It's Magic Top Talent

Welcome back to another Top Talent spotlight at Our Creative Corner!

This month we are shining the spotlight on the winner of the 'It's Magic' Challenge that was hosted back in November by Kerstin!

  Kerstin selected Bonnie as her winner and so we are thrilled to be welcoming Bonnie as this months Top Talent - for the third time!!!

 
Our FIRST GOLD WINNER!!!
 

So Bonnie....we would like to present you with this Gold Badge and we hope that you will display it on your blog with pride.....

"I am so very honored to be in this situation at this time. Having been granted this fantastic honor is something for me to be very proud of as an artist. I love sharing and creating all that I do, and then to be honored by fellow artists that are also creating beautiful pieces of at work is really a highlight in my life. I thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart... You are all very special and your art is amazing so to be honored by you is super".  

We are so pleased to have Bonnie back here in the spotlight for a third time - Today is going to be a slightly different Top Talent Spotlight. Bonnie will share with us some of her favourite creations she has made over the past year.......Over to you Bonnie!

Today I am so happy to be able to share some of the different styles that I love to create in...
I love to use all kinds of different media to create with...  

such as I love to knit, crochet,  

play with clay pieces, 

jewelry in Sterling Silver and also in coppers...   

So the pieces I will be sharing today on this blog are mostly in Paper... 

I do love to sew also... and will share a ongoing project also...

I  LOVE to paint and I love to do mixed medias on a canvas. I love to create a whole new room in my house decorating with these new paintings....such fun. The fun only stops when the mind does...   

I decided to do a few seasonal projects this year... and have really enjoyed making them. I also enjoyed the comments that I have received. These comments are heart felt and very moving...I cherish them... 



This painting brought many such comments... as it is all about our farm... the crows, the garlic, the trees, the leaves, the branches... All things that make it uniquely our farm...  even the butterfly...as the butterfly gardens are really pretty when blooming with all the butterflies working it hard. It is so wonderful to see. We need to help the butterflies and bees......


Did I tell you that I love CROWS...Oh dear me... I forgot.....

Well I do...I have a family nest in our back wooden lot. It is only five acres but there are untouched trees there and it is a perfect place for them. They are so very happy to be there...

I made a few crow tags this year...  Love CROWS... 




I am making a wall quilt and the squares are muslin - 22 x 22 inches... 
Then I take them and create art on them....
This was my first square I made for the quilt and that was three years ago...
I love birds and this one came out so GREAT... 



I also used dies and made stamps, and also the leaves are my own stamps from erasers that I carved.. 
It is so easy... try it!!!

I have about 15 more squares to go and someday it will be quilted and ready to hang. 

I know exactly where it is going too - perfect place...

From time to time we are very in AWE of someones work...I am very in AWE of Astrids work... 



 I love the techniques and the colors that she uses...so I created this CLOCK with Astrid's technique...and it is proudly in our bedroom... 
Thank you Astrid for all the ideas and all the love that goes into each and every one of them...





I teach classes on basket making. 
It is always in September and it is an all day class. It is always a fun filled day. The baskets are made from Kudzu. This is a local 'weed' that is very invasive and is great for making baskets and paper from...  I needed to decorate one and take to a friend, but I loved it so much that I made her another one...she loved it too. This one I needed to keep as I love the little flowers. The larger flowers are made from baby wipes...
I try not to use things that I can't recycle...  I am very environmentally involved too..


 
Well, I already told you I love butterflies.......  This piece is called ODE to the BUTTERFLY...
  
 

We have butterfly gardens and such and we always plant new mild weed around for them to lay their eggs in. We don't cut it until later in the following season, when the new mild weed is up and growing... 

I have made a lot of projects this past year for Frilly and Funkie. When I made this I didn't actually have the die for the ATB....

So I improvised....and this layered box sculpture took me almost 30 hours to create...... What fun I had...each side revealing a different bird scene.. love my birds...

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these projects...

I love sharing with you as much as possible...

Thank you all for your love and cherished moments in LIFE...  

