We are Neet and Wendy and we would like to welcome you to our fortnightly challenge, ‘Artful Times’, where we are offering a variety of challenges to inspire you to create in whichever style or medium of crafting you enjoy. You never know, we might even inspire you to create something out of your comfort zone and try out something new.

Yes like all challenge sites we have rules and guidelines. We hope you will read and follow them, we have Oyster Stamps as our sponsor, and of course, a winner and runner up will be chosen each month. We may also have the occasional guest designer.



Friday 22 February 2013

We Have a Winner

Well, this was the most difficult decision we had to make.  How do you pick a winner and a runner up from such fabulous entries?  It almost came to putting names in a hat and choosing a winner as so many were worthy of it.  All of you deserve a honourable mention for the work you submitted.  Well done each and everyone of you.

Well, as said above, it was a difficult choice to make but in the end it came down to a host of tabs on the computer screen and a gradual narrowing down to the final decision.  So without any further ado the winner is ...

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Hazel H for her beautiful bookmark and use of translucent paste and stencils.



Our runner up is ...

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Julia (S-W) who made a three layer embossed card with a handmade bead.



We could not let it go without a special mention to Heather who created a digi design using a photograph she had taken of a snake.  It's ingenuity and vivid colour really did make the final two runners up a difficult decision.



Well done to all of you.  Now Hazel and Julia need to email Neet (addie on right side of her blog under the guise of a sweet young lady image) for copies of the blinkie they can now display on their blogs and Hazel for the code for this month's prize.

Well done to all of you - and we mean each and every one of you who entered our challenge.  The "Time" challenges were fabulous but when it came to choice the Chinese New Year ones won. Hope you all understand the difficult choices we had to face and how we came to a decision in the end.

Friday 15 February 2013

Challenge 23 "Colour Technique"

Thank you for celebrating the Chinese New Year (of the Snake) with us over the past two weeks.  Now it is time for a new challenge and this time we want you to use colour - with gay abandonment.

We want something nice and bright to cheer us up on the dark grey days we are experiencing at the moment.  Whilst discussing this, via email as we live miles apart, we came up with a couple of ideas and so Von decided to go for 'colour blocking' and Neet to use her 'Stazon technique'.  Another thing we thought of was using the Dylusion sprays as they come in such gorgeous colours perfect for this challenge.

So what will you do?  Will you use one of the techniques above or do something totally different?  Here are a couple of links to help you:

http://www.joggles.com/stazontechnique-video.htm - Stazon technique and video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWb258czM4I - Dylusion video

or simply Google the technique you want.

Now, what did we do:

Von's Colour Blocking:



Neet's Stazon Technique:


Now we can sit back and see what you all come up with, we are really looking forward to seeing some bright colourful work from all of you.  Will it be one of the techniques mentioned above or will you choose something different?  As what you do please please please take a moment to read the rules above.  Without you sticking to all the criteria we ask, and it isn't much, we cannot consider you for a prize or a blinkie.  Happy crafting!





Friday 1 February 2013

Challenge 22 Happy New Year

What this?  Have we gone mad?  Naaa it's the month for the Chinese New Year, the year of the snake.  So Happy New Year, or Gung Hay Fat Choy to you all.   And welcome to our new followers.  So it's an Asian theme for the next fortnight

Von has made a lovely little box in an Asian theme



Neet has made a card using Rice Paper


Now what will you come up with? 
Please remember to read the rules for the challenge, some of you have had beautiful work entered that cannot be considered for the prize because you have not complied with the rules.  It only takes a minute to scan them and they are all above on the bar.

We are both looking forward to seeing what you come up with.