Week 2, 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

Erin Leveille of Stamp Till U Cramp created a Wonderland mailbox, complete with a key for the flag, along with lots of Wonderland post! I don't think the mail will fit inside the box however, as a the Mouse and his Tail have taken up residence inside in his mossy birds nest! I love the big black ears and music covered body on the mouse.

The mouse has retreated into the mailbox; notice that the mouse's tail is actually the mouse's TALE? Too fun!  Erin continued the fun by making all kinds of envelopes from a variety of papers, stamped and postmarked with our Alice Faux Postage stamp set. The mailbox is also covered with the same stamps. Bravo Erin for such a fun Wonderland postal project! Please visit Erin's blog for all the details and to leave her a comment on her charming project!

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights created a box full of Wonderland memories for Alice to enjoy! The Stamp Attack frog footman is the perfect introduction, and what a great tie-in to our challenge quote. And look at all the wonderful goodies Barbara has created inside!

First we find the Mouse's Tale. Slip the belly band off. . . .

And the Stamp Attack Mouse's Tail appears inside!

Next Alice finds a bundle of postcards! Barbara has done a wonderful job creating these vintage beauties!

Click to enlarge

I love the way Barbara has stamped the postage on each in color, and then cancelled it with the postmark seal that is also included with the Faux Postage set. I adore the text filled silhouettes she has used on each postcard; they are my all-time favorite Stamp Attack stamps found on the Alice 2 plate. But that's not all. Hmmm; what else could be inside?

Jewelry! Barbara made shrink plastic charms and affixed them to a bracelet!

Isn't it wonderful? Alice must be a happy, happy girl after rummaging through this box of memories! Please be sure to visit Magic Delights to get all the details and leave Barbara a comment on her fabulous box of Wonderland memories!

Our newest design team member, Bonnie McLain of Love Light and Peace has created an art journal Tail of Tales for your pleasure! Above is the cover of Bonnie's Alice art journal, which Bonnie created prior to the challenge; isn't it wonderful? I wonder what Alice will see when she pulls back the cover?

Here we have the Mouse telling his tale, which Alice reckons has gotten to about five bends long! LOVE this checkerboard text background, the perfect backdrop for our text mouse's tail, or tale!

The Stamp Attack faux postage stamps form the background for this colorful page. I love the way they ghost through the layers of color and texture. Alice really is in a whirl looking at all these colorful delights! I also love they way Bonnie has created her own paper pattern with the postage stamps. Be sure to visit Love Light and Peace and leave a comment for Bonnie; she'll be back next week with a truly fabulous project!


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 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.