WELCOME

The Roman poet Horace is attributed with saying that a picture is a poem without words. Well, that's what we like to think too, although some words will be allowed (what's a card without the occasional sentiment). Welcome to the Without Words Challenge where we want you to create clean and simple cards, focusing on the image without the distractions of too many embellishments. We hope you enjoy this challenge as much as we do!

OUR CHALLENGE

THE WITHOUT WORDS CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSED

Monday 3 December 2012

DECEMBER - Monochrome Christmas

Hello again Artists!  Welcome to our fourth monthly challenge where we like to play WITHOUT WORDS - we were thrilled to see you enjoying our November Bright Colours challenge so much, and we hope that you will enjoy this one too!

This month, which is DECEMBER, our challenge is MONOCHROME CHRISTMAS.

A quick word about Monochrome - the strict definition of it is tones and shades of just one colour BUT, we will make an exception for skin and hair only.  However, if you want to brave the full monty then we would be more than pleased.  If any other colours are seen sneaking in then we will have to discount your entry.

We've had a few entries that are really not complying with our CAS ethos and it is such a shame to have to ignore such gorgeous creations because someone hasn't bothered to check what is acceptable.  It really is simple, all we are asking for is
A CLEAN AND SIMPLE CARD
WITH THE FOCUS ON A HAND COLOURED IMAGE
with MINIMAL or NO embellishments.
Sentiments are allowed.
Follow the theme for the month.

Right then, nagging over, let's get back to the fun.  Last month I mentioned some exciting news ... when the challenge started it was a for-fun-only challenge but I am thrilled to share with you that we now have a wonderful collection of sponsors on board for the coming year and, this month, we are proud to start the sponsorship with:

offering a prize of two digital images


Designer of over 100 theatrical productions, Rick St Dennis (Donald McAfee) is also the author of 4 books on decorative painting and contributor to at least a dozen national magazines on crafts and art.  He is one of a handful of designers to have designed TWO productions of AIDA, Verdi's massive Egyptian opera spectacle.  Currently living in the quiet beach comminuity of Seal Beach, California he writes restaurant reviews and theatre reviews between assignments for web designs, logos and creating art for local shows.  St. Dennis has appeared on such TV shows as Home Matters with Susan Powell, Aileen's Crafts and others.  He was Crafts editor for Country Folk Art Magazine and sold his artwork nationally through galleries and shows.  Among numerous awards he won a presidential commendation in 1976 for his contributions to the bicentennial year including the design of the west coast premier of William Grant Still's opera BAYOU LEGEND.


We are looking forward to seeing what you make of this one and viewing your fabulous Christmas creations.  Please remember to follow our CAS definition and the theme of this months challenge for your entry to be a valid one, and we are going to be strict on this.

Once again, our very talented Design Team have created their usual high standard of magic to inspire you, some of whom have used a couple of Rick's images to fire your imaginations.  An awful lot of time is spent by the team in creating these mini works of art so don't forget that it would be nice if you have time to visit their individual blogs and share the love.



DELPHINE
Feeling poorly so not able to join us.  Get well soon hunny!

LISA







And just before we go, the Winner and Top 3 for November have been posted on our Without Word Stars  of the Month page - don't forget to pop back and check it out, it could be you!

The most important thing to remember?  Relax and have fun with colour!

The December challenge will end at 6.00pm (UK time) on 30 December so we would like to take this early opportunity to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!  See you all again in 2013!

Squirrel and the Without Words Team


LINKY TOOL HELP

The one thing that we all have problems with from time to time is the link tool going missing.  If you find that this has disappeared from the challenge, please try refreshing your page.  If the link tool still does not appear then you can link your entry via your comment.  The HTML code for linking your entry will be:
<a href="link to post"/>text to be seen</a>  
If you are still not sure, here is an example of what it should look like
<a href="http://squirrel10.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/luv-ya.html"/>here is my entry</a>
(just copy and paste the address bar from your published post)
The space between the first <a and href=, and a space after the last a>
are essential for the link to work.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REMEMBER
A CAS card with focus on the hand coloured image
Minimal or no embellishments
Sentiments are allowed

Monday 5 November 2012

November: Whizz Bang (BRIGHT colours)

Hello Artists!  Welcome to another monthly challenge where we like to play WITHOUT WORDS - we have been thrilled to see you enjoying our fun challenges so much, and we hope that you will enjoy this one too!

