Slice and Dice Projects Are Coming In! If you are working on yours and don't want to "peek," then wait until you are finished before you: Click Here We are leaving the instructions below in case you are just now getting the time and/or the enthusiasm for this project. It has been so much fun to see the different styles and interpretations. You won't want to miss it. Even if you look, give it a try.....yours will be substantially different from those already shown. Most samples have "how to" directions so you can get all the help you need. Even the weekend holiday may help inspire you. Fireworks are a great example of Slice 'n Dice possibilities. Have a Happy Fourth of July!!!

The JULY CHALLENGE!!! >>>  First....Check out Linda Blackbird's Slice and Dice Tutorial HERE! A      l   o   n   g      time ago (don't ask!) Linda sent gg designs samples of a project she was working on and enjoying. The images were not gg designs but we liked the look and the technique so much we included it in our Click Class section. (Have you investigated these customer produced tutorials? They're great!) But, unlike the "Outlines" designs Linda used (they were made for the technique) the idea is to use gg designs images (or other similar images, if you do not have an appropriate ggd stamp) in a totally new way. You will be using "organic," fluid, loose, non-geometrical stamps in ways they were not intended. There are no "rules" and the directions you find are "points of departure." They are meant to trigger new ideas, new ways of looking at stamps you have but may have put aside or grown tired of them. HINTS: • This one will HURT! Have some stamps you do not know why you bought or where they came from? Don't know what to do with them? Maybe don't like them any longer....or never did in the first place? CUT THEM UP! Yes! CUT THEM UP! Cut the image into at least five pieces and stamp away! You'll see them in whole new ways. • Can't bear to cut them up? Then stamp first and cut up the paper. Ida Abshier does this with scraps. See her directions at the very bottom of  THIS PAGE. • Kaliedescope angles, tea bag folding, quilt squares, equilateral triangles, snow flake and star "arms" are all good structures to use for creating your designs. • Heather Strenzwilk writes (about this challenge): I like that slice and dice idea. Jim Stephan did a kaliedescope technique years ago. I bought the book. . . like the idea of using ugly stamps or stamps I didn't like in a new way. Some of the samples were great- and used stamps I never would have considered. Click on Jim's name above to find out more about the book....and if you decide to buy it, please tell him Heather and gg designs sent ya! >>>Jim also has "Quickie Mount," the easiest, fastest stamp mounting system we know about. It's not pretty but it's simple, inexpensive and very fast! Handy to keep on hand. REMEMBER--As we said above--Rules are points of departure. The idea of this challenge is to send you off in new directions. There really are no hard and fast rules. You are breaking ground for yourself so play! Note: It is fun, but not necessarily easy. Congratulate yourself for being willing to explore! Please send us your samples as you finish. We hope to assemble a large and varied collection. It is unlikely two people will read and use the directions in the same way so we will be excited to see where this takes you and all of us. Have fun!   Another Product: If you use a PC (ggd uses a Mac) you may be interested in this software. It looks fascinating and is not too expensive. Seems like it might have a multitude of uses and just for the numerous Kaleidoscope patterns alone it would seem to be very useful. Whether you purchase the software or not, a quick browse through the site will trigger lots and lots of ideas for the "Slice and Dice" challenge.     For a TV Demo> More fun places to browse for ideas!  >>>   See Classes & Samples Page for more details.