Special Guest Spotlight on KEREN TAMIR

We are thrilled to showcase the amazing work of yet another

Special Guest Designer here at More Than Words!

Keren Tamir is very well-known in the scrapbooking community as, 

a very talented designer for several prominent manufacturers

as well as a Prima Marketing Educator, title to which so many of us aspire.

She travels the world spreading to others this special passion that we all share!

When we thought up our November challenge, we immediately thought

of her as our Special Guest to bring forth our word and creative challenge combo.

Let's learn a little more about Keren through her own words:

Hi everyone! My name is Keren Tamir and I live near Toronto, Canada.

I am a wife to a wonderful husband who is very supportive of my art

and a mother of two amazing kids, a 16 year old boy and an 11 year old girl.

I've been scrapbooking for 15 years and I've loved art since I was a child.

I love to create an experiment with many different mediums and techniques.

My style is always evolving and that's one of the things I love about this art.

One of the main reasons I started scrapbooking was to preserve memories 

and photos of my children. However, over the last couple of years, I've diverted

myself into the mixed media world and love combining them together.

I've developed my own mixed media style which I love sharing with my students.

I love to create and I'm passionate about what I do and that's why I love

to teach techniques of mixed media and art.

You can visit Keren at the following links:

WEBSITE  -  YOUTUBE  -  INSTAGRAM 

FACEBOOK  -  PINTEREST

Here is a reminder of our November OUTDOORS & WOODGRAIN Main Challenge followed by Keren's gorgeous project which was inspired by it.

Read below as Keren describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

I am delighted to be a guest designer for the More Than Words challenge blog.

For me the OUTDOORS always remind me of nature and so I wanted to incorporate 

nature into my canvas. I used flowers, butterflies and real natural objects to give

it a natural feel. I'm very thankful for everything in my life so I wanted to 

incorporate that into the sentiment of this canvas.

I also loved getting inspired by the challenge board and the creative challenge 

as I love using WOODGRAIN patterns in my projects. 

I used the woodgrain pattern as the background to my canvas.

Below is the video tutorial on how I created this project:

How fabulous is Keren's shaker mixed media canvas!?

The WOODGRAIN background is absolutely stunning

and all the natural elements that Keren has added as

embellishments evoke so well the whole OUTDOORS feel.

Let's take a look at some details:

A big THANK YOU to Keren for joining us 

as our November Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Keren's creation

and that you will play along with our November Main Challenge.

You have until November 30th to link up! 

Special Guest Spotlight On MARTA TURSKA-GROCHOCKA

It's time for us to introduce to you another fabulous

Special Guest Designer, not that this lady needs any introduction!

Her work never ceases to amaze and her style inspires many.

With no further ado, our October Special Guest is...

Marta Turska-Grochocka is certainly one of the best in the scrapbooking industry.

Her art is known throughout the world and has been published more times 

than one can count. We are absolutely thrilled to have her join us today

with her gorgeous take on our October Main Challenge.

Let's learn a little more about Marta through her own words:

Hello everyone! I'm Marta Turska-Grochocka, known as JaMajka, 

a scrapbooking artist from Poland. I create scrapbooking layouts, 

mixed media art journal spreads and pages, as well as Artist 

Trading Cards, cards, off-the-page projects and altered art projects. 

I love colour, texture and unusual embellishments like threads and buttons. 

My work has been published in Somerset Apprentice and Art Journaling, 

American magazines by Stampington, in French Scrap Magazine 

and Carnet de Scrap and Scrap n' Art Magazine. 

I am thrilled to be part of many creative and design teams: 

Finnabair, Lindy's Stamp Gang, scrapki-wyzwaniowo, 

Pion Design, Retro Kraft Shop and a few other teams. 

You can visit Marta at the following links:

BLOG  -  PINTEREST  -  INSTAGRAM  -  FACEBOOK  -  YOUTUBE

Here is a reminder of our October DELICATE & FABRICS Main Challenge

followed by Marta's stunning project which was inspired by it.

