collage steampunk 4x4

hello lovely people.  we still have the kids at home and the house is still busy and blessed.  but i commandeered the kitchen to make something as it has been many days and my glue fingers were itching!  which means collage time...

for the gecko galz blog design team we were all asked to make a 4x4 creation to be our symbol on the blog for 2016.  we were asked to do something indicative of our style.  well if you've been here before you know i love collage and also steampunk.  so that's the idea i worked with here.

other than the prima flower, enamel dots and a couple background papers by jodie lee, every element here is gecko galz, mostly all from the curiosity shop digital kit.  although i printed and fussy cut the elements i wanted to make my collage.  i also lightly stamped the word "dream" (by inkadinkado) repeatedly. 

4x4 is a great sized canvas to work with.  something tells me i'll be doing more of these.  meanwhile i wish a happy day and happy new year to all!

love to all.

while the cat's away...

every year from the day after christmas until the first of the new year alphastamps has special sales and daily giveaways...

stop by and comment every day for the chance at prizes and enjoy shopping the sale too if you are so inclined.

merry christmas

may all the world be blessed.
love to all.

gecko galz december inspiration -- and a freebie!

for december our customer challenge theme at gecko galz challenge blog is "faraway places."  i have a few more pieces to share with you today, featuring brand new products this december at the gecko galz etsy shop.

"dreaming of faraway places"

 



supplies: "greek to me" collage sheet (woman); baroque icons (butterfly); "road less traveled" paper pack (background paper); "within your heart" stamp by penny black; flowers and enamel dots.

"czarina and birds"

 

 

supplies: "czarina" paper pack (background papers); "czarina collage sheet (woman); "czarina icons" (design at top); silver border, ribbon.

 

"czarina of the insects"

supplies: "czarina" paper pack (background papers); "czarina collage sheet (woman); "czarina icons" (behind the woman); flower and enamel dot, ribbon.

 

our DT members were asked to make a special christmas tag to share with you all:  here is mine:

 

 

finally, as we do each month, please enjoy a digital freebie courtesy of gecko galz!

 

 

 

you may join our challenge though you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  there are freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page if you do not have any.

 

love to all.

joy to the world!

merry christmas from me and from lunagirl moonbeams where this month we invite you to create on the theme of angels.  regardless of whether you celebrate this holiday i hope that peace and love are close to you.

the vintage image is from the lunagirl "christmastide ephemera" collage sheet and the stamp is by creatiate stamps.

if you link to our challenge you'll have the chance to win a prize from the lunagirl store.

love and joy to all.

merry christmas moo

this is a happy little "moo" (approximately 1.1 x 2.8 inch creation) 

for the moo mania challenge blog "merry christmas" challenge and for the gecko galz facebook group "holiday greetings" challenge.

the little gnome is from the christmas magic collage sheet by gecko galz. the background paper is also from gecko galz, from the merry and bright paper pack.  the rest of the elements are items from my stash.

linking up to the "gingerbread and candy canes" prompt for the reader art quest at unruly paper arts.

wishing you a merry everything.
love to all.

christmas tags at gecko galz

continuing with our special tags of christmas at the gecko galz blog, i hope you will enjoy this tag collaged with various elements (papers, stamps and vintage images) from gecko galz products.

linking up to the "gingerbread and candy canes" challenge for the reader art quest at unruly paper arts.

wishing all a merry christmas!
love to all.

oh beloved moon i give you these stars

we were invited to use baubles or bling for our tags this week at tag tuesday blog.  i chose images and papers from various sheets by gecko galz to create a scene of celestial romance...

my bauble is an iridescent and bright star-like sticker from impress.
i used my very shiny sparkly fibers for the ribbon.  i'll link this up at the "anything goes" monthly challenge on the gecko galz facebook page.

enjoy, love to all.

another angel

at lunagirl moonbeams we are celebrating angels.  link up an angel creation to the blog for the chance to win a prize from lunagirl.

