ATC swaps

i'm overdue to share some ATC swaps i participated in on the gecko galz facebook groups.

spring theme

received from my partner Danuta Brzezińska of Poland:

and what i sent to her:

goddess theme

received from my partner Kim Rayko of Nova Scotia:

and what i sent to her:

(i sent 3 but i'd made 4). all projects made with gecko galz products.

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.

frida dreams and good news

i participated in the rubber moon mail club ATC swap in august.  here are the ATCS i sent:

all stamps are from rubber moon with accents done in colored pencil, paper flowers and a few enamel dots.  the dream die cut came from the latest rubber moon mail club package.

love to all.

rubber moon moo swap

it has been many months since i've participated in a swap with the rubber moon mail club members.  but the august swap was for "moos" and that got me back in the swing of things -- i love working with a tiny canvas.

my swap went to none other than the rubber moon owner and chief moonie kae pea!  this trio was made on a background created with watercolor inks.  all the stamps are from the rubber moon store, and beyond the simple stamping there is very little additional embellishment.

of course i sent some stickers and die cuts and other goodies as we do with swaps.

have a lovely day; love to all.

RAK

at the scraps of color community we did a RAK -- random acts of kindness swap.  i was partnered with the SOC founder Tiare.  i was told that her favorite color is pink, that she loves dragonflies and lots of other good information to help me provide a loving package of goodies for her.

i was told that she prefers art that is functional.  so since one of the gifts i planned to send was a dragonfly necklace, i decided to alter the box.  i gessoed the box, then painted through a flower stencil with pink paint on the top.  i also painted the sides of the box with the same paint mixed with more gesso to lighten the color.  i added a sentiment from the gecko galz "scripted" collage sheet and a dragonfly fussy cut from the gecko galz "darling dragonflies" collage sheet.

you can see the pink pouch which holds the necklace and i also included a twinchie i'd made back in may for the lunagirl moonbeams sisters and mothers challenge.  beyond this, the larger box i mailed to her was chock full of other goodies, art supplies and such.

i hope she will like it and i know i am excited to see what she will send to me.

love to all.

all things alice swap ATCs received!

i was very happy to participate in the "all things alice" swap hosted by marion at bockel24 blog.  i posted my creations here. i have now received my swap ATCs and they are nothing short of wonderful!

left to right:
"drink me": by alice (aptly named!) from finland and the blog yellow house studio;
"size matters" by judith brandt of germany;
white rabbit by ilka from germany and blog small dots on blue.

i adore these ATCS -- thank you swap friends and especially thank you to marion!  i also feel so grateful to be connected to talented people from all over the world.  participating in international swaps is worth the little bit of extra postage to connect to wonderful artists from all over.

love to all.

gecko galz inspiration -- all things alice!

one of the new gecko galz collage sheets this month is "go ask alice" and it is a wonderful compilation of images in celebration of alice in wonderland.  coincidentally this sheet arrived to me just in time for an ATC swap hosted by bockel24blog -- all things alice!

for the ATC swap we were invited to interpret the theme however we liked.  i had fun combining images from a variety of gecko galz collage sheets to create my own little collages of wonderland.

supplies: all collage sheets and papers are by gecko galz -- "go ask alice" collage sheet, "bluebird of happiness" collage sheet, "butterfly kisses" collage sheet, "vintage vixens" collage sheet, "butterflies and birds" collage sheet, "spring awakening" paper pack.  in addition to the gecko galz products i used washi tape, paper flowers, enamel dots, stickers and distress inks from my stash of supplies.

instructions: as you might imagine, the process here involved a great deal of fussy cutting, arranging and gluing.  i adore collage and gecko galz products are such wonderful items to work with.  i often just stare at a variety of collage sheets that catch my eye and then slowly i begin to envision pictures that will become my creations.  for example when i saw those fabulous big birds from the "bluebird of happiness" collage sheets i knew i had to cut out some alice images to go with them.  it has nothing to do with the alice story -- it just struck me as a clever combination of images.  i hope you enjoy.

a REMINDER: there are some days left to participate in the monthly customer challenge at gecko galz challenge blog.  the theme you must work with is "roses, lace and butterflies" and you must include at least one item from gecko galz in your creation.  by now i hope you have gone to the blog to sign up for the monthly newsletter as newsletter subscribers not only get a free collage sheet every month you are also made aware of sales and discounts.  also check out the gecko galz pinterest page for freebies.  finally, if you look at my blog post on april 6 you'll see a digital freebie posted which you are welcome to use for the challenge.  follow the gecko galz blog too and you'll see many other freebies posted.

good luck!
love to all.

rubber moon goodies

i belong to the rubber moon "moon mail" club so every month i get a lovely new rubber moon stamp to create with.  

this birthday card has stamps from rubber moon and others as well -- the cat is from lost coast designs.  the "happy birthday" stamp credit is unknown.  all the rest are rubber moon stamps.  the background paper is by gecko galz.

this ATC features this month's moon mail stamp, the "gratitude" stamp.  the woman is from blue luna press, a stamp company also owned and distributed through rubber moon.  the flowers are from impress cards and crafts and i added enamel dots to the flowers.

my second ATC features a rubbermoon stamp (the dreamcatcher) and the woman/moon stamp by claudia rose (an artist featured at rubber moon).  i used my colored pencils to enhance the stamping a bit and added a few more of those flowers by impress.  the background papers on both ATCs is by geck galz.

i sent both ATCs as a part of a rubber moon art swap this month.
enjoy; love to all.

