Thursday, October 29, 2015

Gecko Galz Blog Hop!

Hello Everyone!

I want to welcome everyone to the Fourth destination of
Gecko Galz 5th Annual Blog Hop

If you started here you might want to go back and start at the beginning at the Gecko Galz blog so you won’t miss anything!  
We have 14 AMAZING blogs for you to visit this weekend, each with some gorgeous projects created using the Gecko Galz exclusive blog hop collage sheets, that we are giving you for FREE! Each blog you visit will have another free Gecko Galz Collage sheet for you to grab, the one here is

"FLORAL FANTASIES".


Here are my samples, using the gorgeous Floral Fantasies Collage sheet 

Bottom right image printed twice, center fussy cut and popped.  Rose spray and bee fussy cut from center image and popped.  Background DP is from the Gecko Galz High Tea Digital Craft Kit 

Center left image, matted in purple.  Ribbon and perfume bottle (stretched in printing program) are icons from the Arsenic and Lace Digital Craft Kit.  Digital DP from the Vintage Visions Mini Paper Pack.


Gate fold card using top center image.  Image was cropped in printing program. Left side was sized for center of card and printed twice, once for inside and again to punch a circle for the belly band. Right side was sized for gate sides and flipped for the opposite side.  Each was printed twice to cover both inside and outside.  All images were distressed with scissors and inked with Milled Lavender Distress.    Ribbon from stash and inside sentiment sticker from Starform.

Noel Card using bottom left image.  We were challenged to make a Christmas card using our collage sheet.  I thought the gorgeous border of the bottom left image would be perfect. Center Christmas image was a previous freebie from the Gecko Galz Pinterest page.  Each was matted with green card stock and added to a gold metallic mat embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder on a dark green card base.  Ornament stickers and chipboard sentiment are K&Co.  Gold beads from Recollections.


Make sure you collect all the “secret” words on each blog so at the end of the hop you can send in the phrase to enter our drawing for a wonderful treat.  
So sit back, relax, take your time and enjoy the hop!

We have FOUR amazing prizes up for grabs:
·        First is a Gecko Galz shopping spree for $100!
·        Second prize is a $50 Shopping spree with Gecko Galz.
·        Third prize is a $25 shopping spree!
·        And our Grand Prize ONE FULL YEAR of Gecko Galz PRODUCTS!!! This includes the 6 new collage sheets each quarter, a new stamp set each quarter, a new paper pack each quarter and a kit club pack each quarter!
 This is a $150 value! Plus you get a prize pack from some of our favorite sponsors worth $150!
 Read on to learn how you can win!

First of all, you will need to visit all 14 blogs and leave a comment on each blog :) **This is important so we know you have been to all the blogs **. Collect all 14 words (one on each blog site except the home site) and at the end of the blog on the Fripperies and Butterflies site there will be a link to email the phrase to Gecko Galz. 
This enters you in the contest. On November 2nd we will randomly draw the 4 winners and email each of you, then we will post the winning names on the Gecko Galz blog site.

For an extra chance to win make a purchase from the GECKO GALZ ETSY STORE between the 29 of October and the 1st of November and your name goes in again for a better chance of winning (each purchase you make that weekend gives you another chance to win)

Your Secret Word is;
ARE
Now that you have it go to the next blog on the list below 












Thank you for joining the hop and enjoy your free collage sheet and my samples.

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

New Gecko Galz Inspiration

Here are some projects for Gecko Galz using the newest October offerings.


Happy Birthday for a classy lady.
Other: Cuttle embossing folder, black, white and kraft card stock, foam dimensionals and gem swirls and ribbon from stash


I Run With Scissors Digital ATC
Done in Printmaster Platinum


Falling Leaves tag
Gecko Galz Autumn Harvest Digital Paper Pack and Fall into Nature 
Digital Collage set
Other: Burlap Ribbon, baker's twine, leaf brads, flat backed pearls 
from stash.  Image cut with Spellbinders Labels Thirteen and 
popped with dimensional foam


And last but not least, another Music card to remind you that our current
Customer Challenge the "Music in Me" ends October 29th at 11:55 p.m.
EDT so hurry!  Remember, you must use at least one GG product, but that includes Freebies, Papers, ETC.

