shhh!

today is my anniversary -- will my DH see this post before he sees his card? lol -- since he doesn't usually check my blog i think we'll be okay!

vintage images are by french-kissed postcards and the rest is stash.  today will be the last day for the july discount at FKP by the way.

love to all.

statues

the "statues" prompt at tag tuesday for this week stumped me.  in the end i made 2 tags -- one that failed to meet my aims and one i like regardless of whether it met my aims!  this tag which i feel pretty good about uses a favorite stamp from stampers anonymous.  this stamp is reminiscent of a statue or bust and i liked the effect from stamping it on a combination of dictionary and designer paper.

somehow she seemed to want to wear a lace veil so i gave her one, along with some other simple embellishments.

so, on to the tag i made first and which did not meet my expectations.  i have a photo i took on my cell phone of a dancing lion.  my friend and i debated if the lion was meant to be from wizard of oz.  we couldn't decide. but for my tag i attempted to add some wizard of oz elements (from a gecko galz collage sheet).  it just didn't come together as i wanted it to.  i'm sharing it anyway since it is all about the journey anyway.

happy rest of your week; love to all.

very fancy purple lady

here is a very fancy purple lady on my tag; purple being my favorite color and "favorite color" being the current challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.  you have one more week ('til sunday) to link up a creation in your favorite color for a chance to win a CD of vintage images, valued at $25.

i used some designer papers, flower and leaf stickers and washi tape. i don't know where she is going but it is surely somewhere very fancy.

i'm entering this tag in the artful times blog challenge #60, make a tag,
and linking to scraps of color week #31 "anything goes."

enjoy; love to all.

reading is medicine for the soul

for week two of the cheerful stamp pad challenge "cards for men" i've created a card featuring products from our sponsor sentimental susan at stitchy bear digital outlet and from dezinaworld.

parts of this card were created digitally.  i started with the vintage image from dezinaworld and added the sentiment and stack of books on a white background, both from sentimental susan. i also added the monocle and compass (dezinaworld) digitally.  after printing my little digital collage, i added it to cardstock covered with designer paper.  to that i added a fleur de lis brad by alphastamps and the phrase "noteworthy" which i found in my stash.  all elements were distressed with "old paper" distress ink.

one more week to link up a masculine card.
love to all.

cs designs is back!

happy to share that there is a coordinator call and blog candy opportunity at chris sterns (CS designs) blog.
after some time away from blogging chris will be back with challenges and all kinds of goodies no doubt featuring chris' amazing designs.

you might wish to pop over and join the fun!
love to all.

purple lady dancer

you can just hear the music as this dancing darling strikes a pretty pose.  in purple.  and in celebration of the "favorite color" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.  you make something using your favorite color.  and you have the chance to win a CD chock full of vintage image awesomeness worth $25.

i love this belly dancer girl.  she is from the lunagirl "purple 1" collage sheet and the butterflies are from lunagirl too.  the rest are stash items -- a variety of designer paper and stickers which are torn and arranged on the tag base, then the cut out vintage image, some washi tape and a butterfly.

i'm linking up to artful times challenge blog for their challenge #60 to make a tag.
also linking to pink saturday.

come play with us!  love to all.

summer holidays and such

our theme this week at tag tuesday is summer holiday.  as many know who stop by here much, my idea of a wonderful summer holiday is definitely time at the beach.  so that is the focus of my tag.

the vintage bathing beauty, the carte postale and the lovely sea-leafy background paper are all from gecko galz. there is some vellum script border from alphastamps.  the wings on my bathing beauty are from lunagirl. i finished the piece with some distressing, some fun stickers and ribbon.

i'm linking this up to several challenges:
summer fiesta at unruly paper arts
bright sunny colors at tagalong challenge
sun, surf and sand at bombshell stamps challenge blog
things with wings at try it on tuesday
things with wings and ribbon at really reasonable ribbon.

