Thursday 27 October 2011

Gecko Galz Bloghop

 
 
Gecko Galz Tricks and Treats Blog Hop
 
 I am the second stop on your “hop” welcome to my blog! If you started here you might want to go back and start at the begining at the Gecko Galz blog so you wont miss anything!  
We have ELEVEN AMAZING  blogs for you to visit this weekend, each with some gorgeous projects created using the Gecko Galz collage images, that we are giving you for FREE! Each blog you visit will have a free Gecko Galz Collage sheet for you to download, mine is "MAD HATTERS". Also make sure you collect all the secret words on each blog so at the end of the hop you can enter to win our wonderful treat.  So sit back, relax, take your time and enjoy the hop!

We have FOUR amazing prizes up for grabs:
  • First is one free digital collage set each month for an entire year, you get to pick the collage sheet you want each month and we send it off to you! This is a $24 value
  • Second prize is a $35 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz website….you pick it and we send it!
  • Third prize is our Gecko Galz treat bag full of Gecko Galz products, kits, and other amazing products! This is a $50 value
  • And our Grand Prize ONE FULL YEAR of FREE DIGITAL COLLAGE COLLECTIONS!!! Gecko Galz puts out 5 digital collage sets each month and you will get all 5 sets for an entire year! This is a $120 value.
Read on to learn how you can win!
 
First of all, you will need to visit all ELEVEN blogs and leave a comment on each blog :) **This is important so we know you have been to all the blogs **. Collect all eleven words and at the end of the blog on the Fripperies and Butterflies site there will be a link to the Gecko Galz website where you will email us the phrase the words make up. This enters you in the contest. On October 31st we will randomly draw the 4 winners and email each of you, then we will post the winning names on our website and on the Gecko Galz blog site.
For an extra chance to win make a purchase from the Gecko Galz site and your name goes in again for a better chance of winning (each purchase you make that weekend gives you another chance to win) 

Finally, we are having one more give away! If you post our Gecko Galz blinkie on your blog or website you will be entered to win a Gecko Store Gift Certificate worth $25 - super easy right?  Just post a link to your blog on the Gecko Galz Blog so we can come visit :).
 
My Secret Word is;
TRICK


 
Here is the Blog Hop Rotation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please enjoy this free Gecko Galz Collage sheet
As well as the samples I have made using the images

Here is your free Collage sheet.  Click THIS LINK to download it.
Here are the samples that I've made.


A Christmas Card.

An 8" x 8" layout. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the lacy edges, a Marianne Design die for the flourishes. The hat was cut using my Cricut machine and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. I handmade the flowers and then added lace and some pearls to the side and to the hat.

A New Years card. The clock is a Tim Holtz Sizziz/Alterations die. I stamped and embossed the fireworks in the background using different coloured embossing powders that had glitter in it.


An altered notebook. I covered the book with a patterned paper and I also covered a card frame with a coordinating paper. I went round the edges with dusty concord Distress ink and stamped the flourishes in the corners of the cover with a Creative Expressions stamp and dusty concord Distress ink. I embellished it with lace, ribbon, flowers and metal corners.

I hope you enjoy the hop and I wish you all Good Luck.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Creative Expressions Card

I received a fabulous set of stamps from CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS a couple of days ago, it's a new set of Christmas stamps designed by Sam Poole called Stylish Christmas 1.

This is my first DT piece with them.
I started of with a white card blank and stamped the flourishes round the edge with fired brick Distress ink then went round the edge with brushed corduroy Distress ink. I swiped some fired brick over some corrugated card then spread some stickles over it and tied some raffia round it, then attached it to the card. I stamped the robin onto some white card with brushed corduroy, then distressed the edges and coloured them with brushed corduroy then stamped NOEL with fired brick. I coloured the robin's breast with a red pencil and added some stickles. I made the poinsettia with red card and the Spellbinders layered poinsettia die. I covered them with stickles and added some gold beads.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Craft-Room Treasure Hunt 2


The Craft-Room are having another Treasure Hunt and the prize is the fabulous IndigoBlu Poppy Meadow stamp set. The treasure hunt will go on until Saturday 19th November. To find out how to enter click this link 
or click the photo' in my sidebar.

Monday 24 October 2011

Halloween ATC

I made this ATC for the Oh La La group October challenge at Bella Creations. We were given the lovely witch image to use by Gecko Galz.
For the background I used a piece of card that was left over from a previous project, it had been coloured with butterscotch, lettuce and terra cotta Adirondak sprays. I stamped a web in the corner and did a black blob and added a couple of red gems to make it look like a spider head. The purple is a piece of material from one of my daughters discarded dresses. The witches brew is an Inkadinkado stamp. For the cat I used a Tim Holtz Sizzix/Alterations die. I added a couple of red gems for the pumpkin's eyes and a green gem for the cat's eye.

