Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Time Itself Meant Nothing When it Came to Love

No alligator today.... thank goodness, just a nice peaceful day with lots of birds. My husband and I went on a bird walk with a naturalist at the beach recently. It was amazing, with his telescope we could see every feather on the birds. We just loved it.

Speaking of birds, I thought a project with wings would work today, so here's a  tiny 3D project today for  the Retro Cafe Art design team. It all started with the RCA Heart house shrine  that I painted  black and edged  it in silver and red Stickles. I added the  little word "Love". In  the center there's a tiny RCA heart covered in Red Stickles. I poured in and covered it  with Glossy accents. The wings are actual a RCA broken heart attached separately. LOL. They were painted silver and have red Stickles rubbed over them and dotted with silver too. The sentiment across the wings says "time itself meant nothing".

Hope you'll  find timeless love this week.
artfully yours, gerri
"Time Itself Meant Nothing"

"For scale"

Monday, January 30, 2012

Missing You Best Friends

Well, one thing about moving here to the south is that I've l moved away from my best friends. Yes there is the phone, email etc but don't you just love sitting with your friends. You can have a conversation face to face, maybe sharing some lunch or running to a flea market or sharing a craft tip. I know I will be build new friendships here and I hope to get lots of visitors, but it's something on my mind today. So when I saw this cute Brownstone #3286-V house from 100 Proof Press and knew I had to make a card for a best friend.

To make this I stamped and fussy cut the house and colored and Stickled in red. The glitter red heart  at the top is from Retro Cafe Art. I layered this on flocked heart paper that was attached with black photo corners.The whole card was edged with black and a label stamped with best friends was attached to the bottom. And that was that!

Hope you will get to spend time with your best friend this week.
take care, gerri
"Best Friend"



Sunday, January 29, 2012

Too much is not even enough

Guess what I saw on the across our pond yesterday??? Well a a big fat alligator! I've seen them before down here, but  never thought they'd be in our pond. Ill try to get a photo of it to share with you. Guess I will be very careful when gardening! LOL. Anyway now that we are sorta settled, I'm trying some challenges again and  today I'm entering the monthly challenge at  Stampsmith  TSC26 "Tags".

The wonderful image from the Flapper plate at Stampsmith was my inspiration. It was stamped on velum and underneath I stamped some french words on a white bookmark. I added the clear transparent frame on top of her image. On the bottom is  layered the saying "Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough.", on a printed sticker with black 3D scroll details. Some black and white puffy rose appliques, black and white pearls and a stick pin I made came next. Some black edging and some sheer ties finish this Flapper tag.

Hope you too believe.... too much love is never enough.
sincerely, gerri

"Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough."

"Flapper details"



Saturday, January 28, 2012

She flies upon the written word

It's been warm here in the wilds of South Carolina, I'm getting kinda confused about what time of year it is. Being from the north I have to remind myself that it's winter here not spring or summer. I'm not complaining just  a change to get used to. To set myself back on course, I thought I'd return to one of my favorite images today of this gorgeous woman's face. It's one of those go to stamps, I adore. I'm entering it in Fashionable Challenge #13 Butterflies or Bugs and of course Beverly's Pink Saturday.

 I stamped the woman's face watercolored her eyes and lips and also stamped a  teenie tiny pink heart on her cheek. The butterfly was stamped next on vellum and cut out. These were all layered on a hot pink feather butterfly that has rhinestones, glitter and Stickles accents. A rhinestone crown, lots of silver Stickles touches, ribbon and fiber streamers and a silver cord to hang up my pretty butterfly came next.

Hope you will fly away on written words this week
take care, gerri



"She flies away on written words"


Friday, January 27, 2012

Queen of Laugh Live and Love

Sometimes I feel a little silly  and like to experiment. It's fun getting out of your comfort zone. Don't you think? Today's piece is a collage using a crown template I developed. I use it from time to time because it can be used for any kind of look. It's going on my new studio's bulletin board.  The starring role is the Retro Cafe Art  Heart Burst stencil. There's a whole bunch of Valentine's Day cards I am making with this stencil too and will show you next week.

