Topic 5: Deconstruction Hi everyone, It's Leandra back again to share the next Topic of 2015 with you. Now I will admit, this one had our designers stumped initially...they were like WHAT??? But if you put a bit of thought into it you will come up with some amazing ideas I am sure... and having had a sneaky look at the posts to come in the next 2 weeks, they certainly HAVE done that! For deconstruction, you might use a product for something it totally was not designed for....for example...do you remember when Julie-Ann made this for a Christmas gift ??? ...do you remember it started out like this....made from Amazon book packaging?? Exactly THAT kind of deconstruction is one option you could explore....but it can be as simple as tearing card or ripping corrugated card.... shredding paper to use as hair...but it might be as complicated as re-purposing tubes, cartons or containers into something totally different. In other words take an object or items and change it somehow by deconstructing and reconstructing...get it??? At heart I think we are all into altering objects in lots of ways, so I really think that you will get into this topic the more you think about it. On the face of it is seems a tad tricky...but when you open your fridge, you are going to start looking at your throw-away containers in a whole different way! But first, here is Darcy to announce the challenge winner for Topic 4: Miniature Art. Hi everyone, Darcy here. Wow! The Mini Art challenge seemed to get your thinking hats on! Again, we love to see all that you have been making, from hanging items, jewellery, shrink plastic was popular, and lots of amazing mini books. Altering playing cards was an idea that popped up... of course, that would fit into the coming deconstruction topic too! Also ribbon reels, stampbord and dominoes, so many little treasures to play with. Sooooo, the winning name from Topic 4: Miniature Art...goes to... Hazel from Mellifluous Meanderings To claim your £50 voucher, please email me, Darcy with your details to [email protected] and I'll explain how you claim your prize. Thanks Darcy for drawing the prize winner, and well done to our latest winner Hazel!!! so....it's Leandra back for the rest of this post to chat some more about possible 'deconstruction' ideas with you. Here's a video to kick things off... Many of us might have started into this crafting lark by making cards, or scrapbooking our memories, but how long did it take you to start altering other unusual objects with paint and ink??? The essence of this topic is to change or alter something into something else, or adapt part of it into another project... How many objects and containers have you got sitting around just waiting for you to change them somehow? ... Like there are a million things you can do with Vintage Teacups...candles are a very popular option for instance. Or a succulent mini garden... There is a whole article here on easy to do re-purposing...I was so taken by these simple yet very effective light-bulb vases... Speaking of glass, there are lots of bottle ideas on pinterest too... such as... making tumbler glasses from beer bottles... how about painting your vases from the inside... or making light fittings from coloured glass bottles... or even crystal carafes can look so elegant... And here's another great tutorial on how to decorate in a more nautical theme with twine... This one has been painted and sanded back to reveal the darker paint or perhaps dark glass underneath How about some dip-dyed tin cans..more ideas with tins here... OK so here's a weird one...doll parts...thinking Darcy will like this one... check out the artist and many more examples here... Recycling materials...especially corrugated card is stuff we are all addicted to!!! Here is a really cool mannequin made from corrugated card I really love this idea, and its not difficult to achieve either, layers of paint onto corrugated car, chop up, tear, re-arrange...lots of fun! Or how about these cork charms? I could go on forever showing you all sorts of great ideas, but why not take a look at my Pinterest page for the Topic 5: deconstruction here. I'll be adding to it lots over the next 2 weeks.. Have a great fortnight, and I really hope you find cool deliberately destructive ideas!! Go on...be a rebel! ~ Leandra We would love you to join in with challenge #5: Deconstruction. Feel free to join in and share your destructive-creative ideas over the next 2 weeks and link up your creativity to this page. All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher (including postage) to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. This link is open from Sunday March 8th and will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, March 22nd, 2015. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00. 1. The challenge is a chance for you to show how you have been inspired by a particular technique of the fortnight. Your entry should contain: - a mention of which post inspired you and why, and - a link in your blog post to that original post on the PA blog. The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog, don't feel obliged to copy an idea exactly, but if you prefer to replicate, of course that is fine too. We love to see how you are inspired! 2. The link you put on our linky page must lead directly to the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. Don't link to the home page of your blog, or we will be unable to find the post to leave you comments. 3. Spam links will be deleted. 4. We prefer your challenge post is created exclusive to our challenge. Multiple challenge links in one blog post often creates a conflict of interest between the different challenge hosts. 5. You are most welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - but of course it's lovely when you do! 6. You can enter as many times as you like in the fortnight. We don't want to restrict your creativity or participation! Link closes at 17:00 Sunday March 22nd. 7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website, the credit includes VAT and postage. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total should not exceed £50 8. Each Sunday fortnight the winner will be announced at 19:00, also, in the same post, the link for the next fortnight will be posted. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy: email her [email protected] Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!