Read below as Marta describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

The word DELICATE inspired me to create an art journal spread full of layers 

in an old book. I love to create unique altered art pieces. The word was my main 

inspiration tip when I was picking out colours, thus why I chose to create 

with very soft shades of beige (using real coffee), gold and a drop of very pale pink. 

I added very fine stamping and tiny drops of liquid pearl as well as 

embossing powder on the background. The old vintage picture of a beautiful 

classy lady completed my delicate composition. 

To incorporate the FABRICS creative challenge, I used many fabric elements 

such as cotton lace, cotton fabric tape, guipure flowers and a big fabric flower. 

I tried to evoke the same textures in the gorgeous images of the challenge board.

We are absolutely stunned at Marta's beautiful spread! 

From the gorgeous ivory/beige lace to the big fabric flower to the pieces 

of thread, this piece of art perfectly captures the essence of our word 

and all the delicateness of our creative challenge.

Let's take a look at some details:

A big THANK YOU to Marta for joining us 

as our October Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Marta's creation

and that you will play along with our October Main Challenge.

You have until October 31st to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on ANTONIS TZANIDAKIS

Oh, have we got a treat for you this month

as far as the Special Guest is concerned!

It is no secret that the scrapbooking community is composed

by mainly female designers, but we do have a few very talented male

artists out there who are not afraid to shine in a mostly feminine world.

We are so happy to introduce to you today...

Antonis Tzanidakis is a world-known artist! 

You may already know him for his incredible mixed media art

that include fabulous handmade home decor and beautiful work on wood.

When he is not at home creating, he is travelling around the world

offering workshops to teach others new ways to create.

We are thrilled that he accepted our invitation to be our September Guest!

Let's learn a little more about Antonis through his own words:

I'm Antonis, a mixed media artist from Greece.

I studied to be a Captain in the Navy and used to be 

a professional basketball player, but at some moment in my life, 

somehow I found this art, this hobby. 

I started practicing my art alone and continued alone until now.

I started a few workshops in my hometown of Lefkada, later around the country

of Greece, and then very soon made my way around the world.

It never crossed my mind that I would someday travel the world

to teach art as a living, but this is my life now... and I love it!

As I often say, 'Life is a mixed media project!'

You can visit Antonis at the following links:

FACEBOOK HANDMADE FANTASY PAGE

FACEBOOK PERSONAL PROFILE

HANDMADE FANTASY ONLINE WORKSHOP WEBSITE

Here is a reminder of our September FEARLESS & GRUNGE Main Challenge

followed by Antonis' stunning project inspired by it.

Read below as Antonis describes in his own words how he was inspired

by our word and how he chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

FEARLESS... I think I was fearless all my life. And it was mostly that characteristic

in my personality that helped me to become the artist that I am today 

because you need to be fearless and try to mix things and take the challenge.

You need to be fearless if you want to take your art to a whole other level!

You can recognize that the style of my project goes very well with the word

and also the GRUNGE creative challenge which is very much a style

that I love in my every day art. I was inspired by this challenge and also

by myself as I am both fearless and grungy.

Antonis' mixed media canvas is the perfect take on our September challenge.

We love all the masculine and dark grungy elements to it

and the different textures and techniques that he used.

Take a closer look with us at all the details:

A big THANK YOU to Antonis for joining us 

as our September Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Antonis' creation

and that you will play along with our September Main Challenge.

You have until September 30th to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on SOLANGE MARQUES

We have another fabulous Guest Designer to showcase for you this month,

and we know that you will love her!

Solange Marques is a wonderful mixed media artist whose 

professional training and background show in all her creations!

She definitely knows how to tell a story through her art

and her way with paints and other mediums allow her

to create glorious masterpieces whether they be layouts,

canvas or art journal pages.  A true artist, she sure is!

Let's learn a little more about Solange through her own words:

Hi! My name is Solange Marques. I live in the South of Brazil and I've been in love with scrapbooking since 2004. I am married to John for over 33 years and have 5 children and 2 grandchildren. They are always present in my creations.