After cutting out the  crown template I painted it with gold and red acrylic paints.  I layered it on a larger purple crown template next. Using black acrylic paint, the  points of the heart stencil came next  then a purple Stickled interior . A tiny RCA red glitter heart was set in the center. The little words were printed and watercolored. The swirls, sparkly bits, and glitter hearts added the bling. Some edging and tiny gold Stickles dots came last.

Hope you will try something silly this wee.
yours truly, gerri
"Laugh, Live, Love"

"Live details"

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Glorious Greens

At Gingersnap Creations they are in the midst of winter weather with white and gray dominating the landscape. So what are they going to do? They're going to inject some "Glorious Green" for this week's GSC136  challenge. One randomly drawn winner from the qualifying participants for this challenge will become our new Home Page Artist for a week as well as winning a $30 voucher to the Stampotique Originals store Now here's it is 70 degrees and sunny, so I'll give you some green photos  of our palm trees for inspiration too. Don't be jealous! LOL.

To make today's card I used a mask to mist the first layer of green ink on the tag. It is over stamped with three different Parisian themed stamps. The tag was layered on a green dot background that has black ink kissed edges. The pretty embellishments were die cut corners, Stickled butterflies, green roses from Retro Cafe Art, green ribbon and black lace. The sentiment says "Thank You".

Hope you will see some glorious green this week.
take care, gerri   



                     
"Thank you"

 
"Thankful details"


"Our Green Palm Trees"


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Cutie Pie Be Mine

For Retro Cafe Art thought I'd continue on the pink theme...I promise tomorrow something completely different! LOL. Here's another Cutie Pie card for Valentine's Day. Did ya know that Retro Cafe Art has a Valentine's Day contest with prizes! You even get a free gift just for entering. Check it out here.

The cutie pie image is from the Hello Dollie2 collage sheet. I layered her on a pink background that was stenciled using the RCA heart stencil with red and pale blue acrylic paint. Some glitter swirls and a heart, two candy heart stamps,  Stickles accents and a big pink bow  and she was all done.

Hope you see something cute that make you smile this week.
artfully yours, gerri

"Cutie Pie be mine"

"Cutie Pie details"

Monday, January 23, 2012

Hugs to all of you sweet friends

Here's a big hug to all of my blogger friends. Even if I don't always get to visit as often as I'd like, I just want you all to know how special you are! My "hug" piece today is for 100 Proof Press and  you know I just love this little Big Cutie Baby stamp #6235. As you can see I'm still in a pink kinda mood!

I started by doing the background of the tag with acrylic paint and lots of large cut glitter. I added the pink shiny flowers and layered  a cut out  the little (I mean big) cutie on the biggest flower. She was watercolor painted and Stickled accented. The other flower has a definition of "hug" and the final one just has Stickles dots. More Stickles and blue fiber were the finishing touches of this pinkalious tag.

Hope you get lots of hugs this week!
take care, gerri


"Hugs"

"Cutie Pie Details"

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Sweetheart Hugs and Kisses

 I'm in a pink mood these days, so for Beverly's Pink Saturday I am showing a crazy little Valentine's creation. Some times you just gotta experiment, so this is a bit different for me but it still has my signature glitter and sparkle.

I used my Retro Cafe Art cute supplies to make today's piece. Their cool wooden ATC 3 pane frame  was my starting point. I painted it pale aqua with a lavender back. It makes such nice little spaces for different images or findings. I put a different woven label in each position, that all have a heart theme. On top is layered a pink painted Sweetheart heart, some pink Stickled XO's (hugs and kisses) and finally some tiny beads that say "LOVE" on a pink shiny cord. Some decorative tiny clips and a pink cord hanger came next. Of course, some Stickles accents give it the needed sparkle.

Hope you will have sparkly week.
artfully yours, gerri

"Sweetheart Hugs and Kissses"

"Pink Details"

Friday, January 20, 2012

Big Red Glittery Hearts

Thought I'd share one of my Valentine's Day cards with you today....who knows it might even be the one I send to you!  Hearts are one of my favorite images, maybe that's the romantic in me. LOL.

