Nov. 15th, Prompt #31

Are you an optimist? Maybe you're a pessimist. Either way, we want to know...
THE PROMPT:
My Glass
THE SONG:
Thank You by Alanis Morissett
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Newspaper clipping
Please welcome JINGLE, our Guest Gutter Girl!! She rocked our prompt, as did the DT!! I can't tell you how much it makes me smile to see what everyone creates each week!! This week, I even managed to MAKE something!!
Jennifer

This prompt really caught me off guard actually. I love the song, so when I first red the prompt I expected that to carry my piece, but then when I sat down to create, the 'glass' portion of the prompt kept nagging at the back of my mind. The usual 'half full/ half empty' discussion was lingering there and I couldn't decide which half I I was leaning toward. That's when I realized that I didn't CARE if it was half full or half empty. My glass, is different. It's unique. The question is not whether or not it is full or empty, but rather which half? When you can bring yourself to the point of nothingness and silence, from that I find that you can discover clarity and in that clarity you are able to discover that which is uniquely you, hence the Latin at the bottom of the piece. And this is what keeps me coming back here to Gutter Girlz challenges. Creating isn't about showing your half full or half empty glass - it's all about expressing that which is unique to you. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be a part of this challenge!

Patti
I used a verse out of the song to get the emotion of this layout. I used his actual hospital braclet for this layout. I wish I had of kept the newspaper headline for this day. I would have used that for my newspaper clipping. Great challenge again Rachel

Glenda
When I hear those words from the song "how bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out" it makes me think right away of exploited women and children. I watched that movie called "Taken" and it has haunted me ever since. Women and children are being abused, molested and trafficked every single day and it breaks my heart. I can't imagine what life is like for some of these people and I can only hope and pray it gets put to an end. No one deserves to be the property of another.

Kristy
I guess mine is a lil on the lighter side. We have gone thru so many tough times this year (will be very happy to see 2009 END) but we have a plan now and it seems like a new beginning. Even though it is taking FOREVER to get our lives turned around and past personal problems I think I can consider my glass half full now.

Becky
I used two lines from the song along the border of the layout. The lines reminded me of how I over come my fear and entered a local art show. I wanted to document this moment so that I can remind myself in the future that it is okay to be a little afraid but that you must try and try again.

Lara
Torn pieces of newspaper collaged on paper with a light wash of Gesso on it. Then i mixed acrylic paint and water and dripped from the edges - cool effect with the soppiness of the paper. Then i put my hand down and took paper towel and more white gesso and wiped it over my hand. Really pretty!

Kris

Nikki
instead of half empty! i cut out a template of a martini glass and then glimmer misted around it...added a whole bunch of other paint too.... Inside the glass I wrote a bunch of the the thank you's from Alanis' song. ( I absolutely love her by the way! her songs are perfect for prompts!)

Christi
A couple of months ago, a good friend of my son's passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. I knew when I saw the product for this challenge was a newspaper clipping that I could scrap a page about Matthew, using his obituary. This was a tough subject, but I'm glad I have those pics of the boys together, and had this chance to thank Matthew for his friendship.

Rachel
A couple years ago, some friends of mine stopped talking to me. It's taken me a few years, but I'm finally at a place where I can say THANK YOU. I'm truly better off without them... so I used this prompt to say that my optimism has SURVIVED. My glass remains half FULL. Even when I have felt like it was the other way around.

Susan
This prompt could have gone so many different ways for me. I think I might do a couple of more lo's just from the other ideas I have. I think the journaling says everything for me:
This used to be my glass: Margarita's, martini's, single malt scotch, or Red Bull & vodka. Now you're more likely to see me with a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. I looked for answers & oblivion in the bottom of my glass for YEARS, but all it brought me closer to was the porcelain god & self-loathing & depression. It also made me a 'glass half empty' kind of girl. Putting the glass down, stepping away from the bar and staying out of the bar made me a 'glass half full' kinda girl.

