Challenge #136. Seasons.

Seasons

Rosemary here and my challenge to you is to share with us a seasonal project.  Doesn't matter what season or what art form.  That's right; you can share the Christmas cards you've been making throughout the year, Halloween pumpkins you're embellishing, the quilted Thanksgiving table runner, springtime flower displays, summer wreaths, scrapbook layouts, presents for the holidays - whatever you've been busy making. 

For me, I decided to work on autumn decorations.  No, it's still very hot heat, in fact we're flirting with triple digit heat indexes.  But I really want to finish up ornaments to display once September rolls around, so I pulled out all my unfinished ones and here we go.  Now my lonesome little owl from last year has some company!
  (No, this is not currently up, merely some creative staging)

Let's see what all the other wonderful poobahs have come up with for this challenge.

 

Electra here

I love the seasons.

ALL of them.

Oh right, I whine in the winter when my eyelashes freeze to my cheek and heat in the summer makes me want to kill myself.

In spite of that, I do LOVE the Seasons

And do my project has ALL of the seasons, just not on the same day.

 I hope you have all the seasons where you live too

 

Kristen here

I love this challenge, what fun. I made a digital project which I can print as a card. I made this using Illustrator CS5. I hope you like it. It was a nice simple, fun to make creation. There are so many fun things that can be done with your computer! I can't wait to see everyone's creations! Have a great week and have fun.

Gini here
What a great challenge idea Rosemary!
I thought I'd try and make an Autumn card that doesn't have leaves as the main interest but still looks Autumny. Sorry the photo is a bit dodgy but if you click on it, it is better bigger.

Jana here: For me it's Christmas in July. I made a set of placemats to use during the Christmas season. I combined fabric that I have had in my stash for a very long time with some newer fabrics. I like the patchwork look to the set. You can get more info and eye candy on my blog.

You have until the end of Saturday 11 August to join in with your fabulous creation celebrating the four seasons. Add your blog post address to Mr Linky below.
If you would like to join in with a previous challenge we've set (life happens and lateness is absolutely fine, we don't mind a bit) just add your blog post address to Mr Linky below. Please make sure your blog post refers to the previous challenge you are entering so we don't get confused. 
We look forward to visiting you!

Challenge #135. Where'd you get your suntan?

Gini here
This fortnight's challenge is to make a project based on anywhere you could get a suntan. I thought we could think about traditional sun holiday destinations or your back garden/yard, on top of the Eiffel Tower, sitting in a canoe, anything really that you can make a story up to explain how you are getting a suntan so it fits the challenge, you know how I love a tall story.
For example, the mermaid whose dream was to get a suntan and how she managed to fulfill that dream. How did she do that? Was Sponge Bob Square Pants or the police involved? Maybe her fairy Grandmother came to her aid? How did she stop her scales from drying out?

I am over here in very soggy England, we have had rain, rain and more rain for what feels like a very long time but if it would just stop raining for a few days I might be able to get a suntan in my back garden.
If I was to lie on tinfoil out in my garden right now you would here the rain drumming on the tinfoil fortissimo style (the music term for very loud which I looked up on Wikipedia, gotta love that website and all the wonderful people who have contributed to it).
I need a raincoat and some fake tan...
So here is our house in the middle of our street.
 I loved that Madness song from 1982, yes, it really was that long ago!
You can see them in action over here on youtube if you fancy a bit of nostalgia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwIe_sjKeAY
Pssst turn it up very loud ;-)

Let's see what all the other wonderful poobahs have come up with for this challenge.
 
Rosemary here and I went all stitchy for this challenge and yes, a cross stitch project can be done quickly - I managed this in the course of a week from start to in the hoop and on the wall.  My little girl here is called August Angel and she is a Cross-Eyed Cricket pattern from the leaflet entitled, "Sams and Stripes," because the main pattern is a collection of Uncle Sams.  (that project can't be done in a week.  But Aggie can and I think she has a sweet little retro vibe to her with her swim outfit, and there's even a bit of sparkle floss in her wings! (truly water wings eh?)  - although a very naughty crab is eyeing up her foot!)

and a little closer look at her...

