...these are a few of my favorite things!

I had pulled a few of those things together this last weekend to start working on these...

...not for any particular challenge...just wanted to pull together some things I find especially pretty. I just recently bought some chipboard from Maya Road. I have been admiring it for quite some time on everyone else's projects and finally got some of my own as part of my Mother's Day from our oldest son. It's definitly a new favorite and I was anxious to get creating with it. Check out this tiny little crown...fancied up with a little button, bling and glitter...

...and this sweet little Crafty Secrets bird...I have had him cut out and smudged up, sittin' on top of a pile of stuff, for months now...wanting a pretty piece of chipboard to put him in. Couldn't wait to pair him up with one of my pretty new crowns...

I fell in love with the pretty vintage journaling notes a LONG time ago and pulled together some pretty, fresh colors and patterns to layer with them...

...and there you have birdie card #1!

For birdie card #2...more buttons...more bows and some bits of some beautiful trim...

I just love these K & Co. birds and blossoms...

This pretty little creature is sitting on top of another journaling note and more of my favorite (soft) colors...

I like the way he turned out!

My second card wasn't quite done when I discovered The Shabby Tea Room's challenge theme for this week: "My Favorite Things". The best thing about this challenge is...it's all up to you...your favorite images and embellishments...your favorite style!! I thought these little creations, with all MY favorite things, fit perfectly with it!

Hope you enjoyed them half as much as I enjoyed creating them!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Geri

The kids and I had a wonderful afternoon making cards at a local nursing home today, and some of the residents had a great time, too!! Like this young lady (and her even younger niece, I think it was, who was and employee and joined in to help)...



We couldn't take many pictures of residents to be shared outside the nursing home, but this great gal was up for it!! She really seemed to enjoy making the card, and was pleased with her results. She did a lovely job, didn't she?! And she had all the empty space inside filled up with a note. For residents like her, I think it turned out to be a very worthwhile experience, and I'm so, SO glad we had the opportunity to go and share. It was certainly a day-brightener for me to be able to share this craft I love with others who really seemed to appreciated it. And I really believe the recipients of the cards will appreciate them...they turned out so very pretty...and each one was a little different!!

Had to share my excitement, so thanks for visiting!! Can't wait 'til next month!!

Geri

Hello, dear blogging friends! No big challenges I'm entering today...just a simple 'hello' to share, along with a few things I have been working on in a few spare minutes here and there. This first one is the card I'll be making with some ladies at a local nursing home this Thursday. Very clean and VERY simple...

...kind of pretty, I hope! I've added several different colors to some creme K&Co flowers, so the ladies will do the simple stamping, and choose what color of flower they would like to add. A letter writing activity was already planned for them on Thursday, so we'll make this card, and they will add their note/letter to the card, instead of just writing a letter. I was hoping I could go once a week to make a card with them, but after talking with the Activities Director, it sounds like the residents are easily overwhelmed with planned activities like these. I'll have to admit, I was very surprised at that, and somewhat disappointed. But we will enjoy this activity...my kids are excited, and a little neighbor friend has already asked if she can go, too...and we'll see what the future brings. There is another nursing home in town I haven't talked to yet.

I have a few peeks at another project I'm working on that I will post when it is completed (which will have to be soon, because it's already late!!)...



It's a girl thing, as you can see...




I just love pink and yellow together...




And lastly, a card I did quite some time ago but hadn't posted yet...



Nothing super special...just messing around with lace and Papertrey dies. Wasn't happy with this flower, though...too neat and tidy. I'll be folding the layers of the next one for a little shabbier look. Soft colors...


I know...I really need to take a break with the doilies, huh! Oh, well...can't make any promises!!!

Hope you are enjoying your day!
Thanks so much for visiting!

Geri

Oh my...it is so good to be sharing a creation with you today! It has been too, too long! Busy, busy month! And if you are reading this on Monday, I am probably on my way home with my family from a busy 8 days in Disney (Florida). I am so honored, though, to be Guest Designing with the lovely ladies from The Shabby Tea Room this week. It is "Technique Week" there, with the featured technique being embossing. I have done some heat embossing with white powder on my project. I love the way soft water-y colors look with it.

