be eXtraordinary

The Craft Barn blog challenge for 2013 has finally reached it's conclusion. The final two letters, I & X complete the Alpha Challenge.

I have been making a tag for each letter & to comply with the challenge rules, each one has a dictionary definition on it somewhere.

For I, I used my blog motto of

imagine believe create

For X, I used my motto for 2014

be extraordinary

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Here are a few images of the complete set of tags.

Front of Tags

Back of Tags

Leave your mark

The Craft Barn has revealed another letter in the Alpha Challenge, which has run throughout 2013.

I have been making a tag for each letter, held together by a book ring.

This week my dictionary definition is on the back of the tag.

Leave your mark

upon the world

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

I say ...

The Craft Barn has revealed another letter in the Alpha Challenge, which has run throughout 2013.

Following on with my literary theme, I chose the word quotation

& picked a quote I made on my other blog.

"We do not always need to see

what we know to be true"

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Just Nonsense

The Craft Barn has revealed another letter in the Alpha Challenge, which has run throughout 2013.

I composed a Haiku for the back of the tag, inspired by Lewis Carroll & Halloween.

A poem to rhyme

and not to wit or too woo

nonsense it shall be

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Letters of Love

The next letter in The Craft Barn challenge for 2013, known simply as the Alpha Challenge, is the letter L.

The twist this week was to include a window.

I admit mine is more of a door than a window, held closed by a latch created by the letter L.

I composed a haiku for the back of my tag.

Deep thoughts you reveal

when your heart opens to me

letters of love sent

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, Distress Ink (antique linen) & a strip of my handmade washi-style tape.

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

a little bird told me ...

... that I am the Little Birdie featured artist of the day over at the Brave Girls Club, so if you are visiting my blog from the Daily Truth and want to see a little more of my little birdie, please click on the picture below.

My Journal Tag

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which runs throughout 2013.

The two images used to create the journal were supplied by The Graphics Fairy (face & french document).

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

The Three Cs

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which is G.

This is the front of the tag.

This is the reverse.

"Context,

convention &

circumstance are all."

Stephen Fry

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Zoom

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which is Z.

This is the front of the tag.

This is the reverse.

"Sometimes we need to focus

on the small things

to see the bigger picture."

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

An Original Work of Art

The next letter in the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge is O.

This is the front of the tag.

This is the reverse.

"You are an original work of art"

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Mail Art

The theme this week for the Art House Challenge is flying, so in a flight of fancy, I have composed another Haiku to tell my story.

This is their prompt.

This is my response.

posted through the mail
my words journey towards you
on the wings of love

Created in my moleskine journal, using a page divided into eight 5.5cm squares to use for the challenges.

My Companion

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which is D.

We are more than halfway through the alphabet,

so my word for letter D is Dictionary

because at this point I want to pay tribute and thanks to the dictionary

I have been using for this challenge.

It was discovered in a charity shop.

A small hardbacked Longmans Pocket Companion

& it has been my constant companion in my crafting endeavours for quite a while now.

This is the front of the tag.

This is the reverse.

"The universe in alphabetical order."

The quotation is from Jacques Anatole Thibault,

a French writer who used the nom de plume "Anatole France".

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company

& Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Congratulations

A greeting card made especially for a couple celebrating the birth of their first child.

I used decoupage designed by TC Chiu from a collection entitled Country Cottage, available from Joanna Sheen.

Each layer was cut out by hand using scissors. I lightly sanded the edges before building up the decoupage layers using Pinflair Gel Glue (clear dimensional non-silicon glue).

Typing the Alphabet

The Craft Barn has revealed the next letter in the Alpha Challenge, which is T.

This is the front of the tag.

This is the reverse.

I used patterned papers Life's Journey Pansy by K & Company, an image from Jessica Sprague & Distress Ink (antique linen).

To see all the tags made in this series, click here.

Walk with me

The Art House Challenge this week is to compose a Haiku about our shoes,

so I decided to leap in with both feet & join the challenge.

This is their prompt.

This is my response.

Walk in my footsteps
We both journey together
Forward in motion

I used my moleskine journal & divided a page into eight 5.5cm squares to use for the challenges.

The shoe image is from The Graphics Fairy.