* Gecko Galz: Ritzy and Glitzy

Hello!

It's my DT day at Gecko Galz and, as the theme for this month's customer challenge is Putting on the Ritz, I thought I'd stay broadly within that theme for my projects.

Firstly, I made a trio of ATCs:

I used the Blooming Water ATC sheet for the backgrounds. This set is incredibly beautiful - it has the most vibrant colours.

The ladies on all three ATCs come from the Nouveau Goddess Jewel collage set. The images were enlarged,  printed and fussy cut. The edges of the image were inked with vintage Photo Distress Ink, as were the edges of the background paper.

I matted the paper onto black card stock and drew some faux stitching around the edges with a black fine liner.

A small butterfly from Butterly Kisses was added to each ATC, being glued in the centre and leaving the wings free gives them a 3D appearance. The sentiments come from the Journal Toppers Kit.

***

Next I made a 4 x 4 inch card using the In Marble Halls paper and another Nouveau Goddess Jewel.

The card has a simple design, using the enlarged Jewel as a card topper. Both the card topper and the background paper were inked around the edges in black and were matted onto black paper. Four die cut corner scrolls were added to the card to frame the image.

***

My final project is a wall hanging. 

I used three card beer mats as the base of each panel. The beer mat had a wood-like appearance and so I didn't feel the need to cover it with paper.

The images are from the Butterfly Kisses collage sheet - I resized them, printed them out, cut them and distressed the edges before inking the edges with Vintage Photo.

I used an embossing ink pen to go over the words Hope, Joy and Faith and then heat embossed them with gold embossing powder.

I printed two of each image out, so that I could cut the main butterfly from each and add it as a 3D element by gluing it down just in the centre.

The three mats are held in place by twine secured at the back of each mat. I added some wooden beads in-between each mat and at the base.

***

My Putting on the Ritz customer challenge inspiration pieces  and details can be found here:

That's all from me for now!

I hope you'll join our Putting on the Ritz challenge where the Winner will get 

$25 shopping spree 
at the Gecko Galz shop.

The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product ...
(this can be one of the freebies or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy store!) 

Also if you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the $1 Wednesday deals!

Please pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see the fabulous designs by the very talented DT.

We also have a Private Facebook Group where there are 4 monthly challenges, each with a collage sheet prize. Come and join us!

I'll be back on the 12th with more Gecko Galz projects.

Here's all the info you need:

Gecko Galz blog

Current Gecko Galz Challenge : "Putting on the Ritz"

Gecko Galz Etsy Shop

Gecko Galz Closed Facebook group

***

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in the following challenges: 

ATC Trio
* Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1836 AG 16/09 (#2)
* Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #89 AG 15/09 (#3)
* Crafting By Designs Encouragement 20/09
* Crafty Creations #374 AG 26/09
* Corrosive Challenges #9 AG 30/09 (#2)
Card
* Jos' Scrapshack #250 AG 14/09
* Penny's Challenges #397 AG 19/09
Creates and Makes #24 AG 24/09
* Crafty Gals Corner #174 3+ Layers 26/09
* Dragonfly Dreams AG 27/09

Wall Hanging
* Crafty Catz #428 Add a Butterfly 14/09
* Crafting from the Heart #219 AG 16/09
* Artistic Inspirations #206 AG 16/09 (#2)

* Shopping Our Stash #371 Upcycle 18/09  TOP 3

* TTCRD  AG 18/09

* Creative Moments #152 AG 25/09

* Butterfly Challenge #107 Butterfly & Layers 28/09

* 613 Avenue Create #213 AG 04/10 (#2)

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

* Vera Lane Studio: Autumn Fox

Hello,

Today is my DT day at Vera Lane Studio and I would like to share a card I made. 

I used several sets to create my autumnal scene. The fox is from Foxes, The rabbit is from Doodle Bunnies, the trees are from Goldilocks (available on request) whilst the flowers are from Helga's Hedgehog. The sun is from a new set called Sunflower and the black and white strips are from Borders (also available on request). I coloured all the images with Copics and fussy cut them. I added some white lines and dots using a Posca pen and ran around the edge of the cut images with a black marker to conceal any irregularities.

