My ARTistic Life

Weekly Dose of Cuteness

Bruno channels his inner lucky cat. lol.

See you next Wednesday for more cuteness, our Flourish Swap winners, a new fun art challenge and more! : )

Weekly Art Challenge: Have an adventure day & celebrate it with a collage! (Feb 18, 2009)

The Art Challenge for the Next Two Weeks (Feb 18 - Mar 3): Have an adventure day & celebrate it with a collage!

This week or next week, find a day or even just an hour to give yourself an adventure! Go somewhere new that you've always wanted to go or a special place that you've been meaning to go back to...a shopping trip, a museum, a garden... anything that gets you giggling when you think about it.

Recently, James and I went to Vancouver. And I had an amazing adventure day to myself! I went for a walk, took a ferry to Granville Island and shopped around and took photos. I took the photo above and I just love it! It makes me so happy looking at it remembering what I special day I had. As a gift for you, I've put a high resolution copy of this photo here.

On my adventure day, I bought these fun goodies: pretty ribbons and notecards, Japanese papers and a cool new rubber stamp by Judikins.

I decided that I wanted to celebrate my adventure day with a special collage in my art journal. So, I challenged myself to make a collage showcasing my new purchases and the cool photo that I took at that special day. And voila, here it is!

For the background, I used my new rubber stamp with Ancient Page stamp pad. Then I scribbled pink and turquoise watercolor crayons on top of it. Next, I made tags with my bird and tree photo, new Japanese papers and new ribbons. What fun! You can see that I also added eggs and fabulous Chixies Flying Inchies to help tell my story about the day.

How to play in this art challenge: Take yourself on an art adventure and make a collage of any size celebrating your special day. Or if you're not able to find a day for yourself, feel free to play in this art challenge by making something with my photo.

Then scan and post it to your blog, flickr account or website. Next, click on "comment" at the bottom of this post and leave a note with a link to your art challenge post so I know where to see it online.

If you don't have a website or blog or anything, feel free to email me your submission with "Blog Art Challenge" as your subject line. (helga@artchixstudio.com)

Deadline: Tuesday morning, March 3, 2009.

Prize: I will pick my favorite from those entered in this challenge...and the winner will receive a fabulous goodie bag with paper and ribbon swatches from my adventure day in Vancouver. I will announce the winner on Wed, March 4.

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ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Week (Feb 18 - Mar 4):

For these 2 weeks, type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this awesome set of mini stickers with your order.(#10 in our blog sticker series).

Or order our blog special below and we will automatically include this bonus gift. Hooray!

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ARTchix Special of the Week: E is for Egg Collage Sheet and/or Transparency Sheet

Get this magnificent collage sheet and/ or transparency for half price for these 2 weeks only! Go to this special link to purchase it. Play in our upcoming swap: "Art Blast" ATCs with this collage or transparency sheet!

E is for Egg - INSPIRATION by Belinda Schneider:

I love how Belinda Schneider used the E is for Egg sheet in this ATC and tag. So cute! Don't you just love her backgrounds?! You can get some on our ATC Inspirations collage sheet. I also love how she has the flower chick popping out of the egg on the left...the woman is from our Hats in Bloom collage sheet and she's sporting our Gold Wings.

The cutie on the right wearing an egg hat is from our Faces from the Past collage sheet. Her little bird is from our Garden collection.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Wed, Feb 25: I'll pop in for a quick post with just your Weekly Dose of Cuteness.

Wed, Mar 4: I'll be back with the winners from our recent Flourishes ATC Swap, a new art challenge, inspiration, cuteness and more! : )

Art Challenge Winner, Inspiration in Vancouver & Weekly Dose of Cuteness

WINNER of Last Week's Art Challenge (Play with Pink & Brown!)
Ooh, what a delight it was to see so many gorgeous pink and brown mosaics, collages and ATCs! I struggled to pick a winner but in the end had to pick CHRISTY LAUDIG! She made this stunning 4" square canvas, isn't it just gorgeous?! Christy has won the fun goodie bag on the right.

Christy's gorgeous collage features a multitude of lovely ARTchix products: Large Mix collage sheet, Loveliness collage sheet, Fairy Dreams collage sheet, My Art Challenges collage sheet, Spring Blossom collage sheet and Peace, Hope and Tranquility faux post.
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INSPIRATION in Vancouver, BC, Canada
James and I recently spent a few days in beautiful Vancouver, BC. What a lovely city! On one day, we walked to the aquarium and had such a nice time!

I was so inspired by the sea life at the aquarium! Look at these vivid colors! Now I'm dying to make collages in these color schemes. And I was so amazed at how much the anemones looked like dahlias! I'm thinking that a collage featuring anemones and dahlias would look so neat!

