STARS Challenge

A couple of months ago during stamp club we were trying to come up with an idea for a swap.  This month for instance we're swapping bookmarks again, something we haven't done in a while.  Instead of a swap we agreed to a challenge.  Everyone brought a ziploc bag of goodies that included handmade paper, scrapbook paper, stamped images, die cuts, stickers, ...just oodles of stuff.  We all took home a bag and returned last month with a finished piece for the owner of the bag. 

The above 5x7 legal pad was covered by Laurie for Sharon, using the papers, rub-ons, etc that she'd included in her bag.  Notice the alcohol inked metal washers strung across the top?

Joyce chose my bag and completed this scrapbook page for herself, featuring a photo of her granddaughter.  That 12x12 sheet was actually created by Joyce with strips of papers I'd cut up.  The die cut birds were plain white but she decorated them to match.

Lyn had filled her bag with stamped images related to golf, and Michele made her a portfolio from a colorful file folder, using those images and adding lots of fun elements.

Pockets filled with handmade tablets for notes and lists.  Lots and lots of pockets with things tucked inside.

Lyn missed the meeting and hasn't picked up her portfolio yet, so if you're reading this, I've spoiled the surprise, but doesn't it make you want to race over today??

As usual at the meetings I'm so busy oohing and aahing over everything that I forget to take pictures, so I don't have photos of everyone's projects. 
But I did take a photo of the shadowbox collage I made for Michele.

This was a class I taught at Stampaway last year and I had some of them left over so as a last minute decision, I made one using quite a few of the elements she'd tucked inside her big bag.  The background was a piece of cupcake scrapbook paper.  Honestly, it wasn't a pretty paper, but I spritzed it and stenciled it, turned it sideways to disguise the cupcakes and then tried my best to cover the majority of it. 

The roof of one house was heavyweight cardstock she'd run through a texture plate.  The second was aluminum flashing tape she'd run through a different texture plate and colored with alcohol inks.  And the third was covered with tiny metal cupcake liners.

Two of the houses were covered with papers she'd inked, and one was covered by fabulous tissue paper scraps I'd been hoarding for decades.  She'd stamped an "M" on a piece of mulberry paper with fibers, and I colored it to match the background. 

We all agreed it was a lot of fun and that we'd take on another challenge like this. 

Now doesn't this make you want to get creative with a few friends tonight?