  With much  Love, Light and Peace... 

Bonnie... 

Thanks so much Bonnie for being here today to share with us so many wonderful creations you have made. It is a joy to see them and it is so wonderful to read about what they mean to you....  

If you would like to see more photos and details of these amazing creations and find out how they were made, then please go along to Bonnie's blog and say "Hello" - I am sure she would love to see you there!

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Would you like to see your work here in the 'Our Creative Corner' Spotlight?

You could be here as our 'Top Talent' with the spotlight shining on something you have created! 

All you have to do is enter the Christmas Leftovers challenge. If you are picked as the winner you will be invited to appear here as our Top Talent and have the spotlight shine on something you have made. 

We will also ask you some questions so that we can be nosey find out more about you....

There is also the chance you could be one of our Top 3!

You could even be the lucky winner of a voucher to spend at  

Nicecrane Designs

 

There is one more week of the challenge left, so why not have fun creating!

Happy Crafting! 

Laura xxx 

Go Rustic Top Talent

Welcome back to another Top Talent spotlight at Our Creative Corner!

Today we are shining the spotlight on the winner of the 'Go Rust-ic' Challenge that was hosted by me (Laura)  

We are so very lucky here at OCC because after she was chosen as winner of the Go Rustic Challenge, Pamellia accepted our invite to join us here as one of the team!

       As you know Pamellia is the challenge host this month and so the Top Talent had to be put aside for a few weeks - but she is here now and let me tell you...it was worth the wait!!!!

Before we show you Pamellia's gorgeous creation,  let's just spend some time finding out a little bit more about this lovely lady.....

1. Where do you live?

I have lived in about a billion places, but my home at this time is Toronto, Ontario, Canada.


2. Please tell us about any items in your craft stash that you can't be without? - What is your favourite 'must have' item for crafting?

I'm not sure I can narrow it down that easily! Since I discovered mixed media, my circle of favourite products has grown extensively. I suppose my texture paste and stencils are what I reach for the most now. I'm also growing pretty attached to my box of ink sprays!!


3. If you have lost your Mojo, how do you go about getting it back?

Scary thought! I'm usually working on several things at once, so if I get stumped or hit a wall, I find the best thing to do is it set aside for a while and work on something else. Either that or have a nap, I have my best ideas while I'm sleeping! lol


4. Are you an impulsive buyer of craft items?

OH YES!!! Most of the time, I don't even know I want it until I see it! I go to the craft store with the intention of using a coupon to buy ONE item, and two hours later I'm broke!


5. What if anything, do you consistently draw inspiration from?

I'm a visual person so most of the time an image will spark my creativity. Sometimes it's an image on a challenge blog, or on Pinterest, sometimes I see a bedroom set or shower curtain on a TV show, and sometimes my inspiration comes from one of the many talented artists out here in blogland!


6. How do you react should an item you are working on ever go 'wrong' - or should I say 'not to plan'?

What I want to say is that I sit back, say hmmm, and then calmly figure out what to do about it. That would be a bald-faced lie! What actually happens is that I have a hissy fit, not unlike a 5 year old child, I swear like a sailor on shore leave...and THEN...I sit back, say hmmm...and figure out what to do about it!


7. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?

That is a long list, but I think the style I am most drawn to that I have not yet explored would be Steampunk. I love all those gears and metallic trinkets, the textures and the amazing altered items! It's next on my list!

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Thanks so much for being here Pamellia! We are so glad to have you join the OCC team and so proud that you could are here today as our Top Talent

     ....So now it is time to shine the spotlight on the Top Talent creation -  let's see what Pamellia made for us!

I love this Pamellia! - it shows just how creative you are! It really has been such an honour to feature this wonderful creation at Our Creative Corner.
 

Thank you so much for being such a wonderful Top Talent!

 
If you want to see more photos and details of this wonderful creation and find out how it was made, then please go along to Pamellia's blog and say "Hello" - I am sure she would love to see you there!

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Would you like to see your work here in the 'Our Creative Corner' Spotlight?

