Variety is the SPICE of #Cre8time... with a New Five Challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges

Good Morning Everyone! It's the last weekend in August... and also Labor Day Weekend in the U.S. which is considered the last weekend of summer as kids are heading back-to-school. Thanks so much for all of the wonderful creations shared for the REPEATING Motifs Challenge No. 38... please CLICK HERE to see all of the submissions.

ALSO we are adding to our team here at Anything But a Card Challenges... CLICK HERE to view our DT call which closes Sept. 13th. We encourage you to apply! ABAC has no sponsors + no expectations + no having to use particular stuff! No Rules and a variety of themes and possible makes = doing projects you REALLY want to do! We are all about CREATING and SHARING... ABAC is all inclusive – and all levels of expertise are welcome too. If you love to create everything under the sun that is NOT CARDS... throw your hat in and apply!

The moon and stars have aligned to give us an EXTRA Sunday this month which messes up our 3 +1 system of challenges. Today is another FIFTH SUNDAY! This is an oddity in the calendar that is happening several times in 2014... SO we have added this fun MINI-Challenge today here at Anything But a Card Challenges!!! Are you ready to play and have some fun??!

The Fifth Sunday Challenge... "USE FIVE"!! Use the number 5 or five items, five colors, five words... what ever FIVE represents to you. For those who want to go a little more literal - here's the definition, too! Loads of inspiration could be had over at Wikipedia's page for 5 (number).

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

five (faɪv)
n.

1. a cardinal number, four plus one.

2. a symbol for this number, as 5 or V.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a five-dollar bill.

adj.

5. amounting to five in number.

[before 1000; Middle English; Old English fīf; c. Old Frisian, Old Saxon fīf, Old High German fimf, finf, Old Norse fimm, Gothic fimf, Latin quīnque, Greek pénte, Skt pancha]

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Mini-Challenge will go through midnight September 6th giving you 7 days to play along and ENJOY the creative process! Next Sunday will start a brand new 3 week challenge.

Let's see what our DT has created!!

Please click on the designers' name to visit their blog. We hope you’ll take a minute to go see their work up close... and as long as you’re there – please leave them a little love!

Julie

Sometimes designs get your creative revving. I owned 3 of the Bloom Stamps. Now there are 5! What's exciting is there are 5 more on the way...with stencils! Come on over to my blog for more details.

Jennie

I decided to take five distress inks - literally at random and was amazed with the result. If you want to see which ones I used then hop on over to my blog!

Di

I've used 5 photos of one very fidgety (definitely had a disorder!!... maybe AD/HD???)) Tawny Frogmouth juvie... who'd thought they could be so expressive! Check out what went on behind the photos for the tag,  on my blog.

Lisette

Regular followers of my blog will know that I am loving making little houses right now, so it was a no brainer for this month's 5 challenge - five house in five different colours! Please visit my blog for more details!

Susan

FIVE... a fun challenge indeed! A limited amount of supplies and some fun stamps for some fun ATC makes. Please visit my blog to get all the details!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to take some time to be creative!! We can't wait to see your creations and we hope that you will join in and share them with us! Stop back next Sunday to for a brand new Challenge No. 39.

An InLinkz Link-up

Join us in Spreading the #Cre8time Love! Anything But a Card Challenges Design Team Call

Good Morning All! This week we are taking a little break from our normal schedule of things for a special announcement. Next month, Anything But a Card Challenges will be celebrating our 2-year Blogiversary. ABAC is a unique and special entity as we celebrate creating in all areas except cardmaking... and in celebration of this milestone – we want to GROW and add to our design team of amazing inspiring creatives. We have an international team of artists who work in various media – delighting and intriguing you while exploring our challenge themes with gusto and open eyes.

Do you love to create?

Do you play along with the ABAC Challenges?

Do you love to share your creations with others

and being part of the creative community?

Do you love creating projects

that are ANYTHING BUT CARDS???

If you answer yes to any or all of these questions...

Then you should be a part of ABAC!

ABAC has no sponsors + no expectations + no having to use particular stuff! No Rules and a variety of themes and possible makes = doing projects you REALLY want to do! We are all about CREATING and SHARING... ABAC is all inclusive – and all levels of expertise are welcome too. If you love to create everything under the sun that is NOT CARDS... throw your hat in and apply!

Anything But a Card Challenges believes that the creative process should be fun! If you don't enjoy your art, why are you doing it? Sometimes we tend to get so caught up in producing that we forget to enjoy the process! Also, its so important to carve out just a little piece of time that is dedicated to just letting your muse play... creating anything and everything – EXCEPT CARDS.

REQUIREMENTS: Anything But a Card Challenges has one three-week long challenge per month. The 4th week we feature one of our fabulous creatives with an "Artist Spotlight" to start the month of with a BURST of Creative Inspiration who will propose a new "Mini Challenge" which goes for one week. And on the rare occasion we have a 5th Sunday "Five" mini-challenge to mix things up and keep our weeks in order.

