doors, stamped, an experiment

hello all, it is a super-blustery autumn day in my part of the world. good times for making! the latest challenge at tag tuesday, hosted by our awesome DT sister Wendy, is "doors, windows, or arches."

i really thought i owned some sort of a door stamp as i wanted to stamp something. since i discovered i did not own such a stamp (or could not find it! ha!) i thought i would try to create a door with stamps i have. the following are experiments which i decided to just go ahead and post even though they certainly are not polished work by any means.

i actually was just stamping on cardstock and then cut around what i'd stamped to make a tag shape -- that's to tell you just how very "experimental" this whole thing was! 

i created the doors using different stamps from the rubbermoon "stampstracts" stamps. the checkerboard, alice, and kissing lady are from leavenworth jackson. the dream and clock are from inkadinkado. words from a tim holtz set.

i hope you'll forgive these rough creations -- no color, masking, or anything fancy -- just plain stamping, and it was a nice little play time.

i hope you'll take a look at the challenge for yourself -- remember it can be doors, windows, or arches -- one more week to play!

love to all.

more faces!

 there is one more week to play along with my theme at tag tuesday right now which is "faces." here is a bit more inspiration for you!

the coin face is from one crab apple; the woman is from holliewood studios, with background papers from gecko galz.

this stamp is from technique junkies; background paper from gecko galz.

i hope you will play along -- one week to go! love to all.

welcome to the faery garden!

 hello all! it is my turn to select the theme for the next two week challenge at tag tuesday and i've chosen the theme of "faery gardens."

i hope friends will share tags on the site featuring faeries and their garden playgrounds. make something lovely, spring-feeling, and full of fantasy to brighten our days.

here are two tags to get this started!

the background paper, faery, and sentiment in this first tag both come from gecko galz. the wings and border are items from my stash.

for this second tag the background paper and sentiment are again from gecko galz but the rubber stamp is from 100 proof press, and was a holiday gift i received this year!

i hope all friends will choose to play along!

love to all.

faery picnic; and a bit of stamping for ICAD

for sunday postcard art: fruit

images from dezinaworld, itKuPiLLi, pixabay, and miles beyond the moon.

also today: my index card a day ICAD #14 "chamomile." 

i looked up an image of chamomile and it is sort of daisy looking. so i made this card with rubber stamps, spritzed watercolor inks, a grassy bit from a tumblefish creations digital kit, and a bit of an unsteady hand on the stamping...

but hopefully the sentiment comes through.

love to all.

ICAD #8

are you familiar with a "suzani pattern"? i was not, it is a geometric pattern originating out of central asian countries such as tajikistan, uzbekistan, etc. suzani pattern is the theme today for the "index card a day" challenge sponsored by daisy yellow art. 

my creation isn't exactly a suzani pattern but it is a pattern and i did enjoy doing it.

the spiral rubber stamp (it is a two-sided stamp) is from connor's collectibles. the image i added is from the gecko galz "tattoo girls" collage sheet.

enjoy; love to all.

ICAD #7 "highway"

the day 7 theme for the "index card a day" challenge sponsored by daisy yellow art is "highway." the challenge is to make art on an index card (either 3x5 or 4x6) every day through July 31.  

motorcycle rubber stamp from "stamp happy," "route 66" rubber stamp from inkadinkado. woman is from gecko galz "tattoo girls" digital collage sheet. i got the map background from pixabay and the rest of the words i just typed and printed.

love to all.

keep calm and clown on!

for the gecko galz challenge of the day: "the big top"

this ATC features images from "circus circus" and "clowning around jewel it" collage sheets, and background paper from the "curiosity shop" paper pack. i also used some dragonfly brads and a swirl stamp.

keep safe and strong; love to all.

grateful hearts

for moo mania and more "count your blessings," i've made a little moo (1.1 x 2.8 inches creation) in honor of the thanksgiving holiday, and the bounty of the harvest.

stamps (pumpkin and corn) by hero arts and background papers by gecko galz.

turns out i was too late for this challenge, i missed the deadline, but they have a new challenge now called "cuts and punches"!

love to all.

rubber moon latest swap

here are some simple ATCs i made for a recent rubber moon company "moonies" swap. 

background papers from a retired tumblefish studio collage sheet.
love to all.

favourite stamp

last week a new two week challenge opened up at tag tuesday -- use your favourite stamp, theme selected by DT member joan. well, i have hundreds of stamps and am hard pressed to identify a favourite. i have always liked the simplicity of this pear stamp by rubber stampede.

the background paper is from the gecko galz curiosity shop digital craft kit and i stamped the pear on a dictionary page after spritzing it with water color inks. there's a little washi tape and enamel dots on here too.

one week to play along! please join us!
love to all.

peaceful beauty

there are just a couple days left to play along with the gecko galz customer challenge theme of "asian beauty." i'm sharing another ATC today; visit the gecko galz blog today and you'll get a free digital image!

supplies: gecko galz asian words ATC collection; gecko galz beautiful asian ladies collage sheet; gecko galz time flies collage sheet; die cuts; distress ink; "peace" character rubber stamp by poetic prints.

instructions: i covered the ATC base with paper from the asian words collection and distressed the edges. i stamped the peace character on rough paper, tore the edges and glued it to the base. i fussy cut the woman and tore the image at the bottom and added her to the base. i added the swirls and heart last. 

