The Gecko Galz Blog Hop Will Soon Be Here

Count Down To The Tricks And Treats Blog Hop

Hi everyone!

It wont be long now until our second annual Tricks and Treats Blog Hop and that means fun freebies, great prizes, and wonderful designs from all our participating Design team members! The Hop will begin on October 26th  and run the entire weekend. There will be 16 diffrent Blogs to visit and each will have a FREE collage sheet for you to grab along with tons of project ideas and lets not forget our 4 amazing prizes that Gecko Galz will be giving away to 4 lucky hoppers! So mark your calendars, get your treat bags ready and join in the hop.


Why not visit the Gecko Galz Blog to find out how you could win the Gecko Galz November product collection.

Andy Skinner Workshop

I had a fabulous day at the Craft Barn on Sunday doing an Andy Skinner workshop.
This is what I made.

We all got very messy playing with paints and I learnt some new techniques, one of them was image transfer - something that I'd always wanted to do and will definitely be doing again.

Here is a closer look at the rust technique.

I'm linking my piece to the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge Rustification.

Christmas Cards

I made some Christmas cards last week using the Gecko Galz October products.

 For this card I used GG Tis the Season background paper and an image from the GG Wintertime collage sheet. I matted the background paper and image onto gold and red card and adhered them to a red card blank. I added some ribbon and a gold snowflake border that I'd made with a Martha Stewart punch.

The image I used is from the GG Vintage Christmas digi set. I cut the image out with a Spellbinders circle die then I layered this onto black and white card. I embellished the card with ribbon, snowflakes, black gems and a merry Christmas peel off.

I used GG Silent Night background paper and the image is from the GG Old Fashioned Christmas collage sheet and I also used a tag from the Christmas Tags sheet. I used Spellbinders scalloped circle dies to cut out the image and gold and red card. I also used holly leaves, red gems, ribbon and gold border peel off.



I'm entering my card into the Out of a Hat Creations Christmas Card/Tag challenge.

Life's a Beach

I made this ATC for the KCUK September swap.

I coloured the ATC with broken china, faded jeans and rusty hinge Distress stain, then I stamped the image. I adhered some Flower Soft sand across the bottom and added some shells. I adhered some string to the top, then I stamped the sentiment, cut it out and adhered to the string.
The stamps that I used are Crafty Individuals.

I'm entering my ATC in the The Crafty Bloggers Network Anything Goes challenge.

Artful Times Postcard

It's been a while since I've been able to join the Artful Times challenge but I've managed to find some time this week and my mojo seems to be coming back from Ireland. The latest challenge is to make a postcard with some letters or script on it.
This is what I made for the challenge.

I stamped the eye, hand and wasps and then masked them before stamping the letters, I then took of the eye mask, cut the eye out and masked the eye again, then I sprayed the background with Bubblegum pink, vibrant turquoise and lemon zest Dylusions ink. I removed the masks and coloured the images with felt tips leaving the eye white. I put stickles on the wasp wings.
The stamps that I used are from the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Oddities stamp set.

UK Stampers ATC Swap

The UK Stampers September ATC swap was to use stamps that we haven't used before, I don't know about you guys but I have rather a lot to choose from but I managed to sort out three and the results are below.

I sprayed the background with Glimmer Mist and stamped some swirls with an Ecogreen stamp then I adhered a piece of patterned hand made paper to it. I stamped the PaperArtsy stamp onto white card and edged it with worn lipstick Distress ink, I also used it round the edge of the ATC. The eye and cheek were coloured with coloured pencil. I embellished the ATC with a sun charm.

The PaperArtsy stamp was stamped onto white card using Black Archival ink. I used blue card for the ATC and embossed the edges with shabby pink Frantage embossing enamel. I adhered the image and words and added a silver charm.

I coloured the ATC with Distress Stain and stamped the PaperArtsy stamp with black Archival ink. I'd stamped the image twice and cut the butterfly out of the 2 image and covered it with stickles, when it was dry I adhered it to the ATC with some black gems. The image was matted onto black card.

Craft-Room Challenge/Alter It

Another fortnight has passed and it's time for another Craft-Room challenge. The lovely Julia has chosen the theme Alter It, she would like you to alter anything. For my DT piece I have altered a Plywood Frame.

For the lucky prize draw winner there is a £10 prize from our sponsors  Stamp Addicts.

Earlier in the year I went to a Helen Chilton workshop where we used Pebeo Prisme Fantasy Paint, I love the effect that the paint has so I decided to use it to cover the front of a plywood frame. I painted the frame first with black gesso before covering it with the Pebeo paint.
For the embellishments I covered some card with sticky backed aluminium and die cut the flowers using the Sizzix/Alterations tattered flower garland die, I also used the Memory Box delicate vine die. I put some little gems in the centre of the flowers.

Thank you all that took part in our Childhood Memories challenge, we had some fabulous entries. The rest of the DT have made some wonderful altered pieces so why not visit the Craft-Room to take a look.

What A Hoot.

The theme for the UK Stampers September twinchie swap was Birds/Birds and Cages. These are the twinchies that I made.

The background was coloured with Dylusions ink. The tree stump was stamped onto the background and the owls and sentiment were stamped onto card and cut out.
The stamp set that I used is by Hero Arts.

I'm entering my twinchies in the Show Us Your Twinchies Anything Goes Challenge.

Halloween ATCs

I made these ATCs using Gecko Galz Midnight Hour digi images and the Spooky Circles and Squares collage sheet.

