Challenge # 61 - What's going on?

This week is something totally different. We are challenging you to be brave and show us your craft work area "AS IS". No cleaning up allowed. We are talking about the surface on which you arrange things, cut things and glue them together. It takes some guts to post a picture of a messy area.

Now, get your camera, take the picture (no editing), and post the picture in the next 10 minutes.

(Honestly, we both need a little bit of breather space, so this is kinda a no effort challenge.)

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Rosemary here - this is actually amazingly clean for my workspace - this is table 1. I pretty much dumped what was in the bag out onto the table.



The adjacent table, however, and it pains me greatly to share this - looks like this - everything just thrown over there until I am moved to put it away. That's usually when I figure out I want to work on something else and need the space. Oh some small-minded people might call it laziness, I call it inspiration!

I wish you could blow up this pic - the book there is my cheapy detective/mystery book that I love cutting words from. The titles of the stories are so cheesy delicious - Canapes for the Kitties, The Clark Gable and Carole Lombard Murder, and Black Diamond.

Jana here: I have posted pictures of my cleaned up work surface before, but this is different. I am putting all my messy-ness out there for you to see. I am not a clean creator. I have been working on inchies. They seemed intimidating to me at first because they are such a small canvas, but as you can see, I have really taken to these little gems. You can also see some older projects just sitting there. Clearly I need to do a good clean up.

The most embarrassing part of all of this is that this is a 6 foot by 3 foot table. And I am struggling to work in this really small portion of it. Why is that??????

Now it's your turn to bare your crafty soul.

Show us your mess.

Challenge #60 - It's as Easy as ABC

We're challenging you this week to perhaps go outside your comfort zone and try something different. This is a very open challenge but we're asking you to create ANYTHING, but it has to be ANYTHING BUT A CARD.





You can try making an ATC, an inchie, twinchie, mini, moo, bookmark, create a scrapbook layout, a mini album, shaker box, page embellishment, plant marker, frame, alter a birdhouse, make some jewelry, crochet a doily, knit an iPod holder, and so on.

The sky (and your imagination) are the limit!

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Jana here: I made the cover for an art journal I am working on. I have the deets over at my place.

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It took me a few days because there is painting and drying. Then collecting images. Selecting images. Cutting them out. Arranging them and glueing them down.

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It isn't complete because I am making it for a class I am taking, and we have only gotten this far, so far...

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I can't recall from whence all the images came, but will try my darnedest to figure it out if you ask.

And now on to Rosemary. Her project is freakin' awesome. I had to show you mine first so I wouldn't be a let down after seeing hers. Sneaky, I know. But, what cha gonna do??????

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Rosemary here, and what I've made are going to probably end up as embellishments - one on a card and one on a scrapbook layout. I was inspired by Christine Middlecamp's blog, where she's had a continuing project/tutorial altering mini doilies. I got inspired by them and boy, does this lady use a lot of product. Hey, I have a lot of product - this may be just my kind of project! For more details on what I used, blah blah blah, c'mon over to my weird little personal blog and have a read.

The first is probably going to be the one for a card and I'm going to call her Lida Rose, she's kind of a sassy gal (hanging out with the suffragettes and all) and this is just a little compilation of odds and ends suggesting her world - her beau is fighting the Kaiser in France (his name is Abner).

My second embellished doily (and let me tell you these little guys are pretty small) is my homage to Mary Engelbreit. It's no secret I love the ME stuff and so I've got a pretty decent stash. The fun thing about this project has been creating texture and height using buttons and chipboard, and punches, and lions and tigers and oh my (oops, got carried away there). I think I'll end up using this for a layout on the humble abode.

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NOW show us your ABC project.

Saturday Recap - challenge #59 - ..."We ALL Scream for Ice Cream"

Okay, the Poobahs apologize that this challenge theme may have led to the downfall of many a healthy regimen. We feel your pain and our waistbands digging into our lovely flesh from our indulgence in the ol' ice cream too!

