Red and gold Christmas

 I watched a video earlier this year that suggested you could use any flower on a Christmas card as long as you color it red. I don't have a poinsettia die, so I cut two different sizes of stitched flowers and stacked them to create this faux poinsettia. Does it work for you?

Everything on this card was created with snippets. (In fact, as you can see from the photo, I maximized how much I could get out of a small snippet of red and one of gold.) The red mirror snippet was salvaged from a Christmas card -- it was the lining in the envelop, which seems almost better than using snippets up.

The gold diagonal strips are simply gold washi tape.

 

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Snippets Playground #495 -- use snippets

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- use dies

ABC Christmas -- favorite color combo (red and gold)

Word Art Wednesday #677 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2449 -- anything goes

Yuletide cheer

  

This card was inspired by this year's blog banner for the Jingle Belles blog ( which is kind of an annual tradition for the Jingle Belles..) I was inspired by the bright poinsettias and the sparkly gold elements.

The poinsettia image was gold embossed on watercolor paper, then watercolored. After the paint dried, a little dark green paint was splattered over the panel, which was then outlined in gold Stickles. The sentiment is gold embossed and outlined in Stickles. A gold cord was wrapped around the base card. ( I debated using some of those sparkly dots you see in the photo background, but decided against it. Do you think I should?)

This card is entered in these challenges.

Jingle Belles -- inspired by banner

ABC Christmas -- W is for Watercolor

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Make it sparkle

Double Trouble #181 (all 3 twists -- make a card, add ribbon/cord, and enter in partner site -- Jingle Belles)

Word Art Wednesday #675 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2448 -- anything goes

Simon Say Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Winter Fun

What's cuter than a  penguin? How about a penguin sliding in the snow?

This is just a fun little Christmas card using a simple fun fold.  I started with a black card base and created white panels by embossing them with a snowflake folder. The image is colored in pencils, with some Wink of Stella added on the snow shooshing up under the sled. The image was die cut and mounted on a slightly larger die-cut circle. The inside sentiment (you can see a bit of it peeking out) is hidden when the card is completely closed.

This card is entered in these challenges

Can you you handle the pressure -- use an EF, optional winter fun

Double D -- winter

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #675 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore-- anything goes

Polkadoodles #47 -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge #23 -- anything goes

Warm Heart

 

I tried something different: let's call it coloring with twine.  Instead of coloring the heart in this cute image, I filled in the shape with baker's twine.What do you think of it?

The digi image is colored with pencils , I even penciled in the knitted ribs on his hat and gloves. The dark blue strip is a piece of white core cardstock I came across in my snippets file.  I embossed it with snowflakes and sanded the high spots with sandpaper, although I guess I should have sanded more to reveal more of the white core.  The sentiment is on a tag trimmed with a hand-drawn stitched border. The snowflake is a brad. 

This card is entered in thse challenges:

Double Trouble #180 -- stitch it up

Double D -- winter

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Emboss it

Can you handle the pressure -- use embossing folder

Word Art Wednesday #673 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #224 -- use an image

Digi Chooseday #46 --anything goes

Gem of a Challenge #22 -- anything goes

Stems and flowers

 

I love these Tim Holtz flowers, and decided to use them for a CAS card. The card is a mini slimline. The

All that was left of the snippets after die-cutting

patterned panel, which features a very subtle pattern, was run through an embossing folder for some added texture and interest.

The flower and greenery were cut from some snippets of white and green paper, then arranged on ghe page along with a sentiment stamped of the same bit of paper as the flower was cut from. A satin bow was added. The edges of the embossed panel and the sentiment were run lighly over the ink pad for a little definition.

This card is for these challenges:

Word Art Wednesday # 673 -- anything goes

Snippets Playground #493 --use snippets

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Week 2445 -- anything goes

Can You handle the pressure? -- use an embossing folder

Thinking of you .... a latte

This card started with the inapiration photo that Inspiration Station has posted. I was inspired by the warm autumn colors and the juxtaposition of a warm drink with a colorful pumpkin. This digi image from Stamplorations seemed a good representation of that juxtaposition, and it was perfect for one of my favorite techniuqes, paper piecing. I dug out some snippets, including patterned papers to use for the paper piecing and cardstock for the various layers. Originally I was going to create a sentiment that said "thinking of you a latte," but decided to limit the groan factor and played it straight.

