Happy Valentine's Day, my friends!  Wanted to post a few Valentine cards I made before this special day ended...

  

This first one was inspired by one of Ashley Canon Newell's creations for Papertrey Ink.  Her card was posted as a favorite of hers and has always been a favorite of mine.  I loved the original layered banners and tags on Ashley's card and how they gave the feel of little trinkets.  I gave mine a heart theme...

...and used some of Crate Paper's '14' collection.  This next one was so simple because of a Sizzix embossing folder...

...I adorned the embossed panel with PTI's LL Heart dies.  Probably could have gone crazy with some pearls on it...just didn't think it needed it!  This last one was for hubby...

...simple, sweet and true!  And...last night felt a little like Christmas Eve...I was busy wrapping little Valentine treats until very late, and even decorated my small tree for Valentine's day after the kids went to bed.  Didn't invest a lot in it...it was a first, and I wasn't sure just how far things would go...

 ...but I was able to stretch what I had to make it work.  (Excuse the bare mantle!) The kids were pleased with it when they woke up, and while last night's photo doesn't really show it...it turned out so pretty!  I love it!  I'll make some minor changes to it to usher in spring and Easter, and then we'll finally put it away for the summer.   

So I guess that's it from me today!  I'll be back tomorrow with Festive Friday and Precious Remembrance posts!

Enjoy your day!

~Geri~ 

Hello, all! And welcome back!  I have a little peek of a card that is up at the Precious Remembrance blog for your Friday inspiration with the 'Thanks Set'...

I created this little banner with one of the sentiments from the set.  You'll need to pop over to the blog to see what's pulling it along!  Hope to see you there!

Don't forget to check out my Festive Friday post today, too!!!

And have a wonderful, weekend, why don't ya!!!
~Geri~

Festive Friday...FFC01...part 2...

Hello, everyone! There's some additional inspiration up at the Festive Friday blog for the first challenge there using these colors...

This CAS card from me may surprise you, but there's something about it I really like...

I told Meredith, the colors for this challenge were somehow calling,...'clean', 'simple',...'elegant'!!!  And that doesn't come so natural for me, but it's what you're gettin' from me this time around folks!

I would be just delighted for you to join us as we create a little Christmas all year long...and have some fun with each other while we do it.  Think of all the cards you'll have to share come December...and how great they're going to look because you weren't in a rush!!!  You've got one more week to get in on this first challenge, before we present Challenge 2!  So what are ya waitin' for!?!  Head on over to the blog, get inspired, and GET BUSY!!!

Hey everyone!  I'm super excited to share this project for the PTI MIM challenge.  (Hope it qualifies...don't wanna be kicked out of the gallery!;)  If you follow me you may remember the little owl treats I made from cupcake liners and tissue rolls in the Fall.  At the time I attempted one with a pillow box template, but I had to reduce the one I had,...cut it by hand,...and it ended up taking lots of time since I didn't have a die.  My proportions weren't quite right and the TP rolls were much easier, faster and cuter.  Well...I saw some adorable Valentine cupcake liners at the grocery store yesterday in my favorite colors and knew I had to give this another go.  I was already borrowing my dear friend, Susan's, pillow PTI pillow box die that I got her for Christmas.  (Knew I should have got myself one!!!)  This time it came together so quickly...even faster than the TP rolls...and I don't always say this, but I LOVE the way it turned out...

Now, I hope it's OK that I didn't actually stamp on the box itself.  But I did stamp the eyes...

...LOVE how those turned out using the Notched Flower die, Funky Florals, and Hello Sunshine (silver embossing).

This sentiment/heart was the only thing that took any time at all...because I used the computer for 'Owl' and stamped the rest, and had a little trouble lining things up for some reason.  The heart is from Framed Out #11, I think, but I had to cut it down a little...it was just slightly too big.  To speed up production for a larger quantity of Valentine treats, I would probably use a completely computer generated phrase, that I could cut into one or more banners to adhere.