So many people have been dealing with such nasty weather...I had to create something sunny...



I have used two of my all time favorite papers (they're both about gone!) from My Mind's Eye and Papertrey. I also used some Papertrey stamps (butterfly and sentiment) and the stamps and dies I won from The Shabby Tea Room with Just Rite as the sponsor...

After I embossed the frame, I used some TH Distress Inks to give it some soft color. I really love those inks with all colors of embossing powders...they just pair up so nicely!! And the foam applicator gives the best results, by far!! Anyway...here is the finished project...


Hope it gives you a sunny, warm feelin'!!

Be sure to visit the girls in the Tea Room...they always have some lovely designs there for you!! I must thank them again for the opportunity to design with them! It's always a pleasure!

I would like to quickly say...My main computer has not been the same when dealing with Blogger since the couple days of maintenance awhile back. Up until recently, I could view my blog and visit others, but could not sign in to leave comments. Recently I have found that, while I can get to the sign in page, and I can type a comment, I get repeatedly taken back to the sign-in page and cannot get the comment to go through. In other words, I have visited and seen a lot of my favorite blogs but have not been able to comment. I'm hoping when I get home, it will finally be straightened out. I also hope to have a little more time overall to visit and create now that vacation is almost over. However, summer-time is 'critter-time' for me...and neighbor time, sleepover time, pool time, VBS time, Daddy being gone time... I'm also hoping for a chance to take the kids with me to create cards in a local nursing home on a weekly basis for those residents who are able. So it's just hard to say how all of it, and blogging, will work out! I'm really looking forward to fun times and memories with my kids, and am hoping for a way to balance it all!! I hope you'll stay tuned, and be patient with me!!

Thanks so much for visiting today!!

Geri

Super quick post today. I had another idea for a card for the Polka Dot Door Blog Hop Challenge that I didn't have time for 'til now...

This was the inspiration...(LOVED it!)

Still hooked on those pinwheels in pots...

Used some My Mind's Eye and Papertrey Paper, along with some Fiskars stamps to come up with this...

Hope you like it, and hope you'll consider linking your own project up to The Polka Dot Door!!

If you didn't see my previous post and have any interest in more pinwheels, potted plants, crocheted flowers, or teacher gifts...click HERE!

Thanks so much for stopping!

I'm racing off again!!

Geri

I almost hated to press the 'publish' button on this post...Please forgive all the extra empty spaces throughout it--I cannot seem to correct it!! :(

So very glad to see you today!! On behalf of Rebecca and Sarah of Polkadot Door Designs...WELCOME to the very first Polka Dot Door Blog Hop. Excuse me while I wish them a Happy 1st Birthday!! To celebrate, they've planned a very inspiring Hop for us all to join in on and they plan on making this a monthly tradition!! I know they've worked so hard and are excited to see this day finally here! I'm so very honored they asked me to do what I can to help make it special! Thanks so much, Rebecca and Sarah!!

Take a look at the fun inspiration challenge for this very first hop...

Notice the 3 elements?... (1)the "smile" sentiment, (2) the crocheted flowers, and (3) the photo itself. I thought the multi-element idea was a fun one! The rest of the Guest Design Team and I were challenged to come up with our own projects with those 3 elements in mind. While I didn't initially plan on it, I've also used Teacher Appreciation Week as a source of inspiration, as I was in need of some small tokens of appreciation for several teachers and assistants. I thought the pinwheels would be a sweet reminder that summer break is just around the corner for some weary teachers!
I first HAD to try my hand at those cheery pinwheels-n-pots. I used some of my favorite, cheery papers from My Mind's Eye and used the crocheted flowers and buttons for the centers...

I made 3 little pots...

I used a Papertrey sentiment to stamp "smile" on the ends of some wide ribbon...

These truly did bring smiles to faces today...The teachers seemed delighted!!

I wanted to try one that would be more of a keepsake, in a little more "classic teacher" style, so I came up with this...

I had some double sided Cosmo Cricket paper that had "teacher" written all over it...almost literally!...

I really liked the big crocheted flower I was able to use on this one...put a vintage style button in the center. The head of the pinwheel is kind of simple, but I was able to dress things up around the base...

