umbrella joy; wonderland; playing catch up

it's another big round up today! starting with the three muses challenge: umbrella.

i really wanted to depict some joy. this makes me smile and i hope it does the same for you. mischief circus artists represented here include songbirdy, holliewood studios, itKuPiLLi and retired artists miles beyond the moon and tumblefish studios.

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for the "index card a day" challenge sponsored by daisy yellow art, i've got three cards and i am no caught back up. this project wraps on july 31 and i can't quite believe i've stuck it out.

first another visit to wonderland again and linking this one to the customer challenge at gecko galz: "welcome to wonderland."

lots of gecko galz products here: "wonderful wonderland" and "looking glass" collage sheets are represented here.

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this next index card uses some images (face and background) i just learned about and am absolutely in love with from ART TEA LIFE (one crab apple).

the butterfly wings, crown and words are from gecko galz.

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this last one started with painting the background with acrylic paints (I actually followed the prompt on this one which was "blue or blueberry").

then i stamped the mermaid, masked it and stamped the waves (both from retired meer images company) and embossed with black glitter embossing powder. same with the octopus (missing link stamp co.)

whew.enjoy; love to all.

ICAD the call of the sea; 2 birthday cards

the theme today for the "index card a day" challenge sponsored by daisy yellow art is "anchor," and so here is my "call of the sea" card.

i've used a piece of a real map, a compass rubber stamp from leavenworth jackson, and mermaid and anchor from gecko galz collage sheets (sea nymphs and nautical). there's a faint bit of stamping from a meer image (retired company) waves stamp as well.

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also sharing two birthday cards i made recently:

images from songbirdy, itKuPiLLi imagenarium, gecko galz (butterfly), lunagirl (moon), rubber moon art stamps (washi tape up the side) and words from retired tumblefish studios.

images from songbirdy, lunagirl (steampunk girls), and tumblefish studios.
love to all.

i made a "moostake"

i thought the current theme at moo mania and more challenge blog was "music" so i made a quick "moo" (approx. 1.1 by 2.8 inches) utilizing images by lunagirl.

this lovely lady and her violin made a nice choice for the theme. however, "music" was the last theme.  the current theme is water. oops.  so i started again.  for this second moo it is all rubber stamping.

i glued a piece of map to the cardboard moo base i'd cut out, using a section of the pacific ocean including the area around polynesia. the mermaid and wave stamps are by meer image and the bubble stamp is by g-rated stamps.

i'm linking these to the pink saturday blog in honor of its 8th birthday!

that should do it.  enjoy; love to all.

favorite pet...

the theme at moo mania and more challenge blog this week is "favorite pet."  although there are no companion animals in my life just now i have had cats in the past.  

i recently acquired this whimsical cat stamp from 100 proof press and it inspired this moo (1.1 x 2.8 inch creation), along with a moon stamp from rubber moon art stamps and some background paper from the gecko galz zen garden paper pack.  i almost forgot -- there is a bit of a wave stamp from meer image at both sides on the bottom  as well.

simple stamping fun.  
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.

t is for turtle

today i'm sharing another alphabet ATC, this time featuring a turtle.  for the month of august you are invited to link up an animal themed creation to the lunagirl moonbeams challenge blog for the chance to win the prize of shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

this ATC has a vintage image (the turtle) from the lunagirl "woodland animals" collage sheet and also includes stamping.  i started with designer paper from my stash adhered to my ATC base.  I stamped the waves which are from meer image.  i fussy cut and applied the turtle and then also stamped the bubbles from G-rated stamps.  i then added the ribbon and the letter T (from a set purchased from altered pages).

you have until the end of the month to link up.
enjoy; love to all.

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.

myths and legends

our latest prompt at tag tuesday is myths and legends.  i've always been fascinated by mermaids and i have a quite a collection of mermaid stamps.  according to wikipedia, a mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish.  mermaids appear in the folklore of cultures all over the world including the near east, europe, africa and asia.

for this tag i used my one and only merman, a stamp from meer image.

i started by creating a background on a large tag using alcohol inks and a polished stone technique. my end result was very dark but i was delighted with the backside of the tag which had more variety and subtlety than the front so that is what i used as the backdrop for my creation.  i stamped two different wave stamps (both from meer image) on the background.  i stamped the merman, dolphin (PSX) and sea star (PSX) on blue card stock, cut them out and glued them on the tag.  i also went over the sea star with an orange pro marker.  i stamped the bubbles stamp (G-rated stamps) last.  i love this fiber-ribbon i got at a garage sale next door last summer.

it is a nice fantasy scene i think.
love to all.