Feature Day @ Gecko Galz

Today is my day to feature my Design Team project for the month of October over at Gecko Galz.

I have a collection of glass jars & bottles, supposedly to use in projects... well, they'd only go in the recycle bin.… and finally, with this project I used three. (you don't need to know how many is left!)

I found a lovely simple tutorial on how to alter the bottles with paint, I even wrote down the web address, but I cannot find it anywhere.

Sand paper
clean jars
acrylic paint on white, brown and black
kitchen towel
paint brush

1 -  Sand down the glass jar/bottle, this will give the paint something to hold to, keep changing direction as this will make it look more distressed.
2 -  Mix brown and white with a little bit of water and brush onto the jar, then lightly dab off with a piece of kitchen towel. Should be left with a mottled effect. (I had about three attempts till I got the right shade I wanted)
3 - mix black with a little bit of water and then flick it at the bottle, (this is very messy and I ended up doing it in my craft room bin) so it leaves little splodges. Then lightly dab off again. I used the tiniest amount of water as I preferred the blacker look.

Left them to dry and went to sort out my labels from Spooky Tickets.

The tall bottle is Brain Juice. middle size Dried Warts and the little one Broomstick Fleas, this one I had to slightly alter as the original label was to long for my bottle so in CAP2 I turned it into a landscape ticket, copied and pasted so I had two the same - a main one to use and the other to digitally cut up to turn the wording portrait as well, then 'joined' them back together to make a label which fit.
I used mod podge to adhere the labels to the bottles, I found it easier to mod podge both the bottle and the label.

I wanted a stand for the witchy collection, looking round I found an old video tape box, one of those plastic ones which snaps shut, which was a perfect height and shape, next step was to find something to cover it in - I found the perfect book cover in Haunted Ephemera, resized it big enough to cover the top and spine of the tape box, and made a spine title which matched the original title of the book.

Added a bit of spider web & two spiders from a bargain Halloween pack from last years sale. Knew they would come in handy.

I'm keeping a look out for more Halloween stuff I can add to this, at the time of writing not much Halloween merchandise is out in the shops.

I hope you'll join our Gypsy Fortune challenge where the winner will receive a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop. The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product, which can be something you purchased from the shop or a freebie.

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the weekly Super Sunday Deals!

Why don't you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see all the fabulous designs by the very talented Design Team, don't forget to grab the free digi stamp on each post!

We also have a Facebook Group where there are more monthly challenges for you to play in, each with a Design Sheet to win.

Amanda xx

Using a card blank I had already papered for something else, which I ended up not using, I chose a gorgeous butterfly image from Butterfly Kisses, this is why I love Gecko Galz so much, every image could be used with no embellishments or anything and still make a lovely project.

I resized the image to fit the 6x6 card, used vintage blue Nuvo drops on the centre of the flowers, a gold swirl to look like its part of the flower stem and pale gold gems. To finish, I decided to highlight the butterfly by drawing round it with a gold pen.

entering in: Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group = Text challenge

Amanda xx

M @ Butterfly Challenge

Been a busy bee today, 2 cards and a matching set of three framed atcs done, more on these on later posts.

Today's card is for Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge, and its the letter M for Magic Window, didn't enter a card for L has I have had the dreaded lurgy (not sure if it was L for Lurgy) for the last three weeks, cannot believe how ill this cold has made me! A few other people in the store where I work have had it and they've been exactly the same, so I know its not me being mardy!

Anyway, M for Magic Window, I found this template a challenge, at one point I nearly threw it in the bin but I persevered and did manage to finish it, all be it a bit wonky and creased. Hopefully I've hidden those bits.

Template + Butterfly

backing paper from a Greeting Card Backing PApers book

pale peach paper

coppery orange paper

thank you stamp

black stazon ink

black card

plain circle die

heart circle die

large butterfly embellishment

entering in: Butterfly blog = M is for Magic Window

 Amanda xx

Gypsy Fortune

A new month means a new Customer Challenge at Gecko Galz and the theme for the month of October is 'Gypsy Fortune'. So why not play along - join the challenge with the chance to win $25 at the Gecko Galz shop!

The last few weeks here in the UK has seen us slowly slipping and sliding into Autumn, sunny days are a thing of the past and we're already into rainy days, many places torrential at the moment. Soon it'll be time to turn back the clocks and draw the curtains at night, to counteract the drearier weather, Mother Nature gives the flowers & fauna one last chance to wow us with all their hues of gold, brown and reds, plus as if by magic, mushrooms and other fungi start appearing, all be it for a short while and then them to are gone.

Decided to do a tag this month, I've got a feeling that this might turn into another project in the future, I felt like I wanted to do some more with it, but couldn't quite get there.

gypsy lady from Gypsy Beauties

backing paper from Gypsy Market Papers

fortune wheel from google search

lace effect cream card die cut.

blue stars

  I hope you'll join in 'Gypsy Fortune' Challenge, where the Winner gets a $25 shopping spree to spend at the Gecko Galz shop. (The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product... this can be one of the freebies, or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy shop).

