Post Card Valentine

 I received this great little embossing folder and die combination by Ultimate Crafts called "travel the world" from a very thoughtful and generous blogging friend (thanks - you know who you are) and decided to make a valentine with it. The postage stamp square and little vase with flowers are both matching dies to the folder. I colored the flowers with Copics and cut the stamp from a snippet of blue, adding a circular stamp with the date of February 14th (done with a Studio G stamp set) along with the cancelled lines. I found a tiny red heart in my snippets box that I added to the center and covered with Glossy Accents. The tiny sentiments were done with a SU! Sealed with Love stamp set, while the Happy Heart Day was done with a SU! Tags For You stamp set and cut with a matching punch. I fussy cut around the embossed edges of the postcard and placed it on a pink card base that I inked around the edges to age it a bit.

I'll share this with the Double D Challenge - flowers in Containers

also sharing with the Little Red Wagon Challenge #585 - use dies

as well as NBUS #22, since this ef/die combo is brand new

Thanks for the visit, and I wish you the best possible day!

Carol

Cards with Flowers

I made a couple of cards with flowers cut with SU! Bouquet Bunch framelit dies. The flowers were already pre-cut and in my snippet box, along with assorted stems, leaves and greens so I decided it was time to put them all to use.

First up is a birthday card. I used 3 of the die-cut flowers and added a die-cut stem and leaf, attaching it all to a die-cut stitched oval, and placing it on a plum colored piece of cardstock. The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp set, heat-embossed on black with white ep and trimmed into flag tails with a hexagon punch. I added some Nuvo Crystal drops to the flower centers for a little sparkle

 

Next up is a card with a sentiment from a brand new Gina K designs stamp set that I bought some time ago and never used. I created the clouds in the sky with Taylored Expressions stencils and some Tumbled Glass distress ink. The flower centers were dotted with Black Nuvo drops and I stamped some birds, a dragonfly, and a butterfly with Versafine Onyx black ink. The sentiment was heat-embossed on black with white ep.

Both cards are for the Twofer Challenge #4 - flowers

I'm also sharing the 2nd card with

the STAMPlorations blog January Stencil challenge - a/g

Also sharing with the Happy Little Stampers January Stencil Challenge - a/g

Also sharing with the NBUS Challenge #22 - (sentiment)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your week is off to a good start!

Carol

 

Hearts for Valentine's Day

 Here's another Valentine I made with the SSS cute little Bear Hugs die. I started with a pink card base and added a piece of large polka dot pink and white paper. I started stamping tiny hearts all over it with Platinum Planet ink, but when they didn't show up too well, I stamped a few small circles too which improved the overall look a bit more. The hearts were done with a set of nested, stitched heart dies and I embossed the white heart with a Sunny Studios ef which has itty bitty hearts on it. The little bear was die cut with kraft and red, swapping out the little heart and ears with the red. The Happy Heart Day sentiment is from a long-retired SU! set, heat embossed with white on black, then die-cut with a Lil Inker stitched die.

I'm sharing this with these challenges:

Let's Squash it Challenge #4 - use any embossing folder and an animal

 The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Layer it Up

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a good weekend!

Carol

Child's Valentine

 While sorting through my box of pre-made "scraps" I came across this stamped image and decided it would make a cute valentine for one of 2 little boys I send cards to. I colored it with Copics and a red glitter pen then cut it with a stitched square die. I found a snippet of Lawn Fawn dsp with tiny hearts that I liked, but it was too small to cover the whole card front, so I cut it into 2 pieces and added a stamped sentiment of X's and O's at the bottom. I used a retired SU! set called "Oh Goodie" for that. Sorry it's a bit crooked - it seems as I've gotten older I stamp or place everything slightly crooked anymore - in spite of using a stamping device to avoid that problem ???

 I'll enter this into the following challenges:

The Male Room Challenge #146 - animals

Addicted to Stamps and More #396 - make your mark (use markers)

Pixie's Snippets Playground #394 - use snippets (dsp)

2 Crafty Critter Crazies January 2021 challenge - use a critter

The House that Stamps Built challenge J131 - anything goes

Thanks for joining me on my journey to sort through my craft supplies and make cards again. I seem to be doing more crafting than purging but that's OK - at least I'm being productive in some small way :)

Have yourself the best possible day!

Carol

Happy Are Those...

 Just sharing a cheery little card I made while trying to put a dent into a Linen Closet paper pad I've hoarded for years. I created a branch with a SU! bird punch, then added a little bird from an Impression Obsession set of bird dies. I gave him an eye with a fine black marker. The sentiment is a stamp from Gina Marie Designs and I added 3 little pearls to finish this one.