Inspiration photo

         

some snippets used/considered

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Inspiration Station #67 -- inspired by image theme and colors

Double Trouble #179 -- lotsa layers (main challenge and 2 twist challenges)

Coffee Lovers Fall/winter blog hop -- coffee theme

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- thinking of you

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- thinking of you

Snippet Playground #492 -- use snippets (all paper piecing and all layered elements,)

Word Art Wednesday #673 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #224 -- use an image

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2444 -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday #44 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #129 -- anything goes

Fun with masking

 

Ardyth has a tutorial at SCS where she uses masking and stenciling to create a sort of impressionistic holly wreath. I took her idea of masking (creating a reverse mask with the negative from a big circle and the positive of a smaller circle), but I stamped a small square stamp repeatedly instead of stenciling to fill in the wreath. I used about 4 different shades of pink ink. The result looks a little like a one of those wreaths made by weaving ribbon around a wreath form. Ardyth also suggested blending some gray ink on the inner and outer edges of the wreath, and it really does make a difference and gives the image some dimension.  To complete the card, I punched some small silver circles to embellish the wreath, added a pink-ombre bow and embossed a sentiment in silver.

I chose pink because it's breast cancer awareness months, and the Jingle Belles are donating to breast cancer research for every card entered in their pink gallery. Grab some pink supplies, create a card ad enter it.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jingle Belles -- pink cards for the cure

ABC Christmas - U is for unusual Christmas colors

Word Art Wednesday #669 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2441 -- anything goes

Guitar celebration

 

 

Made a card for a friend who enjoys guitars. I didn't have a guitar image, so I found this clipart online and printed it on pale blue cardstock. Die-cut it into a circle, then die-cut several thin circles from snippets of different cool colored card stock. Used them as intertwined frams around the circle.  Found a really intersting piece of patterned paper wit some foil diamond shapes that provided an interesting contrast to all those circles and used that as background for the image.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- patterned paper

Snippets Playground #490-- use snippets (see photo)

Word Art Wednesday #669 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2440 -- anything goes

A cut Above -- anything goes with die-cuts

Crafts Galore Encore #128 -- anything goes

Fall leaves

We are currently getting a ton of wind and rain, so the trees may lose their leaves before the leaves actually turn fall colors. However. I made a card celebrating fall leaves.

This card employs a ton of colorful snippets (see photo at left), which were die-cut into a variety of leave shapes.

The idea for the card started with the frame, which is a piece of kraft-colored card stock embossed in a 3D wood-texture embossing folder. I rubbed a darker brown ink pad over the EF to get a better defined texture.) The center was cut out with a rectangular die to create the frame look. It's mounted on a paper with a fall leaf pattern on it, then the leaves were arranged down one side. I added the bit of ribbon on the top left side to balance it out. The card still felt like it needed something, so I added a small sentiment. Fall leaves make me happy, so I went with "happiness."

This card is entered in thse challenges:

Double D -- fall leaves

Double Trouble #175 -- punch or die-cut

Time Out -- inspired by words -- a quote about the beauty of fall

Snippets Playground #480 -- use snippets

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Harvest time

 It's time for my annual card with flocking. That's kind of a joke, but it does seem about once each fall I use brown flocking as a sunflower center. (And most springs, I used some pink and white Flower Soft for flowering cherry trees.) I bought those supplies, I should use them! If you have ideas for using flocking and Flower Soft outside those two scenarios, please leave a comment.

This is just a fun little autumn scene featuring lots of autumny stuff, like pumpkins, sunflowers, and the harvest moon. There's Wink of Stella on the moon to give it a little sparkle, using more supplies. (That little sentiment flag is another item that's been in the drawer for ages -- it's a blank sticker I stamped on.)

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2438 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #222 -- must use an image

Creative Inspirations -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #127 -- anything goes

CAS rower

 

Kayaking is a favorite vacation activity of mine, but I don't have a kayak stamp so I went with a canoe. The image is black embossed on a white snippet. Various distress inks were sponged on to create a glowing sunset, then the image was cut out with a stitched circle die, The sentiment is white embossed on a dark blue snippet cut to fit on a card.  Because of the simple, peaceful image, I decided to keep the card very clean and simple. (I considered adding sequins in the upper right, but they just didn't look appropriate.)

