"You're the bomb" treat

We enjoy sharing the love on Valentine's Day! Once again, I got this idea off of Pinterest (yes, I'm having fun with that site). It's three rolls of Rolos wrapped in Real Red card stock and tied up with natural hemp. I used a bit of hemp for the "fuse." I typeset the words on the computer, printing them out on Whisper White card stock. My daughter gave this "bomb" to her bus driver, and has another for her teacher. Quick and easy - and fun!

A sweet valentine for school kids

This is my what my daughter's valentines look like this year. She made 30 for her class (biggest class yet!). I took the photo outside, but she punched the holes, added the lollipop and the sentiment.

The photo is layered on Real Red card stock, and the phrase comes from the P.S. I Love You stamp set in the Occasions Mini Catalog, punched with the Designer Label Punch. This is another idea gleaned from Pinterest! Happy Valentine's Day!



Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Happy Valentine's Day! This heart easel card (CASE'd from Diana Gibbs) reminds me of a box of chocolates. I used the Hearts Framelits and Riding Hood Red pleated satin ribbon, as well as a handful of punches - Word Window, Modern Label, and Full Heart. This was one of the projects I had at my Valentines Class a couple of weeks ago. Sweet, eh? I wish you all an absolutely lovely day!

Apothecary Art smooch card for the Happiest Birthday

My clubs got to make this embossed Apothecary Art Baja Breeze card. It's CASE'd from the Occasions Mini Catalog cover. It's got a bit of everything - smooch spritz, crochet trim, pleated satin ribbon, punched flowers, a brad, pearls, a trinket and more! I did the Faux Suede Technique on the Riding Hood Red flag behind the main image. Using a bone folder, I ran the card stock between my thumb and bone folder to break down the fibers. The card stock splits in half and when you pull the layers apart, they feel like suede.

Stamps: Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts;

Ink: Basic Black, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz,  Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette;

Paper: Confetti White, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red;

Accessories: Trinkets, Cherry Cobbler/Whisper White Baker's Twine, 8mm Pearls, Labels framelits, paper piercer/mat pack, Blushing Bride Smooch Spritz, crochet trim, Blushing Bride pleated satin ribbon, scallop border punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Everyday Enchantment brads & ribbon, Adorning Edgelits and embossing folders.

Lego cakes for my boy's birthday

Okay, I normally don't put photos of food on here, but I'm making the exception because I made Lego bricks. I used two yellow cake mixes and two cans of frosting for the two bricks and cupcakes shown in the photo. My daughter ate one cupcake. I used loaf pans for the bricks, cutting off part so they laid flatter. I used cupcakes (the top cut off) for the tops of the bricks. We don't like colored frosting - my son asked for chocolate. I got the idea for doing the Lego brick cakes from Pinterest. What do you think?

Shimmer paint and P.S. I Love You Forever and Always

One of my clubs was all about shimmer and shine this month. I used a sponge dauber to rub White Frost Shimmer Paint all over the polka dot-embossed Attic Boutique dsp. The next two layers are the Paper Doily sizzlit die in Soft Suede (with twine holding on the trinket heart charm) and a doily cut from a piece of Flirtacious dsp.

The stamped heart images are from P.S. I Love  You. It's my favorite set to use for valentines this year. We rubbed shimmer paint on the smaller heart after punching it out with the Full Heart Punch. Finally, the sentiment from Loving Thoughts and the empty banner from Take It to Heart finish the card. This card was inspired by one on page 26 of the Occasions Mini Catalog.

Stamps: P.S. I Love You, Take It to Heart, Loving Thoughts;

Ink: Poppy Parade, Soft Suede;

Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Flirtacious dsp, Attic Boutique dsp;

Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Paper Doily Sizzlit die, Big Shot, Trinket Hearts, Early Espresso/Whisper White Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals, sponge daubers, Full Heart Punch, Heart Framelits, Cutter Kit, sanding block

Secret Stampin' Sister reveal at demo gathering today

Today is the day of the big Secret Stampin' Sister reveal! It's exciting stuff!!! A dozen members of my American Ink group have been sending cards each week to their SSS. It ends at the demo meeting today with a gift and reveal. This is the last card I received from one of my downline. Sweet, eh?

