three wishes for a happy new year!

hello friends and happy new year!  our theme at tag tuesday this week is "three" and we could do three of anything.  i was stumped what to do and then, it being the last day of the year i decided to offer up three wishes.

this is an itty bitty tag at about 1x2 inches.  the background paper is from the mori girl paper pack "tokyo mama" from gecko galz.  the angel is from a lunagirl collage sheet.  i hand wrote my three wishes on paper from the primavera series by itKuPiLLi.  there's a bit of butterfly washi tape, a hole reinforcement and some distressing.  i tied it up with some crinkly packing paper pieces.

i wish you all LOVE, PEACE & JOY in the new year and always!
love to all.

winter in pink continues -- happy new year!

for week two of the winter in pink challenge at lunagirl moonbeams i used some pink lunagirl vintage images to make a happy new year card.

link up a pink winter-y creation at the lunagirl blog for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store!

love to all and wishes for a very happy new year!

altered card deck week 9 (+alphastamps again!)

here are my week 9 altered cards for the card deck challenge at claudine's art corner -- if i get another pair finished this weekend i think i'll only be 5 weeks behind (lol!).

for the flowers and owl card i started with a background of spray inks.  i then used flower stamps from a "gela-tins" set and enhanced them with promarkers and molotow pens.  the stems are washi tape.  the owl stamp is by rubber soul, i stamped it on primavera paper by itKuPiLLi and fussy cut it to add to the card.  i hand wrote the sentiment on the same primavera paper and finished this one with some matching ric rac.

i did a light coat of watercolor paint on the background for the second card and then used a stencil and ink applied with a sponge.  i added torn tissue tape, a rose die cut which i'd outlined with white pen.  the vintage image is from one of the goddess collage sheets by lunagirl. the lace border is from alphastamps.  the "memories" sticker is from a tim holtz set.

speaking of alphastamps, this is day three of:

please visit the alphastamps blog and comment on today's post for a chance to win a glorious giveaway of alphastamps goodies!

i've decided to link this to the doodle artifacts blog recycle/re-purpose challenge as well.

love to all.

altered card deck week 8 (+alphastamps giveaway)

week 8 at the altered card deck challenge at claudine's art corner was love.  in my effort to get caught up (i think the main group is at about week 15!) i made these two cards,  as with all of them i started with a card deck and a liberal dose of gesso.  on both of these i then used daniel smith watercolor sticks for the backgrounds.  on the first all the rest is done with promarkers except the stamped "je t'aime" which is a rogue redhead designs stamp stamped on tissue paper, and also my silver molotow pen.  for the second card i used die cuts, more pro markers, a butterfly brad and black beads, both from eyelet outlet.

now, please pop over to the alphastamps blog and comment on the blog post today for a chance to win fabulous prizes at the alphastamps annual after christmas giveaway!

love to all.

altered card deck week 7; alphastamps giveaway

i hope everyone's hanukkah and christmas was blessed and joyous.  now happy kwanzaa and happy new year! and happy "while the cats' away the mice will play"  (more about that below).  i only have a couple extra days off this holiday season but with my five day weekend (24th-28th) one of my goals is to get back on track with the altered card deck challenge at claudine's art corner,

claudine has been taking us through a journey altering a 52 card deck.  i participated the first few weeks and then life intervened!  so i am several weeks behind but hopefully i'll get 4-5 pairs done during my break,  as you can see week 7 was a nautical theme.  i used distress inks (sponged) for the background on the first and spray inks on the second.  stamp credits on card 1 -- mermaid is by 100 proof press, seastar is by PSX, bubbles by G-rated stamps.  the mermaid was stamped on primavera paper by itKuPiLLi and the torn paper is by lunagirl.  the ship on the second card is a vintage image from the graphics fairy.  i used promarkers liberally on both.  i typed the words.

today is also a special day because of the post-christmas daily giveaways at the alphastamps blog.
please visit the blog daily starting today and comment for a chance to win amazing collage sheets and other goodies from the alphastamps company -- one of my favorites!

love to all.

tags of december at gecko galz, merry christmas eve!