I am also embarrassed that, as one of your Poobahs, I've let the week get by without adding a project. Oh dear. Here are my excuses and why I can't use them:

• Work was really busy this week (really? Jana had a fraktastically busy week and SHE posted a lovely happy card...and so I ate some ice cream)
• The vuvuzelas at World Cup triggered a terrible reaction (okay, as annoying as they are, they didn't. Oh, and had you asked me a week ago what a vuvuzela was - I'd have responded - Do I look like a doctor? Uh, ew, tmi pal tmi)
• The dog ate my project (we don't have a dog)
• Family issues emerged (okay this IS true - but it's yet another re-emergence of the Evil Relative Who Won't Take the Hint and Leave us alone. However, that's as predictable as well, cicadas emerging every 17 years and being out of gas on the morning you're late for work - so it won't work)

Your Poobah promises here and now, with all of you as witnesses, to post something this weekend to this challenge. But just because I'm Slowpoke McJoke, doesn't mean that YOU shouldn't get some love for your grand projects. It was fun seeing how you interpreted this challenge theme and we got cards, ATCs, and layouts in response. THAT'S WONDERFUL!!!

So, without further ado (and Jana has already skipped past all this wordy stuff and is enjoying the photos) here we go!

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First up in our little roundup is the adorable Molly Moo, courtesy of Scrappy who has made a card that is sweet and gentle but also is sending the subliminal message to go and have a couple of scoops like right now. I'll wait for you to get back before moo-ving on. (tee hee) The background paper is making me think of those little Neopolitan ice cream logs that you got at childhood parties back in the day. You always hoped the birthday kid's dad cut the slices because they'd just be super generous while the mommies were realizing they'd have sugar-crazed kids in 30 mins. Back from snack? Okay, well Scrappy this is a lot of fun and very enjoyable!!! Next up is Amy and she bears adorable as well - her little sock monkey and his treat are just wonderful. Happy colors, great image and yes, incorporation of our challenge theme!

Oh my gosh, this little fella looks like he is definitely going to scream for his ice cream, as well as anything else he wants. This great, happy, and colorful ATC is courtesy of Mandy and it's a winner! Maybe he's just cross because his playsuit is riding up!

As soon as I saw this, I was smiling ear to ear seeing the photos for this little glimpse of the joy of childhood. The absolute delight on this little'un's face is so cute! This is a joyous page and comes to us courtesy of Electra!

Oh my gosh, Chat Noir! This is great and so you. Why do I say that when this is color and Chat Noir prefers black and white? Well, because it is clever (she used a CB folder to get the texture of the cone), a little sassy (she had to cut the cute by having the cone tip), and clean and simple (see the b/w in the background and then the little touches of bling). Loverly!!!!

So, that's it for this week's recap, but we'll add more if we get some more submittals! So don't be shy, make something arty!

And don't forget to stop over here and see what our next challenge will be!

Challenge # 59 - I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM

Not sure if it's because we are both trying to lose a little weight, or if it's the warmer weather for us that make ICE CREAM sound SO delish. Whatever the reason, ICE CREAM is our theme this week.





If you are inspired to create a card, album, sculpture, or a sundae we are SCREAMING for you ICE CREAM.

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Jana here: I decided to make a birthday card and a shirt for my daughter. The card turned out great. The shirt, well, you'll have to scroll down to see what happened...

Now about that shirt. It was going to be a simple project. A t-shirt, an iron, and an iron on. I still have all three ingredients. But my daughter has informed me that she WILL NOT wear the shirt if I put the ICE CREAM cone on it. So, I didn't do it. You may see a little something later in the week, if I can figure out how to use it in another project. KIDS!!!

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This last few weeks has been very busy for us Poobahs. And this past week was no different. Rosemary will be posting her project sometime in the near future. She told me so.

Now it's your turn to SCREAM,

er rather, show us your ICE CREAM.

Saturday Recap - Life's a Beach and other RECAPS (finally right?)

Okay, so this is a super long post because I'm not only going to recap Challenge #58 - Lifes's a Beach, but I'm also going to catch up on a couple of earlier challenges that weren't recapped. Bear with me, I may be a Grand Poobah but I'm human, so if I missed your submittal, just leave us a comment and I'll get it up here pronto!

I went through, grabbed shots of the submittals and even added them here before adding words so that you can click and expand each project (see Jana, I listen)(drives her nuts that I don't do this on my personal blog, I'm not loathe to change, I can do this, I can do this)

So, let's go back (in our wayback machine) to Seasonal Icons and see some of the fun submittals (in no particular order):

Ah we took Chat Noir out of her comfort zone - she is amazing with black and white (classic, elegant, beautiful) but she's also pretty darn amazing with color too as in these ATCs she created for our seasonal icon challenge. Love that each card has an element of the season before it. Isn't that cool?

