May highlights ...

Time to highlight a layout (or two) which has caught our eye over the month. 


Who could not love this adorable little face ...

Susibee

and this gorgeous page ...

Dolly Bee

You still have a couple of days in which to submit an entry and be in the running for some great prizes - we'd love to see your interpretation of our challenge this month.

Team Training for May ...

Welcome to our May edition of Team Training brought to you this month by team member, Di Hasthorpe.

Each month one of our team will inspire you with a little tutorial, tip or trick to help you in your scrapbooking pursuits.

My Diangles by Di Hasthorpe

The art of zentangling and adult colouring has taken the world by storm, it seems. Everywhere you go, you see books devoted to these art forms popping up.

My diangles are my version of doodling, something I've done for way too many years to count and something that I have readdressed more frequently over these last months.

I've used my doodles to alter ho-hum or plain cardstock to turn it into a background to suit specific needs, moods or whims in a fun and quirky way.

 This is my diangle based around a fern tree in a local rain forest.

The paper I started with was very pale green with some small brownish dots. I've had it for some time and decided it was time for it to get a life.

To do this I simply randomly smooshed over the surface with various green and grey-toned distress inks.

When dry, I sketched in the design, thinking about the vines, fungi and ferns I'd seen during a recent walk through the area. These certainly don't have to be realistic. In fact I enjoy giving the plants some human or animal qualities.The patterns were added next. That's where you can continue to unleash your imagination. For the drawing I usually use an ultrafine black Sharpie.

Apart from using the diangles for backgrounds for layouts I've also used them for bookmarks, pages ready for colour,and card fronts.

A bookmark on heavy watercolour paper, coloured with Colourburst and then drawn on.

Ready for colour: bookmark and 12 x 12 design. I've done some of these for friends and have just supplied the outline sketches so they could do whatever else they liked to them.

A bit of fun... a fungi fantasy. This was done on white cardstock. Drawings and patterns were done first and the background added afterwards by painting with aquarelle crayons and a waterbrush.

A card front. Again this is a fungi fantasy with a fanged twist. The colour from distress inks was added afterwards. When dry I dipped the piece into water and let the colours flow into each other and then dried it. This particular piece was done after a chemo session!!

I hope you have enjoyed looking at what I've been doing and want to give it a go yourself.

Cheers, Di

These are just so quirky and such fun Di, thank you for inspiring us to get our doodle on.

Don't forget to have your entry in for our challenge this month.  Some lovely prizes on offer - one prize by vote, another completely by random draw and a guest designer spot with RAK to offer one lucky entrant. You have until 11.55 on the final day of the month to have your submission linked.

Introducing our May guest ...

This month we welcome Buffy Esser-Burnside with her take on our inspiration. 

The inspiration photo brought up memories of one of my daughters Birthdays, so I took inspiration from the colors on the cake and of course the flowers.

Hi I'm Buffy. I live in Baraboo Wisconsin with my Husband and our fur babies Nova a black lab and Oreo our black cat. Recently I suffer from Empty nest syndrome (my daughter moved out) but I think my crafting obsession has released most of that...just kidding I miss her something awful!

I started scrapbooking about 4 years ago and it has evolved in to all sorts of paper crafting, layouts,artjournaling, cardmaking, I even love making mini albums...my most recent venture has been digital scrabooking! I don't have a single "style" it all just depends on my mood at the time, sometimes its clean and simple and other times its total chaos.

Thank you so much for having me as a Guest Designer, its been an honor!

My blog can be found at http://cherishedmementos.blogspot.com/

Here are two of my most recent projects:

Thank you Buffy - it has been lovely having you join as part of the team during May.

Everyone has until the end off the month to play along with our Pixels and Paper challenge.  We'd love to see how you are inspired by our photograph and use of flowers. 

 Next week we have something special to share with you from a member of our design team.  Please call past on the 22nd for some Team Training.

April winners ...

It was lovely to see all your vintage layouts during April - many thanks for playing along with us.

We were working from this delightful photograph ...

While our main monthly prize is selected by creative team vote, one of our monthly prizes is completely done via random draw so anyone, regardless of style or years of experience can be a winner here on Pixels and Paper - you just need to have an entry in :)

Our MAIN winner for April is Beverley Cunningham.

We would like to invite Judy Willey to guest with us in June and will send her a small prize for her efforts.

and our random draw winner is #11 Fleur Milli.

Ladies, please email me @ jjjustjane@bigpond.com

 with your address and I will make sure your prize gets away to you.

Please pop back on the 15th when we introduce you to Buffy Burnside,  our guest designer this month.

And don't forget you have until the end off the month to play along with us with our challenge.  You may combine with a sketch challenge only.

We'd love to see how you are inspired by our photograph this month. 

And then it was May ...

Welcome to May and our gorgeous inspiration photograph for this month.  I just love the colours of this sweet treat.  As always take inspiration from whatever ... well inspires you!  The colours, the cake itself, a memory from your past that involves cake or icing or overindulging or a messy accident, flowers, garden .... the list is endless.

CRITERIA - Flowers

Our team have some delightful pages to show you ...

DEB

 I've created an art journal page "The Earth LAUGHS in Flowers". I was inspired by the beautiful colours of the frosting flowers in the picture, and replicated those colours in my flowers which I've created with ColourBurst.

PHILLIS

I was inspired by the cake to do a birthday page. I found these photos of my daughter from her last birthday and the flowered papers. I used my Tim Holtz stencil to add the purple flower to my background paper and added the flowers.

DI

As a tribute to my mum and Mother's Day, I have chosen this photo of the two of us taken on my wedding day, September 1st, 1973.  Mum loved roses, so I have used these, as well as other flowers, for this page. The colours taken from the inspiration photo include: pinks, green, white and blue. I have quilled some of the roses (the blue ones are from the inside of a business envelope) and the others were purchased. All of my journalling for this page has been written on the back as there was a fair bit to say.

KAREN

When I saw the inspiration photo for this month, I couldn't resist a fun and funky take on the FLOWERS theme. I took my daughter to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art a few years ago, and we loved the Flowers that Bloom at Midnight sculpture installation. I mixed up the patterns a bit, and used a striped base like the cake in the inspiration photo.

LYNNE

I was inspired to scrap one of my daughter's birthdays as well. I used the blue vertical stripes from the cake in my background paper, the pink from the flowers, and the random dots below the flowers became gems and pearls on my page.

REBECCA

I was inspired by the birthday cake and the dots. This is a photo of my husband and I celebrating our 3rd anniversary. I added dots throughout the page including stickles and texture paste (that I coloured using purple distress paint).

JANE

Inspired by the colours and vintage feel of this image.

NOW IT IS UP TO YOU ...

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry to the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on May 31st.

You are welcome to submit traditional paper layouts, art journals, divided page protectors, smash books, a mixed media canvas. Digital entries are welcomed and encouraged.  All entries must be new for this challenge and no back-linking please.

  You may combine with a sketch challenge only - no other combining will be accepted. Please include our inspirational picture as well as provide a link back to Pixels and Paper on your blog post and don't forget to tell us how you were inspired. International submissions are welcome.

This year we will have two main prize packs - one will be selected by Creative Team vote and the other purely by random draw - so anyone could be a winner, no matter your style or your level of experience.  All these prizes will be available to anyone, no matter your country of residence.  We will also offer one entrant a chance to guest with us for the following month and they will also receive a small prize.

Please come back on the 8th when we will announce our winners for April.