Week 2, CHAPTER 18: Now you see him. . . Now you don't!

`Do you play croquet with the Queen to-day?'
`I should like it very much,' said Alice, `but I haven't been invited yet.
`You'll see me there,' said the Cat, and vanished.
Alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so used to queer things happening. While she was looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.
-- Chapter 6, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 

Just like the Cheshire Cat, we would like you to make a card where things appear and disappear! It could be as simple as a tag in a pocket or something more interactive and fun, for example a wiper card, a slider box or a slider card or even a double slider card, a telescoping card, a T-slide card, a swing (flip-flop) card, or a ViewMaster card. These tutorials from Splitcoaststampers are for inspiration; your project does not need to be a card and the hidden element does not need to be a cat. Enter by August 24 , and the winner will receive three digi stamps from our sponsor!

Our sponsor this month is Dilly Beans, featuring the whimsical art of Megan Suarez, famous for her charming big-eyed girls! You can see the digi stamps and collage sheets on her blog, Dilly Beans Stamps. There is also a Dilly Beans design team challenge blog and an Etsy shop with Megan's artwork to inspire you. Dilly Beans offers four Alice-related digi stamps: Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat and some whimsical mushrooms; the design team will be featuring the first three.

Your Weekly Inspiration

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights created a fun telescoping card for this challenge! At first you only see Alice, but then when you swivel the top, more is revealed:

This is such a fun card! I love the quotes Barbara chose for each character, and the lacy and leafy die cuts are the perfect embellishment. Please visit Magic Delights to leave a comment for Barbara!

Erin Leveille of Stamp Til U Cramp created a zipper card! I love the brilliant red and yellow, and that background paper is perfect!

See the zipper? It is created with a special die. When you follow the "pull here" instructions. . .

The sentiment is revealed! Great job Erin, and such a clever take on this challenge! Be sure to visit Erin's blog to leave a comment and get the details!

Barbara Washington of  Magic Delights  has gifted us with a second project - a slider card! See that interesting tab at the top?

When you pull the tab, hidden layers are revealed with the Cheshire Cat's grin, and another fun quote! Please visit Magic Delights to leave a comment for Barbara and to get the details!

Check the entries from our challenge participants for more fun examples to inspire you!

So join us for some interactive fun by entering your project by Friday, August 24 and PLEASE include your name or blog name in the TITLE. This helps me enormously when it comes time to had out the honorable mentions! (Note: if you are viewing this post in a reader or email, please click on the title of the post to go to the blog to see the entries or submit a project.)
We will have more Dilly Beans inspiration projects for you next week, and please leave a comment before you go!

Week 1, 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!

Design Team Announcement
Retta Fox is stepping away from  The Altered Alice tea table; we wish her all the best in her future creative endeavors! Please join us in thanking her for all the fabulous inspiration she has provided to The Altered Alice and to me personally. I am SO GRATEFUL for her contributions each month, and I sure hope she'll stop in from time to time to participate as a player in our Challenge Chapters.  I know you will be inspired by her projects below; what a great swan song to her journey down the rabbit hole with The Altered Alice!

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, a series of teapots!

Tracy Evans created this wonderful "Time for Tea" teapot. I love the contrast of the black and white background paper with the rich warm golds and oranges, it really pops! Alice from the "Alice's Adventures" stamp set is gesturing towards the Mad Hatter and March Hare from one of the collage sheets. Look at that grinning Cheshire Cat on the teacup, what a wonderful face! The teapot charm tied onto the handle and the Tim Holtz watch face are the perfect bits to finish off  this great project. For a supply list and to leave a comment, please visit Tracy's blog.

Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog set a wonderful tea party scene with her teapot cutout. I love the vibrant red of the teapot and roses. Looks like we have a ticket to go to the party, and we had better get there before the March Hare eats all the pastries he is scrutinizing so intently! Fresh cups and spoons are waiting for us in each corner, and the tea party banner waving overhead will show us the way! I especiall love the pearl dripping from the teapot spout, what a neat touch. You will find the supply list and can leave a comment at Retta's blog.

Tracy Evans created another teapot, this one with an "I'm Late!" theme.  The stamped rabbit is complimented by the collage sheet rabbit. I love all the embossed heart cutouts, where the sponging has really brought out the details of hearts and watches. The open gear/clockface ornament over the open handle of the teapot is a really great touch! For a supply list and to leave a comment, please visit Tracy's blog.

The next teapot is from Caroline Ouzts-Hay, a Guest Designer from the Alpha Stamps Design Team! This teapot was created previous to the challenge using Alpha Stamps products. Isn't it gorgeous, with the background of gold lace? The words to the Mad Hatter's song twine around, finally emerging at the spout.

Collage sheet images of Alice and the Mad Hatter are in ruched lace medallions, lovely! The stars spangling the ribbon on the handle and scattered over the teapot go perfectly with the theme. Click here for more details.

