girls just want to have fun -- ICAD #5 "1980s"

well, i almost didn't make it today. it has been a long work day and a long week BUT i committed to the "index card a day" challenge sponsored by daisy yellow art. the challenge is to make art on an index card (either 3x5 or 4x6) every day through July 31.  today's theme is "1980s," you don't have to follow the theme but so far i've played along. 

do not mess with my love for Cyndi Lauper. i pulled these images off the web and put them on a background from the "graphical paper" pack by gecko galz. i added polka dot washi tape, a flower and enamel dot, and the numbers/letter from holliewood studios fantastical steampunk alpha.

ready to chill for the evening and be a blob on the couch.
love to all.

more spring, more anything goes

there is one week left for the tag tuseday "anything goes" challenge, and just a few days left for the gecko galz "spring's muse" challenge. here is another tag for both challenges.

background is from gecko galz papillon paper pack. the woman is from a gecko galz collage sheet as well. words and flower/enamel dot are from my stash.

may your path be sweet; love to all.

who loves coffee?

for the next two weeks the challenge theme at tag tuesday is "beverages." you're invited to make a tag with any kind of beverage. our fearless design team leader Valerie LOVES coffee so much that she often posts photos of her coffee drinks along with her beautiful art creations. so my tag is dedicated to her!

the woman and cup images are from lunagirl; the background paper and sentiment came from one of the artists at stitchy bear digital outlet (now closed). i also have some tissue tape, a paper flower, enamel dot, ribbon and distress ink to finish the piece. 

i also love coffee, especially the smell of it!
enjoy playing along with the challenge!

love to all.

she flies over

faces, wings, gardens, flight. all good themes for springtime. here are two tags with plenty of all those things.

face stamp from lost coast designs "up close and personal" stamp set; butterfly from gecko galz "pretty little butterflies" collage sheet; sentiment by viva las vegas stamps; cloud washi tape from pipsticks; the rest of the bits are from my stash.

face stamp from lost coast designs "up close and personal" stamp set; butterfly from gecko galz "pretty little butterflies" collage sheet; flowers from gecko galz "jardin" collage sheet; background paper is also gecko galz; sentiment from tim holtz; flower and dot from my stash.

i'm always interested in using rubber stamps and collage images effectively together and am pleased with how these turned out.

challenges entered:
lost coast portal to creativity "on wings she flies;"
gecko galz customer challenge blog "nouveau garden;"
moo mania and more "spring fever;"
and a reminder there is a "faces" challenge at tag tuesday...

love to all

keep on jingling...

our november challenge at gecko galz customer challenge blog the  is "jingle all the way!" there are just a couple days remaining to play along. the challenge prize will be a shopping spree at the gecko galz shop!  let's play! i've got lots to jingly goodness to share.

supplies: gecko galz "victorian christmas" paper pack; the gecko galz christmas collage sheet from the recent blog hop (see my october 26 post and pop through all the blog hop stops to find the free sheet); gecko galz "charming words" collage sheet; various laces, die cuts, paper flowers; reindeer brad, enamel dot, ATC base, etc. from my stash.

instructions: i covered the ATC base with one of the victorian christmas papers and distressed the edges. i added lace and the flower and dot.  i fussy cut the image from the blog hop sheet and glued it down. i continued to embellish with the word and the brad.

these two creations are "moos" which are little arty piece made at 1.2 x 3.8 inches. i used the same basic components on both of these.

supplies: gecko galz "christmas sprinkles" paper pack; gecko galz "snow much fun jewel it" collage sheet; and then various embellishments from my stash.

instructions: in both cases i cut a moo base out of cardboard and covered it with the christmas sprinkles paper. i fussy cut the images and arranged everything together the way i wanted and then glued it all down!

i'm linking my "moos" to the current moo mania and more challenge "trees."

for me, christmas is a holy and sacred time and one of my favorite images of christmas is the three wise men bringing gifts to the holy baby. that was the inspiration for this last ATC.

supplies: gecko galz "victorian christmas" paper pack; gecko galz "christmas days gone by" collage sheet; distress ink; ATC base; dove and heart stickers.

instructions: this was made very simply by covering the ATC base with the victorian christmas paper and distressing the edges, fussy cutting the three wise men and gluing them down; appending the lace with double sided tape and adding the stickers to finish.

