tic tac toe for real

the prompt at tag tuesday for about another week is tic tac toe. there is a tic tac toe board you use to play along -- here are the instructions from DT member Joan:

For the challenge this time I created a tic tac toe board. You need to use all 3 items in a row (across, down or diagonally) on your tag. But of course, you can use other items also. Here's the board:

this time i am following the instructions and have created a quick tag using requirements down a diagonal line: washi tape, buttons/brads/or flair, lace or ribbon.

background paper and santa image by gecko galz (p.s. the november "jingle all the way" challenge is still live until the 30th!)

love to all.

tags of christmas

i hope you've been checking out the gecko galz customer challenge blog -- every day this month there is a beautiful new tag celebrating the winter holidays.  today i have a christmas tag for you.

supplies: gecko galz blue christmas collage sheet; gecko galz blue christmas paper pack; reindeer brad from eyelet outlet; rickrack and ribbon; sentiment diecut; tag base.

instructions: i covered my tag base with paper from the blue christmas set and distressed the edges.  i fussy cut the tree and santa from the collage sheet and glued them down along with the die cut sentiment.  i added the rick rack and ribbon and the reindeer brad.

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how to play along with our "dashing through the snow" customer challenge: make your holiday tag -- but 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 december 29.

i'm also linking this to the "christmas memories" challenge at tag tuesday.  visiting santa and decorated trees are definitely in my happy memory collection!

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.

lasso my heart

it is week three at lunagirl moonbeams and the "cowgirls and horses" challenge.  if you link up a creation on this theme you'll be up for the chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

here is a charming image from the lunagirl "cowgirls #1" digital collage sheet.  look at all the hearts she has corralled.  i wonder what she is up to?  all i did for this ATC was add the image to my ATC base, add ribbon, a prima flower and a cowboy boot brad.

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.

take a word: heart

just in time for valentine's day the word prompt at the take a word blog challenge this week is "heart." i made a tag with this theme in mind.

the image on the right is from the kirchner cuties collage sheet by gecko galz.  the background paper is heather hudson's valentine sweetheart hearts bitty collection.  the rest is stash.

i'm also linking up to the "love" prompt at the scraps of color blogger challenge.

enjoy!  love to all.

st nick in the skies!

hello friends, here is a reminder of our "st nick" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams.  i've got another delightful vintage image of st nick from lunagirl.

i used some fun candy designer paper from my stash and added ribbon, a gift and a stocking die cut and a punched flower.  join our challenge for a chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

and, um, don't be shocked but i'm linking up to the 12 days of christmas at unruly paper arts.

love to all.

school days!

it's a new month and at gecko galz that means a new monthly challenge.  since it is september it makes perfect sense to choose "school days" as our challenge.  if you link up a school days creation featuring at least one image by gecko galz you'll be in the running for a prize pack including a $25 gecko galz shopping spree and a prize pack from rhonda's originals.  here's some inspiration from me for you:

for my "scholar" tag i used the following supplies:

gecko galz school days digital stamps

gecko galz “old world maps” vintage image

designer paper

washi tape

ribbon

distress inks

polyvinyl hole reinforcement

and here's what i did:

first i re-sized the digital stamps to the desired size, printed and fussy cut.  i covered the cardstock tag base with alphabet designer paper then tore a piece of map from the old world maps collage sheet to adhere to the tag base.  i used distress inks around the edges.  i arranged the two digital stamps on the tag as I wanted them and added washi tape, the hole reinforcement and the ribbon.

i love the digital stamp i used here -- it reminds me of some old style cartoon.

link up your school days creation for fun at gecko galz!
i'm also linking this up to the week 34 back to school challenge at scraps of color.

love to all. 

gecko galz and itkupilli

at the gecko galz site each month we combine gecko galz items items with items from a featured company. this month the cross promotion partner is the wonderful artist itkupilli! itkupilli has provided some gorgeous papers from her primavera line for us to create with.  i've made two tags combining images from the two companies.

i call this tag "reverie."  the gecko galz vintage images are from the "sunny august" and "la vie en rose" collage sheets.  the gorgeous background paper is from itkupilli. i've used washi tape, polyvinyl hole reinforcement and ribbon to finish the piece.

i call this piece "fairy kiss."  again the background is primavera paper from itkupilli.  the image is from the gecko galz "sunny august" collage sheet.  the kissing stag is washi tape.  the butterfly and rabbit are brads by alphastamps.

check out the gecko site to see additional cross promotion pieces by the design team!
love to all.

summer holidays and such

our theme this week at tag tuesday is summer holiday.  as many know who stop by here much, my idea of a wonderful summer holiday is definitely time at the beach.  so that is the focus of my tag.

the vintage bathing beauty, the carte postale and the lovely sea-leafy background paper are all from gecko galz. there is some vellum script border from alphastamps.  the wings on my bathing beauty are from lunagirl. i finished the piece with some distressing, some fun stickers and ribbon.

i'm linking this up to several challenges:
summer fiesta at unruly paper arts
bright sunny colors at tagalong challenge
sun, surf and sand at bombshell stamps challenge blog
things with wings at try it on tuesday
things with wings and ribbon at really reasonable ribbon.

i also have an update on the gecko galz blog and a chance for you to win products from with wild abandon.  go to the blog and vote for your favorite DT creation using both gecko galz and with wild abandon products.  you'll be entered for a chance to win some goodies from with wild abandon -- and their products are stunning!  deadline july 31 -- i hope you'll participate!

have a beautiful week; love to all.

use some more ribbon...

ribbon is a fine way to embellish any creation and it can be used a number of ways.  for week two of the "use some ribbon" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad i have some ribbon bordering my valentine ATC.

the little girl and bingo images are from gecko galz and actually this is one of the ATCs i've made for a valentine swap at our gecko galz yahoo group.  i'll be sharing more of these ATCs in the coming days.

link up to the cheerful stamp pad challenge for a chance at winning a drawing for a prize from our sponsor sweet stamps.

have a wonderful week.  love to all.

use some ribbon & mardi gras colors

hello lovelies, i hope everyone's january is continuing along in a happy way.  it is new challenge time at the cheerful stamp pad.  for the next two weeks you are encouraged to link a new creation and to "use some ribbon."  the randomly selected winner at the end of two weeks will get a prize from our challenge sponsor sweet stamps.

my DT sample is an ATC which i'm linking up to the latest challenge at wicked wednesday which is to use the mardi gras colors of purple gold and green.

the vintage image i've used is from the lunagirl collage sheet "art deco ladies."  i cut my ATC base from a purple patterned notebook cover.  i layered three ribbons at the bottom -- purple, green and gold and tied them with a multicolored piece of ribbon as well.  the green butterfly brad is from alphastamps.

love to all.