Friday 21 October 2011

Creative Expressions Christmas Cards

For my CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS DT piece this week I decided to make a Christmas card.

I started of with a piece of black and white dotty paper and die cut the edges with Martha Stewart punches, I attached it to a white card blank. I stamped the trumpets and masked them before stamping the music, then I tore the edges. I stamped the carol singers and sentiment onto white card and then cut them out using the Spellbinders small labels set of dies. I wrapped a piece of music ribbon round the music and attached the sentiment, then I attached it and the carol singers to the card. I put a little bit of glitter glue to the images and added some of the snowflakes that were left from when I die cut the edges.
The Creative Expressions stamp sets that I used are
Partridge In a Pear Tree set for the trumpets and music.
Vintage Christmas set for the carol singers and sentiment.

Here is another Christmas card.
I started of with a fancy edged card blank and edged it with teal ink then I attached a piece of background paper from my stash. I stamped the image and sentiment onto turquoise card and embossed it using white embossing powder that has some glitter in it. I distressed the edges and coloured them with the teal ink. I wrapped some turquoise ribbon round the top and then tied a piece of silver mesh around it. I added some die cut snowflakes that I'd covered with stickles, not sure if I should have put them on.
The stamps are from the Winter Wonderland set.
I used a Martha Stewart punch for the snowflakes.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Just For Fun Guest Designer


I was thrilled to be asked to be the October JUST FOR FUN guest designer, I've never been a guest designer before so I'm feeling very pleased with myself.
The theme this week is to recycle things from the bedroom/sewing box so I went straight to the bottom of my wardrobe where I keep charity shop frames waiting to be used, then I took some things from my sewing box and found some bits of material and this is what I came up with.
This is a side view.
This is what I started with.

I painted the frames with a pale blue emulsion paint then I attached the small trays[not sure where I got them from] to the inside of the box frame. I stamped images onto the sides of the frame with a mixture of Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps, Inkadinkado and Darcies stamps. I stamped some images onto white card using the Stampers Anonymous Haberdashery stamp set, coloured them with Distress ink, then cut them out and stuck them inside the frame. I attached some lace to the front edge of the frame and then added an Alterations dress form. I then started to add all the bits and bobs from my sewing box. I rolled up strips of materials and put them in the box to look like materials in a shop, some of the material was draped over the dress form with beaded ribbon around the waist. I filled a couple of small glass bottles with beads and buttons, there's a couple of toggles that came of some clothing years ago. I put my thimble in as it's been in my sewing box for years, it's never used because I just can't get on with thimbles. The large rose is of a cheap Primark bracelet that I bought last year. I found an empty bottle of my favorite perfume and put that in standing on top of a cotton reel that I've wrapped ribbon round. I added some charms and buttons, the orange button peeping out from behind the material at the bottom is of an orange trouser suit that I had when I was 17, no I'm not going to tell you how many years ago that was. The only things that I got out and forgot to put on was some safety pins and a needle threader.

Why not visit the Just For Fun challenge blog to see the fabulous pieces that Zoe, Neet and Von have made.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Nevermore

Time for another CRAFT ROOM CHALLENGE. This week the theme is Black and White.
I started with a black card blank that was white inside and I used a Martha Stuart punch on one edge so that the white inside showed through. I then stamped and embossed Edgar onto a piece of white card, punched out the top edge and wrapped some black thread round it then I attached it to the card blank. I then stamped various images onto another piece of white card and attached this to the card blank. The Nevermore was stamped and embossed onto white card.and then matted onto black card, then I printed the verse from  the poem on my computer and matted it onto black card. The birds were die cut with a Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations die.
All the stamps that I've used are Cherry Pie Art Stamps.

Why not visit the Craft-Room Challenge Blog to see the lovely samples that the rest of the Design Team have made.

Don't forget to put the Craft-Room logo in your sidebar be eligible for the prize draw.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Bookmark




 This is the front of a bookmark that I made for Cynthia for a KCUK bookmark swap. I used Distress inks to colour it. The background stamps are Stampers Anonymous and the main image and background words are Dina Wakley/Stampington stamps.














This is the back of the bookmark. The background stamps are by the Artistic Stamper. The background words and main image are Dina Wakley/Stampington stamps.

Distress inks that I used are broken china, rusty hinge, mustard seed, worn lipstick, scattered straw, barn door, vintage photo and I embossed the main images with black soot.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Vintage Typewriter

This is my latest DT card for CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS using the Vintage Typewriter set of stamps.
I covered a card blank with patterned paper, then I coloured a doily with Distress ink and attached it to the card. I stamped the typewriter and butterflies onto white card and embossed them, the butterflies were coloured with Distress ink. I stamped the letters onto some white ribbon and coloured the ribbon with Distress ink. I cut out the typewriter and butterflies and attached them to the card, then I coloured some little sticky backed pearls with a Promarker and put them into a couple of the corners.