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how to play along with the challenge: create on our theme -- remember you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left. there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page. and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals. hurry! for this challenge your deadline to link up is november 30.  challenge prize will be a shopping spree at the gecko galz shop!  

well friends, this is my last post as a gecko galz DT member -- after several years creating with these products and sharing them with you all i'm moving on to other things. i'll be entering the challenges myself and encourage you all to do the same -- so many great products and prizes!

love to all. 

travel dreams

as we continue our july theme at the gecko galz customer challenge blog:  "enjoy the journey," create on this theme using gecko galz products for the chance to win prizes from the gecko galz store.  i have a 4x6 postcard and another ATC to share today.

supplies: 4x6 cardboard base; gecko galz "parisian dreams paper pack"; gecko galz "paris dreams" collage sheet; gecko galz "charming words" collage sheet; black lace; paper flower; enamel dot; black stickers; distress ink.

instructions: i covered the cardboard base with 2 papers from the parisien dreams paper pack, distressed the edges and added the lace at top.  i fussy cut the woman and glued her on, adding the words, flower, dot and stickers to finish.

supplies: ATC base; gecko galz "parisian dreams paper pack"; gecko galz "dream girls" collage sheet; gecko galz "postcards from abroad" collage sheet; gecko galz "charming words" collage sheet; gecko galz "postcards from abroad" collage sheet;washi tape; paper flower; distress ink.

instructions: i covered the ATC base with paper from the parisian dreams pack and a torn peice from the postcards from abroad collage sheet.  i added washi take and distressed the edges.  i fussy cut the woman from the dream girls sheet and added her along with the word and the flower.

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how to play along with the challenge: create on our theme -- remember you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left. there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page. and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals. hurry! for this challenge your deadline to link up is july 30.  challenge prize will be goodies from the gecko galz shop!  

love to all. 

floral beauty

our two week challenge at tag tuesday right now is "floral" and the challenge lasts until the 16th.  here is my tag.

the lovely lady is from the gecko galz "dream girls" collage sheet.  the floral background paper and "love" ticket are also from gecko galz. the washi, paper flower and enamel dot are just goodies from my stash.

enjoy the week and may you enjoy the flowers wherever you see them!
love to all.

dreams of paris

this july at the gecko galz customer challenge blog the challenge new theme is "enjoy the journey." create on this theme using gecko galz products for the chance to win prizes from the gecko galz store.  i have an ATC to share today.

supplies: ATC base; gecko galz "the drawing board" collage sheet; gecko galz "postcards from abroad" collage sheet; gecko galz "la boheme" digital kit; lace; washi tape; black lace; paper flower; distress ink.

instructions: i covered the ATC base with a designer paper from the "la boheme" kit and then with a torn piece from the postcards from abroad collage sheet and distressed the edges.  after fussy cutting the girl from "the drawing board" collage sheet i glued her on, covered the corner with washi tape, taped on some lace at bottom and added the paper flower.

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how to play along with the challenge: create on our theme -- remember you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left. there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page. and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals. for this challenge your deadline to link up is july 30.  challenge prize will be goodies from the gecko galz shop!  

come back here on july 28 to see another creation by me on this theme.

love to all. 

retro summer

this june at the gecko galz customer challenge blog the challenge theme is "retro summer." create on this theme using gecko galz products for the chance to win prizes from the gecko galz store.  i have an tag to share today.

supplies: gecko galz gidget mini paper pack; gecko galz "aloha" collage sheet; card stock tag base; distress ink; flowers, shell and letters from my stash

instructions: i covered the card stock tag base in paper from the gidget paper pack and distressed the edges. i added the image from the aloha sheet, which i'd fussy cut.  i added the shell, letters and flowers to finish.