Ok, enough with the teapots already! And now for something completely different:

Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog made a wonderful paper bag album using lots of Alpha Stamps goodies! The cover includes an image from the Alice Covers collage sheet. Can you see the row of flamingos stamped in the background? Love the teabag charm and the Dresden borders. This is full of eye candy, every page is a treat as you will see below.  You will find the supply list and can leave a comment at Retta's blog.

Paper bag album 2

Paper bag album 3

Paper bag album 4

Paper bag album 5

Hmmm. You know the thing that makes paper bag albums so cool is that you wind up with lots of fun pockets. You know Retta would not leave pockets empty. . . .

Paper bag album tags!

She filled them with tags! Retta used a variety of wonderful images from the new Alice's Adventures stamp set, and she penned in little pieces of the story to go along! Absolutely charming. What a treasure this album is, I would love to get my hands on it and just spend an afternoon absorbing all the wonderful details!

Since we are talking tags, I'll share this wonderful King of Hearts tag by Tracy Evans. The fun frog footman looks terrified, I hope the King is not mad!

The machine stitched hearts and the fan of collage sheet images are fun, and the wooden letters and partially embossed background add a lot of texture!  For a supply list and to leave a comment, please visit Tracy's blog.

The monochromatic sepia tones give this tag a fantastic vintage look; it was previously created by guest designer Keron Lee from the Alpha Stamps Design Team. I love the cut up strips of text!

I am not sure if this is a different tag or the other side of the Mad Hatter tag above, but Keron has created another sepia toned gem. I LOVE the dangles with all kinds of goodies, especially the typewritten quote from the story!

Spool album

Keron Lee has contributed a third project, which is sort of like a very long tag! I haven't seen a spool album for a long time. The long scroll wraps around a spool and ties shut with a ribbon.

I love the way she has pieced together illustrations and bits from the story, joining many pieces rather than one long smooth piece of paper!

The dangling beads and charms add the perfect finishing touch!

Now we will go from a very long and skinny album to a small one with bound pages!

Love the collage sheet cover and all the ribbons in this mini album from guest designer Kristen Bastel of the Alpha Stamps design team! It looks like she used her Bind-It-All to great effect; let's peek inside:

Notice the clever use of transparency!

What Altered Art challenge would be complete without artist's trading cards (ATCs)? Guest designer Teri Calia from the Alpha Stamps design team contributed these lovelies! I like the way they are united by the black overstamped ornamental devices, and the text on top makes them such fun!

Jeweler's tin - front

Jeweler's tin - back

Another project from Teri Calia showcases what can be done with an soldered jeweler's tin; you just have to stop thinking of it as a storage device and alter it! What a fabulous trinket! Now for another jeweler's tin:

We are finishing up with Retta Fox's last project; she glued an Alpha Stamps jeweler's tin to a mini canvas and embellished! I love the way she used the white rub-ons from her stash; with the warm color scheme it makes the center 3D medallion stand out like a sun. Be sure to visit Foxy's Weblog to say farewell to this inspiring member of The Altered Alice design team!

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.

CHAPTER 2 Winner & Honorable Mentions!

Winner: Sylvia (Barnie)
Blog Post: BarniesBaustelle
Location: Germany
Prize: $30 Gift Certificate to The Octopode Factory Etsy Shop

Thanks for waiting! The HUGE $30 gift certificate to the Octopode Factory Etsy shop was won by this project by Sylvia, who entered from Germany:

I love all the little details: the Alice in Wonderland words with their dashed curved underlines, the watch dangling from the mushroom, the words around Alice's doorway, the black and white border to frame it all! It looks like she used the same Octopode door that I used for the shape of her door, with the woodgrain texture embossed on it!  Lively and fun!

It looks like Sylvia already owns a few Octopode images such as this Teapot Alice (which also comes in a digi set) and Cheshire Cat (set), and I am sure she will find a few more she'd like to purchase with this wonderful prize from Lily:

Sylvia, please send me an email through the link near the top of the left column. I will forward your contact info to Lily so you can collect your prize and start picking out your digi images or collage sheets!

Since the challenge started, even more Octopode images are now available in rubber stamps! You can email Lily to place your order, see the details on her blog Rubber Stamps page!  Lily just emailed this update:

I've had the rest of the Alice images made into rubberstamps.... see attached.  flamingo available in atc and large size now and lots of elements too. as well as the mad hatter, the white rabbit and the tweedles available in 12.5 cm!

if you'd like any or even the whole set (i can send you image of the full page) contact me please.
thanks for your continue support of the octopode factory.

Lily Chilvers,
The Octopode Factory

See The Octopode Factory Rubber Stamps page for more info!

Prize Drawing Process

I thought I would tell you a little about how I award the prizes. We had twelve eligible entries - I took out the three from the Octopode design team as they had just used the Linky to get me their info, and we showcased their projects during Week 2 of the challenge. I took out one other entry that was an accidental duplicate because she had made an error with the link on the first one and had to submit again.  That left twelve FANTASTIC entries, and ALL of them featured Wonderland this month! Every entry had two chances, so link number one had chances 1 and 13, link number 2 had chances 2 and 14, and so on to link number 12 which had chances 12 and 24.  Random.org was used to generate a random number between 1-24, and 20 was the winning number. Sylvia had chances 8 and 20, so she won!

