more anything goes with cheerful stamp pad and gecko galz

welcome to week two of the "anything goes" challenge at cheerful stamp pad with challenge sponsor geckogalz.  it is the ideal challenge prompt since you can create and link up any new art piece for the chance of shopping credit at gecko galz.  here's my week two DT piece for your consideration:

i've got images (including the background design paper) from three different gecko galz collage sheets along with a k and company border, dream stamp by inkadinkado and some other little sweet flourishes.

link up and have fun with us.
love to all

blessed are the flexible...

for they shall never be bent out of shape!  i made this card for the new two week "anything goes" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  our challenge sponsor is gecko galz.  as usual a randomly selected winner will get some shopping credit at their wonderful online store -- gobs of lovely collage sheets and more.

i had a lot of fun making this.  the dancer, clock, eiffel tower and the yellow patterned designer paper are all from various gecko galz collage sheets.  the stamped sentiment is from silver crow creations.  butterfly border is k and company.

anything goes also happens to be the week 9 challenge prompt at scraps of color so i'm linking up there. and finally i'm joining the march challenge at the artistic stamper which is "letters, words and numbers."

anything goes means you can link up any new creation on any theme.  please join the fun at the cheerful stamp pad!
love to all.

steampunk witchery

this witch is summoning all things steampunk!  i've made another DT creation for the lunagirl moonbeams "witchery" challenge which i am also entering into the tag along challenge "steampunk hallow e'en" challenge.  while i'm at it i'm linking to the belli challenge "hallow e'en" theme.

the summoning witch, the butterfly and the hot air balloon are all from collage sheets by lunagirl. there is background paper from 7 gypsies, a torn witch's stew recipe label from k & company.  the remaining steampunk images are from dover publications and the cog brad is from alphastamps. oh, the spiders are from random sticker sheets i had.

love to all.

a little zombie travels the world...

it is week two for the "numbers" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  if you'd like to play along, think of a way to incorporate numbers into anything you might wish to create.  the challenge sponsor is dilly beans digi stamps a company with plenty of fun and quirky mages -- the randomly selected winner will get some digis and word to the wise -- right now there is very little competition for the prize as there are only a few entries so far...

i used a dilly beans image that looks like a charming zombie to me!  i started with card stock on which i randomly placed circles with my ink dots.  i put a border on it (from k and company) and added a french game card piece that i got long ago from the now defunct paula's kits club.  i don't know what the game is but it involves maps and the sections are numbered (thus my numbers!). it is very pretty whatever it is.  i colored the digi and cut it out and placed it on the card, adding a little dragonfly for balance and interest.

come join the fun if you can!
love to all.

more let it snow

swing on by the cheerful stamp pad for week 2 of the "let it snow" challenge.  our challenge sponsor is dezinaworld , a great resource for all kinds of wonderful images.  for my second DT piece i used another image from the dezinaworld "winter warmers" set.

this time i made an ATC.  i also used a background from dezinaworld that i think is called "fur."  i used a strip of tim holtz tissue tape (a new discovery that i am definitely in love with), a snowflake from a k & company border and some lace.  no snow here yet but there's the beauty of art -- you can evoke any image you want!

hope you'll join the fun.
love to all.

speaking of hallowe'en challenges... cheerful stamp pad!

they're pretty much all over blog land now -- hallowe'en challenges everywhere.  here's another place to share one of your fun or spooky creations:  the cheerful stamp pad. double double toil & trouble and cook up whatever kind of hallowe'en creation you'd like then please link up to our challenge.

here's my DT sample:

this is another image from gecko galz. i've used colored cardstock and other goodies from k & company for embellishment.

enjoy hallowe'en and if you're making cards anyway (you know you are!) come on and join this cheerful stamp pad challenge.

love to all.

cheerful stamp pad petals challenge (#23)

the latest challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is petals -- a chance to play with flowers!  the challenge sponsor is glitterbabe digis, a wonderful shop of digital images for your art.  the challenge closes soon -- on august 21 -- there is still some time to enter.  my DT creation starts with the collaged circles technique from technique junkies.  i used a digi from glitterbabe called calla lilies and colored that with colored pencils.  i have some ribbon, a lovely little bird sticker and the word "wonder" to express my awe for nature.  this was fun to make (though it took more punched circles than i thought it would!).

enjoy, and love to all!