This card is entered in these challenges:

Paper Funday Challenge #68 -- Vacation

Die-cut Divas --  emboss (image and sentiment heat embossed)

Word Art Wednesday #663 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2434  -- anything goes

Double D -- use a shape (circle)

Pattie's Creations #221 -- use an image 

Snippets Playground #487 -- use snippets

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday --- anything goes

Sunflowers

 

How about a fall-ish card?  Not because it's feeling like fall yet,, although the leaves are showing a little red (probably due  to stress from 4 inches of rain one week, then none for a couple weeks).

I started by grabbing some snippets in green and yellow, as well as white to stamp on. (see photo on left; I pulled a couple of shades of each color so I could choose what to work with.) The sunflowers are from Clearly Besotted, with the flowers stamped in Chalk inks and the leaves in dye ink. The sentiment uses the same ink as the center of the sunflower.

The green layer is embossed with a leafy folder, and the yellow layer is stamped with a background pattern stamp in the same yellow ink used for the sunflower. Added a fall-ish ribbon and sentiment to finish it off.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Snippets Playground #468 -- use snippets

Die Cut Divas -- use embossing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment

Can You Handle the Pressure -- machine embossing

Word Art Wednesday #661 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2432 -- anything goes

Paper Funday #68 -- anything goes

 

 

Snowman through a window

 I love it when a card just falls together. I knew I wanted to use this image, and I knew which die I wanted to use for the aperture to begin with. Using the snowflake EF was a last minute decision that worked out perfectly, with the red base caed for contrast. I used a ton of foam tape to hold up the embossed layer, but it's not super thick tape, so hopefully this will mail easily.

This card is entered in these challenges.

Can You Handle the Pressure -- use an embossing folder.

Double Trouble #171-- all 3 parts -- aperature/snow/partner site

Jingle Belles -- Dashing through the snow

Word Art Wednesday #657 -- anything goes

Rudolph Days -- anything Christmas

Patties Creations #220 -- use any image

Watercolored posies

 This is a very simple card using something I painted when playing with watercolors recently. I used a few snippets on the base card, then added the painting and an embossed sentiment. Can't get any simpler than that.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double D -- basket of posies. (Just posies this time; I did a basket card earlier)

Simon Say Stamp Monday --Add a sentiment

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- beautiful blossoms

Word Art Wednesday #657 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2429 -- anything goes

Basket of Apples

It might be only the middle of July, but the school buses are out practicing their routes here, so I'm taking that as a sign that fall is on its way. And what says fall better than an apple?

I used a digi from Beccy's Place as the central image, colored with pencils and die-cut with a circle die and a bit of out-of-the-box cutting on the lower right side.  The red panel is embossed with a folder from Poppy Crafts. The sentiment is from Purple Onion.  A few small gems were added for a little sparkle.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double D-- basket of posies: I just went with the basket option

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- add a sentiment

Can You Handle the Pressure? -- use an EF

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2429 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #657 --anything goes
 

Dotty snowflakes

 How's that for a non-traditional Christmas card? I used non-holiday prints (polka dots), embossed the panel with snowflakes, and added an acrylic strip to have the die-cut snowflakes "floating",

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jingle Belles -- embossable

ABC Christmas -- N is for No stamping

Can You Handle the Pressure -- use dry embossing

Word Art Wednesday #657 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2428 -- anything goes

Sweet birds

 

These are supposed to be mourning doves -- I know, their necks are too thick, but this is the bird die I have, so roll with it. To create this scene, I die-cut the birds from a snippet of light gray card stock and die-cut the light blue circle from another snippet. (You can see the leftovers in the photo to the right, along with the last bit of the patterned paper snippet I used.) Among my envelopes full of shapes I've already die-cut I found some greenery and another, larger dark blue circle that worked well to frame the circle and create a little scene with the birds.

The patterned paper is an ancient piece from Anna Griffin -- I remember loving it when I first got it, and I was happy to stumble upon what's probably the last snippet I have of it.