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz monthly newsletter, you'll be kept up to date with new releases, Super Sunday weekly deals and be able to claim a free digital collage sheet.

If you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog, you will see all the fabulous designs by the Design Team - and maybe grab a freebie or two.
If you haven't a blog or/ you are on Facebook, head over to the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Group where there are more monthly challenges, with the chance to win a digital collage sheet.
This months challenges are:

Amanda xx 

Feature Day @ Gecko Galz

Today is my day to feature my Design Team project for the month of September over at Gecko Galz.

Still buzzing from my altered canvas, I stayed nice and simple for this project!

I've used this design before, I must have printed off different sizes at the same time to fill the A4 card.

Gecko Galz - image from Blue Bird Of Happiness

oval dies 

stamp from Christina Griffiths box issue 2

Royal Blue pigment ink

gems

I hope you'll join our Autumn Steampunk challenge where the winner will receive a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop. The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product, which can be something you purchased from the shop or a freebie. 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the weekly Super Sunday Deals! 

Why don't you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see all the fabulous designs by the very talented Design Team, don't forget to grab the free digi stamp on each post! 

We also have a Facebook Group where there are more monthly challenges for you to play in, each with a Design Sheet to win. 

Amanda xx

K @ Butterfly Challenge

Today's card is for Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge, and its the letter K for Kinetic, I'm really enjoying learning how to do these card shapes. Full details are on the butterfly blog.

So again, I chose to do the card shape plus butterflies, I was going to do this black & white but then decided to do it red & white, although the ink looks more burgundy to me, so I stuck to that shade.

Swirls & card verse Honeypot Crafts

Main topper from magazine freebie

Stazon Blazing Red ink

Tattered Lace mini dies

Pink & White pearls

entering in: Butterfly Blog = K is for Kinetic

Amanda xx

Steampunk Autumn

A new month means a new Customer Challenge at the Gecko Galz and the theme for the month of September is 'Steampunk Autumn'.
So why not play along - join the challenge with the chance to win $25 at the Gecko Galz shop!

Admittedly I did struggle with this theme, I researched everything to do with steampunk, apart from losing an hour or two, I came across some gorgeous makes and photos, and also this blog with so many talented crafty people! The makes are pure eye candy!

I decided I was going to do a card with a butterfly on, with a orange/deep brown colour scheme. And this is what I came up with -

Gecko Galz - background Sentimental Celluloids ATC paper pack

Gecko Galz - steam punk butterfly Tic Toc and Cameos 

Gecko Galz sentiment - Garden Sentiments (re-interpreted by me)

Craft Box - pendant/keys/corners

gems

Crafty Individuals cog stamps

Do Craft ruler stamps

black & bronze inks

ModPodge

Lamp Black & Metallic Bronze acrylic paint

As you can see, its definitely not a card! I choose the backing paper for the card and as I was resizing it, somewhat randomly remembered I'd still got an old canvas lurking around, went to find it and turned it over, saw the hanging hook and staples and thought perfect! (and yes, there is a craft desk under there somewhere!)

So resized the backing paper, fiddled with the colour a bit, got the butterfly, came up with a quote.... and printed everything off.
Once I cut out all my bits, I placed everything down to see how best to arrange them, then stamped where the empty space would be using the ruler stamp and cogs. I stuck the butterfly down, then inked the sides of the word tabs with black ink and stuck them down. I wanted to have something shiny on the butterfly just to bling it up a bit.... this is where I lost another an hour looking through all my bits and bobs, and where I decided to use the keys and corners and the pendant with the clear stone - never thinking that you would be able to see the glue, but then decided I liked the look of it as it dried. Phew.

I put everything back into the frame and decided that the wood was to bright, so out came the acrylic paints, then once that had dried I decided that the metal embellishments need painting also, before sticking down on the frame.

Once I was finally happy (!?!)  I reassembled everything and the finishing touch was the little gold gems in the middle of the cogs.

Then I washed my hands, face and anything else I had managed to get paint on!

Its now sat pride of place on my mantelpiece, and I'm wondering how on earth I came to make something that awesome. (As you can tell I am really, really pleased with it!)

I hope you'll join in 'Autumn Steampunk' Challenge, where the winner gets a $25 shopping spree to spend at the Gecko Galz shop. (The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product... this can be one of the freebies, or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy shop).
If you sign up for the Gecko Galz monthly newsletter, you'll be kept up to date with new releases, Super Sunday weekly deals and be able to claim a free digital collage sheet.
If you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog, you will see all the fabulous designs by the Design Team - and maybe grab a freebie or two.
If you haven't a blog/and or/ on Facebook, head over to the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Group where there are more monthly challenges, with the chance to win a digital collage sheet.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me ramble on about how much I love this frame!

Amanda xx