Final Valentine Projects

I'm finally finished! Made some treat baskets and a card for Courtney and Steffan and that's it for 2016 Valentines!

The Valentine treat baskets were very easy to assemble. I used the Berry Basket Bigz L Die with various colors of card stock and then embellished each basket by cutting four , 2 1/2" squares of patterned paper, folding each over a side of the basket. They were easily adhered with glue dots.

I made shredded paper for each basket by using my Fringe Scissors to cut strips of card stock and then crinkled the resulting pieces–so easy to make coordinated baskets this way!

Each basket had a few heart embellishments and a ribbon-tied Gusseted Cellophane Bag filled with Hershey's Kisses.

For Steffan's basket, I used Basic Black card stock with a striped patterned paper from the Neutrals Backgrounds DSP Stack. Shredded paper was white. Hearts were cut from both red and black Glimmer paper using the Hearts Collection Framelits Dies.

Courtney's basket was Garden Green and decorated with paper from the Love Blossoms DSP Stack. Rose Red shredded paper and Glimmer paper hearts–Blushing Bride and Dazzling Diamonds sponged with Rose Red– as well as Blushing Bride Sequin Trim and a Watermelon Wonder flower from the In Color Blossom Accents.

Finally, Raine's basket was made with Melon Mambo card stock and patterned paper from the Have A Cuppa DSP Stack. Bermuda Bay shredded paper was used to match the patterned paper and the hearts were all cut from Dazzling Diamonds paper and sponged with Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay inks. A Melon Mambo 3/8" Stitched Ribbon tied in a double bow was the final embellishment.

The card that I made for Courtney and Steffan was a direct case from the card by Dawn Griffith and uses the Beautiful Ride Stamp Set. Her card was so perfect, I didn't want to change a thing! It was a fun technique to use and I can see myself using this for other cards in the future. I'll let you view Dawn's excellent video tutorial rather than repeat the directions for the card here.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my Valentine's Day projects. Hope you enjoy your February 14!

Distress Ink Valentine

Today I set out to create a Valentine card for my husband. I had planned to case a card by Amy Rysavy. It was simply gorgeous and I thought I could recreate the watercolor look by using the Stampin Up reinkers.

I set out with the colors I had chosen–Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, and Island Indigo–but the colors just didn't blend the right way. I tried again by watercoloring by putting distress inks on my craft mat and adding water but the colors weren't nearly as intense and I didn't have any reinkers for my distress inks.

So, that left sponging the background. I could have sponged with the Stampin Up inks but the distress inks blend so well so I went with them.

I cut a matte from watercolor paper and started sponging. In the end, I used 10 different distress inks to create my panel! I used Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon, Pine Needles, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Evergreen Bough, Lucky Clover and Black Soot. And how do I remember what I used? I snapped a photo of course! It's a great way to record what you are using as you use it. I also used a sponge dauber to apply a fine line of Basic Black Archival Ink to the edges of the matte.

Inks used to distress the matte for the card front

After creating my background, I die cut the Queen of Hearts die from Memory Box using Silver Glimmer Paper. Because the design is so delicate and intricate, I used a metal shim with my Magnetic Platform as well as placing a dryer sheet beneath the glimmer paper.

What a beautiful die cut! It looked stunning placed on the distress ink background. It was then that I decided to add some Silver Cording Trim, wrapped around the bottom of the matte. I adhered the matte to a very thin Whisper White matte, using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

For the sentiment, I simply used the XOXO stamp from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set. I stamped in Versamark on Basic Black card stock and embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder. I used the Bitty Banners Framelits to die cut the sentiment and then cut off the one end. Using the Confetti Hearts Border Punch, I punched a few tiny hearts from the Silver Glimmer Paper and glued them on the banner. I used Fast Fuse Adhesive to adhere the sentiment under the Silver Cording Trim.

I then attached the distressed matte and Whisper White matte to an Island Indigo card base using foam tape. I like to use foam tape when I watercolor because I think it holds the paper better, with less warping.

To attach the die cut, I decided to use spray adhesive. I placed the die cut face down in a box I use as my spray booth and coated it with the spray. Definitely easier than using the Fine Tip Glue Pen! However, it didn't adhere in all places so I ended up adding some Multi Medium Matte to finish the job. I adhered a sprinkling of sequins to complete the front of the card.