You can see the Fall treats HERE, where I have a short tutorial using the TP rolls.  It all is very easily applied to the pillow box instead. (You'll use 2 liners, though, cut in half for 4 rows of feathers.) And, you'll see there are all kinds of options for this little feathered friend.  He's lots of fun to make!
I have one other project for this week's challenge HERE.
So glad you could stop in!
~Geri~

First Festive Friday post...HERE
Precious Remembrance post...HERE

OK...one last post for today...I PROMISE!  HAD to do this MIM challenge because I absolutely LOVED Ashley's pillow boxes with the release of the "With all my Heart" set (I think that's the name of it;), and because I tried something new with a pillow box just yesterday that I had so much fun with!  I made a clay embellishment with an image from one of my Precious Remembrance sets and LOVED how it turned out.  I used it to dress up a PTI pillow box so I thought, how easy to carry this out with a pretty PTI image for the MIM challenge (creating and dressing out pillow boxes or other small packages/bags/favors).  Here's the embellishment I made with clay using Tags for Spring and Heart Prints...

I think there was a MIM on the clay embellishments awhile back by Betsy, but you can see how I made mine with some photos and extra details HERE.

For the pillow box, I stamped some Rustic Cream cardstock with a simple polka dot background and cut one end off just below the score lines before assembling to create an open ended box or pocket. I found that it was the perfect size for a pack of Valentine M&M's to slide right in...

You can see I gathered and adhered some ribbon to the top edge, and tied a pretty bow around the box before tying on the embellishment...

And that's it!  I kept it simple, but liked that look with the large embellishment and all the color from the M&M's showing.

Gotta git!!!  I'm sure I've gone over my budgeted crafting time this week...and I KNOW there's laundry and other cleaning calling my name!!!;)

Thanks so much for visiting today!!!
~Geri~

Stamped Clay Embellishment for Precious Remembrance...

Hello, Friday crafters!!!  If you're looking for my Festive Friday post for the new Festive Friday Challenge Blog, just scroll on down!  BUT, if you're here for a little Friday inspiration with Precious Remembrance...you're in the right place!  Check out the fun little embellishment I made by stamping on clay using the 'Thanks Set'...

This was so fun!  Have you tried it yet???  If not, head on over to the Precious Remembrance Blog for a tutorial on how I made it, along with the little Valentine treat I tied it on.
Thanks for dropping in!!!
~Geri~

First EVER Festive Friday Challenge...

Welcome, my sweet friends!  Something exciting and new to share today!  I met a gal quite some time ago that has become one of my best blogging buddies...Meredith MacRitchie.  I love her style and so admire what she does with stamps and ink, and over time...well, we've just clicked, and I'm so thankful to call her  friend.  She has been creating and posting Christmas cards every Friday for quite some time now, and Fridays on her blog have become known as Festive Fridays.  I've really enjoyed those posts and often thought...just think of all those pretty Christmas cards she'll have all ready to go, come December!!!  Knowing that she was going to take a little break from it 'til about February, I had all but emailed her to say..."Meredith, how about me joining you on your Festive Friday posts, and we can send our visitors to one another's blogs???"...when SHE emailed ME and said, "Geri, I'm starting a Festive Friday Challenge blog...wanna help me out???"  Talk about great minds thinking alike!  So anyway...here we are...with the first challenge for the Festive Friday Challenge Blog.  This first challenge is a color challenge...

Now I couldn't help but go a little elegant with this challenge, so here's my take on it.  A shiny silver die cut (PTI) and a little heat embossing in silver...

...layered on top of some crisp, white dry embossing (Sizzix)...

I know...it's a little traditional looking...no big surprises...but I couldn't help but be happy with the overall look of it.  But, if this neat and tidy card is not your style, you can find lots more inspiration at the FF Blog, where designers Amber Kemp-Gerstel, Melissa Phillips, Sarah Martina Parker, Meredith MacRitchie, and this round's guest designer, Elena Roussakis have some lovely projects waiting to inspire you.  THEN...YOU have 2 weeks to link up YOUR Christmas creation in these pretty challenge colors.  We'll highlight some favorite creations as we go along, and offer additional inspiration at the 1/2 way point of each challenge to help keep everyone inspired and motivated.  I sure hope you'll join us and give it a try!  Come December, I'll think you'll be glad you did!!!
Thanks so much for joining me today!
Stay tuned for my Precious Remembrance post later today!  I've tried a new (to me) technique I'm excited to share!
~Geri~