Just before my trip, I received this awesome tote bag in the mail from Mari Torres! Isn't it awesome?! James took this photo of me carrying it around in Vancouver. I love the colors, my muse - the Spoil Me chick, and "full of surprises"! So delightful! Mari doesn't have an online shop yet but if she opens one in the future, I'll be sure to let you know.
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Weekly Dose of Cuteness
My little Uma girl, what a cutie!

Weekly Art Challenge: Play with Pink and Brown!

The Art Challenge for this week: Play with Pink and Brown!

For this week, get out your pink and brown pens, crayons, pencils, papers and bits and make a little something.

What I did: I decided to have fun making a pink and brown mosaic in my art journal. I started by making grid lines and then filling in the squares with pink and brown watercolor crayons and pens. I had fun doodling, scribbling and not worrying or thinking about what I was going to do with all of this. This photo above shows what my page looked like after my first layer of just watercolor crayons, pens and rubber stamps.

My finished mosaic, yay! : )

Lucky for me, I recently made up pink and brown goodie bags for a swap that I'm in. So, I had a little baggie filled with pink and brown papers, images and tid bits...all ready to go.

I would recommend that you give yourself a time limit of about 15 minutes or so to pull all of the pink and brown paper and bits that you can get your hands on. This challenge will be so much easier if you limit yourself to just a little pile of pink and brown goodies to play with on your art desk.

Once you've got all of your pink and brown stuff together, start ripping, cutting and playing. I had so much fun layering my pink and brown papers onto my grid. I just played and tried not to think too much. I found that I had to get quite creative since I only had a small amount of goodies to play with. But that's what I ended up loving about this art challenge. I find that I'm always more creative when I limit the supplies I can play with.

Once I had everything cut and torn out, I glued everything down with my trusty UHU gluestick and Tacky Glue. Then I added some more dots and details with more watercolor crayons and pens.

I really enjoyed this challenge and can't wait to do it again! By the way, there are 10 glorious ARTchix products incorported into my mosaic: Art Blast Playing Cards, Winged Cuties collage sheet, Chixies Valentines Collage Sheet Collection, Sepia Guys collage sheet, Key to My Art Collage Sheet (which is our special for this week), Pink Flowers, Chocolate Wings, Pink Wings, Dazzling Doorways Collage Sheet and our Spoil Me collage sheet. WOW!

How to play in this art challenge: Make anything you'd like using only a pink and brown color scheme. Bonus points if you make a pink and brown mosaic! Then scan and post it to your blog, flickr account or website. Next, click on "comment" at the bottom of this post and leave a note with a link to your art challenge post so I know where to see it online.

If you don't have a website or blog or anything, feel free to email me your submission with "Blog Art Challenge" as your subject line. (helga@artchixstudio.com)

Deadline: Tuesday morning, February 17, 2009.

Prize: I will pick my favorite from those entered in this challenge...and the winner will receive a fabulous pink and brown goodie bag from me. I will announce the winner on Wed, Feb 18.

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ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Week: A Pink and Brown Super Fabulous Goodie Bag

Great news! You can get a pink and brown goodie bag like the one I used to make my pink and brown mosaic above. All you have to do is type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this awesome collection of pink and brown papers and goodies with your order.

Or order our blog special below and we will automatically include this bonus gift. Hooray!

Note: I've made up 10 of these special gifts so offer good only while supplies last. Get 'em while you can! : )

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ARTchix Special of the Week: Key to My Art Collage Sheet

Get this magnificent collage sheet for half price for this week only! Go to this special link to purchase it.

Key to My Art Collage Sheet - Inspiration:

I'm totally in love with this ATC on the left by the talented Stephany Zerbe! You'll find a Key to My Art image in the lower right....along with images from our Butterfly Butterfly collage sheet. Did you know that you can get a copy of this stunning ATC along with matching buttons?! Hooray!

On the right are two lovely ornaments made by the wonderful Elaine Fong! What fun! She has made mini collages with our Key to My Art collage sheet, Tell Me a Story transparency sheet, Large Antique Copper Memory Frames and Glass.

One World - One Heart WINNER & Last Week's Art Challenge WINNER

One World - One Heart WINNER:
My kitties have chosen the winner for the One World - One Heart Giveaway, hooray! Here's how they chose the winner. First, I made a note of the number of comments on my blog: 329. So, technically, each comment was assigned a number in order of their posting...the last person getting number 329. Then, I wrote numbers 0-9 on heart shaped post-it notes and put a kitty treat on each number. I have 3 cats so each cat was to pick a number.
First up, Bruno!