I cut a Whisper White matte for the inside of the card and stamped the large intricate heart from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set. using Basic Black Archival Ink. I zapped it with my heat gun to be sure it was dry before beginning to sponge once again.

I only used a few inks this time–Blueprint Sketch, Pine Needles, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire. It wasn't the best blending job ever but it still looked nice! I adhered the matte with Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete the card.

Completed inner matte with distress inks that were used

I think my husband will like the card. What do you think? Leave me a comment below–I'd love to hear from you!

Punch Art Valentine

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I sat down today to work on my personal Valentines. Of course, the first one I wanted to create was for my granddaughter, Raine.

I knew that I wanted to make a shaker card and I also knew that Minnie Mouse would be involved but I wasn't yet sure of the design.

In the last couple of days I had scoured Pinterest in search of Minnie Mouse punch art. I pinned a few but the best I found was at Sharon's Scrappy Space.

I grabbed a bunch of punches as well as Basic Black, Whisper White and Blushing Bride card stock and got ready to create. I started by punching shapes from scrap paper. Once I had settled on my design, I started punching the real stuff.

Here's the list of the punches I used to create Minnie Mouse:

1. Head–2" Circle Punch
2. Ears–1" Circle Punch
3. Face–Large Oval Punch
4. Cheeks and Snout–Small Oval Punch
5. Whites of the Eyes–Large Oval Punch trimmed two times with the 1 1/4" Square Punch
6. Eyes and Nose–1/2" Circle Punch
7. Hands–Mitten Builder Punch trimmed with the 1 1/4" Scalloped Circle Punch
8. Eyelashes–Word Window Punch trimmed with the 1" Circle Punch and scissors
9. Arms–1/2" Basic Black strips

All parts of Minnie were adhered using Multipurpose Liquid Glue. Basic Black 1/2" strips were used for arms and The Dress Up Framelits Dies were used to cut a dress, which was later trimmed, from the Brights Backgrounds DSP Stack. A glue dot was used to adhere a Melon Mambo 1/4" Cotton Ribbon bow.

After assembling Minnie, it was evident that a 5 x 7" card was needed. I chose Basic Black for the card base. I cut a matte from Whisper White and used a strip of heart paper from the Have A Cuppa DSP Stack on the bottom of it. I chose to use Bermuda Bay card stock on the upper portion of the matte to match the designer paper.

I used the Happy Heart Embossing Folder to emboss the Bermuda Bay card stock and then sponged on some Bermuda Bay ink to bring out the texture of the raised image. I adhered both it and the designer paper to the matte using Fast Fuse.

Using Minnie and a heart die from the Hearts Collection Framelits to determine placement, I die cut a heart from the matte. In addition, I used two heart dies together to die cut a heart frame from Melon Mambo card stock. I embossed it using the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder.

I used my Fuse Tool and a square die from the Squares Collection Framelits to create shaker pocket. I inserted a piece of Melon Mambo card stock and an assortment of sequins. I used tape to adhere the pocket to the back of the die cut matte.

A length of Melon Mambo 3/8" Stitched Ribbon  was cut and it was laid across the seam made by the two papers. The ends were taped at the back of the matte and then scissors were used to cut the ribbon in half in front of the heart shaker. The excess ribbon was cut off and Tear & Tape was used to adhere the remaining ribbon pieces to the card front.

I adhered Minnie to the die cut heart frame and then used both liquid glue and Dimensionals to adhere them to the matte. The matte was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals.

The sentiment from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set was stamped with Basic Black Archival ink on Bermuda Bay. It was die cut with the banner die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. The sentiment banner was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals to complete the card.

I'm pleased with how it turned out though I regret not sponging the heart frame. Oh well, I don't think Raine will notice!

Close up showing the sparkly sequin shaker mix

I hope you enjoyed reading about my process for this card. I'm off to create more Valentines!

Teal Toned Atypical Valentine

In my blog post Rustic Wooden Valentine I shared a technique I had learned for creating your own Woodgrain. I had so much fun making the first woodgrain that I made a few in other colors! Today I made use of these ones:

Panels created using the Woodgrain Technique and Weathered Wood, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot Distress Inks.