The background was made by applying Distress Oxides with a baby wipe. I used Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo for the ground and Fossilised Amber, Spiced Pumpkin and Fired Brick for the sky. I added some stamping around the edges and some black and white paint splatters. I inked around the edges with Fired Brick and finished by running a blending tool around the cut edge with Ranger black ink.

Most of the images were glued directly onto the background, but I popped the fox and the rabbit on foam pads for some dimension. 

I decided to add a sentiment from the September set and outlined it with black fine liner. The little bird is from Birdy. 

    Foxes                        Doodle Bunnies               Helga's Hedgehog
     

That's all from me for today.

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane. 

It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #89 AG 15/09 (#2)

*Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1836 AG 16/09 Honourable Mention

* Artistic Inspirations #206 AG 16/09

* Colour Crazy #36 AG 21/09 (#1)

* Di's Digi Designs Happy Fall Y'All 21/09 (#1)

* Classic Design Team Challenge #09 AG 27/09 (#2)

* We Love 2 Create #12 AG 26/09 (#1)

* Fabrika Fantasy #24 Autumn 27/09 (#3)

* Morgan's Artworld #09 AG 27/09 (#2)

* Scrap From Your Heart #25 Autumn Colours 28/09 (#2) 

* Corrosive Challenges #9 AG 30/09

* Ellibelle's Corner Sept: Signs of Autumn 30/10 (#1) TOP 3

* Brown Sugar #282 AG 02/10

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

* Vera Lane Studio: Sun Fleur

Hello!

It's my DT day at Vera Lane Studio and I am delighted to introduce today's new release. The digi set is called Sun Fleur and she is gorgeous. She comes with two individual sunflowers, the most beautiful sunflower sun and an inspirational quote.

Here is my card:

I coloured the images with Copics, added some white Posca pen highlights, and fussy cut them. They are glued directly onto the background with some torn, spotty washi tape to ground the images.

The background is the result of a happy accident and I feel like I've invented a new technique, but probably haven't! I dabbed 3 colours of acrylic paints using a baby wipe - at the base is Newton & Winsor Gold Green, the centre is a mix of Dylusions Lemon Zest and Vanilla Custard and the top is the Dylusions yellow mix with a little Squeezed Orange; some blank areas of paper were left unpainted. I inked around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide, then decided to lightly ink over the painted areas - I didn't like this, so took a damp baby wipe to remove it ... and it left the most amazing result ... the ink filled in the white spaces and left behind almost a marbled effect. I am pretty pleased with the look!!  I stamped some flourishes using an Inkylicious stamp and Vintage Photo and added some black and white paint splatters. The sentiment was cut into strips and outlined with black fine liner. Finally the edges were inked in black.

Sun Fleur

That's all from me for today.

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane. 

It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Cardz4Galz #79 Beautiful Backgrounds 12/09 (#1)

* Colour Crazy #35 AG 13/09 (#2)

* A Bit More Time To Craft #75 AG 14/09 (#3)

* A Perfect Time To Craft #9 AG 27/09 (#2)

* Classic Design Team Challenge #09 AG 27/09 (#1)

* Fabrika Fantasy #24 Autumn 27/09 (#2)

Morgan's Artworld #09 AG 27/09 (#1)

Scrap From Your Heart #25 Autumn Colours 28/09 (#2) ...

* Papercraft Challenge #10 AG 29/09 (2)

* Crafters Castle #09 AG/Fall 30/09 (#2) WINNER

* Love to Craft #26 AG 30/09 (#2)

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

* Vera Lane Studio: Welcome Fall ATC

Hello!

September is here and autumn is in the air!

Over at the Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group I am hosting this month's ATC swap and I've chosen the theme Fall.

Here is my first ATC for the swap.