You may have noticed that we have changed our date - from now on we will be posting on the first Monday of each month.

This month, which is NOVEMBER, our challenge is WHIZZ BANG!  So, what are we looking for? BRIGHT COLOURS, lots of zing and zap, think fireworks!  Your image does not have to be firework themed, but you should use bright colours.

We are looking forward to seeing what you make of this one and viewing your fabulous creations.

We've had a few problems with some entrants not reading the challenge or not following the CAS ethos.  Please remember to follow our CAS definition (set out for you at the top of the blog) and the theme of this months challenge for your entry to be a valid one.  It is upsetting for us to have to discount anyone, especially when your work is so gorgeous.

Our very talented Design Team (the Magnificent Seven) have created their usual high standard of magic to inspire you.  An awful lot of time is spent by the team in creating these mini works of art so don't forget that it would be nice if you have time to visit their individual blogs and share the love.














And just before we go, the Winner and Top 3 for last month have been posted on our Without Word Stars Of The Month page - don't forget to pop over and check it out, it could be you!

The most important thing to remember?  Relax and have fun with colour!

Next month, as well as a brand new challenge on 3 December, we will have some exciting news for you...

Squirrel and the Without Words Team

The November challenge will close at 6.00pm (UK time) on 29 November


LINKY TOOL HELP

The one thing that we all have problems with from time to time is the link tool going missing.  If you find that this has disappeared from the challenge, please try refreshing your page.  If the link tool still does not appear then you can link your entry via your comment.  The HTML code for linking your entry will be:
<a href="link to post"/>text to be seen</a>  
If you are still not sure, here is an example of what it should look like
<a href="http://squirrel10.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/luv-ya.html"/>here is my entry</a>
(just copy and paste the address bar from your published post)
The space between the first <a and href=, and a space after the last a>
are essential for the link to work.



Saturday 3 November 2012

October Winners

The Winner and Top 3 for October are now
posted on our Stars Of The Month page

Check it out - it could be you!

We'll be back on Monday 5 November with our new challenge

See you Monday!
Hugs, Squirrel xx

Monday 15 October 2012

October Midway Reminder

Just popping in with a mid-month reminder for our October challenge at WITHOUT WORDS which is focusing on the darker colours this month - it doesn't have to be Halloween so long as you are using the right colours, purples, blues, blacks, reds etc.

If you haven't played along with us yet then we would like to see a CAS card featuring a handcoloured image.  Sentiments are fine, but minimal embellishments (or none at all) 


A very simple 6x4 card using a Stampavie (Gillian Roberts) image, painted in Distress Inks (ReInkers) and teamed with First Edition: DreamCatcher papers.



We will be changing our date next month from the 1st to the first Monday - so our next challenge will post on Monday 5th November.

Hugs, Sxx

Thursday 4 October 2012

September Winners

Our September Winner, Top 3 and Special Mentions
are posted on our page for
 
It could be you .....!

Monday 1 October 2012

October Challenge: Things That Go Bump!

Hello Artists!  Welcome to another monthly challenge where we like to play WITHOUT WORDS - we have been thrilled to see you enjoying our first fun challenge so much and we would like to thank everyone who ventured into the world of CAS cards - some of you for the very first time.  We hope that you will enjoy this month's challenge too!  We'll be back in a couple of days with news on our Winner and Top 3 although the choices will be hard to make.

So, this month, which is OCTOBER, our challenge is THINGS THAT GO BUMP:  Think Halloween, think darker colours, think magic.  Lots of options but basically we'd like something using the darker shades - purple, blue, black, red ...... not an easy one but I am sure you will do us proud.