Bruno sauntered down the table and chose #3 for #300!

Next up, Uma:

Uma sniffs her way along and finally picks #2 for #20!

And now Inca is to pick the final number:

She surveys the numbers and almost looks like she's not going to pick one at all! But then, she jumps in and picks #4!!!

So here you have it! The winning number is #324 as picked by Bruno, Uma and Inca. And #324 is.....TAMMY P!! Tammy P wins an ARTchix Studio Complete Faux Postage Collection along with my handmade valentine. Congratulations Tammy! A big thank you to everyone for participating in this wonderful event. I've really enjoyed seeing so many creative blogs and I look forward to working my way through the huge list of talented participants in the upcoming weeks.

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WINNER of Last Week's Art Challenge (Treat Yourself & Make Something with the Wrapping!)
What a pleasure it was to see so many of you eating yummy treats and then including the wrappers in your beautiful collages! What fun! I had a hard time picking the winner but in the end I picked Barbara Smith! Look at 2 of her stunning collages below! Each one has amaretto cookie wrappers in them. Wow, aren't they gorgeous?!!

Barbara's prize is this fun goodie bag:

This fun goodie bag includes an ARTchix Mermaid Card, one of my blog stickers, snippets from the Dazzling Doorways collage sheet, Turquoise Shell Border and more.

Weekly Art Challenge: Treat Yourself and Make Something with the Wrapping!

Weekly Art Challenge: Treat Yourself and Make Something with the Wrapping!
I recently bought a package of amaretto cookies from Starbucks. Yum! They're delicious with a cup of tea. I thought the wrapping was so pretty, I couldn't possibly throw it away! So, I made a collage with it....

In this collage, you can see that I ripped up the amaretto cookie wrapping and added bits and pieces to my collage background. You'll also find colorful doors from our Dazzling Doorways collage sheet, an adorable Winged Cutie, along with bits of wrapping and scrapbook papers.

My collage is about my destiny and where I've been and where I'm going to. One door says "USA" because that's where I was born and lived most of my life. Another door says "Canada" because that's where I live now. And the third door says "Next?" I'd love to play with more doors in my collages, they have so much meaning and significance. These doors in particular brought back fond memories of my husband and I walking the streets of London and Paris snapping photos of these lovely doors.

By the way, I glued everything down using my trusty UHU gluestick. And I made the circles using a plastic circle template and watercolor crayons.

How to play in this art challenge: Make anything you'd like using the wrapping from a treat. Yes, even chocolate! If you can, show us your treat! Then show us what you've made with it. Then scan and post it to your blog, flickr account or website. Next, click on "comment" at the bottom of this post and leave a note with a link to your art challenge post so I know where to see it online.

If you don't have a website or blog or anything, feel free to email me your submission with "Blog Art Challenge" as your subject line. (helga@artchixstudio.com)

Deadline: Wednesday morning, February 11, 2009.

Prize: I will pick my favorite from those entered in this challenge...and the winner will receive a fun goodie bag from me. I will announce the winner on Thurs, Feb 12.

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ARTchix Special of the Week: Dazzling Doorways Collage Sheet:

Get this magnificent collage sheet for half price for this week only! Go to this special link to purchase it.
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ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Week:

For this week, type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this awesome set of mini stickers with your order. Or order our blog special above and we will automatically include this bonus gift. Hooray!
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Special Time:
See you next Thursday, Feb 12! I will announce the winner of my One World One Heart Giveaway along with a new art challenge, the winner from this week's art challenge, inspiration and more!

Black & White Challenge Winner, Inspiration & Cuteness!

Winner of Last Week's Art Challenge (Make a black & white twinchie!):

Linda Kunsman!!! You can see her fun twinchie on the left. Thank you all for playing! It was so difficult to pick a winner. I received 17 entries this time! The most I've ever received! And honestly, I loved every single one! So, I had to pick the one that made me smile the most and that's Linda's because I love anything with Paris (or cats!). lol. Linda will be receiving the fun goodie bag on the right which includes my black and white twinchie, some Dapper Fellows, Iridescent White Wings, Black Wings, old film strip and more.
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This just in...Inspiration from Kelly Burton:

Kelly recently sent me these scans of her beautiful artwork! I couldn't resist sharing them with you. On the left, she's made a skinny (3" x 5") with one of our lovely Mermaidens. And on the right, she made a valentine ATC with our new Chixies Valentines collage sheet collection and a strip of Gold Baroque Border. So pretty!
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Weekly Dose of Cuteness:


My kitty Uma loves to plant herself on my art desk whenever I'm arting up a storm. Isn't she adorable?!