I'm sharing with the Dies R Us challenge #160 which is anything goes using dies from their store (the I.O. bird dies)

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a great Monday!

Carol

Quick Love Card

 I made this card after being inspired by a sketch and a challenge to use leftover scraps to make a card in less than ten minutes. I usually fuss over things, but this one was done in about 6 minutes. All I did was cut the SU! reversible designer paper into 4 pieces and adhere the die-cut pieces I found in my stash! The letter "I" was cut with a Quickutz ( I have a little box of them as they cut 2 letters (caps and lower case) at a time, while the word "Love" was previously made (and never used) with a PTI die and some red glitter paper. The word "You" is from a SSS "Love You" die set that I also found in my snippet box, so I made a quick card that I may just keep for the hubby for valentine's day.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #523

As You See it Challenge #241

Happy Little Stampers January Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

A Place to Start January 2021 Challenge #1 - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your comments. Take care of each other and have a pleasant weekend!

Carol

Bear Hugs Valentine

 I bought this cute little die called "Bear Hugs" from Simon Says Stamp last year and never used it until now. I just knew it would make some cute Valentine cards! I cut three bears from red and white and inserted the white negatives into the red for some fun contrast. The papers are from the SU! "Sending Love" stack, and I used a SU! set of "Love Notes" dies to create the border. The dangling heart is a die from Memory Box called "precious hearts" and I put the valentine sentiment inside since the outside is busy enough.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

The Paper Players PP522 - use something new

NBUS Challenge #22 - never before used schtuff

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - something new

Shopping Our Stash #436 - What's new with you?

Purging my craft room has led me back to creating cards again for the time being. I keep finding older things that are new again as I TRY to sort through years of crafting supplies and tidy up this room. It's slow going because I stop to make a card every time I unearth an item I'd long forgotten about. 

I guess it's a good thing that I have something to amuse myself with during these L.O.N.G. days that seem to blend into one another!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous day!

Carol

Hello

Hello and happy Wednesday! The sun came out this morning after a week of dreary, cloudy days so I was finally able to get a photo of this card.

I began with shades of red and grey. I used a piece of dsp from a wedding stack that has silver-embossed circles and dots, so I die-cut it with a Lil Inker stitched rectangle. The flourish stem was die-cut with an old Cheery Lynn  die that I snipped into 3 pieces. The flowers are from Hero arts, stamped on red with black and fussy cut, while the centers were cut with a small circle punch from dark grey polka dot dsp. I curled the flower petals around a pencil, and squished a pencil eraser into the flower centers to give them a bit of dimension, then popped the flowers up on foam dots. The sentiment was done with a TE Hello die 3 times in white and layered for a bit of dimension. The finishing touch was to add 3 tiny clear gemstones for a little sparkle.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

Just Us Girls Challenge Word Week #565 - "Hello"

Color Hues #9 Challenge - Shades of Red & Grey

The House that Stamps Built Repeat Impressions J621 - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're all able to enjoy some sunshine today too!

Carol

 

Valentine's Day Card

 Here's my first Valentine card for the new year. I'm over the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays and ready to move onto some love cards.

First of all, I apologize for the poor quality of the photo - we've had no sun for 2 days and it's the best I could come up with.

As I slowly purge my stash to de-clutter this craft room, I'm discovering things I haven't used in years that I just loved when I first bought them.

This card started with an embossed panel of Pacific Point that I'd made months (perhaps years) ago and never used. I matted it with red, and found an old SU! valentine greeting that was designed to work with their small and large tag punches. Yes, I still have those punches! I colored the tag with markers, then added another SU! image to the bottom and colored that with markers too. I used aqua & white twine to make a little bow on the tag since I am out of red & white twine. For a little sparkle, I added 3 shiny little heart stickers on the embossed background.

I used the following sketch to make my card...

 so I will enter this card into the What If? Wednesday sketch challenge #D3020 over at Repeat Impressions.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a great week ahead as this new year unfolds!

Carol

Wishes for 2021

For this card, I dug out an older SU! image I don't think I've ever used. I colored it with Copics and cut it out (along with the black and red panels) with a set of postage stamp dies from GMD. The 3 banner strips are washi tape I've had forever and rarely ever used.

 I want to take this time to wish each and every one of you a better year in 2021. May you find peace, calm, prosperity, good health, and above all love and happiness in the coming days and months of 2021. Thanks for your visits and kind comments on this blogging journey of mine, and hopefully my creative mojo will find it's way back in 2021!

Sending you all the biggest and best New Year hugs!!

Carol