Honorable Mentions

Let's hear a huge round of applause for our wonderful participants! Thank goodness for random number generators, as I would not have been able to choose, as every entry was a winner. This month I would have liked to comment on each and every entry. Instead I am showcasing a few that I thought were a bit different in a unique way!

First, I have to mention this AMAZING altered pop-up book by a Brazilian  participant Ana Cristina Caldatto of Scrap Da Ana Cristina Caldatto. I have admired many altered books, and have clumsily constructed some of my own pop-up designs, but I never thought of starting with a pop-up book and altering from there! Genius! Take a look:



 I love the use of the back of the playing card as a rug! And when you pull the tab to open the doors, the Queen of Hearts is bellowing in the ballroom!

There are many pages in what I believe started as a Cinderella pop-up book. I wonder if there are any more Wonderland scenes in its future? Please be sure to visit Ana's blog to leave her a comment and to see many additional photos of this lovely creation.

The next entry that really jumped out at me was this Portal #2 in a series of portals by Sarah Cooper of Scrapbooking is Cheaper than Therapy! Sarah has constructed a wooden frame for a reclaimed cabinet door, added an antique doorknob and created this Portal to Wonderland! So the exterior is a completely literal interpretation of the challenge. . .

But the interior is a true Wonderland fantasy assemblage of elements!

I love the Cheshire grinning in the tree! Look at the Duchess' pig below, with a rolling pin for the cook with the pepper! Almost every character is represented in this mad collage!

Another favorite bit is the living flowers, and circuit board grass! Notice the White Rabbit running, late just as in our story, and the chess pieces tucked in at the base!

Hurry over to Sarah's blog to leave her a comment on this entry that was almost too late (perfect for our theme, hah!) and to see all the other pictures showing more of the details of this intricately crafted entry! They are fascinating, you won't want to miss them!

When we open the door of CuddlyBunny's project on Not a Moment to Spare, we find ourselves transported to a bit of Wonderland inside an Altoid's sized tin! You can visit her blog to see more pictures and leave her some love!

Of course the first thing I asked was "Where did you get that rocking Rabbit on a bicycle?!!!" and she was kind enough to point me to this wonderful freebie which you can get HERE! Be sure to say thanks to CuddlyBunny for sharing when you leave a comment on her blog about this wonderful Wonderland tin!

And now we'll "lower the tone" with Nigel's corrugated cardboard housing from his Freebird Flights of Fancy, LOL!!! Never let it be said that a project has to be fancy or drawn out to receive some Altered Alice love; Nigel said he was lowering the tone by the way, that was a quote from his blog post! The projects are simple but effective!

What made me give it a mention here is the torn away bits on the right house which features Octopode's  Edgar Allen Poe of The Raven fame, which seems totally suitable given the Mad Hatter's riddle! (And Edgar also comes in an Ocopode digi set with a cool female Raven that is on my wishlist, and he is living next door to the Teapot Alice!) I have used corrugated cardboard before and often peel away the smooth facing. However, it takes on a whole new, almost sculptural look when it is painted! What a different look, and thanks to Nigel I'll be thinking about how to apply that to future projects!

Susan Allen of Little Imperfections painted the most charming White Rabbit and wrote a fascinating prequel to Alice in Wonderland which tumbles out from behind the door of a baby wipe box!!!

You will have to visit her blog post to read the whole story of the White Rabbit before he met Alice!

When we open Lola Azul's trifold card, it forms a colorful hall of doors - check out all the pictures on Apunte des Colores!

And when we open three of the doors, bit by bit we reveal the complete Alice!

Celina of ScrapVamp made the cover of her new art journal into a door, which is fantastic and you can see it on her blog post, but what really grabbed me was the tremendous sense of depth she created by framing the background illustration from Through the Looking Glass And What Alice Found There with foreground elements coming ever closer with the tree, then the flowers, and finally the White Rabbit! Take a look at the inside front cover:

I could feature EVERY project here but I am out of time!  Here is what I loved about the rest:

• I love the way the the door in the middle of Cath's altered book opens out of a page covered with script, it is lovely! Cath blog is A Divided Island and she joined our challenge from Cyprus, a Greek island!
• A dollar bin wooden key box formed the canvas for this wonderful project from Foxy's Weblog!
• Pat Moore of Still Challenged made a fantastic Wonderland scene using original Tenniel illustrations! LOVE the arm, LOL! You'll have to visit Pat to see what I mean!
• Charlene created a lovely card, and she used an Alice book cover image which is a little door opening to reveal a cupcake!

The Altered Alice design team would like to give Lily Chilvers a HUGE thank you for sponsoring the March challenge. We had a good time playing along with the ladies in The Octopode Factory design team, and appreciate Lily providing us with digital images to use for our inspiration pieces! Sue and Tracy chose to use their Octopode rubber stamps instead, which was so appropriate as we celebrate Octopode's entry into RUBBER!

Please leave a comment for me, the participants, a thank you to Octopode, and the fabulous design team!