she loves her darling pup!

it has been a long while but i am playing along with the wicked wednesday ATC challenge this week, challenge theme is "cute and cuddly"

background script and woman with dog are by lunagirl.  "bitty" heart paper at bottom is from my artistic adventures. patterned heart, washi tape and sentiment from my stash.

enjoy! love to all.

furry friend

earlier this month we said goodbye to our sweet gilda, friend and companion for 18 years.  she was an orange tabby.  i still think of her and expect to see her around the house.  but her time had come.

the cat in this ATC, though she doesn't look like gilda, has had me thinking of her.  i made this ATC in response to the prompt at wicked wednesday "furry friends."

i used an image from a lunagirl collage sheet "yictorian cats," french newsprint background paper from my stash, a flower stencil and spray water color ink, lace and a butterfly brad to embellish this piece.

love to all, especially our dear animal companions.

summer and sunshine

i am so grateful for summer and sunshine -- we've gotten plenty of bright, hot sun this year where i live -- a little too hot sometimes but a welcome change from the long dreary-ish months we are known for here in the pacific northwest.  at wicked wednesday the challenge theme is summer and sunshine, which seems right on time, in this hemisphere anyway!

 

for my ATC i used background designer paper and a vintage image of a child and dog at the beach from gecko galz.  i added borders and die cut to finish.  wishing you summer and sunshine!

 

love to all.

blessed easter

greetings people! and happy easter to you.  i'm sharing two pieces today -- something secular and something sacred.  at wicked wednesday this week we are invited to share a holiday ATC for the challenge and given the season we are in i opted for easter.  also because of the "spring chickens" challenge at lunagirl moonbeams this ATC is a "twofer."

vintage image by lunagirl.

this next card is about three years old but is very sweet i think.  the image is from twisted papers.

love to all.

you're a star!

at the wicked wednesday ATC challenge blog the theme is "you're a star" which means use a star or stars on your ATC.  i've made an ATC using a fun holiday lady with a tree and star on her head from the gecko galz "holiday ladies" collage sheet on background paper with a digital stars stamp from robyn gough designs.

this month at gecko galz our DT was challenged to make creations using products from both gecko galz and robyn gough designs so i was delighted to have another chance to use both products together.  the trees at the bottom are die cuts from my stash as is the poinsettia, the pearl and the "deck the halls" sentiment.  i enhanced her face a bit with markers because her features didn't show up well. as a result she ended up looking a bit cartoon-ish but let's face it -- this is a woman with a christmas tree on her head!

it shall come as no surprise that i'm linking this ATC up to the 12 days of christmas link up party at unruly paper arts.  i'm not sure if i'll make it posting christmas creations for the full 12 days but so far i'm half way there!

enjoy; love to all.

something sweet; for the dogs

this ATC is for wicked wednesday "something sweet" and gecko galz facebook/yahoo group challenge "for the dogs."  the "my dear sweetheart" dog is a gecko galz image as is the background designer paper.  the rest -- rick rack, hearts, dog paw paper are stash items -- largely from my valentine's day stash collection!

love to all.

you're my teddy bear

i was never really a teddy bear girl but i got a free teddy bear stamp once (past time stamps) which i'd never used until i saw this week's challenge at wicked wednesday:  teddy bears!  wicked wednesday challenges are always to make ATCs.

i stamped the teddy onto colorful designer paper and placed that on the cardboard ATC base.  i added a rose and a butterfly since this is kind of a lovey-dovey piece.  the butterfly is a brad from alphastamps.

love to all!

crazy cranium

i'm playing along at wicked wednesday again this week and the challenge is "crazy cranium."  i used a digital stamp i had from the octopode factory which i colored with colored pencils.

i gave this curious character wings from lunagirl and some bugs for friends.  the background is animal print designer paper so i am also linking up to the week 11 "animal print" challenge at scraps of color.

love to all.

bunnies!

so cute and cuddly i admit i'm a sucker for bunnies. though i've never had a true pet bunny there was a bunny living outside my college dormitory and i brought it treats from the cafeteria salad bar every day.  this bunny was known by the dorm residents to be "michele's bunny" and, true story: i called it "rabbino."

okay, now that true confessions are out of the way bunnies happen to be the theme at the wicked wednesday ATC challenge blog this week so of course i had to make a bunny ATC.

the bunny image here is a freebie from the graphics fairy.  the little bunny in the corner is a very cool brad i got from alphastamps.  the flowers, border and pretty background paper are from my stash.

happy spring and love to all.

love girl

here is another ATC i've made for the gecko galz yahoo group valentine swap.  the girl and background are both from collage sheets by gecko galz.

i'm linking this up to the "hearts and love" challenge at wicked wednesday ATC challenge.
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.

cute hallow e'en at wicked wednesday

with this piece i am successfully completing my goal to enter three challenges at the gecko galz yahoo group for october and am also submitting this ATC for the "cute hallow e'en" challenge at wicked wednesday.

the girl and "boo" bingo images are from gecko galz.  the spidery lace is from alpha stamps.  the rest are random goodies.  linking up to happy pink saturday for the pink or seasonal theme.

love to all.

