textural tag

our latest tag tuesday challenge (started last week, goes until next monday) is TEXTURE, thank you DT member Wendy for the great idea! here is what i've made.

central female image is from gecko galz "brilliant photos". the texture here comes from a chipboard "doily" from gina's designs precison laser cuts (store appears to be closed), magic mesh (repositionable mesh product available at craft stores everywhere!), clock stickers, and the painted background.

enjoy; love to all.

gothic, week 2

during the dark and mysterious month of October our challenge at lunagirl moonbeams is "gothic." my inspiration piece for you this week is another ATC featuring images from lunagirl collage sheets.

images are from the "gothic backgrounds," "edwardian gothic," "medieval gothic," and "gothic wings" collage sheets.  i also used some silver magic mesh, a fleur de lis and a clock brad.

if you link up a creation on the gothic theme you'll be in the running for a drawing to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.  i hope you will join!

love to all.

gecko galz september customer challenge -- tricks and treats

happy september! as always on the first of the month we introduce a new customer challenge at the  gecko galz challenge blog.  this month the challenge is "tricks or treats."  link up a creation on our challenge theme, be sure to use at least one item from gecko galz and you'll be eligible to win shopping credit and other prizes from gecko galz.

a new month also means new products at the gecko galz etsy shop. i made twinchies for my DT pieces this month and i'm sharing two of them here today.  twinchies are creations that are 2 inches by 2 inches.  it is a small canvas yet it has a surprising amount of room for creativity.

supplies and instructions: i started with a twinchie base (2x2) from inchie arts. i covered the base with paper from the new gecko galz "arsenic and old lace" paper pack. i distressed the edges with black ink. the next step was adding a spidery die cut.   i fussy cut the fortune teller from the "fortune jewel it" collage sheet by gecko galz and put her on top of the die cut though i saved a little bit for the bottom corner.  i added a paper flower, an enamel dot and the word "caution" which was in my stash of hallowe'en items.

supplies and instructions: for my second twinchie i started with another 2x2 base from inchie arts and covered it in paper from the new gecko galz "freak show paper pack."  i distressed the edges with black ink.the next layer i added was a piece of silver "magic mesh." "alexander the man who knows" also came from the gecko galz fortune jewel it collage sheet.  the star and the antique key are from my stash.

if you don't own anything by gecko galz there is lots of great stuff at the etsy shop but there are also always freebies on the pinterest page, on the blog, or by signing up for the monthly newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet each month.  i hope you will play along!

love to all.

net

our new challenge prompt at tag tuesday blog is "net" for which we can do anything involving a "net."  kind of a challenging idea.  my mind turned to the thought of fisher-people and nets in the ocean.  both the fact that nets are a way that these folks make a living and feed our families but also in the way that sometimes these nets trap marine animals unintentionally which is bad for some species. i admit this tag didn't come out entirely as i'd hoped but here it is:

i started with spray inks in hues of blue and green.  i first tried to convey the idea of a net with a stencil but it didn't look "netty" enough for me.  so i then stamped all my images and used a piece of magic mesh to represent a net.  as you can see, the octopus is escaping the net!  by the way, a little trivia about my arty life -- this octopus stamp was one of the first stamps i ever bought!  it was years ago for a project my son was doing at school on marine life and i thought the stamp would make a nice accent to the poster he was doing.  interestingly, this was actually how i got started stamping!

stamps: octopus is by missing link stamp co., waves are by meer image and bubbles are by G-rated stamps.

enjoy; love to all.

dark of night

the september reader art quest at unruly paper arts is "dark of night."

part romance and part creepy, i made a card featuring two images from the gecko galz "day of the dead" collage sheet and a background designer paper called "queenie" from the gecko galz coven paper pack.

i also used magic mesh, washi tape, a bat die cut and a beaded flourish.  the season of spirits is near...

love to all.

up in the air

in her moon-clock-hot-air-balloon this beauty has taken flight and is floating dreamily up in the air on wishes for sweetness, peace and joy.  the vintage image beauty and the background maps and script are all from gecko galz.  the wing on the beauty is from lunagirl.  i've also used magic mesh, washi tape and a butterfly from my stash.

i'm entering this to two challenges:
"up in the air" at the gecko galz facebook/yahoo groups papercrafting group; and
"take flight" the latest readers's art quest at unruly paper arts.

wishing you floaty dreams and goodness; love to all.

eerie ATCs

this must be the season for ATC swaps.  i also participated in the unruly paper arts eerie ATC swap for hallowe'en.  as with most swaps i make more than i need and then decide which to send.  i probably made 6 for this swap of 4.

these two made it into the swap.  i have a lot of poe images but i'm pretty sure this one came from gecko galz, along with the phrase "bump in the night."  the dancing skeleton stamp is from inkadinkado.
and as usual other random eerie goodies like stickers, tissue tape, magic mesh and such.
more to come soon.
love to all.

tombstone ATCs

oh what a busy autumn season it is already!  much work and not enough art or blog hopping...
and i almost forgot to keep sharing my tombstone ATCs made for the swap at retro cafe art.  the swap is closed now so in a week or so i'll be receiving some ATCs from other players.  here are two more of the ones i made.

my base is one of the masonite tombstone bases from retro cafe.  i gessoed it, stamped it with script and added this image from gecko galz, a rather spooky little trick or treating girl.  i added some "scary words" and a black flower with a pearl.

i adhered hallowe'en themed designer paper to this masonite base, used another gecko galz image, a stick on raven, black pearls and black magic mesh.

more soon!  now i'm working on ATCs for yet another swap -- the eerie ATC swap at unrulypaperarts.  there is still time to join that one!

have a wonderful week; love to all.