Hershey's kiss mice for valentine treat

How cute is this mouse kiss? I made a bunch for favors for today's American Ink gathering at my studio. I used googly eyes and Mini Glue Dots, 3/4" and 1" punches with Pink Pirouette and Basic Gray card stocks, and 1/8" Whisper White taffeta for the tail (adhered with a glue dot). The hardest part of the whole project was taking the photo!

Button Buddies valentine for Monkey Challenge #95

My A La Card Monkey blog is closing in on 100 challenges. Come and see what it's all about! This week it's Monkey Challenge #95: Sweet + Sketch. I think the Button Buddies pig with googly eyes is pretty sweet. I'm really diggin' the Pool Party and Poppy Parade colors. I also used the Stripes Embossing Folder on the Poppy Parade layer, sanding it a bit to make the stripes stand out.

Stamps: Button Buddies, Take it to Heart, Loving Thoughts

Ink: Basic Black, Poppy Parade;

Paper: Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Everyday Enchantment dsp;

Accessories: Stripes Embossing Folder, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, dimensionals, Big Shot, Hearts framelits, Circles 2 die, Scallop Circle punch, Brights buttons.

Everyday Enchantment dsp for L-O-V-E banner

I love the colors and patterns in the Everyday Enchantment dsp you can get for free when you order $50 (thru March 31) from the Sale-a-Bration Mini Catalog. I used Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Early Espresso and Calypso Coral.

I used the Big Shot and the Hearts Framelits to cut these two heart sizes. You can mix or match the double-sided patterned paper however you like. There are a lot of options!

To make the rosette, accordian-fold on the 1/4-inch score lines and adhere the ends together.

Just push down the center and stick it on your hot glued heart or Sticky Strip. Since I was prepping 10 banner kits, and each kit gets 4 rosettes, I scored 12" x 12" pieces of Everyday Enchantment dsp every quarter inch on the Simply Scored tool, then cut them into 1-1/4" strips. Again, you have a lot of choices for which pattern you want. Hot glue works the best to hold the rosettes together, as well as onto the layered hearts, and it's faster than using Sticky Strip.

I used the Full Heart punch for these hearts, and ran Very Vanilla card stock through the Big Shot with the Alphabet Simple Letters dies. The letters are attached with Stampin' Dimensionals.

My downline, Michelle, actually had the idea of using these Blossom-punched flowers to hold the banner together. There's a solid flower and a patterned flower. Mix and match for the combo you like and add an Everyday Enchantment brad (another SAB freebie that also comes with two colors of ribbon!). I used a bone folder to curl up the petals.

There are a couple ways to connect the hearts together - with Pool Party ruffled ribbon - with bows at each end. Or hot-glue the blossoms onto the hearts to hold them together, and the ribbon is just at the ends. Either way is cute! I have my L-O-V-E banner hanging in the foyer area of my house. That sounds really elegant, but it's a small area with this washstand, lots of shoes and coats! lol

Outlined Occasions valentine treat

There's nothing like a nice bite of chocolate (Ghiradelli, in this case) to say, "Love." The stamp is one you can get FREE when you order $50. It's a Sale-a-Bration offering called Outlined Occasions. Then there's a label framelit behind, with a Twitterpated button. I CASE'd this Scallop Envelope treat idea from Jill Hilliard.

Stamps: Outlined Occasions;

Ink: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink;

Paper: Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink;

Accessories: Twitterpated buttons, Labels framelits, 1-1/4" Pretty in Pink striped grosgrain, 1/8" Very Vanilla taffeta, dimensionals, Scallop Envelope die.

Last couple of Secret Stampin' Sister cards

I can't begin to tell you how fun it is to get "good" mail each week. Though I'm moderating my American Ink group's Secret Stampin' Sister (SSS) program, someone in my downline has chosen to brighten my weeks by sending me hand-stamped cards. How sweet is she?

This Saturday, at our next downline meeting, we'll have the final gift (valued at no more than $10 - it may be handmade or bought) and SSS reveal. It's exciting!

