Get Inspired & Creative with Art Challenges! (free online class - #5 of 9)

Hooray for the 13 of you that played in the fourth part of our online class: Get Inspired by Texture! So many cool textures created by leaves and more! You can see most of them in our YahooGroup (Photos section: "Helga's Blog: #4 Weekly Art Challenge").   My kitty, Inca, volunteered to pick all 3 winners this week (scroll down a bit). Each of the winners get to pick 3 ARTchix sheets of their choice. Hooray!

And now, let's continue expanding our creativity together with a new art challenge! Now is the perfect time to jump into my free online class! Come join the fun! : )

Art Challenge #5 (of 9): Get Inspired by The Things You Enjoy!

For this week, save all of the cool packaging from the things that you enjoy. Here's what I saved: paper bags from my favorite bakery, tags from shopping at Old Navy, boxes of my favorite tea: Bengal Spice, a paper envelope that held nice bath salts, the cork from a nice bottle of wine and more. Warning: once you start looking at packaging, you'll won't want to throw anything away! : )

.....

Now, before we jump into playing with all of the fun packaging we've collected, let's make a background in our art journals. Last week, we made a simple background my gluing down vintage papers and painting white gesso on top. Let's continue from that point to make this new background. Once you've got your vintage papers with painted white gesso on top (and it's dry), scribble watercolor crayons on top of it (#1). Then dip your brush into water and blend all of the watercolor crayon around (#2). If you want, you can stop there and you've got a nice background to play with. Or, you can take a paper towel and rub the wet watercolor crayon around with a circular motion. It will blend the watercolor crayon into all of the knooks and crannies and you'll get the look of #3.

.....

Now, it's playtime! I wanted to find a pleasing way to make sense of all of the packaging that I had collected. So, I came up with the idea of turning them into tags. I cut, ripped and glued them onto tags and then started moving them around on the page, trying to see what looked nice.

I also knew that I wanted to bring back two of the challenges that we had in the past and incorporate them into this challenge. So, in addition to making something out of cool packaging...think about adding polka dots (in any way you want to) AND add something from nature. 

.....

So, with my collage, I decided to add this twig (as my something from nature). I first tacked it into place with one Glue Dot. Then, I put the cutting matt beneath the page and poked holes with my awl. Next, with a needle and waxed linen thread (it's nice and strong), I sewed the twig into place.

.....

I kept playing and having fun with this collage and here it is! Ta da! Note that I used our Handy Red Labels to label everything. I love these labels...and they're our special of the week, hooray!

Okay, so, there are 3 parts of this one art challenge and here they are:
1. Make a collage using packaging from goodies that you like (I've got my fave tea, bakery, shopping at Old Navy, bath salts and I stamped with my wine cork.)
2. Add polka dots (I've got polka dots that I made with a red Sharpie on my tag on the far right). (OPTIONAL)
3. Add something from nature (I've got my twig) OR a print (I stamped my wine cork onto a red rubber stamp pad to make the little tag above). (OPTIONAL)

Wow, so are you ready?!

Art Challenge #5 (or 9) SUMMARY: Get Inspired by The Things You Enjoy! Collect packaging from items that you enjoy and make a collage with them in any way you'd like. OPTIONAL: add polka dots, add something from nature and/or add texture by using one of your items dipped in acrylic paint, ink pads, etc.

How To Play in This Art Challenge: Scan your collage and post it online to your blog, flickr account, website or our YahooGroup (Photos section: "Helga's Blog: #5 Weekly Art Challenge").

Next, click on "Comments" at the bottom of this post and leave a note with a link to your gred so I know where to see it online. In addition, please link back to my blog. 

Deadline: Tuesday morning, November 17, 2009

Prizes: My cute kitties will randomly pick 3 participants and they will each get to pick 3 free ARTchix sheets of their choice! Hooray!

Winners & Next Art Challenge To Be Announced: Wednesday, November 18

.....

WINNERS from Last Week's Art Challenge: Get Inspired by Texture!

Hooray for the wonderful, creative 13 artists that had fun playing with gifts from nature! Inca picked 3 winners which will each get 3 free ARTchix sheets of their choice. Here's who she picked:

I printed all of the artists' names, cut them out, spread them out on a table and put a treat next to each name. Then Inca got to pick 3 treats to gobble down! The name that was attached to that treat won! What fun! Congrats to Peggy, Marion and Marina!

See you next Wednesday with the next art challenge! I am hoping to make it related to the holidays in some way so that we can all get a jump start on them! : )

Comments

[marina]

Hooray for Inca!!! :-)

great challenge this week: can't wait to get started.
Thanks for offering it!

[Marion]

Yippieh! So far Momo has been my favourite, but Inca has definitely caught up now!

[New York Hotel]

Its amazing..I always love it. I just came back from New York . My tour was cheap as i book my hotel through ECT. It was fantastic tour.

[peggy gatto]

Thank you for my collage sheets!!!
First time win for me!!!

[Becky]

Helga yesterday when I went to my mailbox the most wonderful suprise awaited me! The deck of cards featuring 3 of my ATC's. Thank you so much for the lovely gift.

I have a lot going on in my life lately and have not had time to create anything. This will be my inspiration. Thank you thank you thank you:)
XXXX
Becky

[Peggy B]

Hi..I chose to create a page of my favorite things when crafting!!!
I posted image in grouip folder and also on Flickr with my infomation about it.
http://www.flickr.com/

[Gena Boone-Curtis]

Hi Helga....I read your comment on my blog and was wondering what creature you were interested in. I am still not sure which ones have sold but I will be picking up the remainders this week sometime.
Thank you Ma'am!

[Linda]

Inca picked 3 fine winners for challenge #4!!!

Just added mine to the group album for #5. I went to dinner at a friend's last eve and chose to use paper items from food and drink. Little blue label from a pasta box, a liner from DELISH chocolate cupcakes, the label from a fave bottle of wine. I used the cork to make the cherries and added some more of the red around the pages with a piece of that stuff that comes on top of a crate of Clementines.I'll probably add a bit of journaling yet. I cannot believe I haven't journaled in this book since 2004!!!

[laury55]

it is my first take on your challenge
I posted it here http://laury55.blogspot.com/2009/11/art-challenge-5.html on my blog
thanks for the tutorial

[Marion]

Now here´s my packaging collage:
http://bockel24.blogspot.com/2009/11/helgas-online-class-part-5.html

[Wendy Mann]

I've just posted my collage for Challenge #5.
Love looking at all the different interpretations of the theme.
Wendy

[Sabine Busch]

My collage is here:
http://stempeltanz.blogspot.com/2009/11/art-challenge-5-of-9-get-inspired-by.html

[Angie Hall Haviland]

Here's my collage!!!....

http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/

So much FUN, Helga...THANKS!!

[marina]

Here's mine!
http://theboxofcolors.blogspot.com/2009/11/96-snowballs.html

[Buddhini]

I got delayed with the challenge. But better late than never... and enjoyed this.

http://buddhini.blogspot.com/2009/12/helgas-art-challenge-5-of-9.html

Thanks,
Buddhini