Don't forget to leave us a LINK in your comment to be entered to win our PRIZE, or a spot as our NEXT guest Gutter Girl!!

End of the Month MOJO Oct '09

One of the things we hope everyone understands with our prompts, is that they REALLY ARE for everyone!! When we say we want to see your creations, we mean CREATIONS!! Whatever you are inspired to create by us. This month, Becky asked a digital scrapper to join us for inspiration!!

Rachel Houghton (aka rh_scrapbooker) has been a scrapbooker since 1999. She switched to digital scrapbooking in 2005. As a technical writer outside the scrapbooking world, her layouts are often crisp, clean, and simple with plenty of white space She is a serious amateur photographer who totes around two cameras most of the time - her trusty Nikon D100 digital SLR and her Nikon Coolpix L15 (her "stealth" camera). She just celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary with DH Bob, and they spoil three cats shamelessly (Murphy, Willow, and Cleo). She has been a member of the digital creative team on the Ready, Set, Create e-zine since the Mar/April 2009 issue, and was published in the fall 2005 issue of Digital Scrapbooking magazine.

You can see some of her digital layouts and a LOT of her layouts on Flickr:
We hope you feel inspired to make our prompt YOUR own. HERE's our current prompt, and more inspiration for you... Leave us a link in your comments here on the blog, so we can visit your part of the gutter!!
PRIZE
Winner of our Design Team Sponsored prize from Christi, and Coffee's Shoppe is:
ladybrayton71 said... ok. I used a bra strap! Here's my take on the prompt. enjoy!
LadyB, please use the contact button in the left sidebar, and put DT PRIZE in your subject line! Send your mailing information, so I can pass it on to Christi!!
Winner of our bonus prize from DIRTY LAUNDRY is:
Nikki said... THANK U for this prompt! it was perfect for me and i fell SOOOO much better now! http://momagrln2k.blogspot.com/2009/09/im-in-gutter.html
Nikki, please use the contact button in the left sidebar, and put BONUS PRIZE in your subject line! Send your mailing information, so I can pass it on to Beth!!
Becky provided us with our next prize!! It's delish. I wish I was eligible to win!! Leaving a comment WITH A LINK TO YOUR CREATION in our Oct. prompt and our Nov. prompt (coming up on the 15th) will put you in the running for our random number generator to pick YOU as the winner!! (and puts you in the running to be invited to be our NEXT guest gutter girl.)

GUEST GUTTER GIRL
Jingle said... Thank you for an amazingly inspiring challenge! I love the DT work! Here is my take: You Want To Spread Your Wings
Jingle, we'd LOVE to have you as our guest gutter girl for our upcoming prompt on Nov. 15th!! Please send us an email using the link in our left sidebar and let us know if you are able to be our guest!! Please put NOV GUEST in your subject line.

October 15th, Prompt #30

Thanks for letting me be your monthly guest designer - it was really fun! :D
THIRTY!?!? We're at THIRTY!? SO totally COOL.
This month's prompt is a little on the softer side... I hope you'll take a moment to create something and expose a little of your more vulnerable side...
THE PROMPT:
Tender. Human.
THE SONG:
Afraid by Nelly Furtado
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Bra Straps
** NO ONE used a BRA STRAP on their projects!! I double dare you to do it!! (Nikki came the closest, with a photo and her bra showing in it)
WHAT WE DID:
(click on any photo to view it larger)
Our Guest Gutter Girl, Margrethe!!
I'm a 24 year old Norwegian woman studying for a MA in Art- and Cultural Studies. Married with two cats. I enjoy Guttergirlz because it's the only challenge blog I've found that lets me bring out all the nitty-gritty stuff in a positive way, and lets me do it as messy as I want to, when I want to. Guttergirlz has become very therapeutic for me as I've been going through an assessment process over the past year. The blog has given me an opportunity to sort that stuff out and be creative at the same time. It's excellent!