cute and creepy ATC

here is an ATC to meet the cute & creepy challenge at wicked wednesday.  i colored a cute (and creepy) image from silly dilly beans digital images with pro markers and set it on some creepy hallowe'en designer paper on my ATC base.  i rounded the top of the ATC base for interest.  i finished it up with bat and creepy fence die cuts.  simple; i like how it turned out.  i'm also linking up to the week 37 "diecutter's delight" challenge at scraps of color.  i'm also linking to the dilly beans challenge blog "halloween week 2" challenge.

love to all.

zodiac ATC

i love love love collage but my first love is stamping and i have drawers and drawers of stamps going unused lately.  literally hundreds of stamps....  thus i decided i should use stamping for the next challenge i enter.

so here's a little something i'll be linking up as follows:
wicked wednesday ATC challenge #95 "zodiac" and
scraps of color  #30 "black, white and pop of color" challenge.

this ATC honors sagittarius (my son's sign!) with its symbol "the archer."  the archer stamp is from "marks of distinction."  i stamped it in black, masked it, and then stamped the crackle background (from "sonlight impressions").  i went over everything with a black ink pen to make it pop a bit more and then outlined the borders and added some color with promarkers.

what shall i stamp next?

love to all.

red, white and blue celebration and challenges

happy independence day to those who celebrate!  i spent a happy day in the sun today at a wooden boat festival with many loved ones and am now home for the evening.  we'll catch the fireworks show on TV since DH has to rise early for work tomorrow.  in honor of the holiday it seems there are numerous challenges requiring the use of red, white and blue.  alright then, i'm in.

to start i decided to work with this fun vintage 4th of july image which was offered up as a freebie by wonderful karen at lunagirl moonbeams blog.  i wanted to work with an ATC since that was a requirement for one of the challenges i wanted to enter.  i worked with a cardboard ATC base, designer papers and stickers and an angel (here playing the role of liberty) from  a clip art page in a stampington and.co. magazine.  i know she's big but so is freedom!

here are my challenge entries:
scraps of color  blogger challenge "display the red, white and blue"
mema's crafts  paint your patriotism/red, white and blue
wicked wednesday ATC challenge #91 red, white and blue
and don't forget the "from the past" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  i'm not entering since i'm on the design team but this ATC certainly fits as a vintage piece and some of us on the DT have focused on 4th of july related images.

enjoy people, i wish freedom and grace to all.
love to all.

wicked wednesday black, white and one color challenge

here is an ATC for the current challenge at wicked wednesday -- black, white and one other color.

the beautiful celestial goddess digital stamp is from cs-designs.  the dream stamp is from inkadinkado.  both are arranged on some black and white designer paper with a few other goodies of course.  my goddess is  sending peace and love to all those who suffered in boston, west texas and all over the world where tragic circumstances try to crush the human spirit.

as always, love to all.

a little valentine ATC

this is a very simple creation with some pretty colored markers and a favorite stamp from ducks in a row.
i'm entering it in the seasonal/holiday challenge at wicked wednesday. 
and also for the "anything goes" challenge at scraps of color. 

happy valentine's day and much love to all!

happy heart

i'm way behind on valentines day cards and this is a holiday for which i normally make quite a few.  i've got to get on it in order to mail goodies on time to friends and family.  where does the time go? to so much busy-ness i'm afraid.  well anyway, in search of a mojo spark i decided to play with a favorite digital image from cs-designs.  i made a card and an ATC both using this lovely image.

as always i've colored with pencils and here all else i've used are beautiful flower and bird stickers and decorative paper -- and a little distressing of course.

the story on the ATC above is that i made an error printing out the digital image on post card card stock and the "break" in the card stock cut the image in half.  never one to throw anything away i decided to have the heart face peeking over the edge of the ATC.  i used more decorative paper and more valentine themed stickers and such.  i'm entering the ATC in the wicked wednesday atc blog valentine/love challenge.

don't forget we have a "heart" themed challenge over at cheerful stamp pad too!

oh i do love lovey dovey things.
and as always, love to all!

owl ATC

here's an ATC for the "whooo loves owls" challenge at wicked wednesdays. 

the gorgeous designer paper in the background was painted by an artist and was included in a giveaway package of goodies i received long ago.   the owl stamp is from gray wolf graphics; i stamped it and did some coloring with pencils.  the rest -- leaves, eggs, dragonfly, and words are various stash items.  i chose the words since owls are known for wisdom.  as mother goose said:

A wise old owl sat in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

love to all.

anything goes and wicked wednesday....

happy spring!

it is still raining like mad around here these days, nevertheless the crocuses and some of their other flower friends are emerging in the front yard.  the bright colors are truly refreshing and make me hopeful for warmer weather.

it is week 2 for the "anything goes" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.  you can submit anything for this challenge so long as you haven't already blogged or posted it before.  total artistic freedom!  the challenge sponsor is classy cards n such.  the randomly selected winner will received a $10 gift certificate.

i've made two ATCs with an easter theme as the challenge this week at wicked wednesday is bunnies and chicks.  so i've got one ATC with bunnies and one with a chick!  the lace on the bunnies piece and the silver stencil stick-on on the chick creation came from classy cards n such.
enjoy the spring and these wonderful challenges.
love to all.