To make my card I started with the Retro Art Cafe heart and painted it with red Stickles. I think I would like to do that extreme Stickles on the Ranger site, where they dip different things in Stickles. It would be alot of fun. Who knows what I would dip in the gorgeous glittery bucket of sparkles....Ummm. Well anyway,  I put a jeweled brad into the hole in the heart and hung a gold cupid. I added the sentiment and edged that with red Stickles of course! This was layered on a gold paper doilie. The red background paper was stamped with a gold  using a lace stamp. The corner edge details are sequins, with gold brad centers on pieces of a gold doilie. I layered this whole thing on an edged white card to finish up.

Hope your week is filled with big hearts.
yours truly, gerri
"Happy Valentine's Day"

"Red Details"

"Corner Details"


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Life's a Journey

Well, today's card really expresses how my life has been lately. "Life's a journey" especially since we have moved from the metropolitan northeast to the low country here in the south. I am getting use to the slower pace but sometimes it can be abit frustrating,  but the nice weather, gorgeous flora and fauna make up for all that.

I made this card because  at Gingersnap Creations, we're focusing on using our scraps this month as well as getting them all organized. We know you have some fabulous scraps just hanging around your craft table. For this challenge, GSC#135 we want you to grab a scrap of your favorite designer paper. There's a random prize given by Stampotique , who is this month's sponsor too. Come on over and join in the fun.
The background paper  is from Italy and I have had it for 20 years, I do use it sparingly! I layered an old bicycle poster image from a calendar that I had kept since 2005. LOL. Some gold ribbon, 3 glitter flowers, gold edges and some layering of gold and green paper came next. The sentiment reads "Life's a journey." And I certainly agree with that!

Hope you will have a wonderful journey this week.
take care, gerri
"Life's a Journey"

"Flower details"

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Dear husband, I'm yours

Retro Cafe Art supplies always inspire me, especially their Valentine's items. Check out their cute stuff and while you're at it they also are having  a Valentines Day contest on their blog, you can check it out here. You could win cool things. I made this card and my husband was totally in love with it. He said it reminded him of the distressed car art he makes. And you know, he's right it does! You can see more of his cars at his etsy shop called Classic Wrecks.

To make this card, I started by painting a RCA key hole heart with acrylic paints in red, brown and cream. I also painted a RCA antique skeleton key with gold, copper and rubbed it with brown ink. Both were edged with glittery Stickles. The background paper was watercolored, kissed with brown ink and detailed with pencil. Some heart rhinestones on the corners and a tiny sentiment in the key hole that reads 'I'm yours" came next. Oh, and that sentiment is for my DH.

Hope you will spend time with a "dear" this week.
sincerely, gerri
"I'm yours"

"Distressed heart details"

"DH distressed cars"

Monday, January 16, 2012

To Love is to Live

It's my weekly 100 Proof Press Design team project today, so sorry it's a bit late. This Valentines Day season I am going to try to challenge myself to use different color combinations to represent this holiday. This time it's a black, cream and sepia combination. I think love and life you make you feel like dancing so when I saw this  Can Can Girls #2973 stamp from 100 Proof Press I new I had to use it!

Well, I stamped the Can Can Girls image twice and fussy cut them out. I built up my background by layering Graphic45 paper from the Flying Unicorn store with a postcard image that I maded the stamp , rhinestones and black lace. The dancers were watercolored and glittered up with Stickles. The sentiment was added last and reads "To love is to live."

Hope you will feel like dancing about life or love this week.
artfully yours, gerri
"To Love is to Live"

"Dancing details"

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Love is....a basket of roses

I am posting at an unusual time for me cause our Internet has been acting up! I do love roses and here in the south there are still some blooming! I can't get over that. I'm also in a Valentines kinda mood so, this is my first Valentine card of the year. I have a bunch to make so I'd better get going....

To make this card I started with patterned paper and added the Artchix Studio white german scrap that I rubbed with some rosey shimmer paint. The cut out of the birds came next. They are detailed with pink Stickles, an organza bow and a tiny love epoxy piece that says "love".Some additional clear epoxy hearts and more pink Stickles and I was all done.