I graduated in Architecture and Fine Arts, and perhaps that explains my huge passion for paint and their constant presence in my projects. I worked in a bank as a jewelry appraiser for 27 years until last month, and today I am retired 

and I can now create full-time.

In my scrapbooking art, I love mixing techniques, mainly involving paints and textures (watercolor, acrylic paint, modeling paste, and a lot of mediums). 

I consider myself a mixed media artist and I love the artsy style!

You can visit Solange at the following links:

BLOG  -  FACEBOOK  -  INSTAGRAM

Here is a reminder of our August Main Challenge HARMONY & SONG LYRICS

followed by the beautiful project that Solange has designed for us!

Read below as Solange describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

I love the word HARMONY which to me means balance, proportion, agreement, 

and I have tried to incorporate these elements into my art journal pages. 

Music is one of my great passions. LYRICal music gives me peace and 

balance. In other words, it gives me harmony. All this is connected, 

and I tried to transmit these sensations in my project.

What gorgeous art journal pages Solange has created using watercolor, 

stamping and image transfer techniques.  The music notes 

are the perfect addition for our creative challenge and you can 

just feel the harmony that was involved in her entire creative process 

just by looking at her art journal spread.

 

Here are some close-ups of Solange's creation:

A big THANK YOU to Solange for joining us as our August Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Solange's creation

and that you will play along with our August Main Challenge.

You have until August 31st to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on MISSY WHIDDEN

Are you ready to be wowed by yet another fabulous Guest Designer

here on the More Than Words blog?!

This artist's creations are bold, bright, whimsy, fun.

She loves playing with paints, watercolors, gelatos

and has the midas touch when die cutting patterned papers.

We know that you will absolutely love her!

So with no further ado, here she is...

We are so happy to have Missy Whidden with us this month,

because the moment that we thought up our EXPLORE & ARROWS challenge,

we knew that we wanted her to be our Special Guest.  It is a perfect match!

Let's learn a little more about Missy through her own words:

Hello fellow scrappy friends! I'm Missy Whidden from sunny Florida, USA.  

I've been married to Marshall for over 17 years, and we have 2 silly little girls. 

 I've been scrapbooking for over 10 years, and I dearly love it!  I love incorporating 

mixed media products and techniques to my layouts.  Watercolors, gelatos and 

paints are my favorite. I also love using my Silhouette Cameo 

to create fun die cuts and sewing on my projects. 

When I'm not scrapping, I'm a fitness instructor.  I love helping people get 

and stay healthy through exercise.  I also love to travel, read 

and spend time with my family.  

Thank you so much for having me as a Guest Designer!

You can visit Missy at the following links:

BLOG  -  YOUTUBE  -  INSTAGRAM  -  PINTEREST  -  FACEBOOK

Here is a reminder of our July Main Challenge EXPLORE & ARROWS

followed by the beautiful layout that Missy has designed for us!

Read below as Missy describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

I was inspired by both the word EXPLORE and the ARROWS 

creative challenge for this project. 

I immediately thought of creating a travel themed layout, and I wanted to incorporate a fun arrow cut file that I've been itching to use for a while. 

My husband and I were out exploring St. Maarten during vacation, 

and the arrows were the perfect design element.  The cut file is 

from the Just Nick store, and I cut it on a colorful 

Simple Stories patterned paper.  I went with this collection 

because it matches my photo perfectly.  

I used some gesso and watercolors on my background to give 

some depth and more color.  I had a white puffy sticker in my stash

 for the title, so I used it up.  I embellished with lots of die cuts, 

stickers, enamel dots, sequins, wood veneer and thread.  I love 

being inspired by challenges, and this one was a lot of fun!

How wonderful and pretty is this layout?

We agree with Missy that the arrow cut file that she chose turned out 

to be the perfect focal point for her page and our creative challenge.  

Her combination of colours go so well with the photo

of Missy and her hubby EXPLORING the world!