We are looking forward to seeing what you make of this one and viewing your fabulous creations.  Please remember to follow our CAS definition (see top of the blog) and the theme of this months challenge for your entry to be a valid one.

The members of our very talented Design Team had a lot of fun with this one and have created their usual high standard of awesomeness to inspire you.  An enormous amount of time is spent by the team in creating these mini works of art so don't forget that it would be nice if you have time to visit their individual blogs and share the love.

Coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers
and a close up of the image



CURLYBEAR
and a close up of the image













The most important thing to remember?  Relax and have fun with colour!  Looking forward to your entries.

Squirrel and the Without Words Team
xxx
------------------------------------

LINKY TOOL HELP

The one thing that we all have problems with from time to time is the link tool going missing.  If you find that this has disappeared from the challenge, please try refreshing your page.  If the link tool still does not appear then you can link your entry via your comment.  The HTML code for linking your entry will be:
<a href="link to post"/>text to be seen</a>  
If you are still not sure, here is an example of what it should look like
<a href="http://squirrel10.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/luv-ya.html"/>here is my entry</a>
(just copy and paste the address bar from your published post)
The space between the first <a and href=, and a space after the last a>
are essential for the link to work.

-----------------------------------------------------


SEPTEMBER'S WINNER AND TOP 3 WILL BE POSTED ON OUR
STARS OF THE MONTH PAGE
ON 3RD OCTOBER 2012

Saturday 1 September 2012

September Challenge: Autumn

Hello Artists!  A very warm welcome to our first ever WITHOUT WORDS monthly challenge where we like to play WITHOUT WORDS - we would be thrilled to see you enjoying our fun colour challenges and really hope that you will enjoy this one!

We would be grateful if you will take just a moment to familiarise yourselves with our blog, our CAS ethos (above) and, of course, the dreaded Rules.

For our first month, which is SEPTEMBER, our challenge is:

AUTUMN: A season of mellow fruitfulness and rich, warm, colours.

We are looking forward to seeing what you make of this one and viewing your fabulous creations.  Please remember to follow our CAS definition and the theme of this months challenge for your entry to be a valid one.  Your entry must be handcoloured but can be stamped or digi.

Our very talented Design Team (the Magnificent Seven) have created an amazingly high standard of magic to inspire you.  An awful lot of time is spent by the team in creating these mini works of art so don't forget that it would be nice if you have time to visit their individual blogs and share the love.






(up to her elbows in harvest and unable to join us this month)








And just before we go, the Winner and Top 3 will be posted on our Stars Of The Month  page a couple of days after the next challenge starts - don't forget to pop back and check it out, it could be you!

The most important thing to remember?  Relax and have fun with colour!  The challenge closes at 6.00pm (UK time) on 30 September 2012.

Squirrel and the Without Words Team xx


LINKY TOOL HELP

The one thing that we all have problems with from time to time is the link tool going missing.  If you find that this has disappeared from the challenge, please try refreshing your page.  If the link tool still does not appear then you can link your entry via your comment.  The HTML code for linking your entry will be:
<a href="link to post"/>text to be seen</a>  
If you are still not sure, here is an example of what it should look like
<a href="http://squirrel10.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/luv-ya.html"/>here is my entry</a>
(just copy and paste the address bar from your published post)
The space between the first <a and href=, and a space after the last a> are essential for the link to work.


Saturday 25 August 2012

One Week And Counting

It's only one week to go now before the first challenge and official launch of Without Words!  The team are busy beavering away getting colourful and we really do hope you will pop over and join us next Saturday.

LOTV Teddy With Penguin
Painted in Distress Inks (ReInkers) by Squirrel

My new stamps arrived yesterday and I just could not resist having a play this morning - if you would like to see the finished card please join me in SQUIRREL'S WORLD!

See you next week.

Hugs Sxx

Monday 20 August 2012

Black and White Tilda

Hello all! It's Delphine here today to share a very CAS card, well... a framed very CAS card, focussing on a black and white image! Here it is...


I have masked two Magnolia stamps, Tilda and Wiola and the Boutique stamp, then coloured my little scene with Copics (C0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, Blender), and voilà! 