GC111: Random Redhead Challenge - Planes and Trains

oo-wee i'm under the wire but hoping to get this in on time.  so this creation represents a 1st and 2nd event for me.  it is my 1st somewhat steampunk inspired creation.  it is my 2nd ever canvas.  this is a random redhead challenge over at gingersnap creations.  i love love love gingersnap creations but haven't done a challenge in way too long.  i'm a little intimidated by the whole steampunk thing but i wanted to apply this idea to my planes and trains (ok, just planes) canvas.

the background is an almanac cover, a free download from the wonderful blog at clearly vintage.  you can't see much of it but is is a 1908 encyclopedia/almanac cover which really set the mood for me.  i have a tim holtz clock face, some airplane images i ripped from a brochure for the flying heritage warbirds exhibit (a museum here in WA state), a pilot face girl from dezinaworld, steampunk wings from moonlight journey and a few other random bits (left corner and butterfly on far right) and that's mostly it.

i kinda like it.  and most importantly it was a delight to make.  i'm always so happy when i can be at my studio (also known as the kitchen counter).  such joy.

love to all!

pink saturday + pink and orange journal journey

i am happily celebrating PINK SATURDAY as well as Crafty Dawn's journal journeys pink and orange challenge for the month of July.  it was such a gift to be at the crafting table again after a long stressfully busy time in life when i just didn't have the energy.  i am so grateful for scissors and glue and all of our goodly tools!


i knew i wanted to do some kind of collage for the journal page.  i used my 8x8 journal book and gathered lots of pink and orange papers of a variety of textures and patterns.  i began laying out to my heart's content.  i had already stamped a wonderful stampsmith image -- a face with flowers which i'd already colored in with pinks and oranges so i wanted to include that. 

i embellished with a lot of additional goodies.  the butterflies are from a moonlight journeys collage sheet.  most of the rest are from either k & company or are random stash items. 

since the pink and orange theme was an homage to summer i found a short poem online that seemed fitting.  in photoshop i created a background in the color orange and i used the gradient tool on it.  i typed the poem on to that and then with some cutting and tearing i had my centerpiece.  i am so glad that Dawn is doing this journal challenge and i look forward to joining again in August.  meanwhile i guess i'm getting to be a full-fledged pink saturday devotee as well!

by the way special thanks to Linda at scrappinbears studio.  a lot of the lovely papers came from her.  she was giving away from her excess and i was a lucky recipient.  she sent me a huge box of gorgeous papers and many of them are a part of this journal page.  thank you Linda!

peace and love to all.

cheerful stamp pad challenge #21 -- favorite techinque

for the next two weeks the challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is to use your favorite background technique.  the randomly selected challenge winner will get a treat from technique junkies! 

i'm a big fan of the technique junkies newsletter which i've received for about the past almost 3 years.  i don't recall how i found it but i was hungry for new ideas to make my card creations more intriguing and TJs has never let me down.  i cannot identify a favorite technique but one which has a special place in my heart is called "depth of field."  this was the first TJ technique i ever tried.

the card here uses the depth of field technique.  my stamp is from the "floriculture" sheet by rogue redhead designs.  the vintage lady and words are by k & company.  the card stock is some pink deckle paper by the paper temptress.

please join the challenge!
love to all.

under the pink saturday sea

happy third birthday to pink saturday! i'm excited to join in the pink saturday fun for the first time today.  although pink is not the color i use most, i got inspired by other bloggers i love (see lynne at adorn and cindy) to give it a try.

the background here is antiqued glimmers from technique junkies.  i'd made a bunch of these backgrounds recently (as you can see from a few entries back) and had some left.  the rest is pretty simple.  i used some k & company stash, some lace for the sea floor, and a little crystal sticker to make this scene.

i wish you all a lovely weekend.  love to all.