I asked Margrethe if she had one word of advice for someone new to scrapping or art, what would it be?
I wish the people I first got to know when I started scrapbooking in 2008 had showed me that it's okay to play with paint and glue, that not everything has to be "perfect" - I manage to think that well enough on my own ;P All joking aside, by experimenting with different techniques and styles, I hope I can show others that anything goes.
You can visit Margrethe on HER BLOG!!

Kristy
this LO is about how there are somethings that no matter how much they hurt they stay secret. You'd think you'd get over them but you really don't. I placed the lyrics over the polaroid of me and my dad to make it seem like a running train of thought when I think about him.

Close up

Glenda
I used some of the lyrics for my title because since I was young my mom always taught us to be a leader, not a follower and to never be afraid to speak our minds. Because of this I learned not to care what other people think and to always speak up for myself and be my own person.

Patti
I decided to use the title Human and I used a verse out of the song. When I first read this prompt I knew exactly what I was going to do. This is my niece who is orphaned and I am always concerned she is not strong enough to deal with anymore that life throws at her! It was fun getting all dirty in the gutter this month. I pulled out my paint.

Becky
The lyrics of the song struck me just right as I am going through some difficult times with my daughter wanting to spread her wings and leave the nest. I just had to scrap the "moment" to remember those days when she loved being here at home.

Nikki
I kept going in all different directions with this one. A lot of the lyrics were appropriate for how I'm feeling lately...but because it's breast cancer awareness month, I went with this pic and there is hope for a cure for the title...

Susan
I LOVED the words to this song. I knew as soon as I read them that they needed to be the majority of my lo. I decided to change the 'you' to 'I' because it reminds me of when I was drinking and using. ESPECIALLY the 3rd paragraph. As an addict you always think that if everyone else would just change then the situation/world would be so much better. But AA teaches me that I have to be the change. That I'm the problem in my life. Even though you know your life is a mess it's hard to let go of that because that's all you know. But somehow, thru the grace of God, I would always find a way to pull myself back up again.

Lara
For some reason I was having so much trouble coming up with a layout idea because every time i thought of the word "human" i thought of the word "soul" which in turn made me think of U2 (ok, fine what doesn't make me think of U2 these days?) which in turn made me think of the song "Elevation" and how every time i get to experience that song live (which is 7 times now, I guess?) it catapults my soul out of my body and i don't feel like i am in a physical human body anymore. Jumping and singing "ooohhh hoooo" with 60,000+ people is absolutely electrifying! At this point I'm thinking I should rename my art journal "u2 lyric journal" but.... yeah... heh.

So, i went with the lyric and gathered some found objects since i've been cleaning out all my art stuff in preparation of purging for the move.

• The green background is this canvas that the creative team at my work used for a presentation recently and i said "don't throw those scraps away!!!!" so they gave them to me.
• The caution tape comes from the meadowlands parking lot in new jersey (what trash?),
• the screen is still yet more screen from my old back porch,
• there's a sticker under there you can barely see that has two red arrows and says "this way up" that a friend of mine who works in a warehouse gave me a roll of,
• the dragonfly came from some swap or kit that i never thought i would use cause i thought it was kinda cheesy AND
• the text comes from an old old old children's story book i've been holding onto to scared to cut into but i finally dove into it last night and was tickled pink to find this story about a little airplane afraid to fly and the paper is so fragile and smells so ... old.
• Oh and my handwriting is on electrical tape!

Close up

Post a comment with a link to your Gutter Inspired creations from our Sept. 15th Prompt, and the upcoming Oct. 15th Prompt, and be entered to win one of these TWO prizes, as well as be submitted to be chosen for our next GUEST!!
BONUS PRIZE SPONSOR
Is Beth's Shop DIRTY LAUNDRY!! When we draw our winners next month, we'll give away a prize sponsored by Dirty Laundry to a second lucky girl!! The winner will be getting a handmade yoyo necklace (the one beth is wearing in her photo above!)

OUR DT Sponsored PRIZE
Thanks to CHRISTI, who is offering a prize from her etsy shop Coffee's Shoppe!! This prize is her Autumn Mini Kit!!