I've used Gecko Galz Beautiful Music Collage Set for the main image and sentiment, changing the color of the sentiment and cropping it in my Printmaster Platinum Program
Other: Core'dinations card stock and Cuttlebug Music embossing folder sanded to highlight the embossing and torn to add to the image which was matted in black and mounted on a blue card base.  Dimensional music embellishment are from my stash.


Exciting news!  Gecko Galz is holding a DT call  Click HERE for details.

The Gecko Galz Blog Hop starts TOMORROW at 9:00 am CDT!  WooHoo!



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Thursday, October 22, 2015

I like Children, I really do! (31 Days of Halloween on Airless Chambers)


Here I am with today's installment of Smeared Ink's 31 Days of Halloween for Airless Chambers, the Rick St. Dennis Dark Blog.  I've made a wall hanging with two of Rick's fabulous Halloween images, Busted Down Witch and Annabella Arsenic.  I took BD's advice and found a 12x12" sheet of scrapbooking DP that would normally go unused, but was perfect for my little Halloween scene.  It only needed some trimming, inking and matting in black and it was good to go.  The few embellies I added included a framed epoxy sentiment sticker, some epoxy bats, and some jewels to make the birds eyes and jack-o-lantern glow.


Here's a closeup of the Witch and Annabella.  They were both colored with Copics with some additional shading from Prismacolor pencils, fussy and popped with foam for dimension.

They are also BOTH older images so it bears mentioning that Rick is currently culling some of these images from both his Zibbet AND Etsy Shops and offering them at a major discount.   But act fast.  When you see it and you want it, BUY IT!  Once they're gone, they're GONE for GOOD. This is an ongoing process and takes awhile, so visit often, you never know what you'll find.  

Oh dear, Annabella looks a bit spooked as the witch grabs her arm to test for tenderness.


The computer generated sentiment was cut and matted with two of the Spellbinders Grand Creative Book Pages.  It reads "I like children, I really do, baked, or broiled, or in a stew".  Bwahahaha!  

And for all the exciting things happening in the RSD world, here are the important links.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

There for You


Our new Facebook Contest for The East Wind begins today with the theme of "There for You".  We'd like you to make something for someone who need some extra support in their life.  Maybe they're dealing with cancer, or a chronic illness, or are just having a hard time and need a little pick me up.  I've chosen the beautiful stamp called Untitled.  Her wistful look evokes all kinds of emotions and Unky thought it best to leave it up to you to decide what she's thinking.  Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I decided to go with that theme, as many friends and relatives have traveled that path.


Here's a closeup of the beautiful image.  She's colored with Copics with just a touch of shading with Prismacolor pencils.  I chose to keep the card CAS, with only a die cut wreath from Memory Box to frame her, some simple scoring around the edges, (for some reason the top and bottom scores don't show in the pic), some flat backed pearls and, of course, a pink ribbon.  The sentiment is a peel off sticker by Starform.  We'd love to have you join our Contest on the East Wind FB Group page and come see the gorgeous inspiration from my teamies.  If you aren't a member of the Group, please ask to join.  We also have a separate Halloween challenge going on over at the Blog so do check that one out, too.

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Monday, October 19, 2015

New Challenge at Aurora Wings


I'm so very excited about this month's challenge at Aurora Wings.  The theme is Day of the Dead-be still my heart!  You know I love me some Dia de los Muertos!  To be honest, I've had this idea in my head for over a year so to actually gotten my butt in gear enough ahead of time to pull it off makes me all kinds of happy.  It did not turn out exactly as originally planned, but I like this version even better.  Grab a cuppa, this is a very long post 'cause I'm all kinds of thrilled about this and I'm feeling VERY chatty.

