:::Asian:::

Linda M. is our hostess this week and she selected the theme “Asian” as our challenge. Linda created this beautiful arch to share and inspire us all. What comes to your artistic mind when you think of Asian….geisha girls? temples? beautiful costumes? Whatever it may be – we want to see it here in arch form this week!

A bit about our hostess:

I’m Linda (redplaid3) and I live in Bear, Delaware, where I am a SAHM and artist. I enjoy making cards, ATCs, and little books and altering puzzle pieces. I love patterned paper and buttons also. Lately, I’ve been trying my hand at digital cards and layouts. It’s been fun, but nothing beats the look of a piece with all handmade elements. Have fun trying this Asian theme. I’ll be away on vacation most of this week, but I’ll catch up when I get back.

You may visit Linda’s beautiful blog here:
http://redplaid3.blogspot.com

:::Heritage Sampler:::

We had many beautiful heritage arches this past week. Thank you for sharing your “roots” with us!

:::Heritage:::

Our theme this week was selected by our hostess Louise Granlund and she has created this beautiful arch depicting her heritage. What comes to mind when you think of your heritage? Traditions from your homeland? Ancestors moving to far away lands? Hardships and survival? We would love to see your artistic creations for this weeks theme!

A bit about our hostess:

Hi, my name is Louise and I live in the midwest part of the United States. I have been married 25 years and we have one son who is ready to graduate college this spring. About six years ago I started stamping and paper crafting. I was immediately drawn to collage and vintage art. I love incorporating reminders of days gone by in my artwork especially when it includes personal familial items/photos. That’s why I’ve chosen ‘heritage’ as my theme for this week’s challenge.
 

My arch touches on my Ukrainian heritage. My father was born there, coming to the U.S. as a young man alone without any of his family. He told us how poor they were in the Ukraine, living in a mountainous region where they tried to farm land that was not good for growing much. Half his siblings died of starvation. With no family here, my father found relationships with his people through the church. That is how I learned what it was to be Ukrainian.
I went there for Ukrainian language lessons, music lessons and Ukrainian dancing lessons. At Easter especially our lives revolved around the many religious and cultural traditions of the Ukrainian church. And, yes, we would make the beautiful Ukrainian Easter eggs!
So my arch starts with the colors found in the Ukrainian flag, blue and yellow. The bottom reflects the farmland of the Ukraine, with the only picture I have of my father as a young man. For the top of my arch I have tried to represent the church which was a vital part of my father’s life in his village in the Ukraine and in the United States.
 

I look forward to seeing your arches reflecting your heritage and hope you will share a little of your story, too!

You can see more of Louise’s beautiful creations on her blog:

http://kardkrazy.blogspot.com/

:::All Things Celtic Sampler:::

Many beautiful celtic arches were made this past week! Thank you for playing!

:::All Things Celtic:::

This weeks theme is “All Things Celtic” and our hostess Mary-Beth has made this beautiful arch to start our challenge.

What do you think of with this theme? castles and the Emerald Isle? your ancestors? St. Patrick? bagpipes? Whatever it may be we would love to see your arch this week!

A bit about our hostess:

I am thrilled, awed and frightened to be hostess this week! LOL Thank you Nancy for the opportunity!

I began stamping about 6 or 7 years ago and that in turn has led me to this journey into art which I am enjoying tremendously. I am now mostly interested in mixed media and if I can use my stamps. great!

I love to go blog hopping to see what everyone is doing and to see if I can adapt that idea to my art. I am unable to take classes or workshops due to my crazy schedule so this is how I learn.

I am 3rd generation Canadian from an Irish immigrant family and am very proud of my heritage. My cousins have traced our genealogy all the way back to 1599 when my ancestors came to Ireland from Normandy! So in honour of St. Patrick’s Day and my ancestry – ‘All things Celtic’. I hope you have a lot of fun with this theme, I can’t wait to see everyones wonderful art! (Don’t feel you have to limit yourself to Irish Celts. If I remember my fact right, Celts were all over Europe.)

You can see more of Mary-Beth’s beautiful art work on her blog:

http://myjourneyintoart.blogspot.com

:::Transitions Sampler:::

“This may have been a challenging theme, but you all rose to the occasion. You all put a lot of thought into making innovative and gorgeous arches. Thank you.” – Hostess Karen Owen

:::Transitions:::

This weeks theme is “Transitions” and our hostess Karen Owen created this amazing arch. What do you think of when “transitions” is mentioned? Day to night, warm to cold, childhood to adulthood, one color to another – we would love to see your creations in gothic arch form here.

A bit about our hostess:

I started on this crazy mixed media art journey about 7 or 8 years ago after a trip to Hawaii. When I came home, I started looking for ways to memorialize the trip by scrapbooking and photo art quilting. While I was making the scrapbook, I bought several rubber stamps. I wasn’t very happy with my results. So I started thinking that there must be a better way to use them. I bought Suze Weinberg’s book, The Art of Rubber Stamping. The first weekend after I had the book I did almost every technique described! I was hooked! Later came altered books and collage. I still use rubber stamps, still occasionally quilt, and I enjoy using Photoshop for digital art, but my passion is collage. I like to combine painting with images to tell a story.

I have chosen “Transitions” as my theme for this week. I interpreted it as the transition from winter to spring, but it could be day to night, warm to cold, childhood to adulthood, one color to another — I can’t wait to see how you interpret this theme.

You may see more of Karen’s beautiful work on her blog:

http://www.karenink.typepad.com

:::Using Trash Sampler:::

Who knew that using trash and recycling could make beautiful works of art?! Awesome arches this past week – thank you so much for playing!

:::Using Trash:::

Our hostess this week is Klaartje who has a very creative challenge for all of you. She created this precious arch using “trash” – items you would normally throw away….think package labels, bubble wrap, a lid of a tincan and…..?
We can’t wait to see what you create with items you would normally purge!!

About our hostess:

Hi! My name is Klaartje, 29 years old and living in the Netherlands.
I’ve been stamping since October 2003 and was immediately totally addicted!
Luckily I had a stampstore about 5 km away. Now I work there 4 or 5 days a week!
Yesterday (1 Maart) I gave my first workshop! Which was a bit scary….. but it went good!
 

As theme for this challenge I chose ‘Using trash’. Just use what you would normally throw
away like packagelabels, bubblewrap, a lid of a tincan and…..?
I can’t wait to see what you do with this theme!

You can see more of Klaartje’s beautiful work on her blog:
http://stempelgekkie.blogspot.com/
also check out her challenge blog….
http://crazyamigochallenge.blogspot.com/

:::History Sampler:::

It was wonderful to see the arches this past week which ranged from famous people in history to family members that are part of our own historic background. thanks to all the participants!