card collage

this has been a very collage-y week.  this card hasn't gone out to anyone yet though i think i've decided now where to send it.  there is all kinds of stuff here.  the card itself was a designed paper card from a set. on the left there is a little strip of leftover cardstock from when i was making millefiori like crazy (see technique junkies).  there is some ripped paper from a paper pack.  there's a vintage beauty label from twisted papers.  there are some little floral pieces from some collection or the other.  the stamped image is one of my favorite face stamps and it is from judikins.  i had stamped that on cardstock with yet another technique junkies technique -- though i've forgotten which one.  it was watercolor something i think. but anyway i'd messed up the stamped image so one of her eyes didn't come out.  but being a "saver" like so many of you all i kept the image and i've remedied her damaged eye by covering it with what now appears to be a sort of "curl" from a stash of random goodies from k & company. (smile!). finally i've given her a crown of lace.  this is my favorite creation of the week.

happy mother's day to all women who have nurtured others in the spirit of motherly love!
may we all get the motherly love we need.  and let's all be sweet to each other.
love to all.

2 more for beautiful mothers

well friends, here are two more, these went to grandmother and mother.  both are collage-y type creations once again.  on the one above with the bird, all the ingredients of this card are random bits from the stash.  i don't know that i can even say for sure where the various papers even came from though i am pretty sure the butterfly is from k & company.

another vintage beauty label from twisted papers is the focal image for the second card.  i gave some gentle coloring to the plain cream card stock with a light touch of distress inks.  the rest is random stuff once again.

more cards tomorrow believe it or not!  and one of them, i promise you, will be very nontraditional once again...

love to all.

more easter joy

a few more...

more easter goodies

easter cards!

just in time i had an easter card making marathon over the weekend.  here are a few to share today.  all supplies came from either twisted papers, k & company or paula's kit club. plus random stash items as usual... enjoy!
love to all.

more mixed media -- winged lovelies

last week the talented Cindy Adkins posted amazing creations for faerie wishes week with a lot of wonderful faeries hidden in garden settings and she got me inspired to make this creation.  sometimes when i get downloads i print them and just look at them for a long time.  well, i had these faces from dezinaworld and these wing sets from moonlightjourney and it suddenly became clear to me that the wings really wanted to be placed in a creation with the faces.  cindy's inspiration plus these special items led to this piece.

so meanwhile i bought canvases on sale awhile back and i've been giving myself the pep talk for quite some time to go ahead and set aside my fears and use one!  so here is what i did.  i painted the canvas with gold gesso (i'm told the only place to get such a thing is from daniel smith) and i made a collage background using random stash items such as papers, lace, etc. and also some vintage images from twisted papers. 

i glued my faces and wings together and placed them carefully then added a dragonfly and a bee from k and company.  i also did some white dots with a sharpie poster paint pen.

i struggled with capturing the image but got some help from DH and his photographic skills.  so here it is.  i am so excited to have made my first-ever canvas and am also thrilled to be trying new techniques.  i also want to give a shout out to the amazing Liesel Lund. taking her transformational art journaling and mixed media classes has really helped to move me to a new freedom and joy in creating!
thanks for looking dear friends.

love to all

are we there yet?

for the next two weeks the challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is "are we there yet?" an exploration on the theme of travel.  my DT piece is a little different (i think!) from what you usually see here.  i've been fooling around lots more with different mixed media techniques and this is an example of what i'm doing.  i had the urge to work with an arch so that was my foundation.  from there i layered mass quantities of vintage travel images and luggage labels from twisted papers.  i wanted to use my diva stamp from hampton arts and i 1st stamped it on vellum and glued it on but it just didn't pop enough.  so then i stamped it on some nice cream cardstock and cut it on and glued it on (over the vellum image which could not be safely removed)  but the cream was too much brightness.  so i next painted the stamp with acrylic paint which i also used on some other areas of the card (for better or worse).  i also used a k & company die cut for the bottom border (partially painted over) and since i needed some more pop i used a white paint pen to do some dots all around.  not bad, eh?  i have some other random stuff i've done that i haven't yet photoed and posted but i'm having fun with lots of new techniques and hope to be sharing more of that in the coming weeks.
love to all.

keeping it pink

as a child and as a young woman i never liked pink very much.  i've come to appreciate it in my life now.  i still don't wear it much but i like to look at it.  these two valentines are on some delicious pink cardstock (origins unknown) and both have images from twisted papers.  you've seen that heart-flower tree from me before.  i really like that image.  the vintage images are layered on other papers that came from the old stash.  and both have die-cut borders from k & company.  more to come!

love to all.