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how to play along with the challenge: create on our theme -- remember you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left. there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page. and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals. for this challenge your deadline to link up is june 30.  challenge prize will be goodies from the gecko galz shop!  

come back here on june 28 to see more creations by me on this theme.


love to all. 

baby love

it was my turn to pick the challenge theme at tag tuesday for the next two weeks and with mother's day right around the corner i chose "baby love."  but really the theme can be about mothers and babies or just babies, human babies, animal babies whatever you like!  here are two tags to get this started.

i used lunagirl images on the first piece, with a beautiful little girl reading a book (from the african american CD) and her wings from the "fly away home" collage sheet.  the background paper is from jodie lee designs.  the washi tape, die cuts and stickers are from my stash.

for this piece i chose an image and paper from gecko galz.  the mother and babe are from the "mum's the word" collage sheet and the paper is from the mori girl paper pack.  the paper flower, enamel dot and lace are from my stash.

i hope you will have fun with this challenge!
love to all

keeping it green!

st patrick's day is only a couple of weeks away now and our challenge theme at the gecko galz customer challenge blog has been "putting on the green." challenge entries closed on february 26 (because this is a short month!) but i still have some more goodies to share. 

supplies: gecko galz visions in green collage sheet; gecko galz butterfly kisses collage sheet; gecko galz putting on the green digital crafting kit; gecko galz it's not easy being green paper pack; enamel dots; distress ink.

instructions: i covered my ATC base with paper i printed out from the putting on the green digital crafting kit and distressed the edges. i printed the celtic symbol from the digital crafting kit on to paper from the it's not easy being gree paper pack, cut it out and glued it to the ATV.  i fussy cut the girl, printed from the digital craft kit and also fussy cut the butterfly from the butterfly kisses sheet and glued both to the ATC as well.  i added the enamel dots last. 

supplies: gecko galz butterfly kisses collage sheet; gecko galz putting on the green digital crafting kit; gecko galz it's not easy being green paper pack, gecko galz charming words collage sheet; distress ink.

instructions: i covered my ATC base with paper i printed out from the putting on the green digital crafting kit and distressed the edges. i printed the celtic symbol from the digital crafting kit on to paper from the it's not easy being gree paper pack, cut it out and glued it to the ATV.  i fussy cut the girl, printed from the digital craft kit and also fussy cut the butterfly from the butterfly kisses sheet and glued both to the ATC as well, along with the word, cut from the charming words collage sheet.   

supplies: gecko galz visions in green collage sheet; gecko galz butterfly kisses collage sheet; gecko galz it's not easy being green paper pack; paper flower, enamel dots, distress ink.

instructions: i took 4 different papers from the it's not easy being green paper pack and arranged them on the ATC base, and distressed the edges. i fussy cut the girl from visions in green and glued her on the ATC.  i fussy cut the butterfly from butterfly kisses and added that to her shoulder.  i added the paper flower and enamel dots last.

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how to play along with the challenge: too late for february but come back march 1 to see the new challenge theme and play along with us next month!

love to all. 

putting on the green!

at the gecko galz blog this month we are "putting on the green" and encouraging you to make projects for st patrick's day or at least using green! challenge rules are below.  here is an ATC by me to get this started.

supplies: gecko galz visions in green collage sheet; gecko galz darling dragonflies collage sheet; gecko galz putting on the green digital crafting kit; paper flower, enamel dot, distress ink.

instructions: i covered my ATC base with paper i printed out from the putting on the green digital crafting kit and distressed the edges. the Irish blessing was printed from the putting on the green digital crafting kit and i fussy cut that as well as fussy cutting the woman from visions in green and the dragonfly from the darling dragonflies sheet. i glued those to the ATC base and added the flower and dot last.

nothing like an Irish blessing to get things started!

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how to play along with the challenge: create on our theme -- remember you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left. there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page. and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals! for this challenge your deadline to link up is february 26.  challenge prize will be goodies from the gecko galz shop!

love to all. 

another little love

for tag tuesday "anything goes" (you have 'til next monday to link up!)

the little girl image is from lunagirl, the african american images collection.  she is so tiny and sweet. the background paper is from the gecko galz floral symphony paper pack.  the paper flowers, enamel dots, rickrack and sticker are from my stash.

love to all.

more things that go "bump in the night!"

today is my feature day at the gecko galz blog and i'm sharing 2 more ATCs on our "bump in the night" theme for you.

supplies: ATC base; gecko galz "boo-tiful halloween" collage sheet; gecko galz freak show paper pack; border and cat die cut; paper flower; star sticker; distress ink.

instructions: adhere freak show paper to base, distress edges. add border at base and paper flower at top; fussy cut witch from boo-tiful halloween collage sheet and adhere.  add cat and star.  

supplies: ATC base; gecko galz "tattoo girls" collage sheet; gecko galz "time flies" collage sheet; gecko galz "coven" digital paper pack; sabor papel die cut; skull ribbon; spider brad; distress ink.

instructions: adhere paper to base, distress edges. add skull ribbon with two sided tape, add sabor papel heart at top; fussy cut tattoo girl and adhere.  add spider brad.