Scrappy had lots of project goodness to share with us for this challenge and this card is for summertime and doesn't it just scream sun and fun? Yep, and even cuter is that she made a little holder inside and added sunscreen. Aw....

and look at this beautiful spring-inspired tag - beautiful! The gentle colors just say springtime beauty!

Susan has a cool edgy take on the challenge and as she admits, it is an alternate take and that's great with us - we love to see all points of view on our challenges. Besides this skeleton butterfly has some gorgeous wings and the colors are fantastic!

With more than a bit of whimsy comes Robin's entry which is of summery colors and a summery treat - ICE CREAM. YUM, even with eyes, this looks delicious! A fun birthday card indeed! Loving those little pompoms along the bottom of the image.

Stef made a beautiful card with ripe luscious tomatoes front and center, they look so good you can almost smell that heady tomato aroma that only comes from a garden fresh crop! This is great, the yellow textured background really sets off this image and doesn't need anything more. Perfect design for that sentiment!

Charlene, from her Paper and Ink Playground (great blog title - btw, have I mentioned how much I love all the clever blog titles? I have, really? But I do love them, they make me grin) Anywho, Ms. Paper and Ink Playground made this card that also says SUMMER to us loud and clear. Lovely colors and cute little ones enjoying the fun, sun, and pool!
Moshie also is channelling summer and her take reminds me of lake vacations and sitting on the dock just enjoying the sights and sounds. I love the coloring here but also the little touches from the ribbon bows on our little lady to the dimensional frog and ribbon. Braver girl than me around a frog though...

Davi made a great Father's Day card for our seasonal icons theme and yes, having fishing on the mind is definitelya great motif. Loving the colors and elements of this card and some lucky dad is going to love opening it up on Father's day!

It's still strawberry time here in my area of Maryland and this also says spring and summer to me - Mernie made this adorable card that is wonderfully sumptuous in color and style! I love these colors together. I see this and want to bake! (but hold the mice, lol)

This is a sweet, colorful and clever project submitted for our seasonal icons challenge by Peggy - it is a refillable Post-It notes holder! Isn't that great and wouldn't that make you smile sitting on your desk or workspace? Lovely colors, the little bear is so cute and loving the touch of ribbon across the top!

Another great blog name that I have to give a shout out to for making me giggle is - The Funkie Junkie. Okay, that's just darn cute! Now, our Funkie Junkie LINDA has made a definite seasonal icon in a patriotic-themed card that captures an All-American picnic. Again, loving those little touches like the picket fence and ribbon, the stars all around and the rosette that reminds me of the paper poppies that are sold by U.S. veterans organizations.

Kristen, one of our first OG greenhorns (Woohoo), is always amazing us withher ability to make loads of original and fantastic cards. These are no exception, she's taken a clean and simple take on this challenge with cards reflecting icons of each season. LOVELY!

We have two Ginis who play with us at Opus Gluei, we're going to refer to them as GiniC and GiniO. This is GiniO and we OWE (teehee, I love being punny too) GiniO some overdue props for her challenge submitalls we didn't acknowledge. This is for challenge #51! Loving this coloring and elegance of the punched border!

Oh, these are so cool and you should visit her blog to get the story from the source because I'll mess it up as I'm of a wont to do...these gorgeous cards are for our challenge - Healthy, Wealthy and Wise and they are done with paper piecing and stamps and the result is superb. She did them in color and black and white - check them out!

and check out her ever so cool wall hanging (the beading too), this beauty was for our challenge - Can I Quote You on That? and it's grand!

when we asked you to celebrate our OG Blogaversary by making something she did make a sweet little card that's bright, colorful, and just happy happy happy all the way!

GiniO must love a good pun to because this is Happy Bird-day, and it was submitted for our challenge - For the Birds. Very fun!

Our other Gini, GiniC made us a gorgeous seasonal icon - representing summer beautifully, this Thistle card. Love the sumptuous color and the way it just makes the thistle color stand out! This is a great card!

GiniC also made another seasonal icon card for Christmas, oh my gosh - make us look bad, GiniC, you organized lady you!!! LOL - this is lovely and very elegant! (okay, demo on your blog how you make such lovely bows!)

GiniC also made a very All-American pasttime themed card that definitely makes you think Opening day in the spring. This card is fantastic, it has texture, dimension, an adorable central image and works on all levels!