 My biggest hold up was painting the paper mache monument.  I hate waiting for paint to dry and I'm not the swiftest at mixed media. I've got gobs of product, but don't know what to do with it all, so I just mixed some black and white gesso and threw in some sand.  WooHoo!  It turned out darker than I thought, but after a little dabbing of some Deco Art Bleached Sand acrylic paint with a natural sponge, I was good to go.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I had begun coloring the beautiful Bone Queen, also available HERE in the shop (with Copics) but NOT in these colors.  I'd planned on doing a less macabre version using the traditional oranges and yellows of the giant marigolds, often used on Day of the Dead alters, (conveniently also poppy colors).  However, as pretty as they were, those warm colors weren't all that striking against my tombstone... what to do?  

 I decided to take inspiration from Mitzi's original print (also available as an ACEO print HERE)  and go with the red...ALL the way with the red, right down to the blood drips on her shoulders, which about gave me a heart attack since I'd already spent hours on coloring, especially the chest bone detail.  It's just Copics.  I was too scared to actually try to DRIP anything.  Too risky at this stage of the game.  Now for the reddish tinge.  I was a bit more light handed there, but found that with a Q-tip and red chalk I could get the shading I was going for.  There was a whole lot of fussy cutting going on, as I did pop her face and the closest blooms with foam.  Finally, I added a silver bird skull charm to her necklace.  One down...

Next came the florals for either side of my sentiment.  On the left is a Poppy corner. (Flipped in my printing program) Again, colored with Copics with some chalk detail on the leaves, buds and pods. The fussy cutting here was brutal, mostly done with an exacto knife.  I normally leave a little white border on imaged so delicate, but it wasn't right for the project.  That little web behind the pod was added for some stability and happened to help balance the design. Mitzi has a huge selection of floral borders and corners that can be used alone or in conjunction with her other beautiful designs.  You can find the whole collection in the Aurora Wings Etsy shop by searching by type of flower or in the Floral Collection of the AW Website's Digital Stamp Shop.
Finally, on the right I added Memento Mori.  This was a fave of mine right from the get go and also supplied me with the sentiment.  Again, I've colored with Copics and lightly chalked with red.  From Wikipedia 

 Memento mori (Latin: "remember (that you have) to die"[2]) is the medieval Latin theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits.

The sentiment is computer generated, cut with Spellinders Labels Four and inked with Distress while in the die.  It's backed by a Grand Labels Four that was run through my Cuttlebug with the Tim Holtz Bricked folder to give it some texture and inked with Versafine chalk ink.


Finally, here's the dimensional shot.  I really planned to do more with the individual flowers on each stamp, but I ran out of time. The good news is, I saved the stamps in these sizes in my Printmaster program, so if I get the inclination to add more, I can at a later date.  

 Be sure to visit the AW challenge blog for more fabulous inspiration from my DT sisters and please come play along.  Not all of Mitzi's Day of the Dead stamps are creepy.  There's an adorable Marigold Sprite and even a Catrina Doll Kitty. Check them all out HERE.
Always lots happening at Aurora Wings so here are the important links.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog
Aurora Wings Showcase Blog
Aurora Wings Etsy Shop
Aurora Wings Digi Shop
Aurora Wings FB Group
Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the Altered Eclectics October ATG (Mixed media) Challenge, the Anything but Cute 31 Days of Halloween Mixed Media Challenge, Eclectic Ellapu Halloween/Dark/Horror, Glitter 'N' Sparkle Halloween Cute or Spooky, The Corrosive Challenge-the Dark Side, Love to Create Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes, Left of Center Good Old Fashioned Horror, Chalk N Stock ATG with Chalk, A Step in the Dark October FB challenge, Simon Says Monday Monster Mash, Forever Dark 2 Challenge #5, Our Creative Corner Horror, The Mirror Cracked Tic Tac Toe (using Halloween, Time: my thought is that the sentiment references time, Red) and Dream in Darkness Halloween is Here.