The theme for Die Cut Divas this month is "your favorite die cut shapes." While I have many dies I like of all shapes, I have to say the circle is by far the most generally usable and versatile shape. I'm pretty sure the first dies I purchased were nesting circles, and I still use them regularly. I really like the stitched look, so this stitched circle is also one of my faves.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Die-Cut Divas -- favorite die cut shape

Snippets Playground #483-- Use snippets

Word Art Wednesday #653 -- anything goes

 Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2425 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #124 -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Flowery minislimline

 I haven't been feeling creative lately, and sometimes I find that entering a challenge will give me the inspiration I need to make something. I find the push with the Double Trouble challenge to make a mini slimline care (something I rarely do) and use a floral image (something I like to do).

I chose an autumny-looking image from From the Heart (It has oak leaves and acorns), and  found a snippet of patterned paper that could provide some ideas for colors (since I knew I wanted a purple flower). The flowers are colored in pencils, and the panel was edged with lavender ink. Lavender baker's twine is wrapped the panel, which is popped up  at a slight angle on the patterned panel, which also is edged in lavender. For a little sparkle, there are three clear sequins on the bottom part of the card and three clear sequins on the top part.

This card is being entered in these challenges:

Double Trouble #169 -- slimline, flowers, partner site

Ellibelle's I Spy with My Little Eye #16 -- Something blooming lovely

Snippets Playground #482 -- use snippets

Pattie's Creations #219 -- use an image

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2424 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #653 -- anything goes

Father's Day card

Both my Dad and my FIL were big camera buffs. TBH, neither was a particularly good photographer, even though they invested in some good equipment. I decided to ignore the being a good photographer part in this card for my FIL (My dad is no longer with us or I'd make one fpr him, too.)

The card is a mini slimline. For the main panel, I created a sentiment on the computer,printed the sheet nd cut to size. Then I stenciled the herringbone pattern in Creamy Caramel and added the camera image on pop dots. (The camera is from Stamplorations, in a pack of camera die-cuts, some pre-colored and some not). I put photo holder corners on each corner of the panel, then attached to a kraft card.

This card is for these challenges:

Stencils are our Game -- Anything goes

Double Trouble #167 -- For the Blue challenge: masculine card (with kraft and entered in a partners challenge)

Paper Funday #65 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #649 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2421 -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

 

Reading girl

 I have a vast file of digi stamps in my computer, and sometimes I go looking through them to see what I haven't used before. I found this sweet image from Bugaboo of a little girl reading. As a reader myself, I thought it would be fun to use.

The image is colored with pencils. As the image is drawn, she's just sitting on a line, so I sort of stetched in some sort of bench/ottoman for her to be sitting on. I found some fun patterned papers for the background and added embellishments in the form of a couple mismatched acrylic dots and a snippet of ribbon. I used glossy accents on her glasses, but I think my bottle has gone bad. Instead of getting glossy, they look sort of milky. I guess that's what happens when something sits unused.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- patterned paper

Double D -- polka dots

Double Trouble #166 -- Unused and mismatched stash (image and dots)

Creative Inspirations -- feminine

CRAFT #720 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #647 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2419 -- anything goes

 

Flower wreath

 

Sometimes you just want a lot of color. I used a ton of snippets to die-cut flowers and greenery, then arranged them into a wreath. Added clear gems to the centers of the smaller flowers. All are adhered to a light tan panel with stitched edging, then on a white card. 

I used a very old SU sentiment in black ink.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- diecuts

Word Art Wednesday #647 -- anything goes

Snippets Playground #480 --  use snippets

The Paper Funday #65 -- twist/flowershop

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2419 -- anything goes

 

Dragonfly

 I don't usually do collage-type backgrounds, but I decided to try one. I started by stenciling in various shakes of pink and plum, then added some script, followed by some flowers, which I stamped in multiple generations. The dragonfly is black-embossed, and I added a few gems in the left lower corner. If I decide to add a sentiment, I can stamp it on a strip and choose the placement.

The main panel is mounted on black, which was a rectangle that I cut on the diagonal to add a little interest, and then mounted on a lavender card.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Ellibelle's I Spy with my little eye -- something with wings

Double Trouble #165 -- something/anything. (Thing 1 --make a project, and thing 2, enter in a partner's challenge)

Word Art Wednesday #645 -- anything goes

Stencils Are Our Game -- April challenge anything goes/flowers optional

Monochromatic CAS

 Isn't there a saying that goes something like: there's nothing simple about clean and simple? 