i also have an update on the gecko galz blog and a chance for you to win products from with wild abandon.  go to the blog and vote for your favorite DT creation using both gecko galz and with wild abandon products.  you'll be entered for a chance to win some goodies from with wild abandon -- and their products are stunning!  deadline july 31 -- i hope you'll participate!

have a beautiful week; love to all.

shabby lilac fairy dreams

what is your favorite color?  this is the challenge theme starting today at lunagirl moonbeams.  you have free reign to make any sort of lovely project  featuring your own personal favorite color.  my DT creation uses all shades of purple, the color i have loved best since childhood and never grown out of.

this sweet young lady is dreaming of fairies and all the wishes they might grant for her.  perhaps she wishes for true love.  or maybe just for someone to come clean the house... my ATC features images from the lunagirl "shabby lilac" collage sheet.  sometimes i like challenging myself to exclusively use items from one collage sheet. the only thing on this ATC not from the collage sheet is the flower sticker at bottom left.

if you participate in this challenge you'll be entered for a chance to win AN EXTRA SPECIAL PRIZE! this time the winner will get a $25 value CD of digital images from the lunagirl store, a wondrous prize indeed.  i have a couple of the CDs and let me tell you they are the big bonanza of vintage joy!

love to all.

cards for men

challenge #91 at the cheerful stamp pad is to make a card for a man.  our sponsor is stitchy bear and the designer sentimental susan. i used a wonderful motorcycle digital image from sentimental susan for my card.

other than the route 66 stamp by inkadinkado, the card is complete digitally created. the digital background paper is by mcmahon 5 and the happy birthday sentiment is by clear dollar stamps.

the challenge runs for two weeks with a chance for the randomly selected winner to get shopping credit at stitchy bear.  i hope you will join the game!

love to all.

gecko galz and wild abandon

back on the 1st when i posted two tags created for the gecko galz cross-product promotion with wild abandon company i promised some more goodies featuring both products.  here are 2 more tags.

the dress forms are by wild abandon.  the background papers, owl body, moth, hat and face are from gecko galz.  i've added flowers, washi tape and beads from my stash.  the wonderful stamp on the 1st tag is from one of my favorites, leavenworth jackson.

an UPDATE: you can go to the gecko galz blog to vote on your favorite design created by our design team on this cross promotion theme.  vote for your favorite design and be entered in our WILD ABANDON GIVEAWAY where you might win a gift pack from with wild abandon!  excitement!

i decided to link up to pink saturday this week!

love to all.

she sells sea shells

here is one of my july DT pieces for gecko galz! all of the vintage shell images as well as the sentiment come from the "she sells sea shells" collage sheet at gecko.  the girl is from the july freebie sheet available at the website.  the shell-shaped chipboard base is from alphastamps.

ah, summer, how i love ya!
love to all.

vintage seashore and bathing beauties #3

here is one more 4x6 postcard celebrating the beach and the gorgeous vintage images of lunagirl moonbeams! you have a week remaining to link up your own beachy creation for a chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

my postcard base is another piece of map.  there is a seashore scene at the base from alphastamps and the four beauties are from lunagirl.  i threw in some little fish and crustacean stickers for fun.

enjoy; love to all.

penguin painter -- using digital backgrounds

this is week two of the "using digital backgrounds" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  our challenge sponsor is stitchy bear digital stamps.  the images our design team is using for this challenge come from designer coosty creations.  a randomly selected challenge winner will get some goodies from stitchy bear.

i really had fun with this one.  most of it was created digitally.  i placed the painter penguin png onto the icy blue background design and then cropped a small square from a different background sheet featuring many little penguins and placed that on the easel.  i printed this and added a border and a "model" penguin (a sticker).  the end result is simple but i thought it was rather clever!  i hope you'll join our challenge -- just one more week to play!

love to all.

vintage seashore and bathing beauties #2

here is a bathing beauty dancing her way along the beach on my tag.  she is a vintage image from lunagirl and i've made this tag to encourage you to join the latest challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.

