Final Blog Candy Giveaway for 2011! WINNER!

Good Morning to everyone!

After a wonderful birthday I wanted to pop in and pick a winner for the blog candy giveaway...YIPEEE!
So after putting everyone into Random.Org I now have a winner
A big congrats to Starr!!!!!
So Starr if you can email me at fripperiesandbutterflies@yahoo.com with your mailing address I will get all your goodies off to you.
If you did not win fret not email me at the same address with your email addy and I will send you a free collage sheet just for taking part.
Thank you again to everyone who helped make my blog candy giveaway sooooo fantastic!
And keep an eye out because in February I will be doing my Valentine blog candy giveaway!
Have a happy scrappy day
Leanne

Use of your favorite paper

Hi Everyone!

I was intrigued when I read the recent challenge from Ginger Snaps is

GC135: Random Redhead Challenge - Use Your Favorite Paper

All of us have our favorite lines of paper that we use time and time again, and when a new collection comes out we get as excited as we did when we were children at Christmas...mine happen to be Graphics 45, Webster Pages, Authentique, Echo Park....and Bo Bunny!!!

Recently I took notice that alot of my recent designs were using alot of the Bo Bunny butterfly papers from last year. Did I get stuck in a rut? Did I over buy? Can you ever over buy a paper that you just love? Never!

So I began looking at why I had become smitten like a school girl with this line of paper and the answer is so simple, it combines my favorite colors turquoise and brown with butterflies and has that vintage look that I soooo love. Okay so this is how bad it is with thi paper...when it got hard to find the paper I scanned in each piece so I would have it forever. I know bad me but when you have an addiction you do some pretty seedy stuff lol. I am happy to see that a number of companies (Webster Pages, Echo Park) are now offering their papers in digital formats so people like me who become addicted to the papers can have them free and clear. So what I thought I would do is share with you some of my designs using my all time favorite BO BUNNY paper.

I hope you enjoy the projects and remember it's okay to have a paper addiction we are paper crafters and artist.

A Pinch of Pixie Dust......pretty little spring plaques

Hi everyone!

I know some of you are buried under snow and Spring time is a distant thought but I thought it might be fun to share with you some pretty little fairy plaques I have done just to get your spring time creative juices flowing.
My first plaque was one that I did for a May arts Challenge last year but I love the colors, it reminds me of spring grass.

I feel ribbons are great ways to embellish projects it is a freat way to introduce new textures and pops of color. To make this plaque I used a plethora of May Arts ribbons, Gecko Galz digital "fairies" stamp set which I painted with Twinkling H2O's by Creative Imaginations, Prima flowers, Echo Park papers, Creative Imaginations plaque, Key lime Glimmer Mist by Tattered angels, collage images by Gecko Galz, and a sweet Little bird I found at Micheals which using a flower and a wee bit of ribbon I created a little Easter bonnet for her.

My second plaque I did last year as a class at stamp Antonio Arts is San Antonio Texas I went with wonderful Jewel tones for this plaque and again added a bit of spring whimsy with a few fairies thrown in.

Now on this plaque I again worked with Creative Imaginations square plaque but you can use any pieces of square wood pieces as your base. Next I sprayed plaque pieces with Turquoise Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels then used Gecko Galz digital papers "Arabian Dreams" on both the front and back (I believe both sides should be finished) I went around the outer edge with gold UTEE to create this lovely gilded frame look. Used May arts ribbon to tie the plaques together and sprinkled with fairy images from Gecko Galz collage sheets.

Now my third plaque was done as the January Kit for Gecko Galz Kit Club and decided on this one to bring a few natural elements into it for a charming organic looking fairy plaque.

So on this plaque I used three round press board pieces I found at Hobby Lobby as well as papers and journal blocks by Bo Bunny. I used white paint and white washed the natural wood so it looked as if it were peeling then covered the front with the papers. Around the edge I used glossy accents and distressed the edge then sprinkled with ultra fine clear glitter by Hero arts. I used wonderful ribbons and fibers from Gecko Galz as well as their forth coming flower Fairy images. But my hanger is my favorite item I went out into my moms garden and collected fallen branches from her big oak tree and placed it in a plastic shoe box with peppermint oil for a week (this gets all the unwanted visitors off of it) then using Tulle ribbon I tied it to the plaque top.

Hope you enjoyed my little plaques and now for a few little gifts for you...these are some little images for your to play with...the special thing about these images are they are pieces of my art , yep I drew these then painted them and I would like to share them with you to use in your paper crafting!

Happy Crafting To you all!
Leanne

Gecko Galz is looking for Guest Designers...Could it be You?

I wanted to share a bit of news with everyone, if you are like me you love doing paper crafting and this is a great way to show off all your wonderful talent.

 

Gecko Galz is looking for 12 guest designers who will be featured artist on our blogsite and News letter, one each month in 2012.

Do you like working with collage images and digital stamps?

Do you like to come up with fun exciting projects that will wow and inspire others? Then this might be a fun way to share your creative talents.

To be considered for a spot just send us 4 recent samples of your work it can be anything and you do not have to use Gecko Galz products to be considered. Send samples to us at geckogalz@yahoo.com and in the header please put the words “Gecko Galz Guest Designer”

 And the good news is International entries are welcome!

If we choose you to be a Guest Designer for one of our months you will receive that months product which will include all 5 of the collage sets, the jewelry collage sheets for that month, the paper set, and the digital stamp set for that month. Plus $25 in digital products of your choice from our site.

Now what we would like from you if you are picked is a short bio about yourself, a link to any blogs or online galleries you may have, and 5 samples that we will post with your write up. This is a great way for you to gain exposure for your work.

Deadline for submitting is on going through 2012 until all the months are filled and we will notified those picked via email

.

We look forward to seeing your stunning work and invite you to see what Gecko Galz is all about at

www.geckogalz.com

 

Gecko Galz is also having a HUGE anniversary give away on their website where you can win exclusive items so be sure and check it out!

SHOP SHOUT OUT

So it is a new year and I thought it might be fun to get back to doing spotlights on amazing Stores and shops for you to visit. this month I am spotlighting a wonderful online shop called Articus Studio online. This is a great shop for all things in doing altered art...thats right find the perfect findings, jewlery tools, altered art classes, stamps, and a million and one ideas. the owner Corrine has brought together amazing products and artisons to show you how to use the products. I want to share a few works from the site people have done using her products

 And then dont get me started on their on line classes they are breath taking

 so if you get the chance stop by and take a peek...if you are like me you will be hooked

http://www.articusstudiodesign.com/index.html

If you have a shop you would like to do a shout out to leave us a comment we love checking them out!
Have a great day
Leanne