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Friday, October 16, 2015

New Release Day for The East Wind



It's Friday, and that means another fabulous new release from The East Wind. Meet "Bunnyholic".  Gotta say I get all kinds of warm fuzzies from this image, don't you?  Although we still don't even have anything close to Autumn weather in my neck of the woods, I just had to make a Winter/Christmas card with this beautiful new image.  All Dp's are from last year's DCWV Winter in the Woods stack.

I derived the color scheme from the first layer of DP.  Used mainly Copics with a bit of pencil action in her hair and I've paper pieced the scarf using the diminutive knit pattern from the combo mat stack of the same name.  Tried to add a bit of subtle fuzzy texture to her jacket, too using the dotty technique around the edges.  The image was cut with a Spellbinders Grand Oval and layered over the sentiment in the pine cone wreath. I added a computer generated one, printed on kraft, and some matching pearls.

This would make a great image to use for our current FB Lovin' the Animals Challenge, don'tcha think?  But hurry, deadline for that one is the 17th.  (New FB challenge begins the 21st.)  The new Blog Challenge just began yesterday with the theme of Halloween, and our FB mini coloring contest using Baby Aurora Witch and Kitty runs through October 31st.  The sweet image is reserved HERE at 50% off.  

 Come join the fun!
Here are of all the important links you need.
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Thursday, October 15, 2015

RSD MFA October Progressive Challenge Part 2


It's time for more inspiration for the RSD Sept/October Progressive Challenge on Sparkle and Glitter.  For those who played in September, where the chalenge was ATG with an RSD image, this gorgeous Alice image is free for the asking. For those who didn't, it's available HERE in Rick's Zibbet Shop and HERE, for immediate download, on Etsy.  The October part of the challenge requires you to use Alice.  I left this quite CAS so as not to detract from her and her Wonderland scene.  The DP behind her is from the Gecko Galz Wonderland Digital paper pack.  The sentiment is computer generated.


 Here's a closeup of this fabulous stamp.  Such fun details in the background to color.  I've used Copics with a bit of detail with Prismacolor pencils and matted her with black.  My colors are quite traditional, but it's amazing to see how different she looks in different palettes.  Check out my teamie's versions HERE and the A team's creation HERE.  Hope you are inspired to play along.
And for all the exciting things happening in the RSD world, here are the important links.

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Sunday, October 11, 2015

2000+ Likes on FB! It's a PARTY!


The East Wind has just passed a milestone and we're celebrating on the Facebook Fan Page.  The team has created some adorable cards using "Baby Aurora Witch and Kitty" and by following the rules HERE, you could win one of the team's creations.  Here's mine.  If you've clicked on the stamp name, you'll see that it's The East Wind Logo, and not a picture of Baby Aurora.  that's because she's on SALE at 50% off!  We're also holding a Mini coloring contest through October 16th on the TEW Group page. 

Nab the stamp at 50% off and start coloring.  Tell me this is't the perfect image for practicing folds.  Add it to the folder HERE and you could be a winner of the stamp of your choice. You've seen mine, now let's see yours.  You also might want to check out the fabulous discount also available through the 16th.  Can you say 35%OFF!?!  WOOHOO!  Check it out on the left side of the FB Fan Page HERE.
Don't forget our Blog challenge and regular FB challenge.

Here are all the important links you need.
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Thursday, October 8, 2015

A Murder of Crows


 I'm thrilled to be an actual participant in Smeared Ink's 31 Days of Halloween via the Rick's St. Dennis Airless Chambers Blog today.  I've hopped every year (and even won the whole shebang once) but have never taken the plunge to be an actual Wicked Blogger...baby steps.  LOL  My card features the fabulous Crow Hunter, available in Rick's Zibbet Shop.  I think I found the perfect DP from the Blackbird collection from Memory box, don't you?  I tore it carefully and inked it with distress and mounted it on another subtly patterned DP with a double mat.  The sentiment is computer generated, the fab "frightful" die cut is by Tim Holtz, and I've added "grass along the bottom via an MS punch.

Here's a closeup of Crow Hunter.   He was colored with Copics, fussy cut and added to the scene. Gotta say, I'm not quite sure who's winning this battle but I'm sure it will be a fight to the death.

 There's prizes each day for Smeared Ink's 31 Days Hop, so if you'd like to join in, even if only sporadically, click HERE.

 And for all things going on in the Wonderful World of RSD, here are all of the important links.  

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Monday, October 5, 2015

New Release at Aurora Wings and HDH WooHoo, It's Halloween!


EEEK!  I can't believe it's already October 5th and this is my first Halloween post.  Definitely worth waiting for though, because I have the privilege of showcasing the adorable new Horned Beetle Sprite, available in the  Aurora Wings Etsy Shop in jpg and in png HERE. You can also find him HERE on page 6 of the Sprites Collection in the AW Digi Shop. Isn't he a cutie?  

 I've captured him in a jar from the Specimen Jar set from Smeared Ink and he looks none too pleased, or is it the scary black cat ( Tim Holtz die) that has him all riled up?  He's being featured on the AW Showcase Blog today (along with another fab new release you won't want to miss).

 He's also doing double duty as my Macabre Monday DT post today. We're going for  creepy, grotesque, macabre Halloween.  Yeah, he's awfully cute for HDH, but I just couldn't resist showing him off some more.  Can you blame me? Besides, all that buggy DP behind him sure gives me the creepy crawlies.

Here's a closeup of the little dude.  Feisty, eh?  He sure looks like he can hold his own.  I took a pic of him colored before I fussy cut him and added him to the jar because I didn't think I could get a closeup with him encased in acetate and I was right.  He was colored with Copics and here you can see all of the Diamond Glaze I've applied to his shell and "armor".  The glaze was applied and allowed to dry prior to fussy cutting which kept him from curling up.

And here's the dimensional shot. I printed the jar twice on printable acetate and the lid once on matted metallic card stock. This set is now only available in rubber, HERE but you could do the same using Staz-On. I fussy cut the pieces (along with some buggy DP from an old MS mat stack and popped the layers with the little Sprite in between.  The sentiment was done with my Dymo and the cat was added and popped because I didn't have a spare snake handy (for the "hisses" part, LOL).   The striped and other buggy DP came from MME and the EEK embellie is from JoLee's.  

 The AW Showcase team has another new release in store for you too, so be sure to visit the Showcase Blog to see the fabulous inspiration, (there just might be a special coupon code there too) and don't forget our current AW ATG Blog Challenge which ends October 17th and the October Shades of Pink FB Contest going on through the end of the month.
Here are all the important links you need.
Aurora Wings Challenge Blog
Aurora Wings Showcase Blog
Aurora Wings Etsy Shop
Aurora Wings Digi Shop
Aurora Wings FB Group
Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday ATG, Smudgy Antics ATG, DL.Art October Linky Challenge, Mod Squad Anything With Wings, Left of Center (using the LOC theme), and Sassy Studios Make it Fly (I'm pretty sure he has wings, but just in case, there's a whole bunch of wings on the DP), Come and Get It Challenge For the Boys and Crafty Hazelnut's October Patterned Paper challenge. 

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Friday, October 2, 2015

New Release at The East Wind


It's Friday so it must be a new release at The East Wind.  Today I'm showcasing the gorgeous Unicorn.  I decided to color her in fantasy colors and she's sitting on clouds from a Darice embossing folder that I've inked lightly with Distress before running it through my Cuttlebug.  Of course I've added a rainbow behind her, using chalks, because rainbows and unicorns just naturally go together, don'tcha think?

 He's a closeup of this beauty.  She's colored with Copics with some Stickles added to her mane, tail and tip of her horn (because sparkles are pretty much de rigueur  for unicorns, too).  She's fussy cut an popped atop her comfy cloud and matted with a number (5, to be exact) of rainbow colored mats.  The sentiment is computer generated and popped as well.  Be sure to visit the TEW FB Group on Tuesdays and Fridays for the new release and don't forget all the other fun stuff going on.
Here are all of the important links.

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