Hope you will see something you love this week!
take care, gerri
"Love"

"Lovely details"

Friday, January 13, 2012

What a Flower

Just a little tag today, the first project from my new studio. Yipee! It's a bit crowed, but it is fun to be reunited with my stash. Oh how I missed it while it was  in storage during our move. I used some wonderful paper flowers that I won awhile back  from BlissHabits . It was an amazing surprise, you could choose from a number of etsy sites, what a fabulous prize.  Jingle told me all about it, thank you so much! So, BlissHabits  is an incredible site where they explore the 13 habits to help achieve bliss. Now who doesn't need that! Here's what the site is about....

"The Bliss Habits experiment is based loosely on Ben Franklin’s habit of concentrating on Thirteen Virtues which he felt would cause him to be a better person. Ben kept track of his virtues daily, giving himself a “black mark” in a small notebook when he failed to live up to that virtue. He also cycled through each of his virtues, spending a week, four times each year, concentrating on, studying and encouraging the particular virtue. This is the practice that Kathy at BlissHabits has duplicated for encouraging the habits of bliss."

The 13 habits are:
  1. JOY - A source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something exceptionally festive or satisfying.
  2. ORDER - Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
  3. CREATIVITY - The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.
  4. PASSION – a fervent or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything; experience of strong love or sexual desire.
  5. WHIMSY – extravagant, fanciful, or excessively playful expression; an odd or fanciful notion.
  6. SERENITY – the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; composure, peacefulness, peace.
  7. INQUIRY – a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge; study, scrutiny, exploration.
  8. COMMUNITY - Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
  9. ROMANCE – To court or woo romantically; treat with ardor or chivalrousness; a strong fascination or enthusiasm for something.
  10. GRATITUDE – warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; very thankful.
  11. MOXIE -  Possessing the attribute of ”coolness” and able to face difficulty with spirit and courage; sass, spunk, determination and attitude.
  12. HUMILITY – The quality or condition of being humble; imitate Jesus and Socrates.
  13. SURPRISE - A sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment; to come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly.
Well ......now on to my  my little tag. It has a tiny door, so I've shown it open and closed. I used  darling Dezinaworld image. But since it's been a long post, I won't detail how I made it. You can just enjoy the photos, hope you enjoy them.

Hope your week is full of wonderful surprises.
take care, gerri

"Tag with door closed"

"Tag with door open"

"Details"

"BlissHabits giveaway"

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wishes, wishes,wishes

This month at Gingersnap creations it's all about...Organization especially using scraps. This week's supply challenge GSC134 is about  Ribbon Scraps. Come on over and paly there's a  pretty prize or just come look at the gorgeous design team creations. So, if you're like me I just can't bear to throw away ribbon scraps. I keep them in a big clear bag and fish around whenever I need a little piece of somethin'. I know there must be a better way, maybe when I unpack my new scrap room, I'll figure out something!

To make my card today, I painted the pale blue background cardstock with black watercolor to give it some punch. The little bits of ribbon and lace came next; there are six different kinds used. I made the  butterfly that was layered on the top too. I added gold stickers, Stickles, ink and rhinestones to a picture of a pretty blue butterfly. The rub-on sentiment of wishes, wishes, wishes completed this little card.

Hope all your wishes will come true this week.
take care, gerri
"Wishes, wishes,wishes"

"Scrappy details"

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Enchanted Forest of Love

For today's Retro Cafe Art I'm showing a little tag, it's for our new place. We were staying at the beach, it was a quick 15 minute walk but now we are on a pond in a wooded area. I like to call it our enchanted forest. I do miss all the herons and egrets but I'll have to get used to the new birds, once I figure out what they are! LOL.

So there are so many exciting and new supplies at Retro Cafe Art, it was easy to make this tag! I started by spraying Glimmer Mist then layering the tag on a flocked piece of brown paper. The flower came next with  different fabric and paper flowers and covered them with glitter. The woman's face is from a lovely RCA collage sheet called Pretty Women. I added the RCA German Dresden gold antlers and bronze Stickles. The little RCA bronze hearts  from a great mixed set came next. The final touches were the sentiment "Enchanted Forest of Love", more Stickles accents and a shiny bronze ribbon.

