For My Valentine

I have the most wonderful Valentine in the world! We don't go overboard for Valentine's Day. We try to keep romance alive every day and treat each other special all the time, rather than waiting for our anniversary or Valentine's Day.

This year we went out for dinner last Friday night and then went to a movie. Restaurants inflate their prices and have too many pe

ople on Valentine's Day so we celebrated a little early. Tonight the plan was to stay home and I had planned a nice dinner but I've had a terrible headache all day so instead we went and got a quick, casual dinner at Schlotzsky's Deli and then came home and exchanged gifts. I got a bottle of Fierce cologne from Abercrombie for my sweetie and he surprised me with a couple's massage on Saturday. I can't wait!!!

This is the card that I made for him. I used this sketch from the Stamping Bella Blog.

Supplies

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Hero Arts

Chipboard - Maya Road

Stickles

Bling - Michael's

Valentine Love (Cont'd)

Here's the card I made for Nicole using that same collection. So fun!

Supplies
Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!

Valentine Love

I made this simple little card for Kendall for Valentine's Day. I always try to find little gifts to give the girls for every holiday. Not that they need anything, but I like to just let them know throughout the year how special they are by giving them a handmade card and a small treat.

This year I found some cute little photo boxes that had a small bag of candy and a little stuffed animal in them. I realize the girls are 13 and 16 but they still like their stuffed animals. The gifts were small and inexpensive, but it's always fun to get something special to make an otherwise ordinary week a little less ordinary.

I made this card using some new product I got from Stampin' Up! I just love the colors on these papers and the stamps are adorable! I am really loving the new cling stamps and packaging that are now available. I still think there is nothing that can compare with stamping with a wood-mounted stamp, but they just take up too much space. As a result, I am only purchasing the stamps in the new packaging from SU now and they stamp just as well with the same precision and accuracy.

Supplies
Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Border Punches - Stampin' Up!, Martha Stewart Crafts
Corner Rounder - We R Memory Keepers

Jen's Sketch Challenge 01-11

Well it's a new year and this is my first post of the year! I just celebrated my 40th birthday and had such an amazing time with my family and friends and felt so incredibly loved and adored. It was wonderful! I will do a post on that soon :).

This year, Jen is doing something a little different. Rather than a weekly sketch, she is doing one sketch per month. This will relieve her of having to come up with a sketch every week, and will give people a chance to play along that just don't have the time to do one per week. I absolutely love playing along and am confident I can make it through all 12 sketches this year! At least that is my goal. When I need a little inspiration in between, I can always go to some of her previous sketches or my favorite magazine - Papercrafts - where I find tons of inspiration from color combinations to sketches, to creative ways to use ribbon and buttons and other fun embelishments.

For this sketch I made a Valentine's Card. As much as I love making Christmas projects, it was fun to create a card for another holiday. And Valentine's cards are so much fun! How much do you love this stamp from CC Designs? Is she not the cutest thing? I colored her with Copic markers and I also added some Stickles to the "candy" hearts to give them some shimmer.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Supplies

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Sentiment - Stamin' Up!, Hearts - Stampin' Up!, Image - CC Designs

Ink - Stampin' Up!

Border Punch, Circle Punches - Stampin' Up!

Spellbinders Dies

Copic Markers - Sorry, I didn't write down all the markers I used

Flowers - Prima e-Line

Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels

Pearls - Basic Grey

Stickles - Ranger

Jen's Sketch Challenge 02-06-10

Jen's sketch challenge is back - and with some incredible prizes! There is a prize package worth over $200 up for grabs. Please visit Jen's site for details. She's also looking for the next Designer of the Month.

As if her sketch's weren't motivation enough to play along :).

I went with a Valentine's card for this week's challenge. I really like the combination of dark brown with cream and pink and have been using that combination on all of my V-day cards this year.

I started with a base of Chocolate Chip CS and then added a panel of patterned paper from Making Memories. I added a strip of Very Vanilla CS and below that, using my Sizzix Scalloped Circle in the Cuttlebug, I cut a piece of Bazzil CS and then trimmed it to fit the bottom of the card. I used my Coluzzle to cut the circles and that cute heart in the center was actually part of a Unity Stamp of a house with hearts in the center. I just cut the hearts out and then gave them a little glitz with some Stickles. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts stamp set and I gave them a little glitz with the same stickles as well. I finished it off with some buttons and pearls and then rounded the edges with my Corner Chomper, which I believe is my new favorite tool!

Hope you enjoyed :)

Supplies

CS - Stampin' Up!, Bazzil Basics
Patterned Paper - Making Memories
Stamps - Unity (Hearts), Hero Arts (Sentiment)
Buttons - Basic Grey, Unknown
Pearls - Kaiser Crafts
Stickles

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is in the air, can you feel it? Ideally, we are not waiting until February 14th to let those we love let them know how much they mean to us.

I am beyond blessed with love in my life. I cannot imagine having more love in my life and I feel so unworthy at times, but extraordinarily grateful just the same. I believe it is important to show my loved ones appreciation every day of the year, but since Hallmark set aside a special day for love, I comply.

I must admit, making Valentine cards is such fun! I am a lover of pink and red and especially like to mix in some dark brown. There are so many possibilities!

I found some addorable paper at Archiver's this year (I am especially loving the polka-dots in the backround) and a great stamp set from Hero Arts. I made this card for one of the girls. I think it's cute, but still has an air of sophistication. After all, they are not little girls anymore .... which they will be very quick to remind you!

Supplies

Patterned paper - Making Memories
CS - Stampin Up!
Stamps - Hero Arts (Sentiment), Unity (Distressed Hearts Background)
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Heart Brads - Making Memories