You could be here as our 'Top Talent' with the spotlight shining on something you have created! 

All you have to do is enter the Christmas Leftovers challenge and if you are picked as the winner you will be invited to appear here as our Top Talent and have the spotlight shine on something you have made. We will also ask you some questions so that we can be nosey find out more about you....

Happy Crafting! 

Laura xxx

Finnabair Inspired - Guest Designer

Hello Everyone!

Pamellia here and I am so excited to finally get the chance to introduce you to our surprise guest for January. This lady has been such an inspiration to me. She has taught me new techniques and improvements on old techniques, she pushes boundaries and steps outside of her comfort zone to try new and exciting things! I do hope you will all join me in welcoming INGRID of Ingrid's Crafts Corner!!

Ingrid is an amazing crafter, and not only is she talented, but she is kind-hearted and fun-spirited, just the kind of person you know you want to get to know better the minute you meet her. I feel so blessed to have found her in blogland and even more blessed to call her my friend!

Ingrid can do it all...vintage, CAS, shabby, grungy, altered art, cards, journals...you name it, she has mastered it! She even makes jewelry out out Tyvek, I kid you not!!

I think you will all agree that Ingrid is a creative force to be reckoned with and I am so proud of the project she put together for my Christmas Leftovers theme! Feast your eyes on this!!

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Hello and Happy New Year to you all! 

Ingrid here! I hope you all enjoyed the festivities and are ready for 2015! May it 2015 bring you everything you ever wished for! Mine started with a big bang winning the Card Designer 2014 competition with the UK leading magazine Simply Cards & Papercraft and I am looking forward to my new venture! :)

I would like to thank Pamellia for inviting me to be her Guest Designer in January. I am very honoured to be joining such amazing and talented group of crafters. I love playing along the challenges here at Our Creative Corner and hope you will be able to join this month's challenge too! Pamellia has chosen a great theme for this month.... 

Christmas Leftovers

 I am blessed to call Pam my friend and know how much she loves to give the occasional lucky cereal box a makeover and a makeover it is! This girl has magic hands and a very, very good taste. If you haven't visited her blog yet then I would urge you to, you will not be disappointed. 

I am a little texture-mad and love to create some seriously messy abstract art. I have always admired art by Finnabair, but have never had a go at it myself! Yes, a bit risky to try when guest designing, but isn't it what our creative journey is about? About not being afraid to experiment, try new things and explore the unknown? If you follow my blog then you know that I very much enjoy experimenting and developing new techniques. So I thought I'd give it a go and today I'd like to share the result of my messy play with you.

I gathered my Christmas leftovers which include a cardboard that my Christmas pressie arrived in, the base of a gorgeous iced star biscuits made into a Christmas tree cake I got from my new work colleagues (They thought I really liked the biscuits, but secretly I had my eye on the base ;)), some bottle caps from my partner's festive beverages :), tissue paper, some wrapping paper, a jumbo bubble wrap, ribbons, etc..... I am a bit of a craft hoarder too it seems :/ 

I removed the foil from the cake base, covered it in a tissue paper, added some papers including the cardboard, some netting from our oranges and all tiny little bits and bobs like buttons, clock cogs and glass beads for texture... 

I covered the entire piece with a white Gesso and let it dry. The impatient me got the better of me and I dried it with my heat gun.

When satisfied with the condition of the surface I sprayed it with a mix of Dylusions sprays (Midnight Blue, Calypso Teal, Cherry Pie to create a deep purple colour.. ).

When dry I added some brass embossing powder by Wow! and sponged the edges and raised areas with a black Stazon. I wanted it to be dark enough with some lighter areas peeking through.

I also added a crackled Docrafts frame (Tim Holtz clear Rock Candy crackle paint) and an embossed butterfly die cut (Xcut).

I think I will choose a rectangular canvas next time, but all in all I was happy with the result and enjoyed the process. I do hope you like it :)

Here are some photos for you... 

Thank you for joining me here! Feel free to leave me a comment or two here or on my blog - Ingrid's Crafts Corner - and I look forward to seeing your creations this month! 