i am sharing another tag for the gecko galz celebration of the holidays with the 24 tags of december. i call this tag "let is snow."  remember: the gecko galz blog has been featuring a special christmas tag every day this month.  if you comment on the blog post and follow the blog of the tagger you'll be able to get a free digital stamp so please check it out!  now here's my special tag for today:

supplies:

gecko galz digital snowman stamp set

robyn gough paper set and digital images

designer paper

silver snowflake stickers

christmas stocking brad (from eyelet outlet)

holiday sentiment “let it snow” (unknown paper pack)

promarker silver marker

colored markers and colored pencils

hole reinforcement

ribbon

distress inks

instructions:

this tag is all about digital, fussy-cutting and collage!  the tag base is covered with holiday themed designer paper from my stash. i used some robyn gough designer paper and a robyn gough digital image to create the second layer of background paper; i printed it, ripped it and adhered it to the covered tag base.  the row of snowmen at the bottom is from the gecko galz digital snowmen stamp set, i printed them out, fussy cut, and colored with pencils.  he larger snowman is from the same digital stamp set.  i printed, fussy cut, colored with markers and added both all the snowmen stamps to the tag.  i added the sentiment, stickers and brad, as well as the hole reinforcement and ribbon.  the final touch was tapping my silver promarker randomly over the tag to create silver “snow.”

enjoy; blessings for the holiday and love to all.

a very vintage christmas

here is a dear santa tag to wish you a merry christmas.  i know not everyone celebrates the holiday (and if so you may have long stopped visiting here since i've been posting christmas creations all month!) but whatever your celebrations, holidays or traditions i do most sincerely wish you happiness and i very much wish for peace on earth!

i made this in response to the tag tuesday prompt "a very vintage christmas."  the vintage image image of the jar is from gecko galz and the santa was a freebie from the fripperies and butterflies blog for the december challenge there though the image was provided by gecko galz.

there are some darling vintage christmas image freebies at the fripperies blog, if it is too late for this year just download and save for next!

as always, love to all.

winter in pink; joyeux noel santa

it is inspiring seeing all the ways in which artists and crafters depict christmas in colors other than red and green, the traditional colors.  at lunagirl moonbeams for the next two weeks our theme is "winter in pink."

since christmas is just a few days away i used a vintage christ child and angels image from lunagirl along with lunagirl vintage angel on a backdrop of pink designer paper designed by lunagirl owner karen. i added a pink flowery die cut and other embellishments.

link up to this challenge for a chance at shopping credit at lunagirl.

now, even though the old st nick challenge at lunagirl moonbeams is now past, i still can't stop using wonderful santa images from lunagirl!

i collaged several different designer papers and added some pom-pom ribbon.
i'm linking these to "anything goes as long as it is christmas" at the glory of christmas challenge blog, and to pile it on challenge blog "anything goes/christmas/holidays, and crafty hazelnuts christmas challenge "anything goes/christmas".

enjoy; love to all.

christmas greetings from the cheerful stamp pad team!

this week our design team at the cheerful stamp pad  is taking a challenge break for the christmas week but we all have a holiday greeting card to share with you.  so please pop over there to see the lovely greetings.  here is mine:

the left side of my scan is the front of the card and the right side is the inside.  i used a variety of papers from my stash, a torn bit of french music from the graphics fairy and a lovely madonna and child image, source unknown.  on the inside i stamped "joy to the world" on some of the same paper i used for the front of the card.  my stamp is from creatiate stamps.  the angel is a sticker.

i wish you a blessed and joyful holiday season.
love to all.

merry christmas from my stash...

as i've worked on projects this month i've noticed how many items i have in my box of christmas themed crafting supplies.  this includes a lot of images of unknown origin -- in other words not from any collage sheet but just stuff i've collected over time.  so some of things i've made this monhth involve gathering up those pieces and making cards.  here is one such card using papers, die cuts and an image from my box.

the last piece is one of my new stamps from creatiate stamps, stamped on some additional designer paper.

enjoy; love to all.

the best present

here is a last bit of inspiration for you for the "old st nick" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.  i love this vintage st nick image from lunagirl looking out over the world where he will soon deliver gifts.

the scene was so peaceful that i added a stamped "peace on earth" sentiment from one of my creatiate stamps. as i was seeking embellishments for my piece i found the red bow and could not resist adding it below the stamped sentiment.  because to my thinking the best present of all would be peace on earth.

