It Was A Beautiful Day

It's been a beautiful spring here in New Jersey and summer is on the way. This is what I thought while helping a dear artist friend, who gave me this wonderful  paper she made! The paper made me think of bubbles and sea foam at the Jersey shore. So, I created this shadow box for Grungy Monday #5 a "New Dimension" hosted by the newly educated and Ranger certified  (tee hee) lovely Linda at Studio L3. This weeks project is based on the King of Grunge Tim Holtz  May 2008 Technique,  you can see it by clicking the link. Please stop by Studio L3 to join in the fun or just  to see the amazing creativity of everyone who participates.

With the gorgeous handmade paper in hand, I looked thru all my images and came up with this tiny sea scene with the lovely ladies from Artchixs Studio. For the sea floor, I used a sheet from Moonlight Journey called Aquatic Elements. The balance  of the sea creatures were hand stamped shells and starfish that I water colored. There are even some under sea die cuts that were painted too. I used some ombre ribbon for the sea kelp. Added some extra fuzzy fiber and some tiny shells and starfish in the shadow box. It is all topped off with a pretty seahorse. The word snippets  say "It was a beautiful day, pure and bright."
Hope you have a beautiful day and a Happy Mothers Day to all.
Yours Truly, gerri

"It was a beautiful day, pure and bright."

Sea creature Details

Handmade Seafoam Paper

My Studio work table and another 100 for 100 peek

Thought I'd give you another  peek at part of my 100 for 100 followers blogcandy giveaway, this pic is mainly the ribbons, the fibers, clear stamps, sequins and some paper.  To enter please follow me and leave a comment on my 100 for 100 Blogcandy Giveaway  post. All the details are there. You have until May 27th to enter.
This photo of part of the blogcandy was taken on my work desk in my studio, so I thought I'd give you some views of my studio. I will show you more of my studio each week till the giveaway. You will get to see how organized (really disorganized I am). You will also get to see how I keep all my embellies stored. My studio is a 11' X 14' room with storage shelves, a day bed, my table and chair, two bookcases and a closet. I really crammed alot into that space. Believe me, the work desk was  really cleaned up for you before the photo was taken! When I work, I like to have everything very close to me. When a project is finished, all my supplies completely cover the table and I actually end up working on a very tiny portion of it. LOL.
Till next time. Craft on!
take care, gerri


"Another portion of my blogcandy"




"My worktable...cleaned up just for you"




"Two of my 4"x4" collages blown up and framed on my studio wall."



Majestic Spirit

I love to read and did you know that May is National Book Month?  Right now,  I am reading  a historical fiction by Phillippa Gregory titled the "Red Queen". It's a novel of conspiracy, passion and cold hearted ambition set in England during the 1450's. (so says the the book jacket). This was the inspiration of my Bookmarks fit for a Queen. I made them rose pink, so I will show them at Pink Saturday at How Sweet The Sound. You will  see all things "Pink" there.

Well, I started with  chipboard Fleur de Lis and sprayed them with pink Glimmer Mist and rubbed a brown ink on one and  gold ink  on the other across them to bring out the embossed details. On white satin ribbon I sewed the sides  for detail and angled the ends. I was a big sewer, back in the day, making many of my clothes and even my mint green Prom gown. (Only sew pillows, curtains and  paper now.) On the white satin, I placed a mask from Tattered Angels and sprayed with pink or brown Glimmer mist. I put the ribbon in between the two chipboard pieces and used hot glue to keep them together. Punched a hole and finally added the tassel with a little chipboard  Fleur de Lis that said "Majestic Spirit and the other said "Exquisite". I included two pics because the Queen couldn't decide.
Hope your day is fit for a Queen.(or King)
Artfully yours, gerri

"Exquiste Majestic Spirit"

Sweet Spring

Spring is beautiful in our garden with lovely flowers and lots of different kinds of birds visiting us. I love birds and all things bird related, like nests, eggs and feathers. Our sunroom looks out over our garden and I enjoy sitting there on a sunny day and having the birds come right up to the window on all the plants and trees. I have include some photos of our sunroom to share with you today  so, you can see where I get my inspiration from.
Todays  Painting Party Friday is a watercolor painting of a nest with eggs, some flowers and an old tea tin. You will see this battered tea tin in future paintings. I adore the sea foam color and have painted it a number of times.
Hope you will be able to enjoy the  sweet songs of  birds this week.
Take care, gerri

"Sweet Spring"







"Our Bird Themed Sunroom"



Dancing in the Dark

The month of May at Gingersnap Creations is all about the Wild West. Here's my design piece for this week's GC101 Cowboys/Cowgirls. And you just know that I would choose cowgirls over cowboys! LOL. Come visit us and play.You will  also see all the other Design Team member's inspiring creations for this callenge. So... I looked around my stash and found a book of postcards of "Women of the West". I bought it in San Antonio, Texas  at a  weekend with my dear college roommates, awhile back. I just adored all the amazing women images and now I had the perfect use for them. You'll see them all month for my Design Team submissions.
To make this piece I started with the cowgirl image and painted  her then added Ranger dimensional Liquid Pearl bling details to work as embroidery. I worked on the cards, (Royal Flush-hearts, of course) and the gold platter with Liquid Pearls too. The Yosemite Lodge image is a travel sticker that needed watercolor to liven it up. Added lyrics from the Boss  (Bruce Springstein, who is from New Jersey)... "This guns for hire, even if we're just dancing in the dark".  Layered everything on some purple embossed paper, added the gold trims and she was ready for a fight......or a dance.
Hope you do some dancing in the dark this week.
Artfully yours,
gerri

"This guns for hire, even if we're just dancing in the dark."

"Pretty Details"

Celebration Tags

Today I'm going to share with you a series of  glittery tags to celebrate friendship. Two are to Thank some friends and  one is to wish a friend a Happy 40th Birthday. Decided to make these with the always classy black, white and silver color scheme. Which are always great celebration colors.
The tags have layered backgrounds of stamping, acrylic paint, silver inks and paper napkins! All have a flower rosette layered with glitter chip board and fleur d'isles. I added placques for the sentiments, more glitter, some fiber and black fringe  to complete these tags.
Hope you celebrate some wonderful this week.
Sincerely, gerri

Sharing some Love

Thought I'd share some wonderful art that I have received from my bloggerville friends over the past few weeks. They are all amazing artists, so please check out their blogs to see more. First I'd like to start with a delightful vintage inspired tag from the delightful Cindy at Whimsical Musings. Note the "G" that's for Gerri of course! She was kind enough to  feature  me in her online magazine too.

 I recently won some wonderful blog candy fom ArtistAmyJo at Art From The Heart.  When I make someone from it I will be sure to share some pics. She  was so kind to also include this delightful collage in her giveaway. Isn't  it so sweet. I adore her colored background.

 I belong to the Gingersnap Creations Yahoo Group  where we recently had a coaster swap. Here are the four marvelous coasters that I received. Each one is even more special then the next. The lovely lace circle with the cute clown is from Chriss. The square with the wonderful winged heart is from Kate. The  pretty oval "Love" with the beautiful image and  roses is from Krisha.  Finally, the incredible square "Struck by love" with the amazing details is by Debi.

Thank you to all the artists that sent me these wonderful creations. They made my day!

take care, gerri