"things with wings" ATC swap

i love the unruly paper arts blogozine and facebook group. i was delighted to see that our muse Danie offered up a "things with sings" ATC swap for us.  it was a 3 for 3 swap but I made 5 ATCs as the theme inspired me.  this allowed me to send off 3 ATCs as requested, include a 4th one for Danie and keep one for me!

 

 

my ATCs started with background paper from gecko galz which I adhered with mod podge.  I added bits of paper -- odds and ends from my stash -- and gave it a light going over with watered down gesso. 

 

 

(i got this idea from a post by sharon rogers at the UPA blog). i then applied spray inks through different stencils.  my fairies are from a gecko galz collage sheet called "fairy magic."

 

 

 i added different nbits, washi tape, prima flowers, enamel dots, fibers, papers, etc. to finish the pieces -- distressing all edges of course. 

 

i didn't photograph the backs but each back is also covered in contrasting designer paper.

 

i hope you like my ATCs.  i was pleased to try a new technique to give dimension to the backgrounds (thank you Sharon!) and i am happy with the results.  hopefully my swap partners will enjoy them as well!  soon I should be getting my ATCs from 3 different swap partners.  i will post what i receive!

by the way, I am linking the first ATC to the "fans" prompt at the collage obsession blog.
finally, although I did not use lunagirl images for these ATCs, don't forget the "faeries and mermaids" challenge at the lunagirl moonbeams blog!  the challenge lasts all month and the prize winner gets shopping credit at the lunagirl store.

love to all.

being for the benefit of mr kite... (long post, song at the end!)

there is a song from the beatles sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band album called "being for the benefit of mr. kite."  the song has a circus/carnival theme in its lyrics and sound.  i love this song.  it turns out from my research that the song was based on an actual circus poster john lennon had in his collection and mr. kite was a real performer.

now why am i telling you this?  i love the unruly paper arts blogozine and facebook group. one of the recent swaps that was set up by our community muse Danie was a fiction/fairytales/fantasy postcard swap.  i love all things circus and decided to create a postcard with a circus theme.  i also really wanted to dig into some wonderful circus stamps from catherine moore's character constructions which i'd bought long ago but not yet used. i do love her stamps!  so here is what i made.

this postcard probably looks simple but there is a lot behind it.  there are multiple layers.  i used a technique i learned from sharon rogers in a post she provided at the unruly paper arts blog.  i started by covering the postcard base in designer paper and then arranging a wide variety of bits and bobs of other kinds of papers and thingies around the postcard then appling a light coating of watered down gesso.  from there i used a variety of spray paints and stencils to create additional dimension to the background.  there is a strip of polka dot washi tape at the bottom to make my little circus "road.'

the circus images are stamped onto vellum which i then adhered to the prepared postcard base.  i nearly messed the whole thing up because i did not stamp with the proper ink and after 24plus hours the vellum still wasn't dry.  i asked for help on the UPA facebook group and got the simple but brilliant answer -- use clear embossing powder and a heat gun to dry the stamped images.  it worked like a charm and gave the final piece some nice punch (which doesn't show so well in the scan unfortunately).
well, that is the very long story of this piece.  and, oh, back to the song -- in making this creation the song popped into my head and that's why i'm sharing it here!





love to all.

"she dreams of the sea" -- my first pocket letter swap!

the altered pages facebook group hosted a pocket letter swap in june.  i'd been reluctant to join a pocket letter swap because it seemed like a lot of work.  you are ultimately making 9 ATCs for the swap so i knew i would need to do this when i had time to really do a good job (hello summer!).  of course i understand you don't have to actually make 9 pieces of art (18 if you consider both sides) but i couldn't be satisfied to have some pockets holding something other than art!

my vision for this piece is that the woman in the middle, despite her hum drum life, has dreams of sea nymphs and the sea.  here she is surrounded on all sides by sea nymphs who call to her in her dreams.

you can click this to make it larger but i'm also posting the ATCs separately (in sets of 3) throughout the month since they all feature brand new gecko galz products this month and are my DT samples for the gecko galz blog and monthly customer challenge (see my july1 post for info on the top row).

the backgrounds for all of the ATCs (which are covered on both sides) are by gecko galz.  the mermaids are all from the "sea nymphs" collage sheet by gecko galz, new this month.  in the center pocket the vintage image lady is from an altered pages freebie collage sheet provided to swap participants.  there are also bits from various other altered pages collage sheets on several other of the ATCs as well (more details on shared in other blog posts).

here is the back side...