Here are some close-ups of Missy's page:

A big THANK YOU to Missy for joining us as our July Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Missy's creation

and that you will play along with our July Main Challenge.

You have until July 31st to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on OLGA HELDWEIN

It is time for us to feature another fabulous Guest Designer!

Because of the STEAMPUNK element of our Main Challenge this month,

we knew that we had to find a designer who would be able to WOW you 

with her steampunk abilities, and one name came to mind right away...

Olga Heldwein is a true mixed media artist with a touch of vintage and industrial 

combined with beautiful and sometimes dark overtones. Her style, as well as 

her ever growing presence on the international scrapbooking scene, is definitely 

admirable and inspiring, and that is why we just had to have her as our June Guest.

Now let's learn a little more about Olga through her own words:

Hello all More Than Words fans!

I'm Olga, a Polish woman living in Berlin.  Ever since I discovered scrapbooking,

I've been totally addicted, and now I spend hours splashing and splattering ink.

I'm always on the lookout for something new, testing new supplies,

new tools and finding new ways of using my 'old' art stash.

My work is either steampunk-y with lots of shiny and metallic objects,

or clean and bright with lots of white space, but always with a vintage feel.

As time has gone on, I gravitated towards mixed media, and now gesso

and gel mediums are always on my work table.

You can visit Olga at the following links:

BLOG  -  FACEBOOK  -  YOUTUBE  -  INSTAGRAM

Here is a reminder of our June Main Challenge FATHER & STEAMPUNK

followed by the wonderful layout that Olga has designed for us!

Read below as Olga describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she chose to incorporate our creative challenge:

First of all, let me just say that it is such an honor to be 

in the spotlight this month here on More Than Words blog, 

and it was really a pleasure to take on this awesome challenge!

Inspired by the word, I created a layout with a very special photo of my Dad.

This is my first time scrapbooking a picture of my FATHER as his photos

have extra personal value for me.  We had an amazing connection 

and the quote that I chose for my page speaks so true to my heart.

To STEAMPUNK my layout, you can see that I added 

lots and lots of metallic accents as in clock faces, gears, cogs, 

buckles, wires, and more.  I also used a lot of my favorite mediums and techniques

and had a lot of messy fun with this page.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope that you will all try out this challenge!

My fingers are crossed for all of you as I know that there are fabulous prizes

up for grabs and I wish you as much creative fun as I had.  

Have a nice and creative day!

We told you that we had found the perfect 'steampunk' designer, didn't we?

Olga sure didn't disappoint with her rusty mechanical composition

on this very special tribute layout to her father.  We also absolutely love

the quote that she chose to add to her page - it is so very fitting to our word!

Here are some close-ups of her work:

A big THANK YOU to Olga for joining us as our June Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Olga's creation

and that you will play along our June Main Challenge, if not already done.

You have until June 30th to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on TUSIA LECH

We  have a very special guest this month to introduce to you,

although she surely needs no introduction!

Tusia Lech plays a very special part in the More Than Words community 

because as owner of 7 Dots Studio, she has been one of our very generous 

sponsors from the very beginning and a tremendous support.

Through her amazing art and her keen eye for marketing fabulous products,

she is a true inspiration to so many in every sense of the word.

Let's learn a bit more about Tusia through her own words:

Scrapbooking fills my whole life!  It is all around me - in my private life and in my job career, as I am the owner of 7 Dots Studio and also an eager scrapbooker. I love the process of creation.  I have created things since early childhood; all kinds of handmade things always attracted me. I cannot imagine my life without making some art. Even if I leave for a weekend, I always take my small 'art-bag', 

filled with art-journal supplies.

I love all kinds of media. If I would have to define my style, I would say that mixed media is the only constant thing. My favorite colours are fresh, bold greens, blues and pinks, but at the same time I just love delicate, pale hues of beige, rose and white. However, there is something that can always be found in my projects - 

a positive, feminine style.

I am lucky enough to be a designer in several creative places.  I also love drinking coffee, reading books, walking through the forest, watching flowers on the meadow, basking in the Autumn sun and being deep in my inner world. I can say that I am a happy person and wouldn't change a single thing in my life.

