Hello all!  Popping in with a quick post for PTI's monthly blog hop with this photo inspiration...

Pretty colors, huh?  And I love florals...AND...I haven't participated for so long...so here goes...

I actually re-purposed one of my favorite hand-made flowers...it was previously on a card that I liked but hadn't invested much time in (the flower took the longest), with a sentiment I knew I'd never use.  And the colors worked...

Then I created a little background piece with the smaller Beautiful Blooms and Turning a New Leaf images...sad to say I don't have any of PTI's newer floral images...

At the bottom I used the matching larger images, stamped the sentiment, and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Woodgrain impression plate.  I now wish I would have stamped the lower images kind of off-set and up the side of  the right-hand corner instead of all the way across.  Ran out of time to fix it though...had a big sleepover here last night!  But that's OK, I'm good with it!!  Hope I can find some time to hop around!

Thank you to whoever had the time to stop in here!!
Enjoy your visits!
~Geri~

I had the pleasure of getting away for a half-day just last week, to spend a little time with my long, (lost, it almost seemed for a bit) best friend.  

It had been more than a year since we had been able to get together, so it was a long overdue visit...and just so very nice (and so very short!).  So nice to be able to talk, after all that time, like it hadn't been that long at all!  So nice to have that kind of a friendship!  

While we were out and about, I got to briefly visit a Michaels and found some Basic Grey paper that I just immediately loved.  Thought I would use it to make a special card for my buddy...I've never sent her one of my handmade creations!  I thought this Craft's Meow sketch would work just fine as a starting point of a card for her that included some of my favorite things...(that sentiment up above for starters)...

...a pretty layered butterfly, the smallest being from TCM's Friend of Mine set...

...a pretty chipboard frame (Maya Road)...some Melissa Frances trim and pretty pins...

...all wrapped up in a white-washed summery look...

I hope she likes it...it's just  my style, just for her!
Now, as promised, I'll put this sketch to rest.  I may have flipped and stretched it a bit for this one anyway!  The pretty little butterfly and the lovely sentiment are both from The Craft's Meow Friend of Mine set...just a little mini set,...but it always adds the loveliest touch!
Thanks so much for stopping in!  So, so nice to be creating again!!
Have a great week!
~Geri~

Hello, everyone!  I have another card for The Craft's Meow July Sketch to share today...

Remember the little owl card...it was a little more frilly and feminine, and I wanted to challenge myself to something more clean and simple.  I've always wanted to do something with the little notebook page from the Owl Journaling set, so I pulled it out to see what I could do... 

I cut a circle out of my white cardstock with a Spellbinder and popped it up away from a piece of black on my  base with foam.  Then I stamped a border strip of the little pages in rainbow colors by masking, cut out that one long piece, and placed it across the front so that it would cross over open circle I had cut out.  I stamped and popped up one more page right in the center of the circle, and stamped my sentiment there (from Vintage Rides).   Added some buttons, and one more little VR sentiment on the little banner that came with that set, and it was done! 

The photo doesn't show the dimension real well...I think this one's cuter in real life, but...oh well (use your imagination for me!) Believe it, or not...I have one more I'm working on with this sketch.  Then I promise to put it away!  (It's just such an easy one to work with...and it just naturally worked for the look I wanted...lace trim...chipboard oval...pretty little bow...PRETTY friend of mine sentiment)  It's for my best bud...hope you'll pop in!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!
Thanks so much for stopping in!
~Geri~

(I guess I'M the stranger here!!) But, finally...some time to create!  I just survived our busiest time of summer and the older I get...the more victorious I feel in saying it!  We had lots of people in for the 4th...always busy preparing inside and out for that.  And when I wasn't knee-deep in those preparations, I was chest-high in Bible School preparations and decorating.  I was so tired by the time it started...at the end of the first day, I was already thinking...'is it Friday yet?'  And of all things, this year...I was the game girl!!  The game girl!?!  I think I'm too old for THAT, too!!  And what I know is that I'm too old to be pretending to be an ox, pulling preschoolers around in laundry basket carts to build their cardboard box palace!!  (and who had THAT bright idea?!?)  I DID survive though, and now feel like I have all the time in the world!!!  It was so nice to pull out my stamps and papers and make some time for creating!  At the top of the list was the Craft's Meow July Sketch Challenge...