I printed the images and cut them to ATC size then I coloured them with Pan Pastels. I then embossed them with a spiders web embossing folder, then put Versamark over the raised area and embossed them with clear embossing powder. I cut out the images and covered them with Glossy Accents and when this was dry I adhered them to a piece of purple material that I had cut roughly round.

Halloween Masks

I'd like to share with you a couple of Halloween masks that I've made using  Gecko Galz September products.

 

Ingredients.

Gecko Galz Dark Arts background paper printed onto card.

Gecko Galz Hocus Pocus Bottle Labels.

Images from the Gecko Galz Spooky Dominos Sheet.

Images from the Gecko Galz Trick or Treat Collage Sheet.

Black Feathers.

Red Acrylic Paint, I used Pergamano.

Blue and Red Gems.

 

I cut out the shape of the mask and adhered the gems around the eyes I then adhered the feathers.

I cut out the images and adhered to the mask then I  applied the red paint and adhered red gems to the skulls.

 

 

Ingredients

Gecko Galz Dark Visions background paper printed onto card.

Images from the Gecko Galz Trick or Treat Collage Sheet.

Letters from the Geckp Galz Spooky Letters sheet.

Orange flower ribbon.

Black gems.

 

I cut out the shape of the mask and adhered black gems round the eyes, I added the flower ribbon round the edge of the mask and adhere black gems to the centre of the flowers, I then cut out the images and adhered  to the mask with foam pads.

Out Of A Hat Creations have a Halloween themed challenge this week so I'm entering my masks. I don't usually have the time to make something for the challenge so it's nice to be able to take part this week.

Childhood Memories

Another fortnight has flown by and it's time for another Craft-Room Challenge. The latest theme has been chosen by Maria and she has chosen Childhood Memories.
For my project I decided to make a layout using a photo of me and my sister Pamela, that's me on the left. Sadly Pam died very suddenly about 12 years ago aged 50, looking through my childhood photo's deciding which one to use brought back lots of lovely memories.

Our sponsor for the challenge is Tando Creative.

My layout is 8"x8" and I used a dark pink card and Basic Grey papers. The stamps that I used are by Crafty Individuals and Paper Bag Studio. The dies that I used are Memory Box dies and the letters have been made with  the Sizzix/Alterations Chip Block die. I've also used a piece of ribbed kraft card and dry brushed it with white acrylic paint. I added lots of embellishments that I found in my stash.

I'm looking forward to seeing your Childhood Memory creations. The rest of the DT have made some lovely pieces for the challenge, you can see these on the Craft-Room Challenge Blog.

A Card For Autumn

Here is a card that I made using Gecko Galz September Products.

 

 

 Ingredients

Two images from the GG Autumn Days 2 Collage Sheet.

Image Sentiment [Stamp Unknown].

Green card stock, two shades.

White card stock.

Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Twine.

Gold Gems.

 

I enlarged the background image and then printed it and the main image.

I chose a green card stock to match the colour of her eyes and edged it with the vintage photo.

I stamped the sentiment onto white card and coloured it with the vintage photo.

I matted the images and sentiment onto card, attached the twine to the background image and adhered them to the green card stock and then I added the gems.

Missing Mojo

I had a fabulous holiday in Ireland and have been back almost a week, the trouble is I seem to have left my mojo there - can't get into crafting anything at the moment. It's a good job that I've done some projects during the year that I haven't blogged yet.
Here are some tags that I made for a KCUK tag swap last month and some Twinchies that I made for a UK Stampers swap last month.

The tags were sprayed with Dylusions ink and I stamped the Stampotique octopus with black Archival. I water coloured the images with picked raspberry Distress ink, I also coloured the  edge of the tags with the picked raspberry. I embellished the tags with some little dew drops and ribbon.

The card is coloured with Dylusions ink. I melted some aged aqua Frantage Embossing Enamel and stamped the image with some black pigment ink.
The stamp is by Crafty Individuals.

Craft-Room Collage

My last scheduled post and then I'll be back.

Another fortnight has gone by and it's time for another Craft-Room Challenge. The latest theme is Collage and it has been chosen by Esther.

This is the card that I've made.

The sponsor for the challenge is IndigoBlu.

I coloured the edge of a white card blank with vintage photo Distress ink then I adhered a piece of craft card that I'd painted with green acrylic paint. I then adhered some paper that I'd stamped dragonflies on, some handmade paper and some gold mesh. I embossed some card with tiny dragonflies then painted it with some acrylic paint. I then sanded it to take the paint of the dragonflies, then I sponged some peeled paint Distress ink over it and took the excess of with a damp cloth. The sentiment was stamped [The Artistic Stamper] onto some card and I attached it with staples. The large dragonfly was stamped and embossed and black gems added. I added a few black gems to a couple of corners and added some dragonfly charms. I don't know what stamp company made the dragonfly stamps.

We had some wonderful entries in the Pins/and or charms challenge, I don't envy Nikki having to choose her top three. Why not visit the Craft-Room to have a look at the wonderful samples that the rest of the DT team have made.

Never More Digital Card

Another scheduled post.

This is a digital card for the Gecko Galz DT using some of the fabulous September products.

Dark Visions Gecko Galz Background Paper.

Harvest Moon Gecko Galz Background Paper.

Wicked Times Gecko Galz Background Paper.

Image and Bird from the Gecko Galz Poe 2 Collage Sheet.

Serif Craft/Artist Software.

Spook Time Craft/Artist Digi Kit.

 

The moon, bats, tree and branch are from the digi kit, I loaded them, the background papers and images into the software and played about with them until I liked the result.