Christmas Eve extravaganza

Well it's Christmas Eve and all the preparations are done for this wonderful holiday. I want to wish all of you a  very Happy Christmas Eve. I thought I'd share numerous Christmas  projects including cards and ornaments using Retro Cafe Art supplies. I am also sharing a few photos from Christmas celebrations here in the low country. One is the Bluffton, SC Christmas local parade with trucks, trailers, floats, pirates, tractors and all kinds of fun. The second is the Beaufort SC Christmas  night boat parade. It was so beautiful  to be on the harbor at night with all the boats covered in bright colorful lights with music playing and sipping hot chocolate.

Hope you are having a delightful holiday season . 

Take care,

Gerri

                 

 Little Christmas Creations

Bluffton Christmas Parade

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Beaufort Christmas Boat Parade

A Halloween Extravaganza

Happy Halloween my friends! It's my favorite holiday cause you know it's when I met my husband, at a Halloween costume party in NYC, oh back in the day. Of course, there is a Halloween decorated side board in our entry way to celebrate every year and I am sharing  it with you too.

I decided to show three  projects all using Retro Cafe Art supplies today. Kristin has been so kind to post several of them on her RCA Facebook page too. Today there's an spider web ATC with swinging spider, creepy bee woman with real(only kidding) spider webs. A  paper skellie shrine with cutout bats and a spider charm looking all scary in a  tiny tartlet pan . Finally,  my favorite modeled by Mary Lou is a  Halloween feather pin complete with green jewel, skull beads, metal roses, lots of black lace  and a cutout flourish swirl.

Hope you enjoyed my  sweet and scary selection today.
Happy Halloween,
Gerri

Wicked Spirits 

Scary Skeletons

Boo-tiful Halloween Pin

Our Halloween Display

Paris kiss

For Gecko Galz here is a card that I made using one of their collage sheets. I love the naughty dressing room shots. Oh La la! While I was out and about recently,  I was in Urban Outfitters in Savannah and they had a sweeping 3 story  high dressing room with numerous crystal chandeliers. I snapped a quick photo and this was my dressing room inspiration for this card.

To make this card I started with an image from the risqué women Gecko Galz  August collage sheet. Her image was framed in black then layered on printed paper and placed on a gold card front. A bit of black lace, a pearl stick pin and a stamped Paris tag add interest. The final accents include tiny pearls, gold edge stickers and gold Stickles.

Hope you will be a little risque this week!
Take care, Gerri

Paris

Dressing Room Decor

Now for something completely different.... cement

Now for something completely different, always makes me think of Monty Python. They were a riot when I was in high school and college. I always laughed out loud whenever I watched them! But I hope you won't laugh when you see today's post. I'm going to show you some jewelry I made. Mary Lou is modeling two necklaces and their matching bracelets. Oh and now for the different..... some inspirational photos of  beautiful colored cement, I saw on one of my walks. Yes, I said cement. So here goes ...

Hope you will do something different this week.
artfully yours, gerri

Dragonfly Wings of Inspiration

For Paint Party Friday I am showing another water color painting of a flower bouquet picked from our garden. Its easy in the spring and summer to find inspiration outside our windows. There are many wonderful insects, including big fat bumblebees on our lavender to dragonflies skimming across our pool. So today, I am also sharing some garden photos with you too.

Hope you will find inspiration this week on dragonfly wings.

yours truly, gerri

"Dragonfly Bouquet"

"Inspiration"

A day in our blooming garden

For today's Painting Party Friday, here are two small watercolors straight from our garden. Yes, I did run around outside in my pajamas cutting flowers like a crazy person before class, but it's worth it. LOL. I love painting our garden's colorful blooms.The first is of our rose bushes next to the shed and the second, is our magnificent blue hydrangeas. This week, I tried something different and just painted and did no sketching at all. I'm trying to be much more fluid in my painting. I included some photos of our garden shots so you could enjoy them too.

Hope you can visit a blooming garden this week.

yours truly, gerri

"Our Roses"

"Hydrangea and roses"

A Sweet Reward and a View of Paris

Today I received a sweet reward called “Stylish Blogger” from a new blogger friend. This little reward is a way to show someone you like their blog and for the recipient to pass on the love. I received this from Kathy at” Inkin it up” today, but I must admit that Donna at “Flyingsolotravelinglight” sent it to me first. When I received it from Donna, I was a brand new blogger and didn’t act on it. Now after 6 month blogging, I just knew I had to pass it on. The kind words and support from the creative blog community has been amazing. You really are a caring bunch. So...Thank you to everyone and especially Kathy and Donna.

The details of this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. You share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 7 recently discovered new blogs and contact them to let them know they've been awarded.

Here are 7 things about me:

1. I collect sea shells from around the world and rock crystals too. (many of these I have from my childhood.)

2. There is not a “color” I don’t like.

3. I will read absolutely anything. My husband and daughter love to read to, so we are attempting to complete the “1001 Books to Read before You Die” book. We each have a different color sticky note, so we can mark off what we read.

4. I think all alcoholic drinks should be sweet and taste like dessert. My favorite is a Key Lime Martini with meringue foam and a graham cracker rimmed glass.

5. I decorate for every holiday, whether it’s just my dining room or kitchen table or a grand Christmas Extravaganza with trees, tables, mantel, banister, and doors all done up.

6. My family and I love to travel. Many years ago, I saw a man with a bear on a chain on the back streets of Istanbul, Turkey. The bear was wearing a tiny red hat and an embroidered vest.I will never forget it.

7. For the past year I have been taking my first watercolor class with an amazing teacher, named Nancy. (soon, I promise to post some of my paintings.)

Here are my 7 awards. They may not all be new blogs but I like them…

Lucy at True Colours

Terry at Terry’s Work in Process

Anjas at Anjas Artefaktotum

Cindy at Whimsical Musings

Lynn at Trash to Treasure

Rhonda at It’s a little bit French

Fiona at MagickDiva

You know I can’t post with a picture. Here are some shots I took last week at the Philadelphia Flower show. The theme was Paris…City of Lights.

Bon Nuit mes amis,

Gerri



They moved the Eiffel Tower .LOL

 

Look at the Tin Cans that made the Can Can Silhouette

Beautiful Lamps

What a colorful selection.

Close Up of a Floral Arrangement

Peacock Carousel



Unicorn Carousel Animal



A Street View