Fran, our longtime OG buddy, has captured icons from all four seasons in one card and what a fantastic sentiment! This is happy and fun and perfect! THANKS Fran for reminding us to live life all year long!



Our dear Electra perfectly captures the season of autumn in this layout. The photos are gorgeous and make you long for open spaces and fresh crisp air. The elements of the page are perfect in setting the mood and complimenting beautiful photography!



One of our new bloggy buddies Deb captured in a clean and simple style the four seasonal icons we associate with each time of year and did so beautifully! This card is a beautiful burst of color and has a wonderfully cheerful feel to it and I love the sentiment!


Capturing the water and sunshine feel in a lovely card is Dayna, who made this gentle and soothing design. The colors and embellishments are great and really complement the design.




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So, now let's recap for our current challenge

LIFE'S A BEACH

(in the interest of full disclosure, some of these photos were added after I added words so you may not be able to expand them, in which case I recommend going directly to the fabulous source and seeing them on the original blog. Signed, feeling sheepish Rosemary) (apparently I can't do this - ha ha)

First up is Katie who shares with us a great card that would be great for a grad to wish them well into the brave new world before them. Loving the imagery and clean colors of this project!

Twisted Witch (hee hee, great title) made us a decidedly untwisted and adorable little Tilda soaking up the sun in her floaty. Loving the central element but also these adorable embellishments! The colors used are also soft and gentle but still evocative of summertime.

Robin (aka Bosenberries) made a very cool tag because let's face it, summer is enhanced by ice cream. Would I let eyes on my ice cream keep me from enjoying a waffle cone? C'mon....really, do we need to ask that? Loving the retro font, grand colors, and the dimensional squares element.

Our next submittal is from Jan and she has made a mermaid card that really has style. From her beautiful coloring to the use of sparkle and dimension, this card has it all. It really does make you feel summery and beachy!

Toni - of Wholly Crafts (hee hee, see what I mean about all these cute blog names?) made a lovely layout that makes you want to kick back, have a drink with an umbella in it, and listen to some Caribbean music. Great elements, the flower embelly really sets off the photo.

Speaking of escape, doesn't this card by Gloria just make you want to start looking online for getaway vacations? This a wonderful card and even more inspiring is that this is done using the encaustic technique which involves hot beeswax and color used to create the background (I hope I got that right). Makes you want to go and learn a new technique now!

Christine shared with us a beautiful card with a Tilda front and center and she's so adorable. Loving the striped paper, it makes me think of beach chairs to relax on and the seashell charm is a perfect touch. Having the central image slightly raise adds yet another eye-catching touch!

Look what GiniC made with our challenge theme! A decidedly masculine Father's Day card that is really classic. Loving that it's got color, because men like color too (this is a perfect balance of color that is geared to a man's taste) and the sentiment is wonderful and goes perfectly with the ship motif.

Here is a great whimsical card submitted by Sarah. This is adorable from our cute little whale central element to the anchor and ribbon and even the background paper. Love the sentiment and who wouldn't smile to receive this in their mail?

Now, going fully throttle into wonderful saturated, beachy summery color is Scrappy who made a sassy card that will make you grin. From our tart mama in the central image to the vibrant flower accent, this is a fun card all around!

This is a wonderful sentimental feeling canvas created by our bloggy buddy Electra. It's such a gentle project that carries the saying throughout. It has such wonderful textural elements, vintage goodness and wonderful soulful feel to it.

Ah, and Chat Noir also makes us long for a quiet stretch of beach, an umbrella to relax under and perhaps a wait (out of frame) bringing us lovely drinkypoos to cool our parched throats as we enjoy the scenery! Loving the embellishments of sandy and shells as they add a great touch to this card!

Using a shadow box element, Davi has a fantasy element of a peek at a mermaid passing by. The dimension coloring and textural elements (including the borders which remind me of nets) really make this eye-catching and lovely.

Benedicte, who I believe is new to Opus Gluei (WELCOME!!!) made us a fun and sweet little card with warm color and a fun feel to it that also evokes summer, water sport, and happiness!

and finally, as we end our recap - Peggy makes us smile to see this clever girl enjoy a sunshower while making her garden grow. This card is sweet and lovely with color and dimension and whimsy!

So there you have it -- a fun recap of the delightful and original projects you've submitted to us!

Check out earlier this past week for the announcement of the winner of our giveaway!

Hope that you continue to come back here and participate in our challenges!!!