art from the well

i adore birds.  and apparently so does karen at lunagirl moonbeams because for the second time on her challenge blog she has chosen "birds" as the challenge theme.  specifically the challenge is to "put a bird on it."  link up a creation featuring birds in some way for the chance at shopping credit at the luminously wonderful lunagirl store.  i'll share a tag for my first DT piece.


i used some pretty designer paper from my stash, a sun stamp by uptown rubber stamps, some washi tape, some letters and some stick-on lace along with, of course, a lovely bluebird image from the lunagirl "birds 4" collage sheet.

remember that the bluebird of happiness can best be found in your own backyard!  come join us.

love to all.

late at night the mummies and zombies get together for their moonlight dance. it turns out these creatures aren't scary, they just want to party!

we are celebrating "hallowe'en costumes and fun" at the cheerful stamp pad for the next two weeks. for challenge #96 start getting ready for hallowe'en with fun costume creations.  the randomly selected winner will get a shopping spree with our sponsor stitchy bear.


our DT was provided some digital images to work with by the creator alipeeps art.  i printed and colored (with pencils) this cute mummy and then created a little graveyard scene.  i used a designer paper from the coven paper pack by gecko galz and a bunch of stickers to finish the scene.  the gravestone and little zombies are raised which adds some extra dimension.

have fun creating and join us at the cheerful stamp pad.
love to all.

well, just to be clear, most everyone else playing along at the altered card deck challenge at claudine's art corner are on week 4 but i'm on week 2 and i'm not ashamed -- at least i'm playing!

here is what i made:


the vintage images on the dream card are from lunagirl and the dream stamp is inkadinkado.
now just for context, here are the samples claudine created as inspiration for week 2:



i'm excited to get back to work on this.  week 1 was gesso-ing the whole deck which i did awhile back.  i already did the backgrounds for the 2 cards for week 3 but need to finish them and i also need to make the backgrounds for week 4.  hopefully this weekend i'll make some headway.

enjoy, love to all.

well, honestly i am one of those people who goes gaga at the office supply store.  why are binders and pens and rulers and markers and tapes so fascinating?  school and office supplies is also the challenge prompt at craft hoarder's anonymous.  for this challenge you must use some actual school or office supplies in your creation.  i used a real dictionary page and a paper clip.


the little girl is from the gecko galz "school days" digital stamp set and the "dwell in possibility" sentiment is from the gecko galz "chalkboard sentiments" collage sheet.

enjoy; love to all.

you may think it is safe to sit and read your book, young lady, but look sharp!  danger lurks! beware every corner and cranny; watch out for the things that creak and grind.  put your book down and call your nanny before you lose your mind!


it is a thrilling theme at tag tuesday this week -- danger!  so many directions one could go with this... but i'm in spooky mode so i couldn't resist using these gecko galz images to make this tag, along with a favorite "little moon" stamp by character constructions which I stamped on to designer paper by gecko galz.  the painted background was something i picked up in a giveaway some time ago and the rich autumny colors on the card stock were perfect for this creation so i cut it into a tag shape.

i'll be looking around extra carefully next time i sit down to read!  you be careful out there too!
love to all.

well glorious autumn is truly here -- starting today -- in my hemisphere anyway!  i love all the seasons but summer is the hardest for me to say goodbye too.  luckily following summer is the most colorful and reflective season, or so i think.  since we are celebrating autumn with a creative challenge at lunagirl moonbeams i am offering up a tag today to inspire you to embrace this season.


i've used lunagirl collage sheets here including "victorian wallpapers -- nature," "autumn girls," and "autumn leaves."  i've added fall colored flowers, washi tape and ribbon to complete the piece.

i hope you enjoy this and feel inspired to join the challenge.  a randomly selected winner will get shopping credit at lunagirl and there are so many wonderful collage sheets there to help you welcome all the holidays coming up in the next several months.

love to all.

it is week two for the birthday card challenge at the cheerful stamp pad. you can never have enough birthday cards on deck and you have one more week to join this challenge for a chance to win shopping credit with our sponsor stitchy bear digital outlet.  this week i chose a digital image from stitchy bear called "gran's garden" and i've also added a birthday sentiment digital image from clear dollar stamps.


starting with a digital background from the primavera series by itKuPiLLi, i've once again this week created a 100% digital creation.  i arranged my images and did all the coloring in photoshop.  the sun in the corner is not a stamp -- just a digitally hand-drawn image.  should i decide to give this card i'll only need to print it and adhere it to cardstock.

i hope you'll link up a birthday creation of your own.  there is also a birthday challenge at the squirrel and the fox blog so i am linking to that as well.

wishing you a wonderful week.
love to all.