my angel ATC features an angel from the "angel children" collage sheet by lunagirl, along with other supplies from my stash.

may angelic music like that being played by this little one brighten your day!
love to all.

angels we have heard on high

this month at lunagirl moonbeams we are creating with angels and inviting you to do the same.  by linking your angel creations to the lunagirl blog you'll have the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

the vintage angel on this ATC is from the lunagirl "angel children" collage sheet.  the stamp is by creatiate stamps.  the rest of the elements are goodies from my stash.

join our challenge and bring a bit more peace and hope into the world through your creating!
love to all.

tags of christmas at gecko galz

each december we share special tags on the gecko galz blog.  my first featured tag is today:  "be blessed"

this tag was created very simply.  i used an image "be blessed" from the free gecko galz collage sheet (you can get a free sheet each month by signing up for the newsletter on the blog!).  the background is christmas papers from last december's gecko galz product list and by collaging in a few additional elements from my own stash i came up with this sweet tag which definitely holds my feelings for everyone all over the world.

i know there are many fancy techniques out there but given my lack of time and dedicated artmaking space i fine that simple collage techniques with beautiful elements can yield a nice creation.  so many lovely gecko galz items to work with!

thanks for looking; love to all.

musical theatre

i'm playing along with the dezinaworld cheeky challenge again where the theme this week is "musical theatre."  this image isn't any from any particular show that I know of but it is from the "theatre mavens" collage sheet by gecko galz. and she does appear to be in a very dramatic moment, possibly involving song!

the background papers are also by gecko galz.  in fact I will also enter this in the gecko galz "glamorous ladies" challenge on their facebook page.  i've had the theatre mask die cuts for a long time and i finally got to use them!

enjoy; love to all.

bows

"bows" is the theme at tag tuesday this week.  i'm continuing to play with the magpie enchantments collage sheet by artist julie lee. i grabbed a different image this week for my creation.

julie's images are only lightly colored on the collage sheet so i did more coloring with colored pencils, fussy cut this gentlemen and then added a bow i'd salvaged from a christmas card to make him a bowtie.  the harlequin style background paper is something from my stash.  as he looks out at the world from his row of books, his candle and with his odd little creature (an owl?) i thought he was a unique individual.  thus the sentiment i used from a tim holtz sticker book.

enjoy!  love to all.

angels among us

we need angels, bringers of love and light!  for the month of december our challenge at the lunagirl moonbeams blog is angels.  create with angels this month, whether in acknowledgement of the december holidays or just in recognition of the hope and peace they represent, link to the blog and you have the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

here is an ATC featuring an angel from the lunagirl "angel children" collage sheet with wings added from the lunagirl "fly away home" collage sheet.  the rest of the elements, background paper, dove, ornament and text are from my stash.

i hope you will join our challenge.
love to all.

december gecko galz customer challenge -- faraway places

if it is winter where you live you may be cozying up inside and dreaming of faraway places.  this is the theme for our customer challenge for december at gecko galz challenge blog.  you are invited to link up creations on the theme of travel or distant places. 

"dreams of russia"

because it is a new month we are featuring brand new products from the gecko galz etsy shop.  below is my supply list -- everything on this card is new this month (except my "dream" stamp!)

supplies: "czarina" collage sheet (woman and castle); "czarina icons" (flower); "czarina" paper pack (background paper); dream stamp by inkadinkado.

i enjoyed making a collage of these elements to create a scene of this woman dreaming of russia.

to join this challenge you must use at least one item from gecko galz but please note there are freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page.

enjoy; wishing you dreams of lovely places!
love to all

cheeky challenge -- cowgirl

i've been wanting to join the new cheeky challenge at dezinaworld.  these challenges are weekly every tuesday and this week (week 4) is cowboys or cowgirls. as i happen to have cowgirl collage sheet from gecko galz i decided to make a quick tag tonight.

this image is already surrounded by bright colors so i collaged some cheerful paper elements to go along with it -- as well as a horseshoe and a dragonfly (both stickers).