Ingredients
Stamps. Creative Expressions Vintage Typewriter set and Botanical set.
Distress ink scattered straw and dusty concord.

Monday 10 October 2011

Gecko Galz Bloghop and Layout.

Gecko Galz will be holding their first ever BLOG HOP on October 27th - 31st. You will hop to each of the design team members blog site collecting exclusive FREE ephemera sheets and taking a look at all the wonderful designs that the team have come up with, then when you get to the last site you can enter to win  a fabulous prize. If you click on the blinkie in my sidebar it will take you to Gecko Galz then all you have to do is click on the witch to find out more about the hop.

This is my latest Gecko Galz DT piece.
To do this 8" x 8" layout I used an image from the Little Darlings Ephemera sheet and the Chalkboard Sentiment background paper.
The pink card and patterned paper is from my stash. I used a Marianne Designs die for the green flourishes
The sentiment is stamped using a Hobby Art stamp and the corner flourishes are done using a Stamp Bug stamp. The flowers and embellishments are from my stash. I think I've put two too many flowers on it.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Stampboard Pendant

I made this pendant for a Stampboard Mingle at KCUK and now that Ann has received it I can blog it.
I started of by getting hubby to drill the holes, next time I do anything like this I shall make the holes a little larger. I stamped the image, not sure who's stamp it is, then masked the image before colouring the background with blue Brilliance ink then a little galaxy gold round the edge. The hair and flower were coloured useing Promarkers. I tripple embossed with clear UTEE and on the second embossed layer I added some gold micro beads. After each layer I had to make sure that the holes didn't get clogged up with the UTEE.  After it cooled down I added some jump rings, chain and charms then added the cord.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Graffiti Card

This is my latest DT piece for CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS using the Vintage Typewriter stamp set, I also used a Creative Expressions embossing folder.

I started of with a white piece of card and coloured it with frayed burlap Distress Ink then I splatted Distress Stain over the card, the colours I used are faded jeans, fired brick and wild honey. I then stamped various images from the stamp set and did a bit of doodling, then I cut the card to the size I wanted and embossed it. Before attaching it to a card blank I went over the bricks with rusty hinge Distress Ink  and attached a ribbon. I stamped the typewriter keys onto white card and punched out the letters that I wanted, adhered them to the card and put some Glossy Accents on the top. The last thing I did was to make a paperclip flower.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Craft-Room Challenge. Felines

Thank you everyone that entered our Anything Christmas Challenge. We had a lot of wonderful entries and it's going to be difficult to choose the top three.

The CRAFT ROOM CHALLENGE this week is Felines and it has been chosen by the lovely Zoe.
I love cats and have a few beautiful cat stamps but for my DT piece I decided to use my Bagpuss stamps and decoupage sheets. I'm a big fan of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin and I love Bagpuss, the saggy old cloth cat.
For the background I used paper out of the decoupage kit and stamped Bagpuss onto some pink card. The main image is 3D decoupaged and the mouse and bird I just used a single image.
I used my computer to do Bagpuss's poem.
Don't forget to be eligible for the prize draw you need to have the CRAFT-ROOM logo in your sidebar with a link to the Craft-Room shop.
The rest of the Design Team have made some lovely inspirational samples, so why not take a look.

I'd also like to share with you a couple of pieces of needlework that I did over 20 years ago.
This is a piece of blackwork that I made for my mum and now have inherited back.
This cross stitch piece I made for me and it lives on one of my kitchen walls.

Monday 3 October 2011

Gisele's Giveaway

Gisele [Supersnooks13] is having a great giveaway.

 

Click on the link or the photo in my sidebar to take you to her blog. Below is a description of her giveaway.
 It is a humble little creation, my first of it's kind, but made with a lot of love and pleasure. It's a  folder where you can stash your stickpins;  it has a pocket and two other areas  to insert  images, papers etc... I will be including  some buttons, a few images, some vintage (1924 and 1954) french book papers, and music papers (1957)....and a bit of lace might be tucked in here and there....(the stickpins are all included)....

Saturday 1 October 2011

Anniversary card

It was my Wedding Anniversary a couple of weeks ago and as my husband loves cute I made him a cute card.
The background paper was an insert from a birthday card earlier in the year, I thought it was a lovely colour and I love the pink flowers. I stamped the grasses and birds with black Archival ink and the branches were stamped with broken china Distress ink. The main image was stamped twice and embossed onto watercolour paper and I coloured it with Sakura pens and a waterbursh. I cut the birds out from the second image and 3D them onto the main image. I added a silver peel of along the bottom.
The stamps I've used are
PaperArtsy, the grasses and birds at the bottom and the main image.
Inkadinkado, the branches and birds at the top.