Monday, April 1, 2013

April 1: A very strict challenge.

Oh just fooling! How could we do an April Fool’s Day challenge and make it something serious?

No way - we’re totally playing around here this week and absolutely anything goes!


Full on pop of colour was the order of the day for Tracy in her Spring inspired card.
I wanted to jazz things up a little this week with a pop of colour and I was in the mood for FUN so what better way to start than with a few SPLATS created using my Distress Stains broken china and wild honey. An anything goes challenge was my opportunity to have some fun with no rules, although I could not believe how much mess I could make from a few splats! The butterfly from the Easter Blueprint stamp set was perfect for my adding a little more life to my card, flying colours you could say.  The pop of colour adds a touch of spring to this card and I definitely had a spring in my step creating it!



Boy, did this year fly by quickly! It's Christmas again ... April Fool's! Santa is taking to the skies in this Joyful Plane that Candy has created.
Ever since I saw this little beauty on Jim The Gentleman Crafter's blog, I've wanted to make one. With a body constructed from Configurations Box compartments and colored with a Red Pepper Paint Dabber and chipboard wings die cut from Tim Holtz' Artful Dwellings,  this plane really does look and feel like a vintage toy. Ideaology abounds on this sturdy, fun and amazingly easy project. Check out the Faucet Knob engine and steering wheel. Pulley Wheels are down and ready for take off and the and the Game Spinner/Sprocket Gear/Hitch Fastener assemblage is ready to take Santa into the wild blue yonder!
 
 
Sandra Mouwen really agrees on celebrating new beginnings, such as a new house for her best friend!
I find it hilarious that the Chipboard Zepher word is spelled wrong. Perfect for April Fool's Day! Don't you love fresh starts? A new house, a new job or a birth, all wonderful new beginnings! This card is for my best friend as she is at the start of a new beginning. I embossed with the Book Covers embossing folder some Metal Foil and painted it gray mixed with Charcoal Black and Blank Canvas Studio Paint. When it was dry I softly sanded the raised areas with the Snow Burnishing Block, and smeared some Pool Paint Dabber over it. The cute Forest Bird I cut out and inked it with Peacock Feathers and Wild Honey Distress Ink.

 
Dan took the opportunity to celebrate the day by fooling around with some of the newer items in his stash.
Fooling around with new products is the perfect activity for today, right? Even better when that day falls on a "no rules" challenge, freedom to let one's imagination run wild. The mailman recently dropped off the Worn Text and Time Travelers stamp sets as well as the Grunge Font set from Kaisercraft so I was itching to try them out. I had no set aim in mind while working on this card, but having said that, I can't help but think of Victorian theatres when I look at this - don't those bumps along the bottom look a little like rows of theatre seating? No? I guess it's just me then!
 
 
Trace thinks a bit (ok...a lot) of sparkle makes any project fun!
I wanted to try and push the limits of how much sparkle I could add to one small project! I was able to apply quite a few layers and that makes me one happy girl! I knew I could not go wrong by starting with a slightly ugly mop-up manila tag, because it could only get better with sparkle! I have so many sparkle products in my stash, but my "go to" top three must haves are: Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in clear rock candy, Sakura Gelly Roll pens, and Zing silver embossing powder.




Ashli decided to do something pretty simple since anything goes this week...
April Fools!!! Simple? HA! Who am I kidding? You all know I welcome the chance to have no rules and run wild! My inspiration for this week was a product that had me fooled when I ordered it. See that giant tag on my layout? I really had no idea how big it was when I added it to my shopping cart. Yes, it had measurements listed, but I am not very mathematically inclined. Let's just say I was surprised when they came in the mail. After loads of painting, spraying and embossing on several tags, I picked out my favorite of the bunch and used it for my starting point on this layout. Some lovely Amy Tan die cuts and Crate Paper chipboard pieces help tie all of this together.

Even though she doesn't tell jokes very well, Anita loves to be involved in pranks and all things comical.
I love that this "Anything Goes" non serious challenge falls on April Fool's Day! How fun is that? It was the perfect opportunity to make something using lots of humorous quotes and phrases. Several of Wendy Vecchi's new stamp sets from Stamper's Anonymous had the funniest sayings with perfect images to make a birthday journal card using Maya Road's Linen Mini Journal as the inside. The cover and journal are colored up using Tim Holtz Distress Paints by Ranger, and Tim's Mini Blueprints 4 provided perfect birthday images as well. I hope this makes the recipient as happy receiving it as I was making it.