Be sure to check Rustic Wooden Valentine if you didn't already read about the Woodgrain Technique. These colors are my favorites so I couldn't go too long without using them! I had another idea for a Valentine card that used both the larger panel for a background and the smaller panel for die cutting.

I started with a Bermuda Bay card base and adhered the background panel to it with Dimensionals. Using the Hearts Collection Framelits, I die cut three hearts from the smaller panel. I used a sponge dauber to add Black Soot Distress Ink around the die cuts.

I cut a piece of vellum to lay over the Woodgrain panel but still show the ends. I used a sentiment from the now retired Happy Watercolor Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and then heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I laid out my hearts on top to establish their positions and then cut some thick Bermuda Bay Twine to fasten between them. I used glue dots to attach the twine to the hearts. I applied Dimensionals to the back of each heart and then adhered them to the vellum. I then adhered the vellum to the Woodgrain panel by applying glue dots to the vellum under the hearts so that the adhesive would not show.

I adhered a selection of sequins to the vellum using glue to provide interest and a little sparkle. Gotta have sparkle!

For inside the card I used a matte of Thick Whisper White (because I had a piece the right size handy, otherwise I would have used the regular Whisper White) and used the heart from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set to stamp with Versamark and heat emboss again with silver. I also stamped the little hearts from the Perpetual Calendar Stamp Set in Bermuda Bay. I inked the edges of the matte with more Bermuda Bay and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete the card.

Sorry about the color here . . . it looks like Island Indigo but it really is Bermuda Bay like above!

I think that the teal tones of the Distress Inks work really well with Bermuda Bay to provide an atypical Valentine!

I am entering this in the Stamp Ink Paper Challenge #32 and I played the diagonal from the bottom left to the top right.

Valentine For Global Design Project

I am off work until Saturday so I am looking forward to some creative time in my craft room!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, hearts seem to be front and centre on cards!

My card today is a 5 x 7" card designed for the Global Design Project #20.

The assignment this week is to CASE the Designer. While CASE generally means Copy And Share Everything, for the Global Design Project it translates as Copy And Selectively Edit. This enables the participants to be inspired by various things–colors, pattern or even the theme of the card–and truly make a design of their own.

I actually have a couple of ideas in mind for this challenge which I hope to work on this week but today's card has me focusing on the large heart, little hearts, and the twine from Connie's card design.

I cut a 5 x 7" card base from Crumb Cake card stock as well as a matte of 4.25 x 6.25". I cut 4.5 x 6.5" and 3.75 x 4" mattes from Very Vanilla. I also cut a small piece of Blushing Bride to go behind the smaller Very Vanilla matte.

Using a heart from the Hearts Collection Framelits Dies I die cut the smaller Very Vanilla matte. I then die cut five of the smallest heart die and punched several hearts using a punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack. In addition, I used the Confetti Hearts Border Punch to punch some tiny hearts from Blushing Bride card stock.

I used one of my Tsukineko Fastastix Brushes to ink the edges of all the small hearts and used a Stampin' Sponge to ink the edges of both Very Vanilla mattes with Blushing Bride ink. Glue dots were used to adhere the Very Vanilla hearts around the cut out heart on the matte and then I used my Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere the tiniest Blushing Bride hearts. I added some Wink of Stella to each Blushing Bride heart for a hint of glimmer.

Dimensionals were used to adhere the heart-encrusted matte to the Blushing Bride matte. The smaller Crumb Cake matte was adhered to the larger Very Vanilla matte using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Linen thread was wrapped around the two mattes and secured with tape. Two Blushing Bride card stock hearts were punched and another die cut. They had their edges inked and a coat of Wink of Stella was applied to each. Once dry, the hearts were adhered on top of the linen thread using Dimensionals and glue dots. The mattes were then adhered tot he card front using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Using my MISTI, the sentiment was stamped with Crumb Cake and Versamark on Very Vanilla and heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. The sentiment was die cut using the banner die from the Large Numbers Framelits Dies. The sentiment was adhered to the bottom of the card front using Dimensionals.

A matte of Very Vanilla was cut for inside the card. A border stamp and Crumb Cake ink was used at the bottom and was heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. The edges were inked with Blushing Bride and then the matte was adhered with Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I love the color scheme of this card but I'm not sure if I really like the card. I am somewhat troubled by the large Blushing Bride area inside the heart cut out but not sure what else to do with it.

