In the Spotlight + Mini Challenge with ... Susan M. Brown {sbartist}

Good afternoon all! My sincerest apologies - yesterday was jam-packed and a very long day and this girl needed to sleep in and let the muse rest. My name is Susan and I love purple paint! My blog is sbartist : painting in the dark. I invite you to drop in for a visit and follow me too... I'm always on some sort of creative adventure.

So I will share the short of it here (and I'll share some longer ramblings HERE)...

I'm a mixed media artist & graphic designer : Dabbling in photography, assemblage, collage and whatever strikes my fancy. My blog is entitled sbartist : painting in the dark – pretty self explanatory. I lurk around in the dark creating art while all in the world are asleep. I spend my days working in a busy print shop doing my computer wizardry producing printed materials.

Creatively speaking... Not only am I one of the designers and also your Den Mother here at the Anything But a Card Challenges Blog... but also I’m Creative Team Coordinator & Senior Designer for Alumilite Corp. a.k.a. Amazing Crafting Products Design Team {I'm the queen of Amazing Mold Putty}; Designer on the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team; and designer and co-admin of the Unscripted Sketches Design Team. I also previously served a couple of other teams including the Sakura Hobby Craft Design Team. ABAC is a labor of love and gives me a sense of joy and accomplishment each week as we collectively share our love for creating.

I LOVE... my husband, Travel, Painting and drawing - OK let's just lump ALL THINGS art related together here; Def Leppard; ALL things PURPLE; found objects {i'm always picking up stuff off the ground}; Salvador DALI; RECYCLING and repurposing things; artistic challenges; SWAP art; throwing paint; BBQ Pork; chocolate mint ice cream; Bubble baths and afternoon naps; street painting; Twizzlers and Lemonheads; GOOGLIE eyes; my MINI Cooper {now in it's 4th regeneration}; going
to Art Museums; and painting in the dark...

Being a creative spontaneous spirit – in my experience this has made for some amazing and sometimes tumultuous adventures...

For as long as I can remember I loved making things and this is still true today. This altered book page features a photo of me age two that I've devilishly painted myself with chocolate cake... So I think I started my creative journey really young {and I'm still not very fond of chocolate cake}.

My very first design team was Unscripted Sketches and my first project was of all things a scrapbook page including recycled bottle caps.

  

My style is varied and unique - ranging from cardmaking, tags, and mixed-media - to altered art, mini-albums and off-the-page whimsies. In observing my creations one thing was strikingly clear - RECYCLING. Recently I have made a more conscious effort of it - but looking back... I was always doing it. More often than not I have included all sorts things that others would discard and this made me SMILE!

So for your mini challenge I found this so easy to decide... I challenge you to RECYCLE IT!!! Try greencrafting – repurpose items destined for the bin into something beautiful, useful and new again. Go rummage your recycling bin - or your crafty stash - and create something wonderful out of something most take for granted. GO GREEN!!!

I do hope you'll play along this week with the
"RECYCLE IT" Challenge
and can't wait to see how you THINK GREEN. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and Chanukkah!
Please join us next Sunday for a brand new Challenge - No. 30. Have a great week! Sb

If you love our mission here and want to be a part of this fabulous team of creatives, please contact me {amazingcrafting at yahoo dot com}.

New Additions and Winter Breezes Arrive for Week Three of Anything But a Card Challenges #29

Good Morning Everyone! It's week 3 of our current challenge number 29 - the third and final week to create and share. CLICK HERE to jump over to the challenge intro and where to LINK UP your creations.

The current Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #29 - Fall into Fall! School is in Full Swing and Indian Summer has faded - this challenge is open theme - Please share any current project you have created, and if it's FALL themed that's perfectly OK, too! JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight Nov. 23rd... giving you 3 weeks to play along and ENJOY the creative process! There's one week left – we hope this extra week on the challenge gives you a chance to squeeze in some Cre8tive playtime.

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!

Please welcome our newest addition
to the ABAC Design Team...

Christi Conley!!

Christi

"I bought both the wreath & the leaves at the Dollar Tree and I had this whole project in mind - until I hated part of it.  Salvaged the day and it came out lovely – and I even had a happy accident LOL!"

Margaret

"With the cooler temperatures we've had lately, I've really felt the need to scrapbook some of my fall photos.  I really liked the blue with all of the traditional colors."

Susan

"I've been working on Halloween projects for so long I thought I was going for Halloween ALL YEAR. I finally broke down and created this holiday tag using the same techniques from T!m Holtz' October Tag. I've got my lighted elf hat on and the Christmas Crafting is in full swing!"

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We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to break out some supplies, or curl up with a journal and create!!! We can't wait to see your creations and we hope that you will join in and share them with us! CLICK HERE TO LINK UP your creations. Stop back next Sunday for a new Designer Spotlight + Mini Challenge!

Enjoying Colours of Changing Leaves for Week 2 Anything But a Card Challenges #29

Good Morning Everyone! It's week 2 of our current challenge No. 29... now extended to three weeks, giving you more time to create and play along. CLICK HERE to jump over to the challenge intro and where to LINK UP your creations.

The new Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #29 - Fall into Fall! School is in Full Swing and Indian Summer has faded - this challenge is open theme - Please share any current project you have created, and if it's FALL themed that's perfectly OK, too! JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight Nov. 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!

Sheri

Sheri is our Birthday Girl this week - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 She used a fall napkin as the background for this art journal page.

Jennie

"For this month's challenge I am sharing an ATC. Living so far north in a treeless landscape I miss the Autumn fall of leaves so it is always a delight to use my leaf stamps and warm Autumn colours!"

Lisette

"I've made a little luminary to bring a warm
glow to dark autumn days."

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We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to break out some supplies and take some time to create!!! We can't wait to see your creations and we hope that you will join in and share them with us! CLICK HERE TO LINK UP your creations. Stop back next Sunday to see more creations from our Design Team!

Happy Accidents and Turning Leaves for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 29 - Fall into Fall!

Good Morning Everyone! Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments and those that scaled it down to "Miniature" with Lisette's mini-challenge. Stay tuned for a new "Spotlight and Mini-Challenge" at the bottom of November {Thanksgiving week in the U.S.}.

It's time for a new challenge today here at Anything But a Card Challenges... so get ready to play and have some fun! Congratulations to all of you who were inspired to create with bold contrasting colors for Challenge #28 "Orange and Black". If you missed out on seeing all the amazing submissions... please CLICK HERE to check them out.

The new Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #29 - Fall into Fall! School is in Full Swing and Indian Summer has faded - this challenge is open theme - Please share any current project you have created, and if it's FALL themed that's perfectly OK, too! JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight Nov. 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!

Julie

"Yes I have been falling, at least my shirt has. Into the gesso. Read about how I rescued this black shirt over on my blog! Certainly a fun make."

Diana

"I made a colorful wreath and I used up a bunch of my scraps! Its sorta like spring cleaning in the fall!"

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We hope our designers have you INSPIRED to break out some crafty goodness and make something!! 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!