Trick or Treat, Blog Candy Style!

It is finally here; the day I draw a name from the hat for the printer's tray blog candy! And the name is....

But first I wanted to say thanks again to Donna of Meme's Art Place for donating  this fabulous blog candy. I have to say I personally have NEVER seen blog candy this wonderful, and I know the lucky recipient will be thrilled. Let's take one last look:

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The lucky recipent, you ask?

The winner is. . . But before we get there, I just wanted to say how effective the blog candy has been at publicizing The Altered Alice, and thanks to ALL of YOU for spreading the word! The blog began on Oct. 4th with my welcome message, and the first artwork was posted later that day.  Word was spreading pretty well for a brand new blog, and we had 27 followers (25 Google; 2 Facebook) on Oct. 21, when Donna offered the blog candy. Since then we have TRIPLED with 77 followers (69 Google; 8 Facebook). THANK again to EVERYONE who helped!

Ok. I had to put all my waffle first because I knew I'd lose you after the winner. We had 29 participants and I used Random.org to select the winner.

Linky entry #24 corresponds to Creations by Tee! Congratulations! Please contact me within a week from this blog post (email link in the left sidebar).  If I don't hear from you within that time period, we will draw a new name.  Tee responded VERY quickly, so no second chance drawing will be held!

Of course I checked to be sure that Tee had followed the rules of the contest, so I can assure you that Tee spread the word. She made two blog posts, one about The Altered Alice and one about the Blog Candy and had the blog candy picture AND the blog badge in her sidebar! You all may enjoy visiting Creations by Tee. She makes handmade art pendants from Scrabble tiles which she sells in her Etsy shop and in the past some have featured Alice in Wonderland! She also makes lovely ATCs and other cool things that you can see on her blog.  Who knows, perhaps we will find a future featured artist here one day, and I never would have seen her blog if she hadn't entered the contest! Don't you love blogging?

Well, I sure hope all of you will remain followers and continue to display our blog badge now that the blog candy is over.  Remember you can submit your artwork for consideration, it doesn't matter when you made it. If you see cool Alice stuff on another blog, there is a place to add a link for that also, or you can email me to point out cool finds.

I'd also like to thank Sue Roddis of JABBERWOCKY for acting as unofficial talent scout. Many of the past and upcoming posts are from pieces that Sue emailed me about, made by artists I never would have found on my own. YOU can be a talent scout too! Remember that The Altered Alice is a community experience and continue participating with your comments, your artwork submissions, and sharing links to other Alice stuff.  I always contact the artist first for permission, so just send me the blog post links or submit them through the Linky Tool and I'll take it from there!

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL!  And leave me a comment, I sure love getting them!

Linda Cain's Halloween Printer's Tray

Featured Artist: Linda Cain
Blog Post: Friends in Art
Location: United States

Linda Cain is an amazing artist. She is on the Tim Holtz design team, among others, and her mixed-media creations are well worth a look! Linda started with a 7gypsies Artists Printers Tray which has 12 artist's trading card sized openings and one (or two) 8 x 8 inch pads of Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland. When she saw the printers tray, she said it would be like decorating a doll's house! And she has decorated each "room" in the most amazing way. Look - and you really MUST click to enlarge!

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Where do I begin to describe what I love about this amazing creation?  First, I guess her concept of "doll house rooms" really applies, because each block could stand alone as a mini piece of art, or indeed a collection of incredible ATCs. Lots of pop-dots and layers were used to give each scene dimension and amazing depth!  I love the way many scenes add to the sense of depth by breaking the boundaries of thier box. Notice how the tea service in the left column breaks the boundaries, so it almost seems as though the tea table is extending towards us; in our imagination maybe we too have a place at the table! The Mad Hatter's top hat extends above the top of the next box to the right, so he is in front of that block but not really in it. Does he tiptoe from block to block when we're not looking?  The pumpkin and one of the living flowers in the lower right corner start from outside their block, in fact they begin as part of the border as though they are growing into the tray. And Alice in the upper right corner is looking over all, the real queen of all she surveys.