Sometimes it is difficult to decide when a card is "finished!" Does this ever happen to you? Do you think this card is finished or do you have a suggestion for how I could improve it? Leave me a comment below!

Sunburst Valentine

Can you believe that it is already the middle of January? I'm still putting away Christmas decorations but I don't feel too bad because we were a little late in getting them up this year!

Besides un-decorating, I've been enjoying a little down time and catching up with some Netflix tv series. I'm watching Prison Break and it is quite exciting!

Today, after delivering my latest workshop orders, I had the chance to play. As sometimes is the case, I started making one card but it morphed into another! The card today was to be a Valentine card but the background that I created didn't work with my concept so I will save it for another card.

Today's card is 5 x 7" and uses a Melon Mambo card base. I started by creating my heart embellishment. I chose one of the Heart Framelits Collection dies and laid it over top of my Sunburst die to see if my idea would work. It did!

I used the Sunburst die to cut out a section of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper that would fit the heart die. I glued the die cut to some Melon Mambo card stock and then used the heart die to cut out the heart. I then used two heart dies, with Melon Mambo card stock, to cut out a frame for the die cut.

The frame was embossed with the retired Swiss Dots embossing folder and then I used a sponge dauber with Blackberry Bliss to ink the inside of the frame.

I used the smallest Hearts die to cut two hearts from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and then punched four hearts from Melon Mambo card stock using the heart from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.
I sandwiched a piece of Silver Metallic Thread between the two glimmer hearts as well as the card stock ones and adhered them together with Fast Fuse Adhesive. I used a sponge dauber with Blackberry Bliss to ink the edges of each complete heart.

The three heart strings were sandwiched between the heart and its frame, and the frame was adhered using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I cut five, one inch strips of a paper from the Have A Cuppa DSP pack and adhered them to the front of the card base using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

Using the heart from the Occasions Paper Piercing Pack along with my Stampin' Pierce Mat and Paper Piercing Tool, I pierced holes around the framed heart. I then used my 1/8" Circle Punch to punch larger holes. I sewed around the heart using the 1/8" Bermuda Bay Stitched Ribbon, finishing with a bow at the top.

The sentiment from the Bloomin' Love Stamp Set was stamped with Melon Mambo on Whisper White and then die cut using the arrow die from the retired On Film Framelits Dies. A sponge dauber and Bermuda Bay was used to ink the edges.

The completed heart embellishment was adhered to the card front using Dimensionals, leaving the hearts to dangle as they may. The arrow was adhered using triple Dimensionals on one side and a single Dimensional on the heart side.

I'm entering this card in The Paper Players Challenge:

and in the Global Design Project:

Now that it is complete, I'm quite liking this card even though it is not the card I set out to create! Have you started working on Valentine's Day cards yet? Drop me a link below and let me know!

Painted Blooms Valentine

It was a strangely quiet day at Walmart today, as our Credit/Debit machines went down about 1:30! They still weren't working properly when we closed at 6:00. Apparently this was a Canada-wide problem and some other stores in the area were also having intermittent problems. Pretty hard for a lot of people when most people don't carry cash anymore!

A quick little card for you tonight!

I cut a square card base from Wild Wasabi and used Fuse Fast to adhere a matte of one of the papers from the Painted Blooms Designer Paper—a lovely pack of paper!

I adhered a strip of the White Jute Ribbon and topped it with a strip of Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon. I trimmed the ribbon at each card edge.

I cut a smaller square matte from Pacific Point card stock and embossed it using the Happy Hearts embossing folder. The edges were inked with Mossy Meadow. I adhered it to the card front using Dimensionals.

Using Pacific Point, I stamped the sentiment from Crazy About You on Whisper White and then die cut it using a shape from the Word Bubbles Framelits. I inked the edges in both Wild Wasabi and Mossy Meadow and adhere it to the top right of the matte using Dimensionals.

I utilized the Hearts Collection Framelits to cut one heart from the Painted Blooms paper and three from Pacific Point. I glued these together with the designer paper on top.

I used Versamark, Heat & Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds to create a glittery heart. I wound Wild Wasabi Twine around one side of the heart and tied a bow. Dimensionals were used to adhere the heart to the card front.