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how to play along with the customer challenge: you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left.  there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page.  and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals! for this challenge your deadline to link up is october 30!

i'll share more "bump in the night" inspiration later this month!

love to all.

frida dreams and good news

i participated in the rubber moon mail club ATC swap in august.  here are the ATCS i sent:

all stamps are from rubber moon with accents done in colored pencil, paper flowers and a few enamel dots.  the dream die cut came from the latest rubber moon mail club package.

love to all.

gecko galz circus journal pages

happy july! each month at gecko galz one of the design team members takes a turn sharing a journal page and a tutorial for the page.  this month i'm up!  but first let me tell you that the customer challenge on the gecko galz blog this month is "in a mermaid's garden."  

link up your mermaid creations for the chance to win gecko galz prizes; additional info on how to play along is at the bottom of this post. now, for my journal pages!

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last month our theme was circus and i am so in love with all things circus that i stayed with that theme for my journal pages.  i started by printing several circus themed collage sheets and cutting out the images i thought i'd like to use.

and then of course the fussy cutting began.  i wasn't sure which images i would ultimately use so i cut out a lot that i liked.  the ones i didn't use went into an envelope for a future project.  i also remembered there were a couple other sheets i wanted to work with so i included those in this photo.

next i had to decide which journal to use, a large one or a small one? 

i chose the smaller (6x6) and next explored what layout of images i might like.

for the background i knew i wanted to use watercolor spray inks and lots of washi tape.

after spritzing the pages and impatiently waiting for them to dry i started to apply washi tape.

at this point i got so busy making that i forgot to take additional photos.  here are the completed pages.

some flowers and enamel dots made for a nice finishing touch. so here is my happy little circus fantasy, i hope you like it!

by the way, here are the collage sheets i used:
circus circus
circus life
darling dragonflies
charming words.

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cone back here on july 14 to see my mermaid creations for our monthly theme!  now, here's how you can play along with the mermaid customer challenge!

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you must use at least one item by gecko galz.  if you sign up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter you'll get a free collage sheet every month.  sign up at the blog here, on the top left.  there are also wonderful freebies at the gecko galz pinterest page.  and there are always wonderful deals at the etsy shop -- and if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll also get notice of the special one buck wednesday deals! for this challenge your deadline to link up is july 30.  we all look forward to seeing what you make on this lovely undersea theme!

love to all.

under the big top, part deux

for our june customer challenge theme at gecko galz we are celebrating all things circus.  link up your circus themed creation using at least one item by gecko galz for the chance to win a wonderful prize.  here is my 9 ATC pocket letter on our theme.

supplies: collage sheets by gecko galz including: charming words, circus circus, circus life,  clowning around, pierrot on parade (new this month) and time flies; paper packs by gecko galz: timeless mini paper pack (new this month), life is a circus paper pack and mad tea party paper pack. i've used some borders by tumblefish studio, paper flowers and enamel dots from my stash, brads and distress inks.

instructions: when i go about making a pocket letter i start by picking a variety of images that speak to me so i examined the circus circus, circus life, clowning around and pierrot on parade collage sheets and picked out several images i liked, fussy cut them and started figuring which background papers made a good match. before i actually created any of the ATCs i laid our a grid with the papers and images to see how i wanted to arrange everything.  once i settled on that i did more cutting and finally begin the actual gluing to the ATC card bases, adding borders and other embellishments.  that's the process!