Or no, is it just me? Anyway, I tried my hand at a CAS card today, inspired by this video the ladies at Double Trouble shared. 

To create my card, I stamped the branch multiple times in multiple directions -- the darkest impressions were inked two or three times while the lighter ones were stamped once. Then I added an embossed sentiment -- truth is, I planned to emboss it in white and I thought I'd picked up the white EP, but it turned out to be clear. However, I think the clear EP works just fine, adding another shade of blue to the card. The final touch was adding three small, clear sequins, for the tiniest bit of sparkle.

This is an excellent technique for creating masculine cards, too.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double Trouble #164 -- meeting all 3 criteria: CAS,, colored cardstock, entered at partner site

Crafter's Cafe #307 -- CAS

Crafts Galore Encore #122 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2415 -- anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #644 -- anything goes

Stencils and diecuts

 

I've had the idea for this card for a while, but I finally got around to making it this week.  I started by stenciling the stone fence on either side of the gate, using a mix of a slate-colored ink and a caramel colored ink. Then I sponged in the sky, added a torn piece of dark-green cardstock for the ground, and added the die-cut gate. The foliage on either side of the gate is die-cut in a variety of leaf and stem shapes, and the flowers were punched from snippets of dusky pink and daffodil yellow paper. For a sentiment, I die-cut a cloud and stamped the sentiment.  To the left of the gate, I stamped a butterfly.

 This card is entered in these challenges:

The Butterfly Challenge #194 -- die-cuts, 3 colors (dark green, dusky pink, daffodil), and butterfly-

Stencils Fun Challenge -- stenciled brick fence

Die-cut Divas -- Anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #639 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies 2411 -- anything goes

 

It's not easy being green

 It's beginning to look like spring with the grass and trees greening up, so I made a green card. I found this cute image of a frog and used it as a jump off point. The image is colored with pencils, with some Nuvo drops in the centers of the flowers for a little dimension. I used snippets of green patterned papers for the flags, snippets of orange to frame the image and the computer-generated sentiment, and a larger green green snippet for the card front.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Bit o' green

Snippets Playground # 476: snippets

Word Art Wednesday #639 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2411 -- anything goes

 

 

Never too much happy

 

Today's card was inspired by the inspiration photo The Inspiration Station has posted as Prompt #59. It is a scene from a St. Patrick's Day parade, and I was inspired by the bright colors and joyful attitude of the two people featured in the photo. My mind immediately went to this image, because what's more joyful than dancing? 

The image is black embossed and colored with watercolors. I mounted it on a patterned panel to frame it, then off-set that panel on a green card. The sentiment is "you can never have too much happy." I added lines with gold gel pen around the edges of all three panels and added some gold-colored gems as embellishments.

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Inspiration Station #59 -- inspired by photo 

Double Trouble #161 --first two options -- green/ and gold/gold embellishments

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #638 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2409 == anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes

Fat cat

 

In my next life, I want to be a houseeat. How about you?

I created this scene by stamping, coloring and fussy cutting the cat from The Alley Way stamps. Then I set about creating a really comfy room for him to reign over, using patterned paper for the wood floor and wallpaper. The textured rug is an embossed piece of cardstock cut with an oval die. The ball of yarn is baker's twine. The sentiment is computer generated and die cut.  

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- fur or feathers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #637 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2408 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #216-- Use an image.

TXT XMAS

 Christmas challenges are such a great way to build up a stash of holiday cards over the year while allowing you to make lots of different cards.  This card was inspired by the Jingle Belles challenge to use mostly text. I let some patterned paper do all the work here, delivering a variety of text greetings for Christmas. The embellishment is a silk poinsettia and a little snip of ribbon.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jingle Belles- Christmas card mostly text

Rudolph days -- anything Christmas

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2408 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #635-- anything goes

Hoppiness is a good pun

Sorry for the punny title, I couldn't resist.

I'm trying out a simple fun fold with this card. It's an easy one but it adds a little interest to the card.

