Blogger's Challenge #121 - Alter It!

Hi everyone, it's finally Friday and I am finally starting to feel better from this awful cold I've had this week. Thankfully it didn't turn into Bronchitis, I appreciate all of you who e-mailed me get well wishes. I've felt your prayers this week! Our Blogger's Challenge this week was to Alter something and for a while I planned to sit this one out, but I NEEDED to get out of bed and DO something productive, kwim?

So, yesterday afternoon, I forced myself to go into the studio and make my project for today and I decided that since I felt so cruddy that I was going to just make something for ME - something that makes ME happy and not worry about whether it would be a good class, or if it was perfect or anything but making sure it would make ME smile. So, I pulled out this package of 2 ugly wood plaques that I picked up for a buck several years ago at some local craft store and decided to turn it into something beautiful.

This is my final result.

I am SO HAPPY with how it turned out in all it's shabby chic glory! The best part of creating this art piece was just allowing myself to create from scratch with really no plan in mind other than knowing the pictures had to make it onto the finished project!
So, I took out my gorgeous Night and Day Designer Series Paper and chose one of the more subtle patterns for my base. I cut it to size and adhered it with Tombow Glue. Then I used the Sanding Block to smooth out the edges and shabby it up some.

Next, I took out some Rich Razzleberry cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with the Tulipe Die, creating the pieces for this fleur-de-lis. This was shabbied up with some of the Shimmer Paint in Platinum dabbed on with a Sponge Dauber. I then applied it with more Tombow Glue to the left side of the plaque, spreading out the pieces from top to bottom.

I then took out my Bella Toile Background stamp and inked it up with Rich Razzleberry and stamped it randomly on the DSP background. I also pulled out the swirl stamp from Baroque Motifs and inked it with more Platinum paint and added that image randomly as well.

My photos were trimmed down and mounted on Whisper White and Rich Razzleberry cardstock to make them more sturdy. I also stamped more Platinum swirls directly onto the photos. When I added them to the plaque, I mounted them with Stampin' Dimensionals so they would stand out over the embellishments.

On the right side, I added a different piece of Night and Day DSP. This one, I shabbied up a few different ways: Spiral Punch down the right side; crumpled up, smoothed out and inked with Rich Razzleberry and torn down the left side. This was adhered with more Tombow Glue. Next, I added a piece of Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware and inserted a piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock stamped with the swirl in more Platinum paint. It was punched out with the Designer Label Punch so it would perfectly fit the hardware label holder. The hardware is attached with Mini Glue Dots behind the brads.

I wanted to add something to the plaque that expressed what the photos meant to me and I remembered this stamp from the "A Beautiful Thing" stamp set. I inked it up in Rich Razzleberry and stamped it on Whisper White. After punching it out with the Large Oval Punch and layered it on a piece of Basic Black punched out with the Scalloped Oval Punch. That was layered on a piece of Rich Razzleberry punched out with the Wide Oval Punch. I stamped a little swirl on the layers as well and shabbied it up with more Platinum paint. It is mounted with more Stampin' Dimensionals.

As a final touch, I added two ribbons, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot and Whisper White Organza. Honestly, I debated over the bow, BUT since this piece was to make ME happy, I left it. I love the clean purity of the white bow against the shabbiness of the rest of the embellishments.

And here's the thing....when it was all finished, I was almost in tears. Not only do I love my family shown in the pictures, I absolutely LOVE this finished project! For the first time in a long time, I truly did something creative just for me and it felt SO GOOD! Maybe I'd been feeling so cruddy all week and this creativity was just a release or maybe it was a sign of something more - the need to do art just because I can and because I want to. If the end result feeds my soul alone, then the effort is worth it.
I think too many times we get caught up in pleasing others and meeting others expectations that we forget to do the things that truly make us happy. So that is my encouragement to you today - if you haven't stamped or created anything just for YOU lately, make some time to go do that this weekend. Don't worry about how it turns out, just create from your heart and know that you don't have to please anyone but yourself with your art!

If you have time, be sure to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge players and their Altered Art by clicking on the link in my sidebar. And I'd love it if you come back tomorrow to check out the card I created for the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge this week. Yep, I made it for you, but it made me smile too. You'll see why tomorrow!
Blessings,
~~Robin