linking to pink saturday with my seasonal creation,

wishing you peace and a merry christmas.
love to all.

more december inspiration from gecko galz

greetings!  i've got some more inspiration to share from some of the new items at gecko galz along with the cross promotion with our partner this month, robyn gough.

supplies:

gecko galz “merry christmas” sentiment from “december magic” college sheet

robyn gough paper pack and digital images

cardstock

sock monkey brad from eyelet outlet

distress inks

instructions:

this card was made digitally.  i’m trying to come up with some designs that i can use over and over again for the holidays and these great images gave me the idea to create a digital card that i can re-print as many times as i want.  i selected the designer paper i wanted from the robyn gough collection along with several digital flourishes from her collection of digital images and i re-sized and re-arranged images until i had it the way i wanted.  this also included adding the “merry christmas” from the gecko galz collage sheet.  next i printed the creation and adhered it to cardstock with scor-tape.  i cut it out (the final dimensions are 4x4), distressed the edges and added the sock monkey brad.  

enjoy; love to all.

altered tin

i found myself in another situation where i was meeting with a group and we were all asked to bring gifts to exchange.  i decided to alter an altoids tin.  the papers and images i used are from gecko galz.

i used papers inside and on the bottom of the tin as well but i only took a picture of the top.  i did some doodling on the sides also with a red promarker.  as you can see i also included a lacy die cut and buttons.  inside the tin i put a fun size m&m's packet as well!

like my altered composition book from a week or so ago, this gift also got stolen once and "i do believe" the final recipient was quite happy with it.

linking up to the "anything goes but must recycle" challenge at doodle artifacts blog.
linking up to the "ring in the new, recycle the old" challenge on the gecko galz facebook group

enjoy; love to all.

christmas angel

this sublime little beauty is my inspiration for the "christmas angel" prompt at tag tuesday this week.
the vintage image is from lunagirl.  the rest: background papers, doily, die cuts are from my stash, the stamp is from creatiate stamps.  the stamp says "peace on earth" but this time i just used the "peace."

love to all.

blessed st nick

for week two of the st nick challenge at lunagirl moonbeams i've used a special vintag image of st nick, the saintly side of him, blessing children.

i've added designer paper from my stash, two kinds fo ribbon, and a dove of peace with hearts. you have one week remaining to link up a st nick/santa inspired project for a chance to win shopping credit at lunagirl.

love to all.

deck the halls!

for week two of the "signs of christmas" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad i've used a digital image by designer kaz krafts at our sponsor stitchy bear.  a randomly selected winner of our challenge will win a shopping credit at stitchy bear.

i started with red cardstock and added some pretty green designer paper from my stash.  i used the digital stamp of a candle and colored it digitally, print it out, fussy cut it and did some outlining with a black pro marker.  i added a sentiment from my stash,

i'm linking to the scraps of color #48 anything goes challenge.

i hope you will play along with our challenge.
love to all.

christmas greenery

at tag tuesday our prompt this week is "christmas greenery."  as i rummaged through my stash looking for something to work with for this challenge i came across an image i'd printed last year and never used -- and unfortunately i did not note which company i got the image from.  but i suspect it is gecko galz.  anyway how could i resist these kissing darlings all dressed in christmas greenery (mistletoe?)?

the background is some old christmas wrapping paper with golden pears and strawberries and leaves on it.  i added a little tree die cut and the christmas greeting that was on the original vintage image.  i finger painted some deco art glitter paint on it which doesn't show so well in my photo but which gives a lovely glint on the actual piece.  and which is still on my fingers ha!

linking to pink saturday where creations can be pink or seasonal.
i hope everyone's holiday preparations are coming along nicely and that there is peace in your homes.
love to all.

december inspiration at gecko galz

it is time to share some of the new items at gecko galz along with the cross promotion with our partner this month, robyn gough.

supplies:

gecko galz “from russia with love II” college sheet

robyn gough paper pack and digital images

cardstock

distress inks

instructions:

this card started as a digital creation.  i selected the designer paper i wanted from the robyn gough collection along with several additional items from her collection of digital images and i re-sized and re-arranged images until i had it the way i wanted.  i printed the creation and glued on the image from the gecko galz collage sheet which I had already fussy cut.  i adhered the creation to cardstock with scor-tape and cut it out (the dimensions are 4x4).  the final step was distressing the edges.

