heart of gold

We were challenged to make Valentines without using red, pink, or purple on the enjoyMichaelStrongstamps list this Feb. Added to the challenge was the fact that I don't have his heart stamps.

My solution was to die cut hearts with Nestabilities dies, stamp and emboss them on a couple of the stamps I do have. The first and third card were stamped on Michael's pot stamp. The second card was stamped on the large star. I went for a clean and simple look.

The sentiments were printed on the computer. I had fun using the sewing machine too.

A few more Valentines

I love the look of Mary Engelbreit's graphic style. It was fun to find a set of stickers of her art. Combined with a little border & square punching, die cute hearts and gel pen you have a Valentine. The floral heart and sentiment were early stamp purchases from Stampa Rosa. I still use them and love them. The corner flourish and the floral embossing folder framing the stamps seem just right together. Gold heat embossing still excites me.

Outlines Stamps has some to my eye very modern images which are so much fun to color. I used Twinkling H2Os on this heart along with Distress inked and dotted edging. Imagine, I made a Valentine with no flowers on it!

Valentines

I went shopping. You can imagine all the good stuff I found. The ribbon which matches a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a Martha Stewart border punch which has Valentine written all over it. The background stamp is an old dollar stamp from Michaels. The corrugated paper is packaging for a light bulb. The hearts are cut using Nestability scalloped hearts. There are some little Stampendous heart stickers and red Stickles embellishing the embossed heart. I had a great longing to make the sort of Valentine which wouldn't hold up in the mail. While looking in Susan Pickering Rothamel's book, The Encyclopedia of Greeting Card Tools and Techniques, I was inspired by one of the cards to pull out my netting and play with it on a card. The book is wonderful by the way! The heart stamp is one from Stampers Anonymous. The sentiment is a dollar stamp from Michaels. I got into my bead stash which was very fun. The flourishes and flowers are die cut with a Cuttlebug die.

My stamping friend Ann RAK'd me some Co'ordinations cardstock! Talk about yummy! After embossing it using a Cuttlebug folder I sanded it lightly so the purple core shows through. The purple heart is embossed, or really debossed with the same folder. It was highlighted with a Brilliance pad. The flower and ribbon were both RAKs too. Am I lucky or what? The little heart button in the flower's center had the shank clipped off and was colored with permanent markers.

Happily I will be hand delivering these Valentines on Sunday to my girl friends when we gather for our annual Valentine making party. Such fun!

Washi Valentines

Both of these are based on a sketch by Jen del Muro.

http://iheart2stamp.com/2009/12/26/up-for-grabs-sketch-for-you-to-try/ I came across the stamp stashed in a drawer and knew I wanted to use it. I love washi and origami papers but tend to hoard them, lol. The sketch and the stamp encouraged me to pull out the paper and play. It is difficult to tell but I used a brushed silver paper to mat and on the flower bases. Cuttlebug dies and a Dollar Tree punch.
On this one I did some paper piecing and some torn paper hearts. I had fun layering punchies to create the flower embellishments. The folk art heart dies are from Sizzix. The stamp used on both cards is from Stampabilities.

Valentines from bits 'n pieces

In the recent edition of the Technique Junkies Newsletter there was instructions for a Herringbone pattern background made with strips of paper. I pulled out my envelope liners and wallpaper samples and played. The envelopes were inked up with Distress inks before cutting. The crowned heart is an Inkadinkado image. The sentiment is from a set by Heidi Grace for Fiskars.

My file of handmade backgrounds is huge. The base and the blue piece came from the file. The Cuttlebug cut filigree piece is cut from a wallpaper sample. Using wallpaper made it easy to handle the delicate piece. The medallion is layers cut with Spellbinders dies. The only stamp I used is the star stamped heart. It was a find from The Dollar Tree. Doesn't stamp all that well but I like the image. I had fun sewing on this one!

Valentines for little fellas

Making Valentines for boys is a fun challenge.

Can't go wrong if you include dogs on them, lol. This border punch from Martha Stewart is a favorite of mine when making cards for guys. Fun for layering too. Can't resist using die cuts. The little hearts are cut with a Sizzix Original Gingerbread Boy die. The hearts are the buttons on the chest. I use it way more for the hearts than for Christmas. It cuts cleanly, much better than my heart punch.

Do you remember making Valentines when you were in Elementary School? This image totally brings back those days. I loved making Valentines then as much as I do now.

All the vintage images on these cards are from a CD I purchased on Etsy; Peggy's Vintage Cards, Valentines Vol.1. I edited the last image in PSE. Love how easy it is to alter digital images!

I adore making Valentines. This is the time of the year when Operation Write Home is doing me a favor by taking them, lol. I pull out my die cuts, punches, stamps and paper and have at it. The fun cherub is a Rubber Stampede image with a word stamp from Studio G added. Dies used are from Spellbinders and Cuddlebug. I used Prismacolor pencils on the cherub.

I think there are almost enough hearts on this card ;-) Dies are from Spellbinders and Sizzix. One of the hearts was cut with decorative scissors. Cuddlebug embossing folder and ink to highlight the embossing on the collaged heart. The stamped heart has images from Co-motion and Stampa Rosa, both companies now gone. The dots are pearlized fabric paint.

The stamps on this one are from Serendipity Stamps (the heart and text) and Cornish Heritage Farms (background). Die cuts from QuicKuts and Spellbinders. Corner punch is no longer made.