WCMD Challenge #4: Australia

Here we are!  The last challenge of the day!  And what a fun day it has been!  Have you been getting inky today?  Stretching your creativity with the variety of challenges there are around the web?  How amazing to think about ALL the people around the world who are taking time to participate in the hobby they love so much!  Well, enough chit-chat, lets get onto our next country of inspiration, Australia!

If you remember back to the Summer Olympic Games in 2000, television affiliates took advantage of the amazing history of the Australian Aborigines to create special cultural highlights.  I personally found them fascinating, especially the artwork that they created.  Two of their signature traits are the basis of our last World Card Making Challenge.  You can pick one to work with, or both!

#1. Dotted Outlines
If you look closely at some of the inspiration photos above (especially the ones with the lizards & lined-up didgeridoos), many of the images are accented with outlines of small white dots.  To use this Aboriginal look on your project without having to go completely ethnic, try your hand at using a white gel pen to make dots around your stamped focal point, whether it be a flower to anything else you choose!

#2. Masking
One popular form of creative expression within the Aborigine tribes is hand stenciling.  They hold their hands and/or arms in front of a surface, such as cave or rock walls, and blow a natural dye from the mouth onto the surface, creating a negative silhouette.  The main function of these stencils was to record people's
presence and association with a site or to identify a particular
painting. Could this have possibly been our stamp masking in it's very original form? *wink*  So, in other words, the second option for this challenge is to do some sort of creative masking (and no, you don't have to use body parts OR blow the ink from your mouth!)

I've really enjoyed getting to spend the day with all of you like this.  It's been fun looking at your creations!  And I really look forward to seeing what you make for this last, super fun challenge!

The Fine Print:

• You have until 7am EST, Tuesday, October 6th to participate in this challenge.
• To be included in the contest, you must post a link within the Mister Linky box below by the designated date.
  
• The link must lead to a project that follows the guidelines for
  this challenge.  The link can go to your blog, online gallery (such as
  2Peas, Splitcoaststampers, PhotoBucket, Flickr) or any other online
  presence that you like to utilize.
• Only one entry is permitted per person, per challenge.
• One randomly selected winner will be chosen on Tuesday, October 6th before noon EST.  All WCMD Challenge winners will be posted on our WCMD Winners Page at that time, which can be found HERE.