I had already experimented with this little chipboard owl using the Owl Journaling set, and thought I could work him in to this sketch just fine.  He's hanging on to a couple of Owl Journaling banners with some snipped up sentiments from Vintage Rides...

The papers are some soft pretty ones from My Mind's Eye...

And I guess that's it.  I have another one in the works that's way more clean and simple...(and maybe a stretch of the sketch...I don't know...) stay tuned! I'll leave you with a picture of my little Jilli-bean dancing in the rain in her night-y.  First rain all summer...we had to celebrate!  It wasn't enough...but we didn't complain!!

Have a great day!! And thanks so much for stopping in!!
~Geri~

Hello, everyone!!  Hope this finds you enjoying summer, or something close to it!  Our summer vacation is already in the history books, but it was so memorable and so beautiful, I thought I would use it as inspiration for my card for The Craft's Meow June Sketch Challenge...

I used a little clay/coral mix of color from this, my favorite pathway to our room from the pool/restaurant area...

...and from flowers in a similar shade...ALL OVER the grounds...

...this one was like a flower in a flower...

...and, of course, the beautiful aqua color of the water...

...I put it all together in a fun, easy-going theme...

I brought home a sweet hand-woven basket/bag, so I had to weave a little paper to add as an accent.  The flower, leaves, and bee are from TCM's Happiness Is..., and the aqua background is from the new set I won from TCM, Retro Foundations.  (The tag die, sentiment, card stock, ribbon and buttons came from Papertrey.)  So glad you could pop in, and thanks for letting me share a little of our trip with you.  I hope to get one more Jamaica inspired card done soon, and pay tribute the wonderful people we met there!  They were the best part of the trip, so I hope you'll stay tuned!!  Thanks TCM for the fun challenge!!

~Geri~

Hello, all!  Back from vacation and doing my best to catch up!  Just posting some treats I made for some special staff members at my kids' school for their last day (before vacation!...when I really should have been packing!!)  I used papers from my new Crafty Secrets CD.  It was fun mixing and matching these pretty papers...

Yes...these are the little TP roll pockets...doesn't get much easier...

They're just full of chocolates (with the little daisy tucked in, of course)...(the black papers on these two aren't from the CD)...

Each one a little different...

It would have been nice to top each one off with some tissue paper fringe trim, but I didn't have any made up, and didn't have time to create any :(...

Oh, well...they were sweet without it, too...

If you have any Crafty Secrets goodies...there's still time to create something and link up for a chance to win a SWEET gift certificate!  Thanks so much, Crafty Secrets, for the opportunity...and to everyone else for your visit!! I have a couple "Jamaica Inspired" cards running through my head...I'd like to say I'll get those done and share some pic's next week...but this summer schedule...I don't know...;)

~Geri~

Hey, everyone!  Popping in with a quick post!  We head out for vacation bright and early in the AM and I wanted to quickly post this card before I crawl in bed for a few hours.  My friend, Char, inspired me to create a card for the current Moxie Fab Challenge to incorporate gingham.  I love gingham on my projects and needed a get well card for a neighbor so I thought I would play along.  This is my first time participating, and my first time inking up this little guy...

...isn't he a cutie?  He was stamped on a piece of gingham from Bety's shop...lots of pretty color swatches on one sheet...I love em!  Melissa Phillips created the sweetest card with these little PTI birdies using clouds and the "under the weather" sentiment for the April release (I think)...I thought then it was the cutest idea and that I would have to try a version of it for myself...I didn't even go back and look at hers...didn't want to tempt myself to try to recreate anything she had done...

This goes out to my neighbor who has broken her leg for the 3rd time!!!  This time she hadn't even gotten rid of her walker from the last break!  I know she needs a lift and I think she'll like this.

OK...gotta git!  We're off to Jamaica tomorrow!!  My kids don't need a cranky mommy getting on and off of airplanes, now do they?!  My brother will be holding down the fort for us, but I've not given him blogging instructions, so you won't hear from me for a bit.  I know I'm behind on a little visiting...promise to catch up when we get back!!  Thanks so much for visiting!!
~Geri~