I love the colours of Autumn and tried to recreate them in a little scene depicting the Fall season.

I used Helga's Hedgehog as the main image set and added elements from Woodland Props (tree stump, bird), September (leaves) and The Foxes (acorns).

All images were coloured with Copics and fussy cut.

The background is white card which was coloured with Distress inks then dry embossed with a tree bark embossing folder. I blended Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the tree barks and inked around the edges.

Helga and the hedgehog are popped on foam pads for dimension whilst the leaves were curled and glued down just in the centre, so they appear in 3D. The acorns, tree stump and the bird are glued directly to the background.

I printed the words and cut them into strips and, once in place, I outlined them with black fine-liner pen.

Helga's Hedgehog                      Woodland Props       

                

 September                      The Foxes

              

That's all from me for today.
I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane. 

It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Crafty Gals Corner #173 AG 11/09

* As You Like It Favourite non-card project & why 12/09

I love creating ATCs - they are a tiny canvas to work and experiment upon and they become mini masterpieces. The best part, though, is swapping with other paper crafters!

* Alphabet Challenge L is for Leaves 12/09
* Fabrika Fantasy #24 Autumn 27/09 (#1)
* Crafty Animals #18 AG 27//09
* Dragonfly Dreams AG 27/09
* Scrap From Your Heart #25 Autumn Colours 28/09 (#1)
* Crafters Castle #09 AG/Fall 30/09 
* Animal Friends September In The Forest 30/09

* 613 Avenue Create #213 AG 05/10 (2/8) add

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

* Crafts Galore Encore: Summer Kitten

Hello!

Each month brings a new challenge at Crafts Galore Encore. The theme is always 'Anything Goes' and we would love for you to join in!

This month we are sponsored by the fabulous Fabrika Fantasy and the lucky winner will get to choose 3 digi images from the store.

Our DT member, Jackie, needed some time away after dealing with a personal family situation, so I've stepped in to make a card with the digi she chose.

 Here is my card using Summer Kitten:

The pre-coloured version of Summer Kitten is so delightful, I decided to use it on my card. I used the png digi and placed it on a green texture background before printing it out. I decided to mat it with orange card as I love bright, complementary colours! My background is digital paper too, this time with a different texture and this is also matted onto orange card. I inked around the edges of the paper and card with black ink to give the edges a little more definition.
The die cut leaves were inked with a blender and Memento Bamboo Green ink and teamed with some tiny mulberry blossoms from Ribbon Girl. To finish I added a die cut 'With Love' sentiment.

Many thanks to Dmitry from Fabrika Fantasy for generously sponsoring this challenge and offering three digis to the winner.

I hope you'll pop to over to Crafts Galore Encore to see the DT's wonderful designs. 

We'd love to see your creations. 

Remember the challenge is always 'Anything Goes' and so you can create any type of project - it doesn't have to be a card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Penny's Challenges #395 AG 04/09
* Jo's Scrapshack #249 AG 07/09

* Cafty Friends #91 Animals/Birds 07/09 (#3)
* Creative Crafters #7 AG 08/09 (#3)
* 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #18 25/09
* Crafty Animals #18 AG 27//09

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

* Crafts Galore Encore: Merry Cow

Hello!

It's September and here, in the north of England, summer is coming to a close. We can look forward to the beautiful autumnal colours and crisp, dewy mornings. 

September brings a new challenge at Crafts Galore Encore. The theme is always 'Anything Goes' and we would love for you to join in!

This month we are sponsored by the fabulous Fabrika Fantasy and the lucky winner will get to choose 3 digi images from the store.

I was lucky to get a digi to work with and I chose Merry Cow. Here is my card:

Merry Cow makes me smile! 

She is coloured with Copic markers and given white Posca pen highlights. She has been fussy cut and popped on foam tape.

The background is Dylusions acrylic paint, applied in smooth strokes with a baby wipe. I used white paint and a blender sponge to stencil the border using a Dylusions stencil. I decided to outline the pattern with a black fine-liner pen. I used a Tim Holtz stencil and white paint in the centre.