wishing all a happy week and love to all.

sweet pea stamps blog hop!

welcome to the sweet pea stamps blog hop!

 
this hop is from a loyal group of sweet pea stamp fans who want to let the stamp shop owner Lynette know that we appreciate all her hard work bringing us the wonderful stamps in both rubber and digi format over the years.  thanks so very much for all the wonderful images we have collected from you Lynette!
 
there are some random prizes along the way, as certain blog owners have decided to include a prize, so please leave comments along the way as you see everyone's gorgeous sweet pea stamp creations.
 
also, the store closes at the end of the day on the 25th, so if you see some wonderful stamps on this blog hop, today is the last day to get them!  at the end of this message you'll see how to follow along with the hop.

here is what i've made specially for the hop:

 

the stamp i used is "where we met" by ching chou kuik.  i colored it with pencils, fussy cut it and arranged it on papers by bo bunny.  the "peace" stamp is by creatiate stamps.

this stamp is called "ice ice baby" by joanne schempp.  it is also colored with pencils and arranged on paper by bo bunny.  this is the same creatiate stamp (i used the whole stamp this time) and as before i've added a few little embellies.  as you can probably tell, peace is on my mind, as it is my greatest prayer and hope for the world.

if you joined this hop at my blog you'll want to go to the very beginning to visit every blog on the hop!  as mentioned, there are prizes on some of the blogs. so please start here at the Sweet Pea stamps Blog.

if you've been following along from the beginning then you'll want to go to the next blog on this hop.  the next stop after me is: Ria ZonneStraaltje.

if you plan to shop the sweet pea stamps store, today is the LAST day.  but there is a coupon!

i hope you enjoy visiting the wonderful blogs, seeing the delightful art and having the chance to win some prizes along the way!

i'm linking to the november challenge at your scrapbook challenge blog as well!

love & peace to all.

found...

here are some things lost and found for the latest prompt at tag tuesday: "found object."

first the credits: the fascinating face is from the magpie enchantments ATC collage sheet by julie lee.  i believe this is julie's first collage sheet ever for sale and i was so excited to have some of julie's art for my very own play time as she is master at faces (among other things!).  she is so wonderful.  all i did was accent the face a bit with some colored pencils.  the little clowns behind her are from the "clowning around" collage sheet by gecko galz.

and now the "found" story! the tag base and the tickets are the "found" bits.  trisha neal of the easily amused blog sent me an envelope of arty goodies which she had found -- the tag and tickets were only a few of the delightful contents.  then i lost the envelope but i found it again!  so there are a couple layers of found going on!  please visit trisha's blog as she is a stunning artist whose work is also an inspiration for me.

this tag makes me smile and i hope it does the same for you.
love to all.

the crowning jewel of the thanksgiving feast...

yes, the pumpkin pie.  for my fourth week piece for the month-long thanksgiving/harvest challenge at lunagirl moonbeams i'm sharing a card featuring the king of the feast!

the pumpkin image is a freebie you can grab from the lunagirl site.
you have a few more days to link up your creations celebrating thanksgiving, whether traditional or whimsical, for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.  i hope you will!

whether you celebrate thanksgiving or not, i wish you many things to be thankful for.

enjoy; love to all.

gecko galz inspiration for november -- plus a freebie!

this month the customer challenge at gecko galz challenge blog is "sugar plum fairies."  play along with this theme, using at least one item from gecko galz for the chance at a fabulous gecko galz prize. 
here are a few more christmas-magic tags for you.

products and instructions: i used some of the brand new products available at gecko galz this month -- background paper from the "merry and bright" paper pack and a vintage image from the "christmas magic" collage sheet.  i also used two holiday banners from my stash and a little christmas stocking brad from eyelet outlet.