Big hugs, 

Ingrid xxx 

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WOW, is about all I can muster! My vocabulary escapes me because my brain is filled with all of the beauty of this amazing project! I told you she was talented, didn't I! Somebody pass me a tissue, I'm drooling!! lol

I hope that seeing Ingrid's wonderful Finnabair Inspired creation will inspire you to come along and play with us this month.  

Remember, we're looking for creations made with....

Christmas Leftovers

You have until 28th January to play - and you'll find all the challenge details as well as lots of inspiration from the brilliant Our Creative Corner design team by clicking on the challenge link.

Happy Crafting
Pamellia!

LITTLE Christmas Winner and Top 3

Hello all,


Alison here with one final duty to perform at Our Creative Corner... and what a pleasurable duty it is.  It's winners time!

I hope you're all recovering from the festive season (though there's really another two days to go for the full 12 Days!).  I've had a great time, not least with visiting all your fabulous tiny creations for my Have Yourself A Merry LITTLE Christmas challenge.  Thank you so much for sharing your amazing creativity with us.  It wasn't easy deciding on the Winner and Top Three but eventually I got there.

First though, I'd like to announce the winner of the prize from our sponsor last month, Tando Creative.

The winner, selected by Random.org is....

Erin

Congratulations Erin! We will be in touch soon to arrange delivery of your Tando prize!

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And now, drumroll please for the Winner and Top Three...

The winners of the Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas challenge

are  
The Elves in the Attic (appropriately!) with their Off Kilter Christmas Humour.

This trio of Stampotique ATCs is just terrific.

I love the shabby book page backgrounds with the gentle wash of colour.

I love the vivid colouring on the quirky characters.

And I love the downbeat humour of the words.

Congratulations to Julie Steed - the power behind the Elves!

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And for my top three, in no particular order, I went for...

Mona Pendleton

Definitely a trio after my own heart - delicious soft vintage blues and browns, fabulous crackle, and great stitching detail... and such powerful words too.  Delicate, detailed, textural and so beautiful.  A really glorious trio of ATCs.

Vintage Handmade

I love the attention to textural detail on this rustic ATC - brick wall behind, woodgrain for the window frame, Stickles for the snow, as well as great tinting on the sentiment and a lovely glow around the candle flames, shining out into the snow.

Stempelomi's Bastelkeller

Something really appealed to me about the bold, simple look of this ATC, with its smart red border echoing the tinted accents of the image.  I love the chalkboard stamping effect, and the fabulous inky splattered look of the background.  (Great photo too!) 

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Congratulations to all the winners - but, seriously, a huge thank you to all of you who played along.  I could have picked my winners five times over!!

So that's it from me... and sadly it's the end of my very last duty as a member of the Our Creative Corner Design Team.  I'll wish you a very fond farewell, and leave you in the excellent hands of Laura and her brilliant team.

The January challenge, hosted by one of our fantastic new designers, Pamellia, is already well under way, so come and share your Christmas Leftovers with us by the 28th January.  

Check out all the challenge details and rules to make sure you're in with a chance of winning the prize draw, sponsored this month by the wonderful Nicecrane Designs.

Happy Crafting all!

Alison xx

Christmas Leftovers

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the first challenge of 2015! 

My name is Pamellia and I am over-the-moon excited to be here at Our Creative Corner! I'm still pinching myself that Laura invited me to be a part of the family here, so I thought I would jump in with both feet and be the Hostess to boot!

First of all I just want to let you know that one randomly drawn entrant this month will receive a prize from our generous sponsor Nicecrane Designs

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With the holidays merely a shadow behind us, my guess is you still have bits of Christmas leftovers stashed everywhere, not to mention bags of Christmas bits meant for the recycle bin. I am a hoarder of all things I think I might get around to using one day, and Holiday bits are no exception! Every closet, drawer and cupboard is overflowing with the little things I collected throughout the holidays. Things I think I might use and things heading to the curb.

