on the ocean wave; and, the dancer(s)

2 pieces today and 3 challenges!  first, for tag tuesday, our prompt is "on the ocean wave." for this tag i did some stamping.

this is a tiny tag, measuring about 1x2 inches.  i spritzed the tag base with water color inks from stamp zia (a company which sadly seems to have gone out of business) in blue topaz and emerald green.  I stamped the mermaid first, a stamp by "good stamps stamp goods) and then masked the mermaid (watch out i'm getting fancy...).  next i stamped the waves (meer image stamps) and the bubbles (G-rated stamps).final step was adding this lovely black ribbon.

next up is another tag, which is for the take a word challenge, "dancer," and the gecko galz paper crafting challenge group on facebook's june color challenge "yellow and orange."  i don't usually decorate both sides of a tag but i did that here so i'm showing you both sides of the one tag here..

the background designer papers as well as the foreground vintage images are all by gecko galz.  i used a stencil on top of the designer paper on the second side -- "splotches" by tim holtz, i used a marker and just outlined the splotches rather than completely coloring through the holes.  other than that i used washi tape (by cavallini and co) and distress inks to finish the piece, and ribbon of course.

enjoy!  love to all.

insects

at tag tuesday this week we are working with the theme of "insects."  i have a stamp from stampington that i was eager to use for this prompt and i played with it twice to make two tags this week.

this first tag is tiny, about 1 by 2 and a half inches. i covered the tag base with french language print designer paper, added a letter from an alphabet sheet by altered pages , stamped my insect and added a bit of cavallini and co. washi tape at the bottom.   edges were distressed with ink.

this second tag is larger, about 1 and a half by 4 inches. i printed the skull image from dover publications (from thei weekly free samples) onto designer paper by gecko galz.  i stamped my insect onto the skull and i used postal washi tape on this one.

this stamp came from a set and i can't say whether i'd used it before but i must say i like it a lot.
enjoy; love to all.

free your beautiful mind -- march gecko galz inspiration

it is time to showcase more of the beautiful products new at gecko galz this month.

supplies:
gecko galz "beautiful words" collage sheet
gecko galz "pixie dust" digital designer paper pack
cavallini and co tissue tape
kate endle collage designer paper
distress inks

instructions:
i covered my cardstock with the brown paper from gecko galz pixie dust paper pack and added a piece of paper from the kate endle collage paper pack.  i cut the image and sentiment from the beautiful words collage sheet and finished with the tissue tape.

stop by the gecko galz blog for more creations by the design team featuring new products.
i'm linking this piece to the "anything goes" challenge at eclectic ellapu.

enjoy; love to all.

bicycle vacation postcard

i've never taken a bicycling vacation but it seems like a fun idea, a wonderful way to see the countryside of the place you are visiting while at the same time keeping fit -- usually not so easy to do when you are traveling.  for week two of the "postcards and letters" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams challenge blog i've made a postcard depicting a bicycle vacation.

same as last week, i started by gluing one of the postcard images from a lunagirl collage sheet to some cardboard and distressed it.  this was my base.  from there i used a variety of things to create this collage.  i used washi tape from cavallini and co in several places.  the two bicycling women are both from lunagirl sheets as are the torn strips of letter writing and cancelled postage.  the butterfly is also from lunagirl!  the flower was a final touch as i felt that corner needed a little something.

play along this week for a chance to win shopping credit at lunagirl!

enjoy; love to all.

another day in fairyland

the fairyland challenge continues at lunagirl moonbeams blog and you are invited to link up a creation involving fairy things for a chance at a lunagirl shopping spree.  which is honestly pretty much like being in fairyland because of all the pretty and delicious things to be found there!

fairies watch carefully over all growing things so for my ATC this week my vintage lunagirl fairies image has visited one flower and is flitting off to check on another.  you can see the mama fairy is bringing her daughter along to help.

i started with some pretty designer paper which i glued to the cardboard ATC base.  on it i stamped a favorite image from the rogue redhead designs floriculture plate.  using a heart shape punch i punched the heart from some lunagirl seed pack collage sheet paper.  i added tissue tape from cavallini and co, some stick-on lace from my local daiso japanese dollar store (treasure trove of affordable crafting stuff!) and of course i was distressing edges throughout.  i tore the fairy image to the roughly desired size and added a butterfly brad (alphastamps).

fairyland is a good place to visit.  if your art takes you there please link it up at the lunagirl site.
wishing you a happy week.  love to all.

belly dancer with wings

a popular advertisement in this neck of the woods suggests that a certain caffeinated drink gives you wings but what gives me wings is dancing.  dancing is pure joy and this tag i've made gives me the chance to try to express visually how i feel while also linking to a couple challenges.

our challenge at tag tuesday for one week starting september 17 is "wings."  our ongoing challenge at lunagirl moonbeams up until september 21 is "bellydance."

my tag features a dreamy seated bellydancer from lunagirl's "la danse orientale" collage sheet but here she is given wings from the lunagirl "fly away home" collage sheet.  the background paper is from alphastamps and the butterfly washi tape is by cavallini and co.

there are bellydance image freebies at the lunagirl blog which you could use if you wish to join the challenge there.

i hope you can think of something lovely that gives you wings.
happy week and love to all.

some beautiful inspiration for the cheerful stamp pad challenge

it is week two for the cheerful stamp pad "your choice" challenge.  link up whatever goodie you are making for a chance to win a prize from our challenge sponsor bombshell stamps, a purveyor of fun images of both the rubber and digital varieties.  i stayed with the "bombshell" theme for my week 2 creation but this week my source for images is lunagirl moonbeams.

this image from the lunagirl "beauties #2" sheet is such a stunner.  i paired her with some pink background paper which was a design created by lunagirl owner karen and made available for FREE on her website. behind that is some nice script paper from seven gypsies which i've been using a lot of lately.  i recently bought some wonderful new rolls of paper tape from cavallini and i used a strip of it here.  this card was relatively quick to make once i decided which elements to use and in the end i pretty much love it.

link up what you love to our challenge!
love to all.