products and instructions: i used more of the brand new products available at gecko galz this month, from the "blue christmas" kit -- background paper from "blue christmas" paper pack and the sugar plum fairies are from the "blue christmas 1" collage sheet.  i added lace, ribbon, button brads (from eyelet outlet) and snowflake dies.

products and instructions:  here i again used items from the "blue christmas" kit -- background paper from "blue christmas" paper pack and the sugar plum fairies are from the "blue christmas 1" collage sheet.  i finished the piece with die cuts, banners and ribbon from my stash.

i hope you will join the challenge -- it is a good way to get holiday creations made!  remember to use at least one product by gecko galz to be eligible for a prize. you can get gecko galz freebies by signing up on the blog for the monthly newsletter and getting the free collage sheet there or check out the freebies on the gecko galz pinterest page.

now, as promised:

here is your digital freebie, this darling santa!  enjoy!

love to all.

 

may peace prevail on earth

in response to the "hand-lettered" prompt at tag tuesday and to the invitation to work with the "written word" at unruly paper arts (reader art quest) current world events moved me to write over and over again a phrase i wish would to come to pass: "may peace prevail on earth."

the stamp is by invoke arts.
love to all.

turkey time!

it is now week three of our challenge theme for the whole month of november at lunagirl moonbeams -- thanksgiving/harvest.  link up your creations celebrating thanksgiving, whether traditional or whimsical, for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store. 

for this card i grabbed one of the images from the seed pack collage sheet by lunagirl to match up with images from the vintage thanksgiving collage sheet and vintage harvest background paper sheet.  turkey and squash are important parts of the meal!  and here is a wonderful turkey freebie from lunagirl!

please join us!
love to all.

sweet pea stamps progressive challenge -- november

the wonderful company sweet pea stamps is closing soon, on november 25.  at the sweet pea stamps friend and fans page on facebook we've been doing progressive challenges -- this may be the last one now that the store is closing which is very sad for all of us fans. 

the digital stamp in use here is karen middleton's "shiny stuff."  i colored it with pencils and added it to background paper "butterfly garden" by gecko galz.  the stamps (snowflakes and sentiment) are from hero arts and i created the additional snowflakes with a hole punch.

please come back here on november 25 for the sweet pea stamps tribute blog hop! our last hurrah in celebration of the sweet pea stamps store.

love to all.

crowns

moo mania time again -- little 1.2 x 2.8 creations.  the theme at moo mania challenge blog is crowns.  you actually don't have to make a proper moo to participate, you just have to create on the theme with any art form -- tag, card, canvas, whatever.  but i always try to make a moo.

this is a little wacky looking i know -- i somehow moved the moo base and ended up stamping the owl a little more off center than i'd intended.  but you know, go with the flow.  i worked around the "error."  i like putting crowns on things so i may play again on this theme and have the chance to do a bit better...

background paper by gecko galz.  owl stamp by rubber soul.  border stamp by rubber moon.  crown by lunagirl.

enjoy; love to all!

use your wings -- gecko galz inspiration

faces always fascinate.  and with wings you take flight!  two of the new gecko galz collage sheets this month are called "face to face" 1 and 2.  i used images from both of those collage sheets for these tags.

the background sheets on both tags are gecko galz also, the "merry and bright" paper pack.  the wings on both are from lunagirl and the sentiment on the tag below is from tim holtz.

 

i'm linking these to the take a word challenge "wings."

 

although these flying women are not technically sugar plum fairies as a gecko galz challenge blog DT member i do want to remind you of the "sugar plum fairies" challenge at the blog.  you must use at least one gecko galz item to qualify but there are plenty of freebies available on the gecko galz pinterest site.

