Valentine Friends - 2 for 1!

Hello!
Well, even though I haven't don't much stamping this weekend, I have to say I've managed to really make headway on getting things organized for my son's scrapbook. Yesterday I went through all of the photos I had from way back when and sorted them into photo page protectors with the papers I want to use plus an embellishment or two, and today I uploaded a bunch of photos from various discs, our other computer and one or two jump drives to be printed. Gosh, I don't remember when I was this organized last! The best part of all of this is that in a couple of weeks when I head off for a 3 day stamping retreat, I'll be bringing what I really need as
opposed to my entire stamp room!

Okay, so now back to why you actually stopped by.
The cards I've got for you today are a pair that I did using a couple of different colors but left the overall design the same for each. The little birds from Love You Much are so cute aren't they?  And really, they work for friends or loved ones so what could be better! The hearts are stamped on the face of the card with White Craft ink and embossed which, of course, really helps to make them pop. The birds are stamped with Chocolate Chip on Whisper White and then layered on Chocolate Chip as are the cards themselves. A little Chocolate Chip friend to friend sentiment and a bit of ribbon and you have a quick card! Oh, and the little pearl heart over the birdies heads.
Thanks for looking! Happy Monday!

STAMPS: Love You Much  PAPER: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, White  INK: Chocolate Chip, White craft, Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom & Positively Pink markers  ACCESS: Hero Arts pearls, white embossing powder, heat tool, ribbon

Victoria's Pirouette

Wow! It's Saturday already. Where did that week go? I'm up with the chickens thanks to a doggie who needed his morning constitutional and two kitties who think our bed is a romper room. (sigh) Well, maybe there's hope for a nap later...

In the mean time, I have a pretty chocolate and pink bit of fun to share with you. If you're sick of valentines, tell yourself this is an anniversary card, and you'll feel much better. (smiles)

I started with a Pirouette Pink card base that I ran through my Cuttlebug (Victoria folder) and then mounted on a piece of Chocolate Chip. Over that I layered a strip of Stardreams White (Cuttlebugged with Divine Swirls) and a tiny bit of Chocolate Chip pinking hearts edging. I tied the organdy ribbon next. The LOVE panel is stamped on Whisper White with Chocolate Chip and colored with a Tombow #800 baby pink marker and my Gable Green marker. I layered this piece on a slightly larger piece of Stardreams White and then again on Chocolate Chip. I cut the Chocolate Chip piece pretty close so that just a hint of it shows. Since the card is so fresh and clean looking, I didn't want to weigh it down with too much of the dark color. 

Start to finish - this took about 15 minutes to make. Easy peasy right?

Happy Saturday! Have a great day!

STAMPS: Love You Much  PAPER: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, White, Stardreams White  INK: Chocolate Chip, Gable Green marker, Tombow 800 Baby Pink marker  ACCESS: Cuttlebug Victoria, Divine Swirls EFs, Jelly Roll clear star pen, Hero Arts gemstones, pinking hearts border punch, white organdy ribbon

Victoria's Valentine Easel Card

Hi!

I hope you aren't too terribly tired of valentines yet because I still have a lot more to share! 

Today I have another easel card to show you. I stuck to traditional sweetheart colors for this one (Josh would be so proud) and  sort of let the Cuttlebug do a lot of the heavy lifting! I just love the Victoria folder. It's so girly and lovely for this sort of card.  I also added in a little punched border in a couple of places using my pinking hearts border punch and Spellbinders ovals and scalloped ovals to make the focal piece. A couple of hearts, a bit of ribbon and some bling finish it off. If you haven't tried one of these yet, I encourage you to do so! What a great way to show off your card!

Here's the recipe. Enjoy your day!

STAMPS: Priceless, Hero Arts Happy Valentine's Day  PAPER: Pretty in Pink, Real Red, White, Real Red DSP  INK: Positively Pink, Real Red  ACCESS: Spellbinders petite ovals large, petite scallop ovals large, Crystal Stickers gemstones, Cuttlebug Victoria EF, pinking hearts border punch

Double Old Fashioned

Hello!

Today I have a double header for you. They're very similar because I started out with doubles of several of the components and then sort of went in two different directions. I started with some oh-so-pretty designer paper from K & Company called McKenna. The assortment has lots of different patterns and colors to play with so it's easy to find several that coordinate and, best of all, I can almost always find a SU! cardstock color or two that matches!

Nothing wrong with that right? For these I used Regal Rose as my card base and added in a little bit of a darker rose from Bazzill too. All of the stamping is done with Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla with some sponging of Melon Mambo and Chocolate Chip. The Lace Heart stamp is, sadly, retired but I am seeing similar stamps here and there in the stores now so you should be able to find a good substitute if you don't have this one.  A little bit of ribbon and a little bit of punched Arch Lattice edging finish both of them off. Both of the verses are from a Cloud 9 Design acrylic set called Love, and they're perfect for those extra special valentine recipients! Thanks for stopping in! Stay warm! We're supposed to be getting some temps in the mid-teens and twenties this week.  Whoo hoo! Heat wave!