the september reader art quest at unruly paper arts is "dark of night."


part romance and part creepy, i made a card featuring two images from the gecko galz "day of the dead" collage sheet and a background designer paper called "queenie" from the gecko galz coven paper pack.


i also used magic mesh, washi tape, a bat die cut and a beaded flourish.  the season of spirits is near...

love to all.

this must be my guest designer week, lol!  so i'm happy to be a guest designer at crafting by design for their latest challenge which is "childhood memories."  the challenge sponsor is lunagirl moonbeams and the challenge winner will get some shopping credit at the lunagirl store.  you are challenged to evoke childhood memories in your creation for this challenge.  i made a valentine ATC using the lunagirl "retro children" collage sheet. 


i used some pretty background designer paper and punched a heart out of some additional designer paper.  i placed my fussy cut girl with puppies and valentine then added some white picket fence and an additional heart. 

do you have happy memories of sharing valentines as a child?  I still love to share them and make gobs of them every year.  hooray, now i have one valentine ready to go for next year!

join the challenge at crafting by design for a great chance at a lunagirl prize!

in other news have you been wondering whether i am still playing along with claudine's altered card deck challenge? each week claudine gives a tutorial to walk you through making two cards.  we are on week 2.  during week 1 i was unable to play due to some work travel and therefore no art play time.  i was finally able to do the backgrounds for 4 cards, for weeks 1 and 2.


so here are my 4 backgrounds.  the top 2 are spray inks, the bottom left is done with alcohol inks and the 4th is distress inks. if all goes well i will get caught up this weekend to finish the 1st 4 cards.  and then be ready for cards 5 and 6 which she will give a tutorial for next monday.  sometime next week i should be sharing the 1st 4 finished cards!

love to all.

very excited to be a guest designer today for heather's my artistic adventures challenge blog first challenge -- hallowe'en greetings!


heather provided us a collage sheet of hallowe'en images which you can find at her my artistic adventures etsy shop.  it is a delightful sheet she created.  i made a tag featuring some of the images on this sheet.


i started with a cardboard base which i covered with designer paper from gecko galz called "dark magic."  it has a lot of skulls on it but you can't actually see them!

i added a border on the far left which i covered in letter stickers to spell the word "spooky."  then i arranged and adhered 5 images from heather's awesome collage sheet.

the final touches include distressed edges, a bit of washi tape where i punched the hole for the tag, a raven sicker and a zombie brad.  and some black cord of course.

happy hallowe'en!  please check out the challenge blog for more details on how to participate in the challenge!

love to all.

karen at lunagirl moonbeams is sponsoring an autumn challenge for the next two weeks.  i'm still hanging on to summer (and it is still summer until september 21!)  but i love autumn too and the colors are glorious to work with.


my DT ATC features a background form the lunagirl "victorian wallpapers -nature" collage sheet, a lovely autumn lady from the "autumn girls" collage sheet and lots of leaves from the "autumn leaves" collage sheet.  some lace and a moth finish this small piece.

link up an autumn inspired piece for a chance to win shopping credit at the lunagirl store and stock up on gorgeous vintage collage sheets.

love to all.

a birthday card challenge is always timely -- good to have plenty of them made and ready.  so it is a welcome challenge at the cheerful stamp pad. for the next two weeks you can link up a birthday card for a chance to win shopping credit with our sponsor stitchy bear digital outlet.  our design team is once again working with images by stitchy bear and i've used two digital images this week, a birthday cake and a "boo boo bear."


i digitally arranged the bear and cake on a digital background by itKuPiLLi -- the primavera series.  the "for you" sentiment is a digital image i added from clear dollar stamps.  this creation is 100% digital -- i did the coloring in photoshop and at present this card only exists in my computer!  but when the moment comes i'll be able to print it, adhere it to cardstock and i'll be ready to go!

feel free to link up a birthday creation -- you have two weeks!
love to all.

each month at gecko galz we get products from another company and are asked to create using products form that company and from gecko galz.  this month our cross promotion is with rhonda's originals and we were provided some hallowe'en images to work with.

i made my first ever wall hanging.


my supplies:

the fairyland challenge continues at lunagirl moonbeams blog and you are invited to link up a creation involving fairy things for a chance at a lunagirl shopping spree.  which is honestly pretty much like being in fairyland because of all the pretty and delicious things to be found there!

fairies watch carefully over all growing things so for my ATC this week my vintage lunagirl fairies image has visited one flower and is flitting off to check on another.  you can see the mama fairy is bringing her daughter along to help.