 

love to all.

mini beasts

"mini beasts" is our prompt at tag tuesday this week.  leaving me wondering -- is this an invitation to create something involving tiny monsters or...?  i have this wonderful stamp of a frog from rubber stampede and in the end i opted to create something with this particular "mini beast."

i created the background with watercolor inks spritzed on a stencil.  then i stamped the frog multiple times.  so it is a simple tag, but i like it!

love to all.

thanksgiving/harvest challenge part 2

welcome to week two of our challenge theme for the whole month of november at lunagirl moonbeams -- thanksgiving/harvest.  link up your creations celebrating thanksgiving, whether traditional or whimsical, for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store. 

here is an ATC featuring a turkey image, a pumpkin image and background paper from lunagirl.  the leaf "frame" is a sticker from my stash.  the pumpkin image is a free image you can grab from the lunagirl site.

three more weeks to join the challenge; i hope you will.
love to all.

rubber mooning

i'm in a rubber moon art group, sponsored by rubber moon art stamps. one of the members challenged herself to create new piece with rubber moon stamps every day this month.  that was more than i thought i could handle but i decided to strive to do something weekly.  i've done three art squares (twinchies) so far, am sharing them all today.

 

all stamps are by rubber moon.  the backgrounds are all watercolor inks spritzed over stencils.  i used colored pencils on the middle square.  also the squares themselves are all really fabulous pre-cut squares from inchie arts.

 

with 3 of these done now and today being the 7th i'm obviously ahead of the weekly challenge i gave myself.  but it was so much fun.

 

love to all.

secrets

do you have family members who have passed on, who died with their secrets?  our prompt at tag tuesday is "secrets" and being so close in time to dia de los muertos -- day of the dead, this prompt got me thinking of the secrets people take to the grave.

the digital image i used here is called "lady calavera" by artist concetta kilmer, sold by sweet pea stamps.  i colored it with pencils and cut it out for my tag.  the background papers here are from "song in my heart" and i used a flower stencil to decorate the background.  finally i added flowers and ribbon to finish.

i'm linking up to the "anything goes with a bonus" challenge at your scrapbook place -- getting extra points for using an image from sweet pea stamps.  the bad news is that sweet pea stamps is closing soon.  so it is your last chance to check out their amazing images this month.

love to all.

pocket letter for a survivor

at the scraps of color group we were invited to make a pocket letter for a breast cancer survivor in honor of breast cancer awareness month in october.  those of us willing to participate were matched with a person and instructed how to send our creations.  here is what i sent last month.

i chose these vintage images of african-american women from the lunagirl african-american images CD as representative of the struggles these women may have faced long ago.  i used words from maya angelou, the consummate survivor, as inspiration as well.  i forgot to scan the back side of the pocket letter but in additional to covering the back sides of the ATCs with designer paper, i also tucked little cards with additional quotes from maya angelou into some of the pockets as well.  and i also tucked in a letter written by me with words of encouragement i wished to share.

the background papers and various embellishments came from a variety of sources, including gecko galz, tim holtz, twisted papers, and others.

sugar plum fairies -- november gecko galz inspiration

hello friends, for the month of november we celebrate sugar plum fairies in preparation for christmas!  for the november customer challenge at the gecko galz challenge blog you are invited to create on the theme of sugar plum fairies, all things christmas-y and magical.  i have a tag to get you started.

products and instructions: a new month at the gecko galz store means new products and a couple new projects for my inspiration piece.  background papers from the new "merry and bright" paper pack and a sweet little christmas gnome from the "christmas magic" collage sheet.  i added ribbon, a butterfly die cut and ribbon with pom poms from my own stash.


you have all month to join the "sugar plum fairies" challenge.  you must use at least one item from gecko galz to be eligible to win shopping crediot at the gecko galz store.  if you don't already own gecko galz products you can get gecko galz freebies by signing up on the blog for the monthly newsletter and getting the free collage sheet there or check out the freebies on the gecko galz pinterest page.