This card uses the Peace Within stamp set and Labels framelits.

This card uses Fabulous Florets and Adorning Accents.

Starting in January, I'm making an effort to send everyone in my downline a birthday card. I know they enjoy the thought, and it makes good use of my cards. I hope you share your stamping, too.

Mouthwatering ice cream cone embossed with scented powder? Yum!

I wasn't quite sure what to think of the scented embossing powders in the Occasions Mini Catalog until I tried them. Wow! They smell great. For my clubs last month, I used Sweet Shop dsp, lots of rhinestones, and markers to ink the Mouthwatering ice cream stamp. I covered the entire image with VersaMark ink, then sprinkled on the Cherry-scented embossing powder. Mmmmm. It smells delicious! I cut out the image and adhered it to the card with dimensionals. Oh, and did you notice the tiny scallops on the scalloped bottom of the card front? That's what the new edgelit does. Fun stuff!

A simple valentine

There are no excuses for not making valentines when they're as easy as this one! I used the Postage Stamp Punch with the coordinating stamp set, Pretty Postage, a sentiment from P.S. I Love You, and the small heart punch. That's it! This is based on a card I saw SU! co-founder and CEO Shelli Gardner make.

Need for Speed for Monkey Challenge #94

This card got my (almost) 13-year-old son's thumbs up. Every year for his birthday invitations, he requests military-type stamps and colors. His favorite thing to do with his friends is to play with Nerf guns. Using the A La Card Monkey Challenge #94: Birthday + Sketch, I came up with this card. I used a pattern from the Pocketful of Posies dsp pack, along with Baja Breeze and Night of Navy colors. Here's the sketch:

 

Stamps: Need for Speed, On Your Birthday, Send Me Soaring;

Ink: Baja Breeze, Night of Navy;

Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Pocketful of Posies dsp;

Accessories: Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, dimensionals, Subtles buttons, 1/8" Baja Breeze taffeta ribbon.

Home Sweet Home decor element plaque

I chose this Home Sweet Home decor element for FREE when I bought $50 worth of high-quality Stampin' Up! product, because it's Sale-a-Bration time! The door to my house doesn't have a big enough flat area for the decor element, so I picked up a wood plaque and one of my downline painted and glazed it for me. Now it hangs at my studio. I had to cut about an inch from the ends of the curly lines under the words, but I think it still looks good. What do you think?

You're My Type Valentine card

I love how quick and easy this card is, and that it works for any gender and any age recipient! I stamped the You're My Type typewriter in Basic Black and cut it out after adding the sentiment. I used the Fashionable Hearts embosslit with Real Red card stock for the three hearts - and stuck them on with dimensionals. The Real Red patterned paper is from the big Brights dsp pad.

Greeting Card Kids valentine with Doily stamp

The detail on the Hello Doily stamp is amazing! For this quick and easy Valentine, the Greeting Card Kids little girl was stamped in Basic Black and watercolored with an aqua painter and ink pads (Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight and Real Red), along with a Blush Blossom marker. The "L is for Love" is from the Grateful Greetings set. I CASE'd a card designed by Kim Score at http://craftprojectcentral.com.

I'm adding this to the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts here. It's all about RED!

Stamps: Hello Doily, Greeting Card Kids, Grateful Greetings;

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom;

Paper: Whisper White;

Accessories: 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon, 1" circle punch, 2" circle punch, dimensionals, sponge dauber.

Cheery Treat lollipop holder

I borrowed the idea for this lollipop holder from Angie Juda. I used Concord Crush card stock with a piece of Cheery Treat dsp (hostess), Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon and a scallop circle, and Melon Mambo and Concord Crush inks. The two stamped images are from the P.S. I Love You stamp set. This was one of the favors at my Valentine's Class Monday.

A fabric ring for any occasion!

Heather brought this fabric ring as a make & take to our last American Ink gathering. She's not part of my American Ink group, but she and her downline are always welcome to our gatherings! We love visiting demos who share their ideas. Heather had a ring kit with small pieces of Twitterpated fabric, and it literally took a minute to make this ring. You could create a ring for many outfits, as well as for a party!