beauties of the far east

the gecko galz challenge this month is "far east beauty." i made an altered tin for this challenge. 

all images are from gecko galz with added embellishments from my stash.

enjoy and love to all.

altered tins in the new year

i've finally managed some real sit down crafting time. i've been wanting to make tins as gifts. i got several of them started and finished some too. here are a couple of them. i'm hoping to finish and post more in the coming days.

here are front side and inside views. i use paper/washi tapes for the sides (with additional 2-sided tape to help it stay). the papers on and in these come from several sources, gecko galz, CS designs, itKuPiLLi. outside images on these are mostly from gecko galz. some crowabout studio B also.

love to all.

grateful for HOPE

our task at three muses challenge is to express gratitude. 2019 was a tough year for me in many ways, though it also included amazing moments; for 2020 i am grateful for HOPE which i plan to have in mass quantities. i altered an altoids tin to express this and am giving this to a friend who i think will appreciate the sentiment.

images and papers from gecko galz (provence gardens among others); the letters are from holliewood studios (fantastical steampunk alpha) and i did the sides with washi tapes.

happy new year! love and hope to all!

RAK

at the scraps of color community we did a RAK -- random acts of kindness swap.  i was partnered with the SOC founder Tiare.  i was told that her favorite color is pink, that she loves dragonflies and lots of other good information to help me provide a loving package of goodies for her.

i was told that she prefers art that is functional.  so since one of the gifts i planned to send was a dragonfly necklace, i decided to alter the box.  i gessoed the box, then painted through a flower stencil with pink paint on the top.  i also painted the sides of the box with the same paint mixed with more gesso to lighten the color.  i added a sentiment from the gecko galz "scripted" collage sheet and a dragonfly fussy cut from the gecko galz "darling dragonflies" collage sheet.

you can see the pink pouch which holds the necklace and i also included a twinchie i'd made back in may for the lunagirl moonbeams sisters and mothers challenge.  beyond this, the larger box i mailed to her was chock full of other goodies, art supplies and such.

i hope she will like it and i know i am excited to see what she will send to me.

love to all.

april gecko galz inspiration and a freebie!

in celebration of spring coming (in the northern hemisphere) and the latest customer challenge at the gecko galz challenge blog "roses, lace and butterflies" i offer some inspiration for you and also your monthly gecko galz freebie!

altered tin: butterfly joy

supplies: altoids tin; gecko galz "linen closet" paper pack (new this month); gecko galz "butterfly kisses" collage sheet (new this month); caterpillar by anna griffin; washi tape; paper flower; enamel dot

instructions: i measured and cut papers from the "linen closet" paperpack and glued the cut pieces to the altoids tin.  i covered the edges in washi tape.  i cut images from the "butterfly kisses" 

collage sheet to adhere to the top of the lid and also on the inside of the lid.  i added the caterpillar, the flower and the dot.

altered tin: butterfly hope

supplies: altoids tin; gecko galz "spring awakening" paper pack (new this month); gecko galz "butterfly kisses" collage sheet (new this month); washi tape; flower sticker; enamel dots

instructions: i measured and cut papers from the "spring awakening" paperpack and glued the cut pieces to the altoids tin.  i covered the edges in washi tape.  i cut images from the "butterfly kisses" collage sheet to adhere to the top of the lid and also on the inside of the lid.  i added the the flower and the dots.

as promised, here is your gecko galz freebie:

and here is what i've done with it:

supplies: free digital stamp; gecko galz "spring awakening" paper pack; gecko galz "wild roses" paper pack; ribbon, flowers, butterfly die cut.

instructions: i printed the digital image onto paper from the "spring awakening" paper pack and then colored it with pencils.  i adhered paper from the "wild roses" paper pack onto card stock and glued the digital image.  i added ribbon., flowers and butterfly die cut from my stash. 

you are cordially invited to use this free digital image or any other image from gecko galz to enter our monthly challenge "roses, lace and butterflies."  you can also check out the gecko galz pinterest page for additional freebies to help you make your challenge piece.

one last piece.  the little fairy in the digital image made me want to make one more fairy image so i turned to the gecko galz "fairyland stamp set" also new this month and printed one of the images onto "spring awakening" paper as well.  here is what i made:

i also used "wild roses" paper for the background and added butterfly die cuts from my supply stash.

enjoy; i hope to see your creations over on the gecko galz challenge blog.

love to all.

thinking of spring at lunagirl moonbeams

our challenge theme at lunagirl moonbeams this month is "spring flowers and birds."  link up a themed creation for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.  here's my week 2 DT inspiration for you:

here is an altered altoids tin.  the eggs and bird are from the lunagirl "feathers and nests" collage sheet and the "birds #2" collage sheet.  the background paper on the top, sides and bottom is from gecko galz and the edges are done in washi tape.  i also added a paper flower and enamel dot.

you have all month to link up to this challenge.  you do not have to use lunagirl images to join the challenge but if you do your entry is counted twice!  there are many bird theme collage sheets here.  and keep an eye on the lunagirl blog -- karen often offers freebies on the blog.

enjoy; love to all.

birds on tins

because of my interest in altering tins i put a call out on a note on the office refrigerator for people to give me their old altoids tins.  one person gave me several.  so I made a set of altered tins for her.

my image sources were the que sera paper pack, the "vintage birds" collage sheet and the "just a note" collage sheet by gecko galz.  i used the same washi tapes for both borders and similar papers on the insides and bottoms since this was meant to be a set.  i also used prima flowers on both.

enjoy; love to all.

altered tin

i wanted to make something special for a friend so i asked her what she would like.  she had seen some of my altered tins and so she requested an altered tin featuring an image of the buddha.  i have a beautiful buddha stamp by inkadinakdo.  here is what i made:

all of the papers are from gecko galz.  i also used little bits of borders and washi tape for the sides and a sticker and enamel dots for the top.  i gave it to her yesterday and she really loved it.

have a great rest of the week.
love to all.

another altered altoids tin

because i've been wanting to make more altoids tins but i can't buy out all the altoids in town i put a sign up on the refrigerator at work asking people to donate their old tins if they did not need them. one person gave me about 10 of them!  since she gave me so many i asked what her favorite things were since i said i would give one back to her.  she didn't understand i would be altering it so she said chocolate.  i tried to embrace the chocolate idea with what i made and then when i gave it back to her i did put some chocolate inside!

i used an image by twisted papers and a cupcake digital from far far hill.  the rest -- washi tape, heart sticker, background papers, etc, are stash items although the background paper on the top is from stitchy bear stamps. 

i'm linking up to pink saturday today.

she was surprised and delighted to receive this and i still have many more tins to play with!
love to all.

altoids tin for a barter

my friend nancy has started making jewelry.  i saw one of her pieces on another friend and loved it so i contacted her about buying a piece.  she said she wasn't ready to sell yet because she didn't think her pieces were good enough (wrong!) but since i couldn't talk her into selling it i said okay then i will bring you a handcrafted gift in exchange for a necklace.  i made her an altered tin.

the papers for the outsides and inside are all stash designer papers but the torn music and goddess image are from lunagirl.  i added pearls, a cloth flower, some flower petal stickers and a moth for embellishment.  i hope she will like it!

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.

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.