You can visit Tusia at the following link:

BLOG  -  FACEBOOK  -  INSTAGRAM

YOUTUBE  -  PINTEREST

Here is a reminder of our May Main Challenge MOTHER & FLOWERS

followed the stunning project that it inspired Tusia to create!

Read below how Tusia describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and  how she incorporated our creative challenge:

The word MOTHER immediately made me think of Mother Earth!

I love FLOWERS. In my garden there are many of them - among others, tulips. For me, they are the symbol of Spring and they come in so many different shapes and colours. I think the photo I used for this layout was taken last Spring. Tulips are in a vase on my table almost every day throughout March and April. Loving Mother Earth gives us flowers and so many other things that make our days sweeter and brighter. We should all be thankful and treat our home - the Earth - 

with the utmost care and kindness.

For this particular layout, I have used the Writer's Block collection from 7 Dots Studio (it matched perfectly with the background of the board image) and a load of mixed media products, mostly from Finnabair: waxes, glass beads, mica powders, 

micro beads, gel medium, some mechanicals, etc.

Now don't you agree that Tusia has interpreted our challenge perfectly?

We love her different take on the word - the 'Mother Earth' theme is so brilliant -

and we couldn't love any more her choice of photo (bright vivid tulips) 

on the contrasting dark grey background full loaded with depth and texture. 

Truly stunning work!

Here are some close-ups:

A big THANK YOU to Tusia for joining us as our May Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Tusia's creation

and you will play along with our May Main Challenge if not already done.

You have until May 31st to link up!

Special Guest Spotlight on JAYA RAGHUVANSHI

This month's incredibly talented Special Guest Designer will be sure 

to inspire you, and with no further ado, here she is!!

Jaya Raghuvanshi is well known in the international scrapbooking community 

for her gorgeous mixed media style and use of stunning images

and creative compositions filled with lots of beautiful embellishments.

We all have been admiring her work for a while, and we are 

absolutely thrilled that she agreed to be our April Special Guest!

Let's learn a bit more about Jaya as she introduces herself:

Hello friends! My name is Jaya Raghuvanshi from Mumbai, India. 

I am a mixed media style scrapbooker and I love playing with colours,

textures and different mediums. Mixed media gives me the freedom to go wrong, 

make mistakes, learn and create... and that is why I am so hooked on it!

I am currently designing for some wonderful papercrafting teams

including my all time favorite... Prima Marketing Inc.

Apart from papercrafts, I also love travelling and photography.

I would like to thank More Than Words for having me!

You can find my work here:

BLOG  -  FACEBOOK  -  INSTAGRAM  -  YOUTUBE

Here is a reminder of our April DREAM & BLACK/WHITE +1 challenge

followed by Jaya's wonderful layout inspired by it.

Below Jaya describes in her own words how she was inspired

by our word and how she incorporated our creative challenge:

I was really inspired by this month's challenge image.  

The zebra stripe pattern is one of my favourites and I love how well 

it goes with my cute black and white baby photo.  This was my primary

inspiration for this page.  I love the word inspiration for the month, DREAM,

and I used it as my title as it goes perfectly with the adorable sleeping baby.

I incorporated tons of Prima Marketing flowers and media. Teal is my favourite colour

so I used it as my extra to the BLACK/WHITE creative challenge palette.

I added a little teal on the background as well for some contrast.

The white flower centers have been misted with the same colour.

I love how this page turned out and I hope you like it too!

Oh, we do not only like Jaya's layout... we adore it!

She has captured the black and white contrast brilliantly

and couldn't have opted for a more beautiful colour accent.

Plus, that sleeping baby photo is just perfect for this month's word!

Here are some close-ups:

A big THANK YOU to Jaya for joining us as our April Special Guest!

We hope that you will take inspiration from Jaya's creation

and you will play along with our April Main Challenge if not already done so.

You have until April 30th to link up!