For this card, I took a kangaroo die-cut and built a scene around it with a couple snippets of patterned paper. I torn the green print to create "ground" and used the blue print for the sky. Both pieces are adhered to a white snippet, with a similar sized white snippet on the inside.  The base card is black. For a sentiment, I used "hoppy" from one set and "birthday" from another, stamped them on a white snippet, trimmed them and stacked them in the upper corner.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double Trouble #160 --(fun fold/hopping animal, enter with partner site)

Creative Creases #76 -- anything goes with a fun fold

Snippets Playground #474 (use snippets -- photo, bottom right)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies # 2407--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #635 -- anything goes

 

Birthday flowers

 Today's card features a stamp and die set that I've had for a while and rarely use. (It also has a sunflower stamp and die. I think I've used that, but I think this might be the debut of the roses.) The colors were inspired by the Mood Board at Beautiful Blossoms. I stamped and cut the pieces, then arranged them on a white panel embossed with hearts and cut with a stitched edge die.The lavender rose overlaps the red/pink one and is popped up to add a little dimension to the card. The sentiment is stamped in the same green as the leaves and edged with lavender ink. 

This card is entering these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms #14 -- florals

Time Out #257 -- it's there 10th birthday!

Can You Handle the Pressure? -- use an embossing folder (red/pink optional)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2406 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #635 -- anything goes

Literally love in the air

 I found this cute image while looking through my digistamps, and it seemed appropriate with all of the hearts and love challenges going on. (Each little envelope has a tiny heart on it).

I made a gatefold card. The two flaps are covered by pink-striped cardstock that has been embossed with a folder that features hearts and horizontal stripes. (I put Wink of Stella on the hearts to highlight them, but I think my Winky pen has gone bad, as it left a solid white residue. I tried cleaning it off, and the result was sort of a distressed look on the hearts.) The main image was stamped on a white snippet, which I die-cut and mounted on a light pink snippet. In the lower right corners, the sentiment "with love" was die-cut from a medium pink snippet.

This card is for these challenges: 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: love is in the air

Double D -- heartfelt

Double Trouble #159-- Love is in the air

Word Art Wednesday #633  anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2406 -- anything goes

Snippets Playground #473 -- use snippets

Can You Handle the Pressure -- dry embossing (pink/red optional)

Pattie's Creations 215-- anything goes

Old and New

 

 I don't usually make valentine cards, but I had fun with this one mixing vintage and modern elements. Unlike most cards I make, I started working on this by taking everything out of my disorganized drawer full of items that could be used on a card and seeing what looked good. Here's what I found:

• A small, vintage-looking card (the size of a gift tag) of a sweet girl {I remember buying the set at a thrift store maybe a decade ago]
• A acrylic heart [From about the same period, purchased at Target, probably The Dollar Spot]
• A red-ribbon styled chipboard sticker with the sentiment You're the Best. The flowered pattern picks up all the colors from the portrait so it ties things together.

So, I chose some vintagey-looking patterned paper and put it all together. What do  you think?

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Have a Heart

Word Art Wednesday #631  -- anything goes

Double Trouble #158 -- something, anything (parts 1 and 3)

Crafting Happiness #159 -- Vintage

recycled shine

 

Sometime last year, I received a swap card where the sender had ripped off a bit of printed paper and scrawled the name of the swap and her name on the back, then slipped it in the card so I knew what it was for. When I looked at the paper she used, I thought it was gorgeous, so I've kept it, looking for a use for it. Today's the day to recycle it!

The paper is the butterfly patterned piece you see above, and that piece is pretty much the total bit she used (if you pulled the card apart, you'd see her scrawled message on the back of that paper.) Unfortunately, the awesome gold shine isn't really visible in the photo because it photographed looking almost white in some spots.

To show off the paper, I die-cut an aperture in a piece of kraft colored paper and embossed it, using it as a frame for the pretty butterflies, then attached it to a white card. For the sentiment, I die-cut a small circle from blue shimmer paper, added a sparkly gold-embossed sentiment and a sparkly blue butterfly. 

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- recycle (butterfly print paper)

Double D -- sparkle and shine

Can You Handle the Pressure -- use an embossing folder

Word Art Wednesday #631 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2403 -- anything goes