I die cut the word, "you" from Pacific Point card stock two times, using the Hello You Thinlits. I glued these together and then heat embossed the word with clear embossing powder a few times to get it really glossy.

Finally, I adhered the word to the heart using Glossy Accents.

I'm pretty happy with the way the card turned out even if it is a blue Valentine!

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Hugs, Kisses and Valentine Wishes

The month of February is upon us and Valentine's Day is right around the corner! Traditionally, a crafters's mind turns to thoughts of hearts and arrows and ribbons and lace.

My card today is a traditional Valentine card, complete with hearts. The concept for it came to me while I was at work today.

I decided on a square format for the card because the hearts seemed to be better balanced on that rather than on a standard card size. Because I love the drama of pairing silver with a darker background, I chose to work with a matte of Melon Mambo. I embossed it using the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder.

I cut two heart rings–by using two of the Hearts Collection Framelits together–one from Silver Glimmer and one from Silver Foil, and intertwined them by cutting through one of the hearts and tucking the pieces underneath the other. Each heart was adhered using Dimensionals.

I added a Silver Satin ribbon a the bottom of the matte and punched two tickets using the Ticket Duo Builder Punch. On the Silver Foil ticket, I stamped with Versamark the sentiment from January's Paper Pumpkin kit and embossed it with Black Embossing Powder.

I chose a button from the Very Vintage Designer Buttons and colored it using my Melon Mambo Blendabilities. I threaded Silver 1/8" Ribbon through the button and tied a bow. I angled the two tickets on the satin ribbon and placed the button on top. The tickets and button were adhered using glue dots.

The matte was attached, using Dimensionals, to a Smoky Slate card base.

Inside the card I adhered the hearts from the middles of the heart rings and then stamped around them using the heart stamp from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set. I stamped and stamped again and again without re-inking to add dimension. I just love the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set–so many little stamps that can add the perfect finishing touch to a card!

A fairly simple card to complete, but I like its simplicity. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
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Fusion Card Challenge

It was a busy night last night for my stamping group! It was very quiet in the craft room while they concentrated on stamping each item needed to make first a Perpetual Calendar and then a simple Valentine Tag.

The Perpetual Calendar was cased from Debbie Mageed and she gave very good directions for its construction.

The Valentine tag was a simple one of my own design, utilizing the Irresistibly Yours resist paper from the Sale-a-Bration catalog. This paper comes in six patterns and can be obtained for free until March 31 with a $60 purchase. This paper is one of my favorites! It is a fabulous product and can be colored so many different ways–sponging, brayering, misting or coloring with Blendabilities. You can even stamp on it! What's great is that you can use this to coordinate with whatever you are making because you color it yourself!

Tonight, I made a card for the Fusion Card Challenge. I knew right away that I would substitute a heart for the circle and I was drawn to the card because of the little banners–so cute! I also decided that my card would use non-traditional colors.

I chose to use a 5 x 7 card base of Sahara Sand and then add a matte of one of the patterns in the gorgeous, Best Year Ever designer paper from the Occasions Catalog. I inked the edges of the matte in both Crumb Cake and Early Espresso.

I used Sticky Strip to adhere two pieces of the now retired Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon and then adhered a strip of Coastal Cabana Ribbon from the Best Year Ever Accessories Pack–another Sale-a-Bration freebie you can earn with a purchase of $60. I then topped the Coastal Cabana ribbon with a strand of thick, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine.

I then adhered the matte to the card base using Fuse Fast Adhesive.

Using one of the Hearts Framelits, I die cut a heart from Coastal Cabana and then embossed it using the Happy Heart Embossing Folder. I inked the edges like the matte but also put a little Crumb Cake on the raised heart embossing to give it a slightly distressed look.

I unravelled a piece of thick Summer Starfruit Twine and used a few strands to add texture and interest behind the embossed heart which I adhered using Dimensionals.

I punched the little banner pieces from Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, and Crushed Curry card stock using the Banner Punch. I adhered them just under the ribbons, using Dimensionals.

On a strip of Vellum I stamped the sentiment from the January 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit using Early Espresso. I used the Hexagon Punch to flag the ends and then attached the banner to the heart using Glue Dots. I hid the glue dots by using Candy Dots from the Regals Collection.

So, what do you think of my non-traditionally colored Valentine? Let me know in the comments below!
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