 

enjoy; love to all!

thanksgiving/harvest challenge and autumn moo

i love thanksgiving -- probably because i love to eat!  our challenge theme for the whole month of november at lunagirl moonbeams is thanksgiving/harvest.  link up your creations celebrating thanksgiving, whether traditional or whimsical, for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

of course apple pie should be on the menu.  so my first card in celebration of this theme includes a vintage image of apples, a vintage thanksgiving cook trimming her apple pie and a background from the vintage harvest collage sheet, all images by lunagirl.

we look forward to seeing what you link up to the challenge!  need a little something to get you motivated?  here is a lovely free vintage pumpkin image from lunagirl for you.  i'll be using this image in creations later on this month.

i'm also catching the tail end of the "autumn mood" challenge at moo mania challenge blog.  a moo is about 1.1 x 2.8 inches and for this i also used images and background papers from lunagirl.  the flower was from my stash and i thought it would make a lovely background so i glued the moo to the flower.

love to all.

gecko galz october blog hop is HERE!!! october 29-31!

[this post stays at the top until midnight on November 1 -- please scroll down for additional posts]
Hello Everyone!

 I want to welcome everyone to the seventh destination of

Gecko Galz 5th Annual Blog Hop!!!

 

If you started here you might want to go back and start at the beginning at the Gecko Galz blog so you won’t miss anything!  
 

We have 14 AMAZING blogs for you to visit this weekend, each with some gorgeous projects created using the Gecko Galz exclusive blog hop collage sheets, that we are giving you for FREE! Each blog you visit will have another free Gecko Galz Collage sheet for you to grab, the one here is
 

"NOUVEAU BEAUTIES".
 

Also make sure you collect all the “secret” words on each blog so at the end of the hop you can send in the phrase to enter our drawing for a wonderful treat. 
 

So sit back, relax, take your time and enjoy the hop! 

We have FOUR amazing prizes up for grabs:

·        First is a Gecko Galz shopping spree for $100!

·        Second prize is a $50 Shopping spree with Gecko Galz.

·        Third prize is a $25 shopping spree!

·        And our Grand Prize ONE FULL YEAR of Gecko Galz PRODUCTS!!! This includes the 6 new collage sheets each quarter, a new stamp set each quarter, a new paper pack each quarter and a kit club pack each quarter!

 This is a $150 value! Plus you get a prize pack from some of our favorite sponsors worth $150!

 Read on to learn how you can win!

 

First of all, you will need to visit all 14 blogs and leave a comment on each blog :) **This is important so we know you have been to all the blogs **. Collect all 14 words (one on each blog site except the home site) and at the end of the blog on the Fripperies and Butterflies site there will be a link to email the phrase to Gecko Galz.

This enters you in the contest. On November 2nd we will randomly draw the 4 winners and email each of you, then we will post the winning names on the Gecko Galz blog site.

 

For an extra chance to win make a purchase from the GECKO GALZ ETSY STORE between the 29 of October and the 1^st of November and your name goes in again for a better chance of winning (each purchase you make that weekend gives you another chance to win)  

 

Your Secret Word is:

PLAY

Now that you have it go to the next blog on the list below 

Amanda Phillips

 

Gerri Herbst

 

Joan Liddle

 

Vicki Romain

 

Nancy Smith

 

Heather Hudson

 

Leanne Seed

Thank you for joining the hop and enjoy your free collage sheet (below) and my samples. 

 

For my artistic contribution to this blog hop I made an autumn themed pocket letter with the Nouveau Beauties collage sheet. 

Above is a detailed look at the top row of ATCs.  Overall I used nine images from the collage sheet and adorned each ATC with background papers from other Gecko Galz products such as the "Mayflower Paper Pack, "

For the middle row I included an autumn themed poem in the center pocket.

I used lots of big embellishments on the bottom row -- flowers and butterflies from my stash.  Below is the completed pocket letter in its plastic case.

Our DT was also challenged to make at least one Christmas-themed piece for the blog hop.  Here is the piece I made, also with the nouveau beauties collage sheet.  The background paper and sheet music are also by Gecko Galz (the stamp is by creatiate):

Finally, here is the free collage sheet for you!!!

I hope you'll visit every blog on the hop -- you get a free collage sheet at every blog plus the chance to win even more prizes.  Have fun!

love to all.