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how to play along: make something on the theme of "under the big top" be sure to use at least one item by gecko galz.  you have until 11:55 eastern time US on June 30 to link up your creation at the blog, or you can email a photo of your project to geckogalz2014@gmail.com.  

if you have not signed up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter i strongly recommend that you do -- it is on the left hand side of the blog.  newsletter subscribers get a free collage sheet every month. there are also freebies at the gecko galz pinterest site (there are several albums there just keep scrolling down).

we look forward to seeing what you make!
love to all.

under the big top!

this june it is all about the circus at gecko galz customer challenge blog. you are invited to create on our circus theme for the chance to win big prizes from gecko galz!

i'm sharing a sneak peek at the top row of the pocket letter i made for the challenge.  to see the entire pocket letter of all 9 ATCs you'll have to come back on june 14!

supplies: collage sheets by gecko galz including: charming words, circus circus, circus life,  clowning around, pierrot on parade (new this month) and time flies; paper packs by gecko galz: timeless mini paper pack (new this month), life is a circus paper pack and mad tea party paper pack. i've used some borders by tumblefish studio, paper flowers and enamel dots from my stash, brads and distress inks.

instructions: when i go about making a pocket letter i start by picking a variety of images that speak to me so i examined the circus circus, circus life, clowning around and pierrot on parade collage sheets and picked out several images i liked, fussy cut them and started figuring which background papers made a good match. before i actually created any of the ATCs i laid our a grid with the papers and images to see how i wanted to arrange everything.  once i settled on that i did more cutting and finally begin the actual gluing to the ATC card bases, adding borders and other embellishments.  that's the process!

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how to play along: make something on the theme of "under the big top" be sure to use at least one item by gecko galz.  you have until 11:55 eastern time US on June 30 to link up your creation at the blog, or you can email a photo of your project to geckogalz2014@gmail.com.  

if you have not signed up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter i strongly recommend that you do -- it is on the left hand side of the blog.  newsletter subscribers get a free collage sheet every month. there are also freebies at the gecko galz pinterest site (there are several albums there just keep scrolling down).

we look forward to seeing what you make!

love to all.

country charm inspiration

today is my feature day at the gecko galz challenge blog.  pop over there for a free digital stamp!  i'm sharing some additional inspiration to encourage you to participate in this month's "country charm" challenge.

"a trip to the farmer's market"

supplies: 4x4 cardboard base; gecko galz parade of flowers paper pack; gecko galz farm fresh collage sheet; gecko galz garden time collage sheet; paper flower, enamel dot, distress inks.

instructions: starting with the 4x4 cardboard base (which i cut from stash cardboard) i covered the base with paper from the parade of flowers paper pack and distressed the edges.  i fussy cut  images from the gecko galz collage sheets and adhered them to the base.  i added the flower and dot to finish.

"everything for the fruit grower!"

supplies: 3x3 cardboard base; gecko galz parade of flowers paper pack; gecko galz farm fresh collage sheet; gecko galz garden time collage sheet; enamel dots; distress inks.

instructions: starting with the 3x3 cardboard base (which i cut from stash cardboard) i covered the base with paper from the parade of flowers paper pack and distressed the edges.  i fussy cut  images from the gecko galz collage sheets and adhered them to the base.  i added the enamel dots to finish.

"a trip down a country lane"

supplies: gecko galz parisien icons; photoshop and my computer.

instructions: this is a 100% digital piece created by sizing and arranging the desired images in photoshop to create my digital collage.

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how to play along: make something on the theme of "country charm" be sure to use at least one item by gecko galz.  you have until 11:55 eastern time US on May 30 to link up your creation at the blog, or you can email a photo of your project to geckogalz2014@gmail.com.  

if you have not signed up for the monthly gecko galz newsletter i strongly recommend that you do -- it is on the left hand side of the blog.  newsletter subscribers get a free collage sheet every month. there are also freebies at the gecko galz pinterest site (there are several albums there just keep scrolling down).

we look forward to seeing what you make!

love to all.

faces, lovely faces

for moo mania and more: faces
both are actual "moos" (approx 1.1 x 2.8 inches in size)

face stamp by rubber stampede, stamped on designer paper. distress ink, paper flower and enamel dot.

face stamp by judikins, stamped on designer paper.  bird from a collage sheet by lunagirl.  distress ink enamel dots.

early on in my stamping days i was obsessed with face stamps and i have many of them.  this challenge was a nice opportunity to play with 2 from my collection.

love to all!