Hope you will have an enchanted week!
take care, gerri

"Enchanted Forest of Love"

"Enchanted details"

Monday, January 9, 2012

Tiny Castle Landscape

For the  100 proof press design team, I tried something different and created this little stamped and watercolored circle pin. I started watercolor painting 2 years ago , but haven't painted since we have been on the move. Today we are getting settled into our new temporary place and I look forward to painting more! Once I finish unpacking that is...

In my yard sale hunts, I found this gold circle pin (1.5") and knew it would be the perfect frame for an image. The castle town scene #5431 landscape called out to me cause it had such  wonderful  buildings. I stamped it and watercolored it too. For my next jewelry project , I'll be able to have Mary Lou model it for you, since we are now united again! So, I covered the stamped image with Glossy accents to make it more permanent. I rubbed the gold pin across  a Ranger Archival  black ink pad to get that aged look.

Hope you will see apretty landscape , wherever you are this week.
sincerely, gerri


"Tiny landscape"

"Tiny details"

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Amorous Engagement

Just a quick post today....here's an engagement card that I made for no particular reason or person. LOL. I just liked the couple transparency image and had an engagement silver tag which I knew just went together.

The transparency from Artchix studio was my starting point and I layered over a flower bouquet with a little robin. I added silver filigree stickers, silver engagement tag, crystal blue flowers and then Stickles for their glittery effect. The card base was a silver edged photo card, so all I had to do was slip the collage into the slits!

Hope you will have an amorous week!
artfully yours, gerri
"Engagement"

"Amorous details"

Friday, January 6, 2012

Love Letters straight from the heart

I just adore Paris themes. When  I saw this little stamp that said "love letters straight from the heart" I knew it would be the perfect partner to my Parisian map. Speaking of maps, we're finally back from NYC where we used all sorts of maps to get our darling daughter  settled and situated. LOL. It was thrilling to be back in NYC, we really enjoyed it!

So to make this card, I placed the Paris map on some blue floral patterned paper. Lots of embellishments like tiny hearts, love letters, postage stamps, an epoxy Oh  la la and an old sign that I watercolored were layered too. Stickles added the all important bling. The stamped sentiment reads "love letters straight from the heart" and  was the finishing touch.

Hope you will receive some wonderful mail this week.
take care, gerri


"Love letters straight from the heart."

"Parisian details"

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Once Upon A Springtime

We're off to NYC this week to bring my daughter to her internship, it's been a great holiday and we will miss her! I like to call her my little fairy so here's a tag for Retro Cafe Art in her honor.

I used RCA ATC trefoil gothic frame and coated it with copper glitter.  The tag background is a Glimmer mist spray of orange, copper and green. The little fairy is from Graphic 45 paper, of course I added the Stickles allover her wings and petal skirts. I put a patterned paper of flowers in the ATC frame with Stickles too. The RCA colored roses in orange, lime and rust have some Stickles accents for a glittery touch. The  sentiment is actual the name of the Graphics45 paper that had the fairy on it. Stickled dots were  used as the final accents of this tag.

Hope you will see a little fairy this week.
artfully yours, gerri

"Once upon a Springtime"

"Fairy details"

Monday, January 2, 2012

Wishing you a Steampunk Birthday

For my 100 Proof Press design piece, I've created a Steampunk themed  card for a friend's special 60th birthday. It's for a guy so, I've kept it all tans, grey and black. I used the 100 Proof Press stamps called #5365 Gears and #6386 Four Gears. I know that I will be using these stamps in other projects, they are so versatile.

I used these stamps on striped paper and also layered stickers of the phone, key hole and pocket watch. There is also a a herringbone tiny envelope that has a pull out message inside. All this is on a black grid of german scrap and highlighted with gold Stickles and black rhinestones.Some tiny details include mini metal gears and punched out gears too. The sentiment "wishing you" and "60" were the last details.

Hope you will get your wish this week!
take care, gerri



"Wishing You"
"Special details"
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