Sunday, April 24, 2016

Craft Barn and AJJ collide with a twist


I've put the zoo photos on hold until Wednesday because I FINALLY came up with my S word for the Craft Barn's latest Alpha Dictionary Challenge.  There was a twist for the S word I didn't care for, so I put this project on the back burner and struggled with it.  We had to add a shell to the S word, and I felt everyone would add an image of a shell and call it something like seashore, seaside, etc.  I wanted band shell, but since I'm no good at drawing, I gave up on that idea.

Suddenly it hit me that Seasons was an S word,

and I could use a shell for summer.


I took a few random photos

to show I used Stickles on each of the panels.



Unfortunately, the glitter didn't show up on camera.

The foam and waves of the ocean, also created with Stickles, didn't look like I anticipated, either.   I stamped (quite a surprise for me) the shell and fussy cut it to sit over sandpaper I used to imitate beach sand.

I found these leaves, as well as the spring bouquet, in a book of paper cuts by HOTP given to me years ago.

As I was creating this Craft Barn entry, I kept hearing "winter, spring, summer, fall" in my ears.

That's when the second side of the spread turned into a combination Craft Barn and Art Journal Journey entry.  For those who don't know, the Art Journal Journey challenge this month is For the Record hosted by Linda at heARTfully Inspired.

"You've got a friend" was written by Carol King, and recorded separately by both King and James Taylor.  Both won Grammy awards in 1972 for the 1971 song that's considered soft rock.


I can't forget the Craft Barn definition,

or the letter either.

Thankfully I was able to visit everyone with a blog who entered the last challenge, so I feel I am finally getting my time back on track.  Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you at the Craft Barn and Art Journal Journey.  

27 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful page Elizabeth, great that you were able to kill both birds with one stone, so to say, and thanks for making another lovely page for AJJ. Have a good start to the new week, hugs, Valerie

Helen said...

Great page, Elizabeth.

froebelsternchen said...

Wow.. Elizabeth - that is a fantastic page! Great to see another fab entry of you at Art Journal Journey!
Happy new week my friend!
oxo Susi

Pen Sunshinepen said...

Great thoughts gone into this - fantastic page

crafty hugs Pen x

My name is Erika. said...

Super clever way to incorporate the AJJ song theme with seasons. I do like this spread. I especially like the way you laid out the seasons (and even got that shell in). Guess its the linear person in me but I do like boxes like that. Have a great day! See you tomorrow for T day. :)

My name is Erika. said...

And in response to you comment- yes, I have a ton of rubber stamps. Oh my. Too many in reality but I like my stamps. And no, I don't clean them, and most are not very pristine, it must have been the photo. I think I use stamps like shoes, I must have a gentle touch because they don't seem to get too messy, but not pristine. (Unlike everything else that seems to get covered especially when I use paint). I do have a compulsive stamp by habit though, most of mine are used ones from eBay if I can get them cheap enough- although I have improved on the must have this stamp buying front a lot. Some I have bought and thought, oh those would be fun to use and I can make all these things, and then I use them once and they aren't very exciting at all. I think I pulled 300 out to get rid of but I think I still have well over 1500 stamps in my collection. Too bad they aren't something of big value like jewelry or famous art pieces because then I might be able to retire and buy a place on a lake and do art all the time. Ha-ha.

Jeanie said...

Challenges are -- well, challenging. And it's hard to do one you don't get into. But this works well -- you can tell how much you thought about the topic and that's right there, in this piece. Nice work.

Scrapmate said...

You have taken something you weren't too keen on and made it wonderful in your own inimitable way. Nice word choice and you incorporated the pesky shell seamlessly. The zoo is a wonderful way to spend a birthday - I can see you had a great time. I am writing to you from Madrid ( yes in Spain) where I spent my birthday. My son is working here for a few months and we came over for a few days to visit. The best thing was my brother (who lives in Germany) decided to surprise me with a visit. The first I knew was when he knocked on the hotel room door! We have had a great time and return home tomorrow when we will be on a very strict diet!

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite musical songs and artists of all time. Nice spread, I love all four of the seasons, well maybe not the super heat of summer, but give me the rest with flourish! xox

Elaine said...

Great double page spread. I did a beach scene along with everyone else but I love your decision to do seasons....and your use of sandpaper for the sand. I'm sure we all join in for the challenge really!!

Krisha said...

WOW! This is a fantastic solution to combine those challenges. I LOVE it E!!!

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love both of your pages - the Seasons and the way you have used the shell.....I'm sure I would still be puzzling over what to do! Ad for the song -was and still is one of my favourites! Hugs, Chrisx

Meggymay said...

Love your fantastic pages especially how you created the Four Seasons and that it matches the song, that is now buzzing in my head after reading your super post.
Yvonne xx

Linda Kunsman said...

oh what wonderful imagery and pages!! Love that classic song too. Super job on this Elizabeth and thanks for so many great entries at AJJ!

Annie said...

You pulled it off! I was not happy about the shell myself. I first considered just dropping out of the challenge. Then I considered being a rebel and just not including the shell. It doesn't fit the style I'm after for this dictionary. I finally settled on a tiny traced shell just lying on the page. It disappeared right after the photo for the challenge. But look at you. You worked it in perfectly. Then worked your way right into a bonus challenge with a page spread. Well done with seasons!

kaybee said...

I've probably got that song in my head for the rest of the day! Love your collage and how it connects to the song. Great shell too - perhaps one of my snails can borrow it for a night out!

gardenpinks said...

Oh Elizabeth you have achieved a wonderful page using the letter 'S' and managing to fit in the dreaded shell too, it is a cleverly composed collage and must look lovely in real life with the added glitter. Plus it helped you to achieve a fab journal page too :)
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving lovely supportive comments and many apologies for not managing to visit you for the last couple of times.Sciatica and a slipped disk are not conducive for long periods of sitting!! x

Craftyfield said...

Reading your thought processes was fun! Personally I loved the shell, and didn't mind being predictable with a seaside page. Season is good too and you've made 4 little scenes!

Kristiina said...

Lovely. I'm strugling with that twist too... Got my pieces on the table (without the shell) and hope to get it together in time :)

Margriet said...

Wonderful page! seasons is a great word and I like it very much how you incorporated the shell for the challenge!

Lesley said...

Fabulous page, such a lot of thought has gone into it! I must admit I went for the easy option of the seaside theme but I do love it and have such a lot of stamps and embellishments from my scrapbooking stash! Seasons was a great word to choose and I love the way you have interpreted them all! xx

Lou said...

Well I think you avoided the obvious very well! You've linked the two different challenges together perfectly with your spread, and I love the addition of the sheet music. Lou x

Maggie said...

Fabulous word choice and a great page Elizabeth.
MaggieH

thassos456 said...

Hello, great interpretation of the word. I love how you added the word season as borders. Fabolous :)

WendyK said...

Love your seasons pages, great idea.

buterfliecrafter said...

great solution and love the fact you used sandpaper for the beach.

maggie said...

You proved the old adage "Everything comes to he who sits and waits" to be correct. A great choice of word and beautifully collaged.