For more details, please check out my cross stitching blog.

Jana here and I have to admit that when I first saw this challenge I didn't quite read the whole description. My little eyes saw the word MERMAID and fixated on that. So my project for this go around is a Mermaid. I stitched her on a dish towel, but am really not sure I want to leave her there. I was dumb and didn't try out the towel before I stitched her. I don't like the way the dish towel just pushes water around. It isn't absorbant at all. But I LOVE the way she turned out. She's a keeper.

She may become a pillow. I am just not sure yet. I got the pattern from Urban Threads.

Electra here-Who doesn't love the sun?
(maybe everyone who is sitting in 120 degree heat right now, do ya think?)
I made a tag, while fantasizing about being at the beach:

anywhere with water, in other words.
Credits for this can be found on my blog here.
Deena here
all I can think about is scorching heat...we haven't had a really warm summer in a long time, but the last two weeks here have been a doozy...the humidity is really the killer because +30 C in other places does not seem nearly as unbearable as it does in our part of the country...especially covered in mosquito bites...so my card went more along the theme of "but it's a dry heat"...could use the dry heat here for a bit...a little arid desert maybe???




You have until the end of Saturday 28 July to join in with your fabulous creation celebrating summer holidays. Add your blog post address to Mr Linky below.
If you would like to join in with a previous challenge we've set (life happens and lateness is absolutely fine, we don't mind a bit) just add your blog post address to Mr Linky below. Please make sure your blog post refers to the previous challenge you are entering so we don't get confused. 
We look forward to visiting you!

Challenge #134 America, America or wherever you hold allegiance.

Kristen here Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue! I drew these images (I need to re-do a set with female soldiers.) I am proud to be in America and love living in a diverse city. There are so many people here that are not native to this country and they are so proud to be here. I got to see a naturalization ceremony once a few years ago. To see all the immigrants waiving their little U.S. flags made me very emotional. I think, wherever one is from, it is so wonderful to feel pride in that. Thank you to our troops for watching over us and our freedoms! God bless America (and all the other countries!)

No matter what country you are from, let's see your patriotism, use the colors of your flag, or put your own creative spin on this entirely. We would LOVE to see what you make!!!

Let's see what all the other wonderful poobahs have come up with for this challenge.

****

 

Rosemary here and yep, another proud American here and I love Independence Day.   I cherish my freedom, optimism and yes, brashness of my culture.  I love that the nation we won our independence from, Great Britain, is our ally. 

I also hope you consider doing this challenge and share your love of your nation!

My project for this challenge is a door hanger that I cross-stitched and sewed.  It's from a Prairie Schooler leaflet entitled Summer and Winter.

****

Jana here and I am proud to be American. I have always been proud to be American. In kindergarten I made my mom an American flag Christmas tree ornament. The other kids made bells and stars. Not me. I made an 8.5 in x 11 in American flag for mom to put on the tree. And she did every year. July 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays. We grill and always see the fireworks. For this challenge I made mug rugs. What's a mug rug? It's a mini placemat. This one is 6 in x 8 in. Just large enough for a mug and a snack. Of course you can also use a cup or a glass. Just don't forget the snack, which can be whatever you want it to be.

I made a few different ones too. You can see them on my blog HERE.

****

Electra here - I am Canadian.  I love our country-more square feet of awesomeness than anywhere else on earth.  That's from a beer commercial.  So I combined a bunch of photos I've taken from the area where I live and made this digital LO.  Happy Whatever-Day-It-Is-Where-You-Live!

****

Deena here - I am also Canadian, born and raised...and I am going to some Canada Day festivities this weekend out at the lake, so I decided to make a card to celebrate the occasion...

hope you have a great patriotic weekend wherever you are!!!

****

You have until the end of Saturday 14 July to join in with your fabulous creation celebrating patriotism. Add your blog post address to Mr Linky below.
If you would like to join in with a previous challenge we've set (life happens and lateness is absolutely fine, we don't mind a bit) just add your blog post address to Mr Linky below. Please make sure your blog post refers to the previous challenge you are entering so we don't get confused. 
We look forward to visiting you!