i started with some pretty designer paper which i glued to the cardboard ATC base.  on it i stamped a favorite image from the rogue redhead designs floriculture plate.  using a heart shape punch i punched the heart from some lunagirl seed pack collage sheet paper.  i added tissue tape from cavallini and co, some stick-on lace from my local daiso japanese dollar store (treasure trove of affordable crafting stuff!) and of course i was distressing edges throughout.  i tore the fairy image to the roughly desired size and added a butterfly brad (alphastamps).

fairyland is a good place to visit.  if your art takes you there please link it up at the lunagirl site.
wishing you a happy week.  love to all.

this month at gecko galz a couple of fabulous new products have been launched and i have made two projects here using some of those brand new products.  first, my "live, love, laugh" card.

it is time for more inspiration to join the fairyland challenge at lunagirl moonbeams!  well, who really needs a nudge to come to fairyland?  especially when fairies like this one below beckon so becomingly?


this is actually a teeny tiny tag -- about 1x2 1/2 inches.  i have images from lunagirl collage sheets "beauties" "rainbow wings" and "shabby lilac."  the background paper is some free paper offered at the site many months ago and i added some lace.

this will also be my tag tuesday piece for this week since we also have a fairy theme.

i hope you'll play along but whether you do or not have a lovely week.
love to all.

for week two of the "anything goes" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad this week i chose a fairy digital image from our sponsor stitchy bear (image design by "lil diva").  i colored her with pencils.  when i started coloring i didn't realize she was going to come out quite so gothic looking.  but since she did i thought here is a chance to make a hallowe'en themed card -- it is right around the corner!


the wonderful gothic background paper is "coven" from gecko galz.  the very cool moon and moon-crow are by rhonda's originals. i added the words "trick or treat" and a ghost brad from my stash.

since the challenge is "anything goes," you can link up a creation on any theme or in any format. the randomly selected winner will get a shopping spree at stitchy bear.  if you take a cue from me and involve a fairy in your creation, remember that there is a fairyland challenge theme lasting one more week at lunagirl moonbeams; so link up there as well if your creation fits that theme.

have a wonderful week.
love to all.

i participated in a neat swap at the scraps of color community recently -- a traveling gift swap. basically if you signed up the person in line ahead of you sends you a gift and then you send a gift to the person in line after you.  everyone had a week to turn their gift around but most people were moving much faster.

the person ahead of me was treva of treva's craft corner.  she altered a giant clothespin!  this thing is about 7 inches high.  never seen anything like it.  here is a photo montage i made of it -- it is so cool and i love that it has my name on it:

she also threw in some random and fun craft supplies as a part of my gift.  i had decided i would alter an altoid tin for the gift i would send.  here's the photo montage of what i made:


this is maybe the 3rd or 4th tin i've done and i should share that my inspiration tutorial from it came form here.  i used designer papers from my stash, lots of measuring and cutting of course.  the vintage photo image is from lunagirl.  around the top lid is some very cool adhesive fabric lace i found at my local daiso japanese store.  i love the crafty stuff they sell.  and then other goodies are on there too.

this was a fun swap, it was nice to be in a swap where i could just make whatever i wanted that i thought my recipient would like.  i did email and ask her in advance what she wanted but she said "surprise me."  she has already received it and says she did like it.  i also sent her some crafting goodies since my gifter did that for me.

have a wonderful weekend,  love to all.

we are working with silhouettes this week at tag tuesday so i decided to make a tag using both some digital and traditional stamps.


the hummingbird and butterfly are digital images from bugaboo stamps.  the gorgeous flower is from my favorite rogue redhead designs "floriculture" stamp plate.  the primary sheet of background paper for the tag as well as the paper the hummingbird was printed on are both from the primavera series by itKuPiLLi.

in addition to some distressing and ribbon, i added a little bead for the hummingbird's eye and some additional paper at the bottom that looks like a stone wall.

hummingbirds are my favorites.
love to all.

our new challenge at lunagirl moonbeams for the next two weeks is all about fairyland, a place many crafters visit with or without a challenge as far as i can tell.

in my ATC one beloved fairy keeps watch over other sweet fairy friends as they primp and play and relax among the flowers.  all vintage images (fairies and fan) are from lunagirl. background papers and butterfly are from my stash.


please join us in fairyland.
now i also want to share something else i am quite excited about


claudine at claudine's art corner is hosting an altered playing card challenge at her blog which just started in september so there is time to join the fun if you like.  i have always wanted to alter a deck of cards and this challenge is a great way to get started.  on day one we had the option to gesso (or sand) the entire deck so that each card will be prepped for the free tutorials to follow.  here's my evidence laying out to dry:



i'll be posting more photos as i continue along with this process!  i believe we will get a new instruction each week.
hope your week is moving along just right.
love to all.

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: