March entries into the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group

Today I am sharing projects I created for the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group on Facebook.  Each month we have six challenges to chose from with an opportunity to win free collage sheets with each challenge entry.  The tag is entered into the Green and Gold Color Challenge, and the card is entered into the St. Patricks Day Challenge.  Your creation does not necessarily have to be a card, as long as it fits the particular challenge.  This month there is also an altoid tin challenge, an altered box challenge, an Easter challenge, a birds and bees challenge as well as our monthly color challenge.  You do not have to use Gecko Galz images to play.  Come join us and play along HERE.

In both projects I have used an image from the Gecko Galz Blarney Digital Collage Sheet Set.

Altered Children's Board Book for Ephemera's Vintage Garden

Hello Crafty Friends!  Today I'm sharing my latest project.  You may have noticed a shift in my crafty style lately, as I lean more and more towards collage.  I've begun to develop a love for arranging beautiful and colorful images in a way that pleases my eye.

This project could also be labeled as a glue book since I haven't done any mixed media, nor have I added any dimensional elements.  Generally speaking, a glue book would be created from a base of paper such as old book pages, or journal pages.  In this project I have built my collage work onto a children's board book from the 99 cent store.  I began by sanding the shine and images off of the books pages, very easily and quickly done with a quality sanding block from the hardware store.

The page backgrounds are created from torn paper, using the scraps left over from the other projects I created using the same papers and art journal bits from Ephemera's Vintage Garden as used in my January and February creative team projects.  I have also used torn dictionary paper, some music paper, and a few other scraps that were on my desk.  I applied the paper in a haphazard fashion using a glue stick, trimmed out the edge then sanded the page to make it more even and sanded the edges of the page, and inked.

All of the images were then applied in layers also with the glue stick.  The images are from Ephemera's Vintage Garden, apart from one or two little images that were part of ephemera packs I'd purchased previously at Joanns.  The Ephemera's Vintage Garden paper and images used are mainly from the Miss Lady Fay collection, but I also added files I've purchased and some of the amazing freebie files as well.  Links are available below.

Ephemera's Vintage Garden

Miss Lady Fay Digital Background Papers

Steampunk Fairy Printable Art Journal Elements

Printable Whimsical Pig Fairy Digital Collage Sheet

If you love these images as much as I do, then sign up for freebies (some of which are used in this project).  Go HERE to have the freebies delivered weekly to your email.  I keep all of  mine in an organized folder on my computer, easy to find and so much fun to play with!

New Projects for Gecko Galz

Hello Friends!  Today I am sharing a few samples created with the new March products for Gecko Galz.  You can find them in our Etsy store.

 "But What if You Fly" Tag

Gecko Galz products Used:

March Kit Club Victorian Garden Paper VG04

Beautiful Words 1 Collage Sheet

Beautiful Words 2 Collage Sheet

March Kit Club VS Icons 1 VS03

March Kit Club VS Icons 2 VS21

 "Many Happy Days" Card

Gecko Galz products used:

March Kit Club Victorian Garden papers VG03

March Kit Club Victorian Garden papers VG05

Fashionable Hats 1 Collage Sheet

.

  "Go Confidently" Card

Gecko Galz products used:

March Kit Club Victorian Garden papers VG02

March Kit Club Victorian Garden papers VG03

Beautiful Words 2 Collage Sheet

"Deco Diva" Card

Gecko Galz Products used:

Deco Diva Jewel-its

Beautiful Words 2 Collage Sheet

March Kit Club Victorian Garden papers VG03

March Customer Challenge Entry For Gecko Galz

Hello Crafty Friends!  I know it's really cold outside for many of you, but take a moment to think Spring for the current Gecko Galz challenge, "In The Garden" featured on the Gecko Galz blog throughout the month of March.

There is only one rule.  You need to use at least ONE  product from Gecko Galz.

It can be one of the free products, stamps, collage images, or digital papers.  It is up to you. The winner will receive a $25 Gecko Galz Shopping Spree!

Here is my entry, with a step-by-step instructional below.

step by step:

Print image from the Gecko Galz Beautiful Words 1 Collage Sheet, and double mat with pale yellow followed by white.

Cut another mat in black using Tim Holtz Core'dinations or other distressable or sand-able paper.

Dry emboss the black mat with a script embossing folder.

Sand the paper to reveal the script pattern which will turn white.

Mat again in patterned yellow using the Gecko Galz Pixie Dust Papers.

Mat again in the Tim Holtz black sand-able paper and sand lightly to add extra texture to the card.

Attach all to a black cardstock base

Print and cut out sentiment from Beautiful Words 1 collage sheet and mat with black cardstock.  Attach with black brads.  Adhere with dimensional foam tape.  Add a bow of ribbon in a bold graphic pattern.

Gecko Galz "Tag You're It" Challenge

Today I'm sharing my entry into the "Tag You're It" category at the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group.  February wasn't a very good month for me, and I was only able to enter into one of the challenges.  On the bright side, tomorrow is the beginning of a brand new month and six new challenges!  You can enter the challenges with Gecko Galz products or similar.  Come join us for the chance to win free collage sheets!

The background of my tag is from the Gecko Galz Vintage Visions paper pack, and the image is from the Pretty Victorians collage sheet.

Altered Cigar Box for Ephemera's Vintage Garden

Hello Scrappy Friends!  Today I'm sharing another project I created with images and background papers from the Miss Lady Fay Digital Paper Pack and Printable Art Journal Elements (direct links to the products are below).  The images from Ephemera's Vintage Garden are always so crisp and vivid, and they appear so dimensional.  The corrugation and mixed media patterns on this background paper look so real, it just begs to be touched!  All of the printables lend themselves to so many other projects as well as gorgeous art journals.  I used Martha Stewart Crackle medium and Folk Art acrylic paints to decorate the box prior to using matte Mod Podge to apply my background paper.  After the crackled finish was dry, I rubbed the box with Gilder's Paste in Rich Gold to give it a really aged look.

Products Used:

Digital Printable Design papers by Ephemera's Vintage Garden

Miss Lady Fay Digital Paper Pack

Sreampunk Fairy Printable Art Journal Elements

Want some gorgeous weekly freebies sent right to your email box?  GO HERE!

A Valentine Canvas - Frilly and Funky Guest Designer

Hello Crafty Friends!  I'm thrilled to share my post today with the Frilly and Funky blog as guest designer for the current challenge.  I earned the honor for the layered shabby chic Valentine card that I entered into the 'Anything Goes' challenge last month.  You can see my winning entry HERE.

For their current challenge, 'Be My Valen-Twine, I was asked to create a card or other project with a Valentine theme and using twine somewhere on my project.


I began with a 10 x 10 canvas, which I inverted to create a shadowbox, and then I applied some mixed media techniques to the "frame" portion.

Below you can see how the canvas looked early on in the process.  I began by painting the frame with gesso, covering the canvas, the staples and the inside wood portion.  I then tore a sheet of music note paper and applied it to the frame with matte Mod Podge completely covering the canvas, the staples, and the wood.  When that was dry, I applied texture paste using a doily stencil positioned in each corner.  I added distress inks in pink and in red (spritzed with water) to my craft mat and dragged some of the texture paste through the wet ink to color it before applying it to my stencil.  I then inked the edges with red ink, and stamped over the frame in black with a script stamp.

After taking a photo, which somehow helps me to get a better perspective, I decided that the red around the edges was too harsh, and that the texture on the frame wasn't interesting enough,  so I added washi tape in music note pattern over some of the red edges and on the frame itself I added a heart patterned washi tape and also a black and white polka dot and a red chevron pattern.  I further softened it, and toned down the red outline with gesso applied by rubbing it on with my finger over the edges and over the washi tape.  It looked much better and I got down to the fun part of embellishing.  (see the product list at the bottom of the post.)

I still needed to add twine to the project to meet the requirements of the challenge, so I decided to simply roll up some twine to use as embellishments inside the shadowbox.  I shaped them by wrapping the twine around a cone shaped object.

Thanks so much to the amazingly talented team over at Frilly and Funkie for choosing me as their guest designer , and I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog today.

Supplies:

10 x 10 canvas

White Gesso by Artist's Loft

8 1/2 x 11 Music Note Paper by Recollections

Texture Paste by Liquitex

Doily Die by Prima Finnabair

Dye Ink by Memento in Red Magic

Script Stamp by Hero Arts

Black Archival Ink by Ranger

Steampunk Valentine images by HopePhotoArt on Etsy

Flourish by Sizzix

Paper Covering the Flourish by Gecko Galz 

Dressform Die by Tim Holtz

Word Banner on Dressform by Gecko Galz

Paper Covering Dressform by My Artistic Adventures on Etsy

Metal Arrow by Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Glass bottles by Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Glass Microbeads by Martha Stewart
Heart Bingo Card found on Pinterest
Love Digi Stamp found on Pinterest

February Samples for Gecko Galz

Hello friends!  I just love the first of the month when I can start sharing my creations using the newest images from Gecko Galz!   Today I am sharing  three samples that I created in January to showcase the new images, backgrounds, and digital stamps, as well as the newest kit club items, all of which are now available in our ETSY store.  All of the samples have been created using Gecko Galz images and/or backgrounds and digital stamps.  All of the products and a description are listed under each project.

First up is a vintage styled card, and is my favorite project for the month.  I first printed out one of the new background papers from the Coquette background paper pack which is a new product in February.  The background I used here has a gorgeous pink and white lace pattern and is product # COU5.  After printing out the background, I put my paper back into the printer and printed a digital stamp on top of the background from the French Connections Stamp Set, stamp  #FC19.  This digital stamp set is also a new product for February.  At the bottom of the card I used a different background, which includes the Parisian Dreams Paper Pack. I used the background # PD10.   I then printed out an image from the Pretty Victorians1 Collage Sheet, also new in February.  I sized the image appropriately to fit my card before I printed and fussy cut the image to add to my card.  The fan is one of the Coquette Icons which you can find in the February kit,  These exciting kits are new this year from Gecko Galz.  You can purchase the kits individually, or for a year at a discounted rate and with bonus images not included if the kit is purchased individually.  There are so many items included in these kits!!  To embellish my card I added a cardstock doily in black from Gina's Designs, and a chipboard dressform also from Gina's Designs which I colored with black ink.  I cut the border and the corner piece from black cardstock using a Spellbinders Shapeabilities die  called Fleur De Lis Accents.

Next up I have created a gift bag using a plain paper bag from Michael's.  First I covered the bag with a gorgeous vintage music note paper from Gecko Galz which is part of the Vintage Visions Mini Paper Pack.  Also from Gecko Galz is the main image, from the new collage sheet called February Dreams.  The tags at the top right are from the Vintage Tags Collage Sheet.  The paper behind the main image is from the collage sheet called Beautiful Borders2.  The punched papers peeking out from underneath the image are from the Coquette Paper Pack, all new in February.  I embellished the bag with lace from my stash, seam binding from my stash, some random chipboard pieces from a previous Scraps of Darkness kit club., a Petaloo flower, and a butterfly from Renea Bouquets.

Next up are these gorgeous birds from the Garden Birds collage sheet and the beautiful borders1 colage sheet.  The background paper is from the Coquettes Paper Pack.  This card was pretty simple, just printing and mounting the images.

Steampunk Projects for Gecko Galz

Last month the Design Team at Gecko Galz were offered the opportunity to participate in extra project(s) using the amazing Industrial Digital Stamp Set.  The stamp set is being featured this month in Quick Cards Magazine, and a link to our projects featured on the blog.  It was so much fun using these amazing digital stamps, and the team really went all out.  Please visit the Gecko Galz blog and see the awesome projects created by the team.

Each section of this cog shaped display tray by Gina's Designs features a different one of the digital stamps, as well as steampunk themed printable  backgrounds by Gecko Galz.  I have further embellished with some Prima Junkyard Findings and more chipboard shapes from Gina's Designs.

This card features another of the digital stamps, as well as background papers by Gecko Galz,  chipboard gears by Gina's Designs, and some punchinella from my stash.  

I have decided to turn the card into a canvas, and I am in process of transforming it so you will see the tranformation soon.  I enjoyed it too much not to have it hanging on my wall!

Products:

Gecko Galz Industrial Digital Stamp Set

Gecko Galz Steampunk Backgrounds

Display Tray by Gina's Designs

Chipboard Gears by Gina's Designs

Prima Junkyard Findings

Gecko Galz February Customer Challenge

Hello Crafty Friends!   It's February 1st, and that means time for a new challenge a the Gecko Galz blogspot.  This month our theme is 'Vintage Ladies'.  Today I am sharing my entry into the Gecko Galz Customer Challenge.  Come join us for fun and prizes!

Gecko Galz Products Used:

February Kit Club items used:

Pink Rose Frame COQ110 from the Coquette Icons

Cute Little Coquettes Collage Sheet

Coquette Icons 2 Pink lady COQ125 and Fan COQ116

Parisian Dreams Paper Pack PD01 and PD12

From the new February collage sheets:

Vintage Tags Collage Sheet

From the January Kit:

Love Potion #9 Icons - Love Ticket

Instructions:

Begin with a black card base.  Print out two background papers from the Parisian Dreams paper pack. Attach one of the backgrounds to the base covering the top two thirds of your card base.  Create a pocket by either cutting or tearing a different background and attaching to the bottom part of your card base attaching by the edges only using score tape or ATG tape.  Be sure to cut or tear this piece at an angle so you have a sizeable area on which to attach your main image later.

Print out the Cute Little Coquettes collage sheet and cut out the image of your choice.

Print out and fussy cut the pink rose frame from the Coquette Icons.  Fussy cut around the flowers and leaves at the top right so that you can tuck and attach your coquette image under the roses.

Using pop dots, attach this frame to the card,  making sure not to attach the upper left portion of the frame so that it doesn't interfere with your tag pocket.

Cut out the pink lady from the Coquette Icons 2 and attach her with pop dots, again making sure not to close up your pocket.

Cut out the fan and attach with pop dots at the bottom right corner.

I then added a piece of music note patterned washi tape to the bottom of the card to coordinate with the music note tag, but this is optional.

Attach the love ticket from the Gecko Galz January Kit Love Potion #9 Icons, or other sentiment of your choice.

Print out the collage sheet Vintage Tags.  I used the one with the music notes as it has a blank white area in the center on which to write a private little note before tucking it into the pocket.

Tuck the tag into the pocket.