CHAPTER 22: Christmas-tide and Happy New Year in Wonderland!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from The Altered Alice! I am sorry to be posting the rest of our Christmas inspiration so late, but a scheduling error on my part almost meant that you would be seeing this post in December. . . 2013!

More Christmas-tide in Wonderland:

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights created this charming wreath with Wonderland ornaments!

The charms are made from stamped die-cut shrink plastic:

I just love the look of these "charming" ornaments, all unified with the sponged border of Alice Blue! Be sure to stop by Barbara's blog to leave a comment about these wonderful Wonderland ornaments!

Amy Bowerman of Plucking Daisies created a whimsical Christmas Tea Cup Village, let's take a look! 

What an amazing tree topper, I love it!

A small white Christmas tree is decorated in fine style!

Whimsical Christmas trees planted in vintage tea cups; I wish I could shrink like Alice to take a stroll through this winter Wonderland! I think Amy perfectly captured the magic of Wonderland, so be sure to stop by and leave a comment at Plucking Daisies!

Donna/Meme of Meme's Art Place created a wonderful set of holiday cards using the wacky Octopode characters!

Counting down to Christmas or welcoming the New Year!

I think this one is my favorite, with Alice and Cheshire all dressed up for the holiday!

The Mad Hatter makes a fine drummer boy!

Hearts come home for the holidays!

Donna/Meme of Meme's Art Place did a wonderful job with these holiday cards, so stop by her blog and leave a comment!

Honorable Mentions

Everyone who participated this month gets an Honorable Mention! We so appreciate that some of you had something to share in the spirit of the holidays. Take a look at all the wonderful projects linked below  Note: If you are viewing this in email or a reader, you can click on the title of the post to see submitted projects on the blog.  New Year blessings to one and all, with love from The Altered Alice!

Winner & Honorable Mentions, CHAPTER 21 - Gratitude

Our theme this month was GRATITUDE. The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who have offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of my love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, my gratitude project will be shown in December. However, I wanted to share the project that started my love affair with Nature's Blessings stamps!

Design Team Inspiration:
For all the details on how this was made, please visit my blog: Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio.

You can click any photo to make it bigger. I had a wood plaque in my stash that had the word "Dream" on it. The natural, unpainted wood surface was already sanded and coated with a soft clear gloss, all ready for altering!

Nature's Blessing stamps used include White Rabbit, I'm Late, I'm Late, Hatter, Herald, Little Golden Key and Mad Tea Party.

Please visit my blog: Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio. to read all the details of the creative process and to leave me a comment!!



Winner:
And now, drum roll please, it is time to announce the winner of the $30 shopping spree from Nature's Blessings!

Congratulations Alison, of 21st Century Pillow Book! Alison created this charming thank you card as her project. I love the colors and patterns, and of course my favorite element is the snipped up text! Alison, please email me (there is a link at the top of the left column) so I can get your contact info and forward it to Nature's Blessings!  I hope you will also want to display this blog badge with pride:

Honorable Mentions:

I love the mix of new and vintage in WendyLynn's Thanksgiving card!

I love the sponging on this fun thank you card by Leintje. I am NOT a pink person, but I do love the pink and green color combination!

While I am not fond of zombies (or rotting flesh in any form, LOL) Monique has done the most amazing job coloring this Alice zombie image and I absolutely LOVE the background with the card suits!

Mrs. Beez made this neat tip card, to be left for hotel staff after a visit. There are pockets inside for tags and cash; be sure to visit her blog to see the inside!

This thank-you jewelry box by Nazneen was upcycled from a cardboard product box. I love how the quilling along the sides was used in a bold modern motif along the sides!

Thanks to all the participants. We hope you will display this blog badge with pride!

Thanks again to Nature's Blessings for being such a wonderful sponsor! Be sure to visit the Nature's Blessings store to see all the wonderful images available in wood and cling cushion or unmounted.

Please leave a comment before you go!

Week 2, CHAPTER 21: Gratitude

'You ought to return thanks in a neat speech,' the Red Queen said, frowning at Alice as she spoke. . . .In fact it was rather difficult for her to keep in her place while she made her speech: the two Queens pushed her so, one on each side, that they nearly lifted her up into the air:'I rise to return thanks--' Alice began: and she really DID rise as she spoke, several inches; but she got hold of the edge of the table, and managed to pull herself down again.-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass

The US Thanksgiving holiday is this month, and many people are dedicating the month to a spirit of gratitude; after all there is nothing like counting your blessings to make you realize how many blessings there are! Our theme this month is GRATITUDE, and you can interpret that any way you like as long as you explain it in your post. Enter by Friday, Nov. 23; all entries are welcome but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances instead of one. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post to have additional chances at the prize, which is quite wonderful!

The theme ties in nicely with this month's sponsor, Nature's Blessings, who have offered a $30 shopping spree to the randomly chosen winner! Nature's Blessings stamps were the beginning of my love affair with Alice in Wonderland stamping, as they have beautiful rubber versions of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. Without Nature's Blessings, The Altered Alice might not exist! In their words:

As avid readers and bibliophiles, we fell in love with the beautiful line drawings in the books in our family library. Our antiquarian stamps are a collection of our favorite images. If your tastes range from the classically elegant to the quirky and fun, then we make stamps for you! We also offer a variety of original art: be sure to visit John Wagner's page of Calligraphy and Art Lettering, and Laura Ann's pages of stamps for holidays and special occasions.