Anna-Karin tries to come up with an April's Fool's Day joke every year and thought a gate folded pop-up card with surprises on the inside would be fun.
I set out to make a bright and funny card, but since we aren't having any rules this week, I just started gluing vintage papers down without much of a plan and the card ended up being grungy instead. I used Karen Burniston's super fun Circle & Ribbon Platform die to create the two pop-ups. The new Distress Paint dabbers are very fluid and perfect for washes, which unified the different background papers. I used a lot of Tim Holtz stamps and on the front there is a Picture Wheel and more stamping. The new Mini Filmstrip & Ticket die cuts such cute tickets, which were placed here and there. Laugh a lot today and create fun memories!


Sarah has been rather ill lately and one night when she was still awake at 4am she decided to find solace in her craft room.
I don't know if it was the medication or lack of sleep that caused me to think up this card but it was sure a lot more fun than lying awake coughing! When things don't go smoothly in life I can still manage to rustle up a little humour. I still hadn't inked up my Mr. Tim Ringmaster stamps and thought these tashes would look rather good "off the edge". Seeing as it's a no rules week, I figured I could get away with a kind of "Vintage meets Clean and Simple" card. A couple of ChitChat words start the invitation and Worn Text stamping on the inside finishes the ever so slightly silly inky fun.



Suzz  was inspired by the Jenni Bowlin Photo Album Clear Stamps to create her own mini-album.
I had a great time looking through my various stamps to find backgrounds and images to use on the pages of my mini-album.  I embellished the front with a sweet bird from the Studio Calico Birds.  I used the Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabber - Snow Cap to give the bird a coat of paint and added a hint of plum using the Memento Sweet Plum Ink.  The pages use a variety of quotes and images with fun embellishments.

 
For more inspiration click on our design team's blog links so you can see more photos (and full supply lists) for their projects. Remember, this week ANYTHING GOES you you can run wild and create anything you desire.
 
As always, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $50 gift voucher that will go to a random entry chosen by Random Generator. To qualify all you need to do is create a new project and post it, along with a link back to this challenge, and add a link here. This challenge will end at 11:59pm on Sunday April 7th  EST.

For the full rules, read the "challenge rules" posted in the side-bar here on our blog.
 
 




27 comments:

  1. Loving the Anything Goes inspiration from the Design Team this week!

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  2. LOL! You guys have a good sense of humor, and a great taste in creativity!!

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  3. Fabulous DT projects, thank you for the inspiration and great challenge.
    Pauline
    x

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  4. "Anything goes" is sooo nice of you! :))

    Love the inspirational pieces of the DT!!!

    Hugs,
    die amelie x

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  5. I just entered for kicks. I don't want to win. (APRIL FOOL'S!) LOL Fab pieces by the DT. xxD

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  6. Thanks for another fun challenge and the fab DT inspiration!

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  7. great samples and i love that airplane

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  8. Thanks for another challenge, I love anything goes and thanks for all the inspiration.

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  9. Such stunning, inspirational work here by the DT. I appreciate this week's theme!

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  10. AWESOME DT projects, and I can always use a good laugh. Although, at first I thought the "very strict" part would be a new rule to limit the number of entries to 5 (like on the other SSS challenge blog). I like to see limits, but either way - I'm in!!! And happy to play along. Some day I will win, too! I've been playing every week for a LONG time, and NO APRIL'S FOOL JOKE, I know I will win some day!
    Thanks for an Anything Goes week.
    Blessings,
    karen

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  11. Beautiful work by the DT. I love these "very strict" challenges. LOL xxD

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  12. Fantastic inspiration! Happy April everyone!
    Alison xx

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  13. Fantastic creations from the DT. Thanks for the 'anything goes' challenge xx

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  14. WOW Fabulous Inspiration from the DT - awesome. TFS

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  15. Fabulous DT projects, thanks for the inspiration and free for all challenge!!!

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  16. amazing and inspiring work from the DT, thank you so much for the inspiration!

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  17. Love your design team samples. Thanks for the "anything goes" challenge! Always a favorite!

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  18. I love the variety of styles and genres the design team is sharing this week. Blessings!

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  19. Love the DT when they're let loose on Anything Goes... even when it's Very Strict!! Fabulous creations!
    Alison x

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  20. Thanks for the fabulous challenge! The DT work is absolutely amazing! GORGEOUS creations!!! :)

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  21. Fabulous inspiration by the DT! Wow.

    Thanks for an "Anything Goes" challenge!

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  22. Fantastic DT inspiration as always, seriously talented bunch! I can't even imagine being able to create something even a fraction as fabulous as what these ladies make... :)

    Tanya xx

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  23. Great inspirational projects!

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  24. Thanks for making it easy to play along this week. I love all the creations from your amazing Design Team!

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  25. I found this challenge site through my buddy, Moe - so happy to be able play along with so many peeps!
    Fantastic inspiration to get the creative mojo flowin' - thanks! :D

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  26. What a fantastic mix of styles in these projects, very inspirational.

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