Designers are required to create one project a month for main challenge and occasional extra week challenge; promote the challenges via personal blog and social media; and commenting on challenge participants and voting on top three. The ABAC design team is inspiring, friendly, supportive and love a great challenge! The ABAC team is a great opportunity to have your work shown to the global creative community.

• This call is open to ALL designers world-wide... you just need have a blog.
• Previous design team experience is NOT required.
• Good photography of your work {ie: clear, bright photos}
• Designers are active social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. to spread the word of our ABAC Challenges. Also ABAC has a private team group via Facebook.
• Term commitment is six months.

If this sounds exciting to you – please apply!

The deadline is midnight eastern on September 13th. Please send an email to { amazingcrafting at yahoo dot com } with *Anything But a Card Challenges DT Call* in the subject line, and include the following information:

• Please include a link to your blog, and links to 2-3 specific NON-CARD projects that you feel especially proud of.
• Tell us about YOU! What's your name? Where are you from? Which social platforms do you participate actively? Are you currently on any design teams {not a requirement}? Please tell us about you, and why you'd like to be part of Anything But a Card Challenges.
• Feel free to ask any questions not covered in the call description.

***All applications will receive a receipt notification within 24 hours***

(if you don't receive an email – please re-send application again)

Acceptance emails will go out by September 20th.

• • • • • • • • •

Thanks to all of you for supporting us here at Anything But a Card Challenges! I look forward to seeing your submissions. Join us next Sunday for another "FIVE" Challenge.

Sending you all many {{{ big crafty hugs }}}

:) Susan "your crafty den mother"

A Rainbow of Patterns all Around for Week 3 at Anything But a Card Challenges No. 38

Good Morning Everyone! Welcome to week three of Anything But a Card Challenges No. 38... Repeating Motifs. We hope you enjoyed meeting and getting to know our special Guest Designer Sandra Strait last week {click here to view her mixed media tag with a tangled twist}.

The new Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #38 - "REPEATING MOTIFS" a.k.a. PATTERNS. Not necessarily Zentangle (or tangling), but that certainly falls under this category. Repeating Motifs, rather than patterns all apply here... you don't have to use Zentangle... so your muse is free to create!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight August 23rd giving you one more week to play along and ENJOY the creative process! We will share more of our Design Team's creations each Sunday to keep you inspired.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Let's see what more of our DT has created!!

Please click on the designers' name to visit their blog. We hope you’ll take a minute to go see their work up close... and as long as you’re there – please leave them a little love!

Jennie

Zentangling is not something I would normally do, but I surprised myself by just getting stuck in and having a go! I started with the large daisy, added the leaves and then filled in the spaces with more daisies. It was most enjoyable! Please visit my blog here to see more details.

Brenda

I love to make jewelry and jewelry for my hair is another passion I have. I used some Amazing Crafting Products and an ordinary Bic Pen to create an Amazing barrette. Hop on over to my blog and check out how I created this Amazing barrette.  I think you will be pretty inspired by it. Please hop over to my blog here to see more details.

Di

Mandala combined with patterned designs on a 45cm canvas. Patterns were drawn on cardstock, cut out and adhered to the canvas using Collage Pauge. Check my blog to see some of the stages in construction of the design.

Margaret

I used a flower stamp as the jumping off point for my project. While I love the look of the black and white designs, I thought my flowers needed some color. So I used my artistic license to zentangle with three different colors! Please visit my blog for more details!

Christi

Using an old "artsy" stamp, and my favorite color palette, this patterned wall hanging practically came together on it's own. Please visit my blog for more details.

Julie

Slowly I am getting our home together. Currently I am loving what I can do with stencils. The ones I used here have a very strong repeating pattern. Find out how I created these cushions over on my BLOG.

***********************

We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to take some time to be creative!! We can't wait to see your creations and we hope that you will join in and share them with us! Stop back next Sunday a brand new Artist Spotlight + Mini Challenge. Have a wonderfully creative Sunday!

An InLinkz Link-up

"REPEATING Motifs" a.k.a. PATTERNS!!! Anything But a Card Challenge #38 with Guest Designer Sandra Strait

Good Morning Everyone! It's week two of our current challenge and we are excited to introduce a new Guest Designer to join us for here at ABAC. Sandra Strait is our Guest Designer this month and joining us for our current REPEATING Motifs Challenge.

The Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #38 - "REPEATING MOTIFS" a.k.a. PATTERNS. Not necessarily Zentangle (or tangling), but that certainly falls under this category. Repeating Motifs, rather than patterns all apply here... you don't have to use Zentangle... so your muse is free to create!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight August 23rd giving you 2 weeks to play along and ENJOY the creative process! We will share more of our Design Team's creations each Sunday to keep you inspired.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sandra helped dream up this month's challenge theme and has created a beautiful MIXED media tag for the Repeating Motifs Challenge... you are in for a real treat!

