CHAPTER 7: Text as Nonsense Week 2

Alice didn't dare to argue the point, but went on: `-- and I thought I'd try and find my way to the top of that hill -- ' `When you say "hill,"' the Queen interrupted, `I could show you hills, in comparison with which you'd call that a valley.' `No, I shouldn't,' said Alice, surprised into contradicting her at last: `a hill can't be a valley, you know. That would be nonsense -- ' The Red Queen shook her head, `You may call it "nonsense" if you like,' she said, ` but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!' -- Chapter 2, Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.

Using text as pattern is a trend right now that I really love. Your challenge is to use text as nonsense - not to read but as pattern on your project! Of course you can still have words or sentiments, but we also need to see text used in a non-reading way. I have a stack of old books and dictionaries that I use for this purpose.

Our sponsor is Stamp Attack, a British company that is well known (among other things) for their fantastic Alice stamp plates which have sold to customers all over the world. In fact, Helena Bonham Carter, the actress who played the Red Queen in the Tim Burton Alice movie, purchased sets of Alice stamps from Stamp Attack, which were then delivered to the studio!  Enabler alert: Stamp Attack offers speedy worldwide shipping for only £1 on unmounted stamp orders, so go on and check out their beautiful stamps!

The winner will receive a Stamp Attack gift certificate for £13.50, which is equivalent to one of the stamp plates that the design team will be using!

You have until Friday, September 23 to enter your creation and the winner and honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday of the month, September 25.  All kinds of projects are welcome, they do not have to be "altered art" and as always, entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland are given two chances instead of one in the random prize drawing. You may enter multiple times as long as each project is on a separate post.

We are also saying goodbye to our  current crop of guest designers, so please leave them some special love this month as their projects have been FABULOUS! Thanks so much ladies, you have added so much to The Altered Alice! And stay tuned, there will be some special design team announcements next month too!

And now for my bit of inspiration for this challenge--

My project this month is a box of notecards. I just thought that with a challenge of text, a box of notecards was perfect. I made the box using a piece of Club Scrap paper which has faint text all over it. It is almost impossible to see on the scan, but it's there. The pattern for the box is from the Fancy Folds and Motion Paper Crafts CD from Technique Junkies. To embellish the box I stamped the word Nonsense (TJ Designs) around the four sides and added punched spades and clubs. On the top of the box is a stamped frog messenger (Stamp Attack) holding an envelope. He was cut out and adhered to a panel with some of the words from Jabberwocky--how much more nonsense can we get.
There are 12 notecards in the box. Four are stamped with Alice, four with the Mad Hatter, and four with the rabbit. (All these stamps are from Stamp Attack). I love these silhouette stamps with the words running across them. To finish the cards, I masked the character and stamped a border using a Club Scrap stamp and the sentiment "Curiouser and Curiouser" (Oxford Impressions) across the card. Not only do I have a cool Alice project, but it's practical too.