erin has glued pages together and carved out a niche for a little Alpha Stamps scene! I think it is really neat that she has framed the chapter with Humpty to create her Humpty Dumpty niche.

Every few pages, Erin inserted Dresden or green punched vine borders. I love the rabbit peeking out, cut from a collage sheet. The collage sheet image in the background includes the same Humpty Dumpty image in the foreground that is included on the stamp sheet. Washi tape adds a decorative frame!

Various Alpha Stamps charms and a chunky bottle filled with a green glitter "potion" decorate the ends of the ribbon bookmarks. I LOVE that detail! Be sure to visit Erin's blog to get links to the supplies used, and to leave her a comment on this charming altered children's book!

Donna Mundinger of Popsicle Toes has created a charming wall hanging with loads of dimension! Donna noticed some of the images on the new Blue Caterpillar collage sheet contain diagonally overlapping images, and she has put them in relation to each other in this charming piece!

Donna printed the caterpillar scenes several times and tiled them up into a pyramid, which gives it a really neat dimensional effect when viewed from the front:

The text and stamps are from another collage sheet, and I love the way she has used the alphabet beads to spell out the age-old caterpillar's question! Notice the caterpillar silhouette from the new stamp set that she has placed in the margin.

More silhouette stamping in the margin, and postage stamps and quotes from the collage sheet. I love the postage stamp border Donna has used to echo the theme, and the Tim Holtz goodies with the Wander tag.

I love the vintage sign aesthetic that the whole piece has, and the layered labels at the bottom complete the effect. Alice's Adventures is one of the stamps and the name of the new stamp set, so appropriate! Be sure to stop by Donna's blog to get links to all the supplies used and to leave a comment!

Alpha Stamps Guest Designers:

Nichola "Knickertwist" Battilana [Bio] of Pixie Hill created this wonderful wooden shadowbox with all kinds of Alpha Stamps goodies!

I think Nichola has really caught the dreamlike nonsense quality of the stories, don't you? I love the stage curtains that create a proscenium arch at the top, another collage sheet element.

Love this Mad Hatter, he looks ready for tea! Be sure to stop by Nichola's blog to leave a comment on this wonderful, surreal project!

Rhea Freitag of Starrgazer Creates brings us another shadowbox, completely different different from the first as it is infused with the red energy of the Queen of Hearts! This is actually a make-over of a previously created project, so interesting to see the changes. There are so many wonderful things to look at; be sure to visit Rhea's blog for all the details and to leave a comment.


Remember ALL entrants will receive a copy of the White Rabbit ATC digital collage sheet; it will be emailed at the end of the challenge. So enter here using the Linky Tool, and make sure your email address is correct! Please put your name as the TITLE when you submit your project:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment before you go, and be sure to check back next week for more inspiration.