link up your beach-inspired creation for a chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store!
love to all.

vintage seashore and bathing beauties #1

hooray!  after a little challenge vacation lunagirl moonbeams is back with the most delightful challenge of all -- vintage seashore and bathing beauties.  i've shared before that the beach is my happy place and guess what? this is a scheduled post because i am on the beach myself right now hooray!  i made this postcard featuring lunagirl images in june and mailed it far away...

i mailed it to australia!  which is also the part of map i chose for a background for this postcard.  you see i signed up for a postcard swap through unruly paper arts and i got matched with a partner in australia.  so i could not resist doing a bit of a homage to her home country in my piece.  i do hope she will like it.  the images are from lunagirl except the souvenir shell which is by twisted papers.   there are some stickers and borders as well from my stash and a bit of washi tape.

link up your own beach-themed creation at lunagirl for a chance at shopping credit at the lunagirl store!
love to all.

coffee heaven -- using digital backgrounds

using digital backgrounds is the new two week challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  our challenge sponsor is coosty creation at stitchy bear digital stamps.  a randomly selected challenge winner will get some goodies from stitchy bear.

i used two digital backgrounds designed by coosty creations -- the coffee beans is one of them and the coffee mug was cut from another.  the word "heaven" was also cut from a coosty creations sentiment digi. my washi tape has the word chocolate on it.  in my view good coffee and good chocolate are heaven.  thus the diving beauty diving right into that great cuppa joe!  the stamp is by silver crow creations.

love to all.

gecko galz july customer challenge

every month there is a customer challenge at the gecko galz blog. for july we are "beachy keen!"  so link up your beachy creations for a chance to win a $15 gecko galz shopping spree and a song in my heart scrapbooking gift pack.  here's some inspiration for you:

the vintage image, sentiment and background papers are all by gecko galz.  the fish, sea star, sun and bird are from my sticker stash.

please play along!
love to all.

happy independence day USA!

vintage images on this ATC are from graphics fairy.
entering this in the week 26 red, white and blue challenge at scraps of color.

love to all.

garden party at tag tuesday

a little girl's garden dreams are of flower fairies that dance with the birds and butterflies.  that is the theme of this tag, a lovely garden party in the imagination of a child.  our theme at tag tuesday this week is "garden party" and i enjoyed making this tag.  vintage images by gecko galz, the rest of the items are from my stash.  

enjoy; love to all.

gecko galz hooray!

i was selected to join the design team at gecko galz!  hooray!  this is very exciting.  this is a company i've loved for some time and it is an honor to design for them.  one of the cool things they've been doing of late is cross promotions with other companies.  so my task for my first cross promotion challenge in july was to merge images from gecko galz with images from this month's sponsor, wild abandon.  i made two tags:

on this first tag the tag base started with sheet music stenciled over with a flower stencil by stencil girl. the wild abandon dress form png was digitally merged with some background paper from gecko galz.  i printed that and ripped it to add to the base.  i added a gecko galz face from the "art deco" collage sheet and a crown from the "hat whimsies" collage sheet.  the edges were distressed with "old paper" distress ink and i added some washi tape over the sheet music.  i printed the "free your mind" digital image from wild abandon to place n the tag, added a clown from the gecko galz "circus circus" college sheet and finished it with a page dots poly-vinyl hole reinforcement and a black ribbon.

again for the tag base i digitally created the base by adding a wild abandon dress form digital image to some gecko galz honeycomb designer paper.  the face is from the "art deco" collage sheet and the bee is from the "in the garden" collage sheet.  the sentiment is by wild abandon.  i used washi tape on this one as well.  and finally also finished it with a page dots poly-vinyl hole reinforcement and a black ribbon.

i LOVED making these pieces!  i got a bit carried away and made some more tags combining images form the two companies so stay tuned to see those in the coming days!  to see the gorgeous cross promotion pieces created by my DT sisters over at gecko galz click here.

love to all!