A REMINDER:  the gecko galz blog is featuring a special christmas tag every day this month.  if you comment on the blog post and follow the blog of the tagger you'll be able to get a free digital stamp so please check it out!

this is my last piece for the unruly paper arts 12 days of christmas challenge as well. i did it! i posted a christmas creation every day for 12 days!  thanks to the unrulies for helping me get my holiday cards done!

enjoy; love to all.

st nick in the skies!

hello friends, here is a reminder of our "st nick" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.  i've got another delightful vintage image of st nick from lunagirl.

i used some fun candy designer paper from my stash and added ribbon, a gift and a stocking die cut and a punched flower.  join our challenge for a chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

and, um, don't be shocked but i'm linking up to the 12 days of christmas at unruly paper arts.

love to all.

gecko galz challenges

i've made up 2 cards for 2 of the current gecko galz facebook group challenges -- "holiday cards" and "december color challenge -- blue and silver."  for these challenges at least one gecko galz image must be used and i have done that.

the "have yourself a merry little christmas"stamp is by creatiate stamps, an independent woman-owned stamp company i learned of and purchased from recently.

linking these to the wonderful 12 days of christmas challenge at unruly paper arts!

love to all.

happy holidays!

in keeping with my plan to try to post something for all the 12 days of christmas at unruly paper arts i've got another santa card today using random items from my stash of christmas supplies.

i may just have a good little stash of cards for sending this year (and maybe i should get started sending them...)

enjoy; love to all.

dear st nick

there are so many lovely vintage images of santa at lunagirl moonbeams so we are having a "st nick" challenge at the blog. i love nature images featuring santa so i used one for my card.

i used bo bunny papers for the background and also a holly die cut and some christmas tree stickers. if you join our challenge you'll be eligible for a drawing to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

i'm linking this up to the "red and green" challenge at use your stuff.
and of course i'm also linking up to the 12 days of christmas at unruly paper arts of course!

love to all.

signs of christmas

our new two week challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is "signs of christmas.  your creation should display some "signs of christmas" for a chance to win shopping credit at our challenge sponsor stitchy bear stamps. i used a digital image called "head first" designed by ginger loft for my week one creation.

i started with red cardstock and added a bit of designer paper from my stash that i thought looked a bit like a house.  i colored the digital stamp with pro markers, fussy cut it and added it to the card. the little round santa and the "ho ho ho" are sentiments from my stash.

linking up to the 12 days of christmas at unruly paper arts!
enjoy; love to all.

peace on earth

hello friends, i might just succeed in linking up every one of the 12 days of christmas for the link up party at unruly paper arts -- anyway i am working on it.

today i am sharing a santa image along with papers and goodies and a stamped sentiment from my stash of christmas crafting supplies.

and of course the beauty of linking up every day is that i am getting a lot done in preparation fro the holiday!

enjoy; love to all.

you're a star!

at the wicked wednesday ATC challenge blog the theme is "you're a star" which means use a star or stars on your ATC.  i've made an ATC using a fun holiday lady with a tree and star on her head from the gecko galz "holiday ladies" collage sheet on background paper with a digital stars stamp from robyn gough designs.

this month at gecko galz our DT was challenged to make creations using products from both gecko galz and robyn gough designs so i was delighted to have another chance to use both products together.  the trees at the bottom are die cuts from my stash as is the poinsettia, the pearl and the "deck the halls" sentiment.  i enhanced her face a bit with markers because her features didn't show up well. as a result she ended up looking a bit cartoon-ish but let's face it -- this is a woman with a christmas tree on her head!

it shall come as no surprise that i'm linking this ATC up to the 12 days of christmas link up party at unruly paper arts.  i'm not sure if i'll make it posting christmas creations for the full 12 days but so far i'm half way there!

enjoy; love to all.

winter scene, altered composition book

i had a lunch to go to and we were asked to bring a handmade gift.  i decided to alter a composition book as it is a nice thing someone can use and it doesn't take too much time to make and i definitely didn't have much time!

