Gothic Arches

Before we get on started, we have a little business to take care of first.  Do you remember last week?  The Scrabble Tile Necklace?  The chance to win a prize?  Yes?  No?  Well, if you don’t remember, then you probably didn’t participate.  And if you did participate, I expect you would like to know who won.  Right?  Drum roll, please….coming to us from across the pond…..our winner……and c0-writer of OTDE……is no other than…….KERRY!  Congratulations Kerry.  (I will e-mail you to  get some information.)  Thanks to everyone who played along with us.

Onto my subject of the day. . .Gothic Arches, the paper type.

Over the years I have participated in different online artist groups.  Some have been manufacturer’s online communities and some have been participant challenges.  One of my favorite groups is Gothic Arches.   Like many groups, this one went away.  But, now it’s back!  And I’m really happy about it.

There are so many things I like about this group.  It’s organized and straight forward.  There’s a theme announced on Sunday and you have through Saturday to submit your work.  All work is created in the form of a gothic arch.  Arch patterns are available on the blog.  There are no obligations or strings attached.  You participate when you want and there’s nothing to buy.  The people who participate are creative and supportive, and they are from all over the world.  It’s a great group and a lot of fun.

When you participate in the week’s challenge, you create your piece based on the theme and you post it to your blog or photo site like Picasa or flickr.  Then you go to Gothic Arches blog and post your link.  Then the fun begins!  You start going to everyone’s blog and checking out their work.  It’s common courtesy to post something at each one.  The really neat thing is seeing each person’s artistic interpretation of the challenge.

Today I’m sharing one of my gothic arches.  The challenge was purple.  I did it a few years back and it just so happened that the challenge fell on the week of my birthday.  Since February’s birthstone is the amethyst, the purple theme was perfect for a February birthday.  It was just one of those projects were everything came together.

Here’s a quick run-down of the products and techniques I used to make my arch.   The majority of the products used are from Ranger unless otherwise noted.

Arch - Milled Lavender and  Dusty Concord Distress Ink; Wrinkle Free Distress technique; Chipboard Swirl – Milled Lavender Distress Crackle rubbed with Dusty Concord Distress Ink; Le Fleur – Eggplant and Cool Peri Dabbers/Covered with Crackle Glossy Accents; Scalloped Cut Circle – White Gloss Paper brayered with Dusty Concord Distress Ink/Spellbinder’s Scallop Circle Die; February Tag – White Gloss Paper brayered with Milled Lavender and stamped with Hero Arts alphabet set in Dusty Concord Distress Ink; “K” – White Gloss Paper inked with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and Embossed with Clear Embossing Powder, and the Cake is from Crafty Secrets – Highlighted with Eggplant Dimensional Pearls.

Do you have an online community or blog you participate in that you really like?  What is it?  I know the whole world doesn’t revolve around crafts.  Are there any cooking challenge blogs?  Or creative writing ones?

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