i stuck with just the pretty papers for the most part, other than the middle pocket and a little sticker with my blog information at bottom.  not shown, a little handwritten note popped into the lower right hand pocket.

the back side shows all the wonderful gecko galz papers and in the middle section 2 images from the altered pages freebie sheet provided to swap participants and a shell die cut from retro cafe arts.

i hope my swap mate will like it.  i must admit i liked it so much and worked so hard on it i wasn't entirely willing to mail it off but that is the nature of a swap!

don't forget that all july the customer challenge theme at the gecko galz blog is "sea side memories" so link up a seaside themed piece, including at least one item from gecko galz, for the chance at a prize!

enjoy, love to all.

rubber moon mail

this is my second month playing in the rubber moon mail swap.  in the rubber moon mail club you get a new stamp along with various other crafting goodies every month.  the swap requirement for each month is to use the new stamp which this month is the darling light bulb.  i made two ATCs for my swap partner.

all stamps are by rubber moon.
love to all.

moon mail sent...

last year i discovered the delicious and wonderful rubber moon stamp company and signed up for moon mail. moon mail is a monthly rubber stamp club where at an incredibly economical price you get a new rubber moon stamp plus extra crafting goodies every month.  i highly recommend it!  if you get moon mail you are also able to join a secret facebook group and participate in swaps.  this month i am participating for the first time.  our task is to create valentines using rubber moon stamps but NO hearts!  challenging.

this was the first card i made.  it is very simple.  the background is watercolor paints.  and then i used several different rubber moon stamps.  the "sending moonbeams" stamp was the stamp of the month and the only one we were required to use.  anyway i was afraid this wasn't valentine-y enough.  so i made another one.

my goal in arranging the three face stamps as i did was to simulate a heart.  again i used several rubber moon stamps but this time my background is a designer paper by gecko galz and a torn strip of designer paper by lunagirl as well.  the final touch was lace.

turns out i'll be sending these cards to the owner of the stamp company which makes me feel a bit intimidated but hopefully she will like them.

enjoy; love to all.

traveling gift swap

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.

bird people ATCS received! and a couple more by me.

with permission from the artists, i am sharing the glorious bird people ATCs i received from the swap hosted by marion at the bockel24 blog.

left to right these beauties came from daniela rogali of berlin, germany, sabine busch of bremen germany and jo murray from queensland, australia.  this was a very international swap!  and each piece so expertly done.

i also got a gorgeous bonus ATC from marion:

of the many i made i have 2 more that i made which i'd forgotten to post here.  here they are now:

i didn't swap these two, they were extras.  my images are from lunagirl, graphics fairy and paula's kits club. stamp (eeyore sentiment) by silver crow creations.

i had a ball merging people and bird parts and it has inspired me to try some other new things -- which will soon be shared here!

love to all.

more bird people

i participated in an ATC swap and made more ATCs than i needed.  here are a couple more.  bird parts are from graphics fairy and people parts are from lunagirl.

this swap was hosted by bockel24 blog.  there is much glorious art there and many other art swap opportunities as well.  i'm also linking to week 21 "anything goes" at scraps of color.

love to all.

bird people ATC swap

i recently discovered a most brilliant art blog, bockel 24 by artist marion b.  there is much gorgeous art there and marion has also hosted a "bird people" ATC swap which i decided to join.  we were to swap 3 ATCs of bird people (bird head, person body or vice versa).  here are 3 of my ATCs.  altogether i made 7 (you know how it is once you get started) so i will share more later on.

all of the human parts on these came from lunagirl collage sheets and the bird parts cam from graphics fairy images.  the remaining papers, laces, beads, flowers, etc. are from various bits of my stash.  this was a fun challenge for me.  these are odd creations but i hope you like.

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.

time to decorate...

just in time for the holidays is the "let's decorate" theme at cheerful stamp pad.  your challenge is to make decorations for the holiday season if you like OR just use embellishment.  link up your creation to be eligible for the random draw for a prize from floppy latte designs, a digital stamp company.

i took advantage of this challenge as an opportunity to share an ornament i created for an ornament swap with the gecko galz yahoo group.

i'm linking up to the "christmas preparations" challenge at the frilly and funkie challenge blog.

front:

back: 

the base of the ornament is a chipboard ornament frame from retro cafe art.  it is painted with alcohol inks on both sides and covered in designer paper on one side.  my primary vintage images are from gecko galz and the rest are embellishments i've been gathering up for christmas card making -- little die cuts, charms, flowers, pearls, yarn.  the dots on the first side were made with a white poster paint pen.

i took the photos by hanging the ornament on my banana stand!

this year is the first time i tried making ornaments and frankly it was way more difficult than i thought it would be. anyway more ornaments to come later on.  you don't have to make an ornament to join the challenge, just use lots of embeliies!

love to all.

spring fling swap goodies received

look at the beautiful 4x4 swap items i received from the spring fling swap at alphastamps!
they are by (in order) carol donovan, marilyn fishbeck and ruth setz.  notice the second one -- the egg actually opens and closes!

swaps are awesome.
love to all.