this is a little book, just a little more than 3x4 inches.  here's how it started:

the red background paper is by gecko galz as is the vintage image of the winter cardinal.  the green paper is from my stash as is the lace and white poinsettia.  i have a  different designer paper on the back along with a star but i forgot to photograph the back.

this was one of those exchanges where people can "steal" a gift and i was delighted to see that this one got "stolen" from the first person who got it but it ended up with someone who had been wanting a notebook to jot down special thoughts each day.  i am so glad she has this notebook now.

here is an important reminder:  the gecko galz blog is featuring a special christmas tag every day this month.  if you comment on the blog post and follow the blog of the tagger you'll be able to get a free digital stamp so please check it out!

i'm linking this up to the doodle artifacts blog recycle, re-purpose and reinvent anything goes challenge.  and of course, the 12 days of christmas link up party at unruly paper arts!

enjoy!  love to all.

let's dance! plus day 4...

our prompt at tag tuesday is "let's dance!"
i made a quick tag using images from lunagirl collage sheets "celestial," "bring on the dancing girls" and "music."

and because i can't stop linking up to the "12 days of christmas" link up party at unruly paper arts i have a second tag, this one is one of my tiny tags, less than 2 inches high.  the angel is also from the lunagirl "celestial" collage sheet.

the papers and sentiment are from my stash,
hey there is an awesome vintage christmas freebie image at the lunagirl blog here.

enjoy, love to all!

tags of december at gecko galz

over at gecko galz we are celebrating the holidays with the 24 tags of december.  i'm sharing this tag which i call "holiday magic" a second time and then i have a new tag which will be on the blog later on this month.

supplies:

gecko galz digital christmas stamp set – santa, reindeer, tickets, hot air balloon

designer paper

various christmas sentiments (from unknown paper pack)

felt poinsettia

silver brad

hole reinforcement

ribbon

distress inks

instructions:

i covered my tag base with designer paper from my stash and distressed all edges with distress inks.  i printed several gecko galz christmas digital stamps onto blue and yellow papers from the song in my heart collection.  i arranged the stamps to adhere to the covered tag base then i added the christmas sentiments and all the digital stamps.  i added the poinsettia and brad, the hole reinforcement and ribbon.

whoo hoo for the unruly paper arts 12 days of christmas link up party as well...

enjoy; love to all.

winter wonderland!

it is a winter wonderland -- some places anyway, just icy cold out my way.  anyway the december customer challenge at gecko galz is winter wonderland and i'm sharing a collaged card with lots of gecko galz images to provide some inspiration for you to join the challenge.

the background paper is from gecko galz  and the images are from several collage sheets -- "christmas icons I," "christmas icons II," "december magic," and "holiday ladies."  the only non gecko galz items are the snowflake border and lace. 

link up a creation dealing with winter -- it does not have to pertain to a holiday, and make sure there is at least one image from gecko galz.  best wishes!

i'll also be linking this up to the 12 days of christmas linky party for unruly paper arts.  12 days of christmas crafting joy!

love to all.

christmas greetings ATC

for week two of the "holiday children" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams i've made another ATC.   this time i've used vintage images from the lunagirl "victorian christmas" collage sheet.

i used some designer paper from my stash for the background and distressed it.  the tree and angel child are from the lunagirl collage sheet as is the sentiment at the top.  i added some vintage lace to finish this ATC.

i'm linking this to the vintage christmas challenge at eclectic ellapu.

this is also the first piece i'll be linking up for the unruly paper arts 12 days of christmas link up party! 12days, 12 christmas creations (you don't have to play every day thank goodness)!

i hope you enjoy and also find time to join the challenge.
love to all.

digital backgrounds and images at the cheerful stamp pad

this is the second week of the digital backgrounds and images challenge at the cheerful stamp pad. our challenge sponsor is stitchy bear stamps and the randomly selected winner will receive shopping credit at their online digital store.

for this tag i used digital background paper by stitchy bear designer coosty creations and in the corner is a digital stamp of poinsettias also by coosty creations.  the poinsettias were colored with colored pencils.  the santa is a rubber stamp by 100 proof press. i outlined the poinsettia digital stamp and the rubber stamp with black pen.  i added the "no peeking" sentiment, some green stars and ribbon (all from my stash) to finish.

enjoy; love to all.