I added a torn strip of washi tape to ground Merry Cow. The lovely sentiment, outlined in black fine-liner pen, is from Tim Holtz's Small Talk. Finally, I added three white mulberry flowers.

Many thanks to Dmitry from Fabrika Fantasy for generously sponsoring this challenge and offering three digis to the winner.

I hope you'll pop to over to Crafts Galore Encore to see the DT's wonderful designs. 

We'd love to see your creations. 

Remember the challenge is always 'Anything Goes' and so you can create any type of project - it doesn't have to be a card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Jo's Scrapshack #249 AG 07/09 (#2)

* Creative Crafters #7 AG 08/09 (#2)

* Colour Crazy #35 AG 13/09 WINNER

* Aloha Friday Challenge #126 AG/Animals 13/09

* Crafters Cafe #203 3 of Anything (mine are flowers) 13/09 Winner

* A Bit More Time to Craft #75 AG 14/09 (#2)

Creates and Makes #24 AG 23/09 (#2)

* Crafty Animals #18 AG 27/09 (#1)

*Angies Digital Stamps #24 AG 28/09 (#1)

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x

Gecko Galz: Putting on the Ritz

Hello!

Another new month bring a new challenge over at the Gecko Galz blog.

The theme this month is Putting on the Ritz. We'd love you to play along and show us your crafty makes using at least one product from Gecko Galz.

My first project is a card:

The lovely image is from The Cat's Meow collage sheet. My card topper is made of three images, fussy cut and layered or decoupaged for dimension. I added ink around the edges of each images layer so that they would stand out a little better.  I added some glitter to the girl's tiara. 
The mats are black glitter paper and the the background paper is from the In Marble Halls paper pack. The sentiment is from my all time favourite collage set - Charming Words.
 I added some bling around the edges.

My second project is a pair of Artist Trading Coins:

ATCoins are basically round ATCs and they measure 2.5 inches in diameter. They have become a new collectible!

Both images are from the Cat's Meow Collage Sheet and the paper is from In Marble Halls. I added Glossy Accents to the ladies earrings for some shine.  I adhered some sequin waste trim across my coin and inked the edge in black. I also added a flower sequin and placed a gem in it's centre as embellishment. The words are Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers which I drew around with white Posca pen

That's all from me for now!

I hope you'll join our Putting on the Ritz challenge where the Winner will get 

$25 shopping spree 
at the Gecko Galz shop.

The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product ...
(this can be one of the freebies or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy store!) 

Also if you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the $1 Wednesday deals!

Please pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see the fabulous designs by the very talented DT.

We also have a Private Facebook Group where there are 4 monthly challenges, each with a collage sheet prize. Come and join us!

I'll be back on the 12th with more Gecko Galz projects.

Here's all the info you need:

Gecko Galz blog

Current Gecko Galz Challenge : "Putting on the Ritz"

Gecko Galz Etsy Shop

Gecko Galz Closed Facebook group

***

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in the following challenges: 

Card
* A Bit More Time to Craft #75 AG 14/09
* Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #89 AG 15/09 (#1)
Creates and Makes #24 AG 23/09 (#1)
* A Perfect Time To Craft #9 AG 27/09 (#1)
* Papercraft Challenge #10 AG 29/09
Crafty Girls #50 AG JFF 30/09

ATCoins
* Lil Red Wagon #461 Old or New Trends 04/09
Collaged Artist Trading Coins - New Trend
* 4 Crafty Chicks #418 AG 05/09
* Creative Crafters #7 AG 08/09
Love to Craft #26 AG 30/09
613 Avenue Create #213 AG 05/10 (1/8)

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

To leave a comment, please click on the G+1 button below.

(If this does not open up the comments, please click either the link to this particular post in the sidebar, or click on the red heading at the top of the post and, hopefully, the comments will open).

Thanks x