i chose another image with the lotus flower for this piece because i love the meaning and image of the lotus flower. across many cultures it symbolizes spiritual enlightenment and rebirth.  somehow this beautiful flower grows out of muddy water and yet is beautifully clean and pure.  it is quite special.

the continent of asia includes many cultures and i probably inadvertently mixed characters and images from different cultures in this piece.  i did not mean to be disrespectful in doing so. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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 may 30.  challenge prize will be goodies from the gecko galz shop.  

love to all. 

use a quote

it was my turn to pick a theme for tag tuesday and because i love quotes and sayings i chose "use a quote."

the beautiful woman is matilda sissieretta joyner jones, an american opera soprano from the 1800s. the image is from the lunagirl african american CD; the wings are also from lunagirl, the rainbow wings collage sheet; the background of clouds is from a retired tumblefish studios kit.  i also used a french script rubber stamp (company unknown), paper tape and ribbon.  the quote is by maya angelou.

here we have the very famous and glamorous josephine baker, an american born entertainer, intellectual and activist.  the image is from the lunagirl african american CD; the wings are also from lunagirl, the rainbow wings collage sheet; the background is from twisted papers (i think their store is now closed); the enamel dots, felt leaf and ribbon are from my stash.  the saying come from a tim holtz ideology "small talk" sticker set. 

come by the tag tuesday site and check out this challenge!
love to all.

BIRDS / VÖGEL

for moo mania and more birds/vÖgel challenge:

this is a traditional "moo" with chicken stamp by the glorious leavenworth jackson stamp company.  stickers from stash.

love to all.

new stamp play

i got some new stamps from the technique junkies site this month, a few of which were new releases.  yes, it was an impulse buy.  i usually try not to buy stamps because i have about a million of them.  but the images are really lovely.  and i love to grab african american images when i find them.

so i was having a rough day the other day and i didn't have time for any fancy play but here's what i did...

i covered ATC bases with designer paper, and stamped simply in black.  it made me feel better to stamp a bit.

sending love and light to all of you.

world heritage day

tuesday april 18 happens to be world heritage day, which according to my research is connected to the international monuments and sites celebration in which we are encouraged to visit monuments and sites.  who knew?  this is also our latest challenge at tag tuesday.  i've decided to visit egypt with my tag.

my background paper is from the out of africa paper pack by gecko galz.  the stamps are from (in order of appearance) leavenworth jackson, good stamps stamp goods, uptown rubber stamps.  the stamps were stamped on paper from the prima song bird pack.

i've never been to egypt for real.  it would certainly be wonderful to get to go there.

love to all.

egypt

for moo mania and more "egypt"

stamp used for my "moo" is from good stamps stamp goods. background paper by prima song bird pack.  washi tape and flower from my stash.

love to all.

keep some room

for try it on tuesday "tissue,"
and for lost coast portal to creativity "anything goes:"

i stamped this lovely "mona flying" stamp by lost coast designs onto tissue paper left over from last month's gifting! (word to the wise: when you stamp on tissue paper make sure there is something beneath the tissue as the ink will bleed through.  i had some clean up to do...).

the rest was some simple putting together of desired elements.  i just got this stamp toward the end of last year and this is my first time using it.  it is wonderful.

enjoy; love to all.

clean and simple

the words clean and simple speak for themselves i suppose -- but when i saw the latest prompt at tag tuesday to make a clean and simple tag i felt the need to do a little research.  i found the CASology blog, dedicated to clean and simple creations.  so here's what i did:

this tag is for tag tuesday and for the current challenge at CASology which is "sprout," in honor of spring.  i started with a kraft cardstock tag and stamped the flower from rogue redhead stamps and the word from inkadinako.  and that's it.  it was a challenge to not do anything more.  but i like the results.  i'll be playing along with CASology again in the future!

enjoy; love to all.

sweet pea challenges for june -- summer toga fairy

happy monday friends.  i'm playing along with the latest sweet pea stamps facebook progressive challenge (look for "sweet pea stamps friends and fans" page on facebook) and also the one sweet challenge blog challenge as well.  my card features a newly purchased stamp for me, "toga fairy" by lemon shortbread.

i stamped the lemon shortbread stamp onto designer paper by gecko galz.  as always i colored it with pencils.  after adhering my colored image to cardstock i added die cut borders on two sides and a punched heart at the top, and a little distressing around the edges.  the challenge at one sweet challenge blog is to use die cuts or punches, I've used both.  for the progressive challenge we simply have to use a currently available sweet pea stamp, either rubber or digital.

enjoy!  love to all.

the latest sweet pea progressive challenge

i'm loving the progressive challenges that sweet pea stamps is hosting on its facebook page.  it is encouraging me to get out my many many sweet peas stamps and play with them.  for this third round of progressive challenges i am using a wonderful stamp designed by joanne schemp -- i have this one in rubber form.

i stamped the image on some background paper from gecko galz and also used some gecko galz digital designer paper for the card stock background.  i colored the stamped image with pencils, cut it to size and adhered to the card stock with the black and white paper already added.  the watery border is actually stickers and the "wishes of joy" stamp is by hero arts,

the way the progressive challenge works is that if you play in part two you are given a free digital stamp which you then use for part 2.  then a randomly selected winner playing in part 2 gets some additional goodies.  but everyone who plays in part one is a winner because we all get the free digi!  i can't wait to see what stamp our players will get for free for part 2 of this progressive challenge.

enjoy; love to all.