Gingersnaps Wed. challenge: Kraft

(from the Gingersnaps Blog)
Welcome to the Gingersnaps Color Challenge! We are celebrating things related to the Earth this month, so we challenge you to use the color

K R A F T

or light tan somewhere in your creation. Kraft is a great neutral to use in your work. It can be used to make rustic, masculine cards or paired with elegant images for a more sophisticated look. We know that you'll come up with some awesome ideas.



I can not tell you what a delight it has been for me to be the Visiting Artist for the past two months at Gingersnaps' Creations. I have been so inspired by these amazing women and feel so welcomed into this community of artists. Many thanks.

Gingersnaps' Creations Wed. Challenge: Botanical

(from the Gingersnaps' Creations Blog)
GC51: Random Redhead Challenge - Botanical
It's Earth Day tomorrow, so we thought what better way to celebrate our home and native planet than a tribute to all things growing! So our Random Redhead Challenge this month is to create something with

B O T A N I C A L

as your inspiration! Think of flowers, plants, trees and other greenery! Let your creativity bloom!


To create mine, I used mat board cut 4x6, a stencil and modeling paste, gesso, Glimmer Mist, pearlescent watercolors and dried flowers. I love the texture the modeling paste and the gesso create!

Thanks for looking and please check out Gingersnaps' Creations where I have the honor of being one of the two Visiting Artists this month.

Gingersnaps Creations Wed. Challenge

Wednesday, April 14, 2010
GC50: Spicy Supply Challenge - Found Objects
Welcome to our 50th challenge! It's time for another Spicy Supply challenge and in keeping with our Earth friendly theme this month, we want to see your creations using

FOUND OBJECTS


I loved this challenge and had such fun with it. I took a small 5x6 canvas and, with a mixture of Grumbacher's Gesso, Studio acrylic paint in Charcoal Black and Pearlizing Medium by Deco Art created textured layers on the canvas. I stamped a script on a piece of vellum, inked the back in swirls and rubbed it in with my finger tips. I crumpled the vellum and distressed the edges. The ornate pen stamp is by Impression Obsession and I do not know who made the other one. I stamped the pens on canvas paper and highlighted them with Krylon gold leafing. The ink bottles stamp is by (I believe) Lost Coast and it is stamped on vellum as well. I loved adding the pen nibs I got from my favorite on line flea market, Manto Fev. Be sure to check out the store there for tons of "Found Objects".

I have already started next week's challenge and dug out a product I have not used in ages. Kind of creating this next one by the seat of my pants but it has been a blast so far! Just have to wait til next Wed. to see!

Thanks for looking and for all the nice comments you all are leaving. They are greatly appreciated.

Free Spirit

On Wednesdays or on Fridays when I meet the gals at Ruban Rouge to crop, I generally take something I have either started and need/want to finish or I do layouts and put the pictures on when I get home. Yesterday, I played with an acrylic bird shape by Clear Snaps. I had a whole paper carrier filled with bird related papers and found some flowered ones by Basic Gray that were color perfect when i got home. I was wondering where I would put a ring to hold all the pages together when I realized what great tail feathers ribbons on the ring would make. The 'wing' is made of ribbon and crepe paper which is becoming one of my new favorites. Voila!

Gingersnaps' Wed. Challenge: The Good Earth

GC49: Chestnut Theme Challenge - The Good Earth
April is just teeming with new growth and the very soil just comes alive. So, with a nod to Earth Day coming up on April 22, this month's Chestnut Theme Challenge will be

THE GOOD EARTH


I 'watercolored' vellum paper with chalk inks and stamped over them with a large flower design. I made one piece into a library card holder and the other into a tiny coin holder that fits inside. The lady (Mother Earth) stamp is by ( I believe) Lost Coast which is fast becoming one of my favorite rubber stamp companies. Inside the coin holder, I placed flower seeds. The entire project will be a gift to a friend on Earth Day from me and Mother Nature!

Thanks for looking!

Secrets

I have become interested in exploring what can be done with fabric when it is considered like paper: layered, stamped, inked, painted, photos transferred on to etc and so I have 3 fabric projects in bins. I alternate between them as each has a different theme. When I come across something that works in one, I play with that one and when I find another I move to that. My totes (still making more since I love to play with the colors and dyes)are still a work in progress and I am making bigger more elaborate ones now.

This one is called Secrets and has been a work in progress for about two months. I found some beautiful silk at Rainbow's End in Dunedin. This will end up being a combination of tags, large library pockets and file folders and will measure 4x6. I love the mystery of the closed door (the windows are actual glass dripped with various shades of alcohol inks and then blended.) to the small sealed envelopes. Every element so far has been covered with a fabric of some kind. I hope to have this finished soon as it is the piece I come back to the most.





I am going to ask selected friends to take one of the pockets or to create an envelope and leave me a secret when it is finished. I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours! To participate, email me at eeickmeier@hotmail.com. Love to have you!

Altered Object Challenge for April at ACOT

As Creative Team members at A Cherry on Top, we all do a challenge each month for the members. My challenges are centered around household objects that can be altered into something else. This is my challenge for April which goes up today.

Everyone has some in their home. And, if you received a recent order from ACOT, you got a nice 12x12 sheet of it...corrugated cardboard. Your challenge this month is to create something out of part or all of a piece of corrugated cardboard for a card, layout or altered piece. Some of the corrugation must show. Have fun!

Ribbon Sampler


And for my example,I created a ribbon sampler that I can take to crops . I want to do several more and then make a carrier for them. It sure is prettier than my zip lock bags and makes a great side piece for my trim carrier.

I cut a piece of corrugated cardboard into 6x6 pieces, peeled back some of the outer paper to allow the corrugation to show, covered one side with a thin tissue paper, added Lumiere paints and Krylon inks to finish and inked the back with two shades of Brilliance inks. I coated the entire piece with Liquitex gel medium in matte to give it durability. What I love about the corrugated cardboard is that I can use stick pins and straight pins to hold the ribbons in place and can put these right into the cardboard due to its thickness.


And thanks to Ali and Shar for inviting me to continue as the Visiting Artist at Gingersnaps Creations. I've had such fun and am looking forward to the challenges for April.