We hope you enjoy getting to know our Guest Designer...

Please click on the images to visit her blog –

and give her a warm welcome!

* * * * * * * * *

Hello! I'm Sandra Strait, also known as molossus, myfeetshowit and rooibas depending on where you are on the internet. I don't use my aliases much anymore, though, and you can now find me under Life Imitates Doodles on various social sites.

For the last five years, my main art form has been Zentangle®-Inspired Art. That is pen and ink work inspired by, and featuring many of the patterns created to use with the Zentangle® method. A bad wrist has made it difficult for me to draw of late, but that hasn't kept me from working with patterns!

I'm a member of the Amazing Crafting Products Design Team so for this month's Anything But A Card Challenge I decided to combine pattern and resin. I used the Zentangle® pattern Hibred as my inspiration, did some crafty magic using string, glue, paper scraps, and an everyday manila tag, and then used my creation to mold and cast a unique piece of art.

Generally, when you create a mold, you expect every casting to be almost the same, but I used a technique that's guaranteed to result in a different piece every time. 

My 'tag' is a chameleon, changing character and color when the light shines through. I may cast four more, make them into a box, and set a tea light inside or...

...I strung a ribbon through the tag's hole,

and I may use it as a sun-catcher.

To find out how I created my tag, please

head over to my Life Imitates Doodles Blog. 

I post a daily list of links to Zentangle Patterns, Art Journal Prompts, Tutorials on many Art & Crafting subjects and Art & Craft giveaways, as well as posting reviews and sharing my work. To follow my daily link list or to see more of my work please follow my blog or my Facebook page.

Self-portrait of myself, done in the throes of insomnia, at 03:00 am

I could have posted a nice photograph of myself, but I think this drawing gives you a much better sense of who I am. A bit loony, perhaps, but gosh I have a lot of fun!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Tisket a Tangle... How about a Repeating Pattern for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 38

Good Morning Everyone! It's a brand new month and time for a brand new ABAC Challenge to quench your creative thirst. Did you enjoy Margaret's "It's a Small World" Mini Challenge... please CLICK HERE to jump over and be inspired with inchies, twinchies, ATCs and more. Stay tuned for a new "Spotlight and Mini-Challenge" at the bottom of the month's end.

Now we get down to business... it's time for a new challenge today here at Anything But a Card Challenges... let's get ready to play and have some fun! Thanks to all who played along with our Anything Goes Challenge #37. If you missed out on seeing all the amazing creations {WOW - 111 to be exact}... please CLICK HERE to check them out.

The new Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #38 - "REPEATING MOTIFS" a.k.a. PATTERNS. Not necessarily Zentangle (or tangling), but that certainly falls under this category. Repeating Motifs, rather than patterns all apply here... you don't have to use Zentangle... so your muse is free to create!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight August 23rd giving you 3 weeks to play along and ENJOY the creative process! We will share more of our Design Team's creations each Sunday to keep you inspired.

Let's see what part of our DT has created!!

Please click on the designers' name to visit their blog. We hope you’ll take a minute to go see their work up close... and as long as you’re there – please leave them a little love!

Lisette

I've used a digital zentagle image to create

some colourful hanging birds.

Check out my BLOG for more details.

Sheri

A page in my art journal for my Documented Life.

Please visit my BLOG for more details!

Susan

A page in my art quote journal featuring a distressed blossom. It resembled a dandelion to me, but it needed a little oomph - so I loosely followed a tangle pattern around to make it "POP". Read more about this my BLOG.

Diana

I am sharing another art journal page this week! It's so soothing to me to doodle. A little bit of collage and a little zentangle doodling. I also used some fabulous Gelatos for the background. Please visit my BLOG to read more about this.

***********************

We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to take some time to be creative!! We can't wait to see your creations and we hope that you will join in and share them with us! Stop back next Sunday to see more of our Design Team creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

Featured Artists for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 36 - Summer Lovin'

Good Morning!!! Thanks to all dove right into our SUMMER LOVIN' challenge #36 to share some fabulous summertime themed creations. If you missed out on seeing all of the amazing submissions... please CLICK HERE.

Presenting the Featured Artists

for ABAC Challenge No. 36... 

We'd like to point out today we are acknowledging a mother/daughter who both shared in this challenge – our team was overwhemlingly thrilled with both of their creations - congrats ladies! It's so wonderful to see the seeds of creativity passed down from one generation to the next :)

Rebecca

Jo

Kezzy

Katie

Congratulations! 

Feel free to snag our badge for your blog!

We hope you join us later today with a brand new Challenge No. 38! Have a fabulous Sunday :)