Your Weekly Inspiration:

Barbara Washington of Magic Delights came up with a fantastic idea for our gratitude challenge; she made a thank you card and a set of charming hostess gifts for the upcoming holiday season! I love her thank you card, pictured above, don't you?

Everyone on the design team decided they would like to invite Barbara over when they saw these charming gifts! This night light with the custom made Alice shade is absolutely charming, even when unlit.

It is even lovelier when illuminated, isn't it? 

The next hostess gift is a set of coasters in a holder. Gratitude is indeed the memory of the heart, and some of my dearest childhood memories are involved with reading Alice in Wonderland! Here are the individual coasters:

I love it that Nature's Blessings has such a complete set of the original Tenniel illustrations! These coasters are fantastic; hasn't Barbara done a wonderful job with this gratitude theme? Please stop by Barbara's blog to tell her so!

Amy Bowerman Stucki of Plucking Daisies dyed a vintage handbag (her grandmother's) with rit dye and created iron on transfers with Nature's Blessings stamps and "Transfermations". Amy is our queen of upcycling, and this bag looks new and funky and fun!

I was so pleased to learn about this product; look how well it transfers onto dark fabrics! It is designed for ink jet printers but Amy has great results with stamping!

These stamps have such wonderful detail; the cross-hatched lines are crisp and distinct. Lizard Bill is looking good!

Some Blue Moon charms add interest!

Gratitude is embodied in what this bag was used for; in Amy's words:

The bag was used to transport a package to hurricane victims. A friend of mine from NJ has spearheaded a campaign called "Socks for Sandy" . Such a simple necessity that so many are lacking since the storm hit. As far as grattitude I'm thankful that power was the only thing I lost in the storm when others have lost so much.

You can read about Socks for Sandy HERE. They are in urgent need of socks, winter gloves, mittens and hats, and NEW packages of underwear for men, women and children.  Please stop by Amy's blog to leave a comment on her stamped "Transfermation" bag, her Alice post will be up soon so check back at her blog to read all the details.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of our gratitude theme! Enter your projects in the Linky list below by November 23, and PLEASE include your name or blog name in the TITLE. This helps me enormously when it comes time to had out the honorable mentions! (Note: if you are viewing this post in a reader or email, please click on the title of the post to go to the blog to see the entries or submit a project.)

Please leave a comment before you go!

Winner & Honorable Mentions, CHAPTER 20: Twinkle like a Bat, Shine like a Tea Tray!

Happy Hallowe'en from The Altered Alice!

Our sponsor this month is Smeared Ink, home of edgy, wild and fun designs in rubber and digital forms has released a Wonderland Collection; images are available individually or as a set. The randomly-chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive a $15 shopping spree in their online store.  But first. . .

One Last DT Project!

A two-page art journal spread from Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio (me!). It was a real joy to color these complex detailed images despite it being a huge departure from my usual style, LOL! I really enjoyed the way the Queen of Heart's looking glass acted like a window into Alice in the garden and I wanted to have the two images next to each other to reinforce the connection. Here are some closeups of the images and my coloring:

I would love it if you would stop by my personal blog, Savvy Sisters Studio, and leave a comment there for me!

Our Winner:


Our sponsor this month is Smeared Ink, home of edgy, wild and fun designs will give the randomly-chosen winner of this month's challenge  a $15 shopping spree in their online store.   Smeared and Smudged is an online community of rubber stampers and crafters who enjoy using alternative, gothic, edgy, and unique stamps in their designs. We thrive on different and unusual. We welcome the macabre and devious side of things, and most of all, we embrace ALL types and styles of art. Whether or not you “come to the dark side”, your creations should be a reflection of you. At Smeared and Smudged, the most important thing is being yourself. There are lots of ways to interact with the community! [ Ning Community | Challenge Blog | Facebook Group ]

The winner of this month's challenge is #2 as chosen by random.org, so that means that Shahrul Niza of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is the lucky one! Check out her amazing exploding box!

Be sure to visit her blog, Such Pretty Canvas, for many more pictures showing all the amazing detail! Shahrul, please email me through the link in the left column so I can forward your info to Smeared Ink for your shopping spree! You may also add this badge to your blog, linking it to this post:

Thanks again to Smeared Ink for being such a great sponsor!

Honorable Mentions

Artwolf2009 from Munich, Germany brings us this scary entry along with a charming story! Be sure to visit her blog for the tale.

The wrinkled background texture behind these twinkly bats is fantastic. Kudos to Keren Howell of Altered Ego for trying a great new technique!

Leintje brings the very first shaker card to The Altered Alice and shiny metallic gold hearts make the perfect "snow".  The image of Alice with the playing cards flying about is just perfect for a shaker card! I love the way she used the bell jar shape, charming!

I love the quirky Cheshire Cat shape of this twice-altered clock from Blackdragon, who titled the piece The 31 Days of Hallowe'en. The outer border makes me think of board game trails to go along with that theme! Love the hand too!

WendyLynn's Paper Whimsies poses the question "is everyone in wonderland batty?" and I would have to say "why YES!" It made me laugh so it is in for a Mention!

Marcelo Carbone from Brazil and living in Italy, brings us the undead Queen of Hearts and her undead vampire playing cards! Eeeek! He calls this Alice's Hallowe'en Nightmare; who knew an altered doll could be so scary?

I had such fun watching the video by EmeraldQueen of TatteredRoses41 showing the creation of this art journal page Be sure to visit her blog to watch the video!

I am out of time to describe what I like about each project, but everyone did such a great job this month that ALL ENTRIES get an Honorable Mention! Thanks to all our participants for doing such a great job! See the other entries below:
Please leave a comment before you go!