After filling the pot with styrofoam, I cut a solid red circle and then placed a doily on top. Perfect fit!! I wrapped the dowel with seam binding and then made a pretty bow with it, too. Dressed it out further with wider ribbon, buttons, another flower, a trinket pin and some paper leaves cut with a Spellbinder die. I wanted the back to be pretty, too, in case it wound up on a desk, so I dressed out the back with a Papertrey Doily die cut and another crocheted flower and button.

There's a handmade chiffon flower and button at the base.

And finally, the card. I worked the Book Fair everyday this week at our elementary school and saw the CUTEST little die cuts on a poster. Thank goodness I have connections since I previously taught there, and I was able to take my paper in to get my own little cuties! This little guy was hooked together with four other cute boys and girls and was intended to be a border die cut. He was on the end, though, so I just snipped him away from the cute little girl he was holding hands with (so much for THAT romance! They were too young anyway!) to make him the focal point of this card. Look how excited he is to be taking his teacher a treat...

I had ONE crocheted flower left and used it to embellish the card (THANK YOU, Kathryn, for the flowers!!)...

You can see that I stamped the little Papertrey 'smile' sentiment along the ribbon I used.

The tiny pinwheel head looks a little distorted in this photo...it was made with a 1" square. I think that's about as tiny as I would want to work with!!

Believe it or not...I think that's everything from me. Hope I didn't keep you too long, because you have more stops to make! Be sure to comment here on my post, and then visit the rest of the designers below (and comment!) for a chance to win 2 different prizes. There is also a chance to share your own take on this inspiration challenge by linking your project at the Polkadot Door. Winners will be chosen from those who've participated in the challenge, and additional prizes will be awarded, along with the chance to be a guest designer for the June Blog Hop. You can find each and every detail at The Polkadot Door! I hope you'll all join in to make this first hop a lot of fun and a huge success for Rebecca and Sarah.

Kim

Natasha

Amanda

Valerie

Jean

Diana

Nicole

Yvonne

Amy

Dana

Jennifer

Polkadot Door Designs
Thanks so much for stopping!! Have fun!!

Geri

Somebody really needs to bring these babies inside...


...they're awfully tired of this chilly, endless rain, you know. And so am I! I guess that's why I was drawn to this sweet image from Made by Janet. I have a whole page of sweet little birdies and this one with the tiny umbrella is one of my favorites.

I framed it in with a couple clipboard pieces, some K&Co papers and a Making Memories journaling note for this card. I used another image from Janet for a birthday card...

...used another journaling note and paper from Papertrey, along with one of their Tiny Tags and a Martha Stewart tag for this one...

Finally a little project for our local "Crop for the Cure"--a fun day of scrapping and visiting--and I'm sure there was a little food involved...all for a good cause. These pin cushions were used for door prizes, and thanks to my procrastination...were made quickly with things I had on hand from my Blog-aversary cushions. I actually had this project, and the pink 'breast cancer awareness' ribbons in mind when I chose this fabric.

I really like how the embellishments nestled right into the pink ribbons. Hope they found some happy new owners.

Finally--a picture of my little Jillian. She had a field trip today that I got to join in on. It was a great hands-on experience for her and her Kindergarten friends--many of whom will never travel to the beach to experience these critters in their natural environment.

We had a great time! It's been, and will continue to be, a busy time for me with all the end-of-the-school-year activities with my kids. We'll take them out of school a few days early (due to snow make-up days) at the end of the month to go on our trip to Disney. Then we'll come back to our usual summer busy-ness...swimmin' and playin' in the backyard, and meeting Daddy now and then while he's teaching week-long classes here and there around the state. In other words...my time for creating will be limited, as it has been the last couple weeks. Along with that--my time to visit you all will be limited also. I am behind in that area, I know, and I apologize...I sure do miss keeping up with everyone, and always appreciate that you check in on me.

I do have a date with a blog hop this weekend that I am excited about. There is a great photo for inspiration--hope you'll join in for fun, prizes and a chance to provide some of the inspiration for the next hop as a designer!

Until then (Saturday)...I'll pray for sunshine for you all!! And if you have any extra...please send it my way!!

Thanks so much for stopping!

Geri