Christmas wrapping, gift bags, tinsel, ribbon, gift boxes, tissue paper, Christmas crackers, wine boxes, empty gift wrap rolls, Christmas cookie tins, even the images from the fronts of cards I received...you name, I hoard it!

Let's put those bits to good use this month!

With that in mind, for my introductory challenge theme, I have chosen........

CHRISTMAS LEFTOVERS

To be clear, your project does NOT have to have a Christmas theme, I only want you to recycle your Christmas scraps.

If it's not obvious what Christmas leftovers you used, make sure to tell us about it, somewhere in your post.

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Let's have a looksie at what leftover Christmas bits the talented designers of Our Creative Corner have transformed!

If you want to see the transformation of these creations in more detail - just click the links!

Pamellia

I decided to use a couple of empty gift wrap rolls and the mesh wraps from all of the Christmas dinner wine to make this organizer for my desk. I added lots of flowers to bring a little warmth to my work space all year round. 

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Julia

 

I decided to use some of the packaging left over from a Christmas gift and opted for the sheet inside a stamp packet which had a wonderful Dina Wakley image on it. It's not a very big piece of card so I thought it best to keep whatever I made small too. My four ATC's all use small pieces of the stamp packaging, I hope you like them.



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Candice

I came up with this Crazy String Lamphade/Light Decor Accent by rescuing leftover string/twine, glue, wrapping paper and knotted Christmas Fairy Lights headed for that dreaded-place-of-no-use-but-can't-bare-to-toss-bin.  I did this in valiant attempt to keep those darling Twinklies twinkly for all seasons - every season should have a little twinkle in its time.

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Laurie

 I'm addicted to recycling tins and giving them new life. Vintage and rusty goodness is a passion I enjoy. 



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Shari

Hello and Happy New Year!!  Pamellia's challenge got me to dig this Coca-Cola gift card tin out of its perpetual hiding place, in one of my kitchen junk drawers, and turn it into a little diorama-esque scene for Christmas.  I like it much better in its new state!

 


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Jan

 

All my family and friends seem to collect bits and bobs for me and at Christmas time I ended up with this stash, a sock box, clothing labels and presents from crackers. I decided to make a box to hold a mini album for my husband to put photos from his birthday and a family day out to Kew Gardens at Christmas. We had a fabulous evening walk through the lighted gardens accompanied by music and lots of special effects. 



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Astrid

I am a hoarder of papers and used many of the leftover bits from my Christmas card making to create this wallet, meant to keep photos and other memorabilia from my recent journey to Australia.

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Kerstin

I decided to make an altered box from a christmas box. I love to play with colors and textures in Vintagestyle.



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Ana

From Christmas to Valentine’s Day....I used a half of a tin from Christmas candies and made Valentine's Day decorating...always in a hurry and always late, I will be prepared on time...
  


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Lys 

I love transforming boxes, especially when they remind me nice things. Christmas and its chocolates are gone, and this wood and straw box remains empty…  until it’s time to wish you a Happy New Year! 



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Laura 

I was thrilled to be given a pashmina for Christmas (to add to my growing collection) and the tissue it was wrapped in was perfect for this challenge! Selecting a leftover candle with some leftover ribbon and Christmas decorations, I now have a candle already decorated for next Christmas - How is that for starting Christmas preparations early?!

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Wow, what a line up from our talented designers! I am proud to call these gals my teamies!

Please hop over to the team blogs to see how these items were made....come and see how those leftovers got upgraded!

I hope that we have inspired you to reach into the recycle bin, one of those drawers, closets or cupboards and pull out something seemingly useless and use it to make something beautiful!

So bring your Christmas leftovers to Our Creative Corner! 

You could be our winner and be here in the spotlight to show us something you have made! You could also be one of our Top 3 or even the lucky Random.org winner who will win a gorgeous selection of treats from our Sponsor this month Nicecrane Designs

This challenge is open until 11:55 pm (GMT) Wednesday, January 28th

Thank you for visiting the OCC!

HAPPY NEW YEAR