STAMPS: Lace Heart, Cloud 9 Design-Simple Thoughts Love, Love Always  PAPER: Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, Dark Rose (Bazzill), K & Company-McKenna  INK: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo  ACCESS: sponge daubers, arch lattice punch (MS), Hero Arts pearls, ribbon, dimensionals, scallop oval punch (Marvy), large oval punch

Victoria's Love

Good morning! Our weather experts are predicting slightly warmer temps today and I'm all for that! It's been a mite frosty lately and  I, for one, am weary of Winter!
Today I have a more traditional valentine for you. This one is right up my son Josh's alley. For someone who has an artistic bent of his own, he's remarkably rigid when it comes to cards. Valentines should be red, white or pink, Christmas cards should be red and green, and green, brown and pink DO NOT go together. We've agreed to disagree on that last one. Anyway, this one is pretty straightforward so he liked it. The focal point is, obviously, the heart which is pretty fancy, so I kept the rest of the card simple by leaving the Real Red card blank and just dressing it up a bit with a couple Pinking Hearts punched border strips and a wide band of white that I ran through the Cuttlebug with my Victoria folder. So pretty, and the design really goes perfectly with the swirls on the heart. A bit of red satin ribbon and you're done! Oh, and a few gems to bling up the heart a little.

Thanks for looking!

STAMPS:  Love Always  PAPER: Real Red, White, Basic Black  INK: Real Red  ACCESS: Hero Arts gemstones, Cuttlebug EF-Victoria, ribbon, pinking hearts border punch, dimensionals

Enjoy your weekend!

Velvet Hearts

Happy Friday! My gosh! Can you believe it; two more days and January is over! If you live in the frozen tundra like I do (It's been darned frosty this week in MN) you know what a big Whoohoo that is! One more month of Winter and we can start peeking into Spring!

Today's card is an easel card. It's one of the first I tried and I am pretty happy with the result. Of course the black, ivory and red color scheme is pretty snappy so that's maybe why I like this one.

My card base is Very Vanilla but I layered it on Basic Black for a little extra pop. The designer paper is from a K & Company assortment called Black and Ivory Fusion. I picked a couple of different patterns and then added the little red hearts to the polka dots so there would be a little red in the background. The ribbon is from Michael's I think.  The hearts are cut with my Spellbinders Classic Heart and Classic Scalloped Heart sets. I sponged the centers of the Ivory hearts with Real Red before I popped them out of the dies and then layered them on the red velvet hearts with glue dots. The red velvet paper is from Doodlebug Designs.  So pretty! My tag was stamped with Basic Black, then hand trimmed and distressed a bit before I used a couple of dimensionals to hold it down. A strip of Real Red Fleur de Lis punched border at the bottom and a couple of rounded corners finish things off.

STAMPS: Anna Griffin-Sending You, Love Matters, My Sentiments Exactly (Happy Valentine's Day - inside), Occasions Collection  PAPER: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, K & Co: Black and Ivory Fusion  INK: Real Red, Basic Black  ACCESSORIES: Spellbinders: Classic Heart and Classic Scalloped Heart, Crystal Stickers gemstones, ribbon, dimensionals, sponge, Fleur de Lis Punch (EK Success)

thanks for popping in!

Love can hold the master key

Hello!

Wow, this week sure is  zipping by at light speed. I think there's a direct correlation between how busy i am at work and the speed that my day slides by. If I had nothing to do the day would crawl. I guess I should be glad I've got enough to do!

Here on the creative front, I have another, (you guessed it) valentine for you. Two of them actually. I started out making two cards the same and somewhere along the way that changed. Nothing wrong with that I suppose- makes for a good double header right? Anyway, since they are both similar, I will just hit the highlights. Both cards are a half sheet of Ruby Red. I stamped one of the swirls from Priceless in Soft Suede to create a background and then repeated the treatment with the addition of some Ruby Red hearts on a couple strips of Kraft then layered them on Blush Blossom. I tied the ribbon around each piece before adhering them to the card front. Both verses are stamped on Very Vanilla with Soft Suede and layered on Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip. I omitted the extra layer of Ruby Red on the one in favor of cutting the verse out with my Spellbinders Labels Two die. The Chocolate Chip layer on that one is hand trimmed. Next came the hand trimmed Ruby Red hearts on Blush Blossom and either the key with gold cord or little adhesive gems. Oh, I popped one of the hearts on each card up on a dimensional to add a little oomph to the finished card.

Both cards were very simple to assemble and took hardly any time at all, so if you're looking for easy...there you go!

STAMPS:  Priceless, Cloud 9 Design-Simple Thoughts Love, All Night Media "Love Can"  PAPER: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Blush Blossom, Very Vanilla  INK: Soft Suede, Ruby Red ACCESS: ribbon, key charm, Spellbinders Labels Two, Hero Arts gems, dimensionals, gold cord, 1/8 inch punch.

   

Catch you later!