We are all very excited (and nervous!) about our first challenge, starting on September 1st, and we hope you will join us and colour with us! Thank you for popping by today!
Hugs
Delphine xx

Thursday 16 August 2012

Play time with Prisma's....

Good Morning my lovelies, Bridget here I hope you are all well?
I have been colouring ...or at least trying to colour a Tilda all week but 
I haven't been able to get the creases right on her dress, so a little frustrated me
has put this on the back burner, I needed to get something coloured to feel positive 
so I thought that I would have a little play with my Prisma's and this is the finished image.

I used a Crafts and Me image, her name is Sadie's Dragon. I will make 

a card with it later, it was just nice to get the colouring finished.

So are you all looking forward to the 1st of September I am
its getting exciting now, I am so looking forward to coming around and 
looking at all of your projects and creations.
Have a fabulous Thursday my lovelies and I hope
the sun is shinning where you are. 
Thank you so much for stopping by
Hugs Bridget  

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Luv Ya

Hello All - I've been busy with Mo Manning rubber this weekend and I made this little cutie to show you

Mo Manning (Stampin Bella) Luv Ya
Painted in Distress Inks (ReInkers) by Squirrel

Isn't she such a doll?  I'm not sure how hard she is squeezing that teddy but at least he is still smiling!


Loving the new Distress Ink Summer Colours of Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry, and they were the perfect match for these Papermania roses papers.

Thanks for popping over
Hugs Sxx

Sunday 29 July 2012

Braid in my hair

Good morning all.I hope you are raring to join in with our challenge, only a few more weeks to go before it will be all systems go :D
The mega talented Squirrel asked me join her DT and of course i said yes, i just love to take a black and white image and colour it to life.
So today i have a simple card to share with you.apologies for the pics, i had to use auta adjust as i need to have a play around with my camera settings.
I have used  the image `braid in my hair` from  A day for daisies.
I have only used my grey promarkers and flexmarkers and my black and antique white.

                  I added a little doodling, stickles on the birds and just a few teeny star gems.

And a close up of the image, i wonder what she is thinking of?
Thanks so much for popping by and do keep your eyes peeled for more fabulous inspiration from the other DT girls :D
Happy Sunday
Hugs Coops.xx

Saturday 28 July 2012

My Little Tree

Just popping by to share a CAS Christmas card with you ....

LOTV My Little Tree
Painted by Squirrel - Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Yeah, I know, there's words, but the focus is on the image!


Five weeks to go to 1st September when we launch our very first challenge - getting nervous!

Hugs, Sxx

Thursday 26 July 2012

Good Evening Everybody

Hello lovelies and welcome to the new Without Words
challenge blog, its Bridget here with a gift bag I made for a 
friends birthday please excuse the very few embellishments
there are, its a rather big space to fill so I had to add a few flowers.

This blog is the lovely and very talented Squirrels baby.
I must say that it was a big Yes from me when she asked if 
I would be on the DT, it has given me the chance to work with some
extremely talented Ladies, with such a talent for colouring they
 will blow your mind.

So here is the gift bag ( I hope you are all still awake lol)

Here is a close up of Teya before I stuck her to the Gift bag
I used a combo of Copics and Polychromos pencils, I used the pencils
to cover some mistakes and to stop shine.
Have a lovely evening my lovelies and I hope that you are as excited as we are
about the 1st Of September and we hope to stop by your blogs and
see all of your amazing entries,
so until the 1st of September
take care for now
Hugs Bridget and the Without Words DT

Sunday 15 July 2012

Hanging In There

Fluffing Hanging In There
Wee Stamps - Sylvia Zet (Whimsy Stamps)
Painted by Squirrel in Distress Inks (ReInkers)


Tuesday 3 July 2012

Starting 1st September ......

Come and play WITHOUT WORDS with us
on 1 September

A new fun challenge where you can get
lost in colour


Painted in Distress Inks (ReInkers) by Squirrel
Image Sylvia Zet for SCACD "Poppy"