Because there is so much going on, the bold checkerboard boundary really helps to contain all the energy and give cohesiveness to all. There is a lot of careful balance between light and dark areas as well as large and small scale scenes. The tall Alice in the upper right corner is balanced by the White Rabbit extending above the top in the upper left corner.  The elements that float above the background,coming to the front of the frames, are carefully staggered - the lower right corner garden, the middle left tea set, and the purple title of the piece in the upper middle right.  So all the frantic energy, the plethora of tiny scenes, and the rich vivid colors are actually balanced and harmonious instead of chaotic.

Linda is a published artist whose work has been featured in Altered Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Bead Trends, Scrapbook News and Review, Stamper's Sampler, and Artella.  She has designed pieces for Tim Holtz Idea-ology, Ranger,Teresa Collins, Vintaj, Petaloo, Creative Imaginations, and Small Studio Productions.  If you are really lucky, you can take a class from Linda, as she teaches in scrapbooking stores in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.

In addition, Linda is a paper hoarder! I can really identify with that, can't you?  She recommends buying TWO pads so you can leave one intact to just look at, and admits it is a sickness! Must be catching because a lot of us are infected!!!

Please visit Linda' blog, Friends in Art to see more of her amazing work! You will find more details about Linda's amazing printer's tray on this post, and leave her some love while you are there!

This tray is very different from Donna's tray, which was clearly designed as a whole single piece in a very different style.  Remember Donna has DONATED her GORGEOUS tray for us to offer as blog candy in our drive for more followers. Please remember to check THIS POST on how to enter the drawing!  You have until Oct. 30 to enter, but we want you to help us get the word out about The Altered Alice, so the sooner the better!

Please leave a comment here for me before you go!

Donna's Halloween Printer's Tray

Featured Artist: Donna "Meme"
Blog Post: Meme's Art Place
Location: Blaine, Minnesota, United States



I am on the design team for Oh, Alice!, where the weekly challenges are derived from Alice in Wonderland. You can imagine how thrilled I was when Donna, a.k.a. Meme, agreed to be the October guest designer! This meant she was unable to escape my pleading and whining to show some of her stuff on The Altered Alice!  Take a look:

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Donna started with one of the 7 Gypsies printer's trays and the Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper collection. She mixed that with a healthy shot of Tim Holtz ideaology goodes and the results are incredible!

There are so many things that I love about this, but two of my favorites are in opposite corners. In the lower right corner, the clear filmstrip tape adds a great 3D shiny element as it rolls away and back towards the back of the cubby; in the upper left corner, the oversized shiny bottlecap acts as a mirror. Anyone looking at this piece in person would see themselves reflected from inside this art piece, with the work "Imagine" above their face; the viewer becomes part of the art. One more thing that appeals tremendously is the way Donna has broken the boundaries of the little cubbyholes by having Alice and the Cheshire Cat straddling the dividers!  Art is all about breaking boundaries, isn't it? 

You can see many more photos on Donna's blog post about this wonderful tray!

I wanted to show you one more item from Donna. We had a teabag folding challenge on Oh, Alice! and I really loved Donna's entry using these same Graphic 45 papers, combined with a wonderfully coordinated origami paper:

Isn't it wonderful? The eye is pleased no matter where it travels on this card. Such a delightful mix of things; The diagonal text background and multicolored band provide strong striped elements. The punch of the black polka dotted band and word frightful help to ground the brighter colors in the card. The rich blue and green of the origami paper are reflected in the striped pattern and the mat.  The composition is also interesting; The Mad Hatter is looking towards Alice, but Alice is looking away. We don't know what has captured her gaze and this moves our eyes outside the boundaries of the card.  Just lovely!  Not to mention great teabag folding!

Be sure to visit Donna's blog, Meme's Art Place, you will be truly inspired by what you find there!  Be sure to leave her a comment about these wonderful projects! You can read about the printer's tray here and the teabag folding card here.  I have one more Halloween project from Donna that I'll share later this month!

And please remember to leave a comment here before you go to leave Donna some love; your comments are what make this effort worthwhile! :-)