Some Bunny Loves You

I have two cards for you today.  Both of them were made with the bunny stamp from the Valentine Pals stamp set.*  I also used my photo paper backgrounds for both cards. You can read more about that technique HERE..

For the first card, I used the Decorative Hearts die set* and cut the largest heart from Bubble Gum and Sweet Berry cardstock. I also cut a smaller heart from Journey Vellum using one of the hearts from the Heart-Felt die set* and stamped, "Some bunny love you" with Black Licorice ink*.  Ink that has been stamped on vellum takes quite a bit longer to dry, so you may want to heat set it.  After it's dry, tuck the bottom of the small heart under the design in the large heart and use a couple small spots of glue behind the lettering to secure it in place.

I stamped the bunnies for both cards on Whip Cream Card Stock * and colored them very lightly with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens.  for each bunny, I stamped the balloons a couple times on one of my pink photo paper backgrounds, cut out the center balloon and layered it over the others using foam tape.

The green strip across the bottom of the card is the leftover piece of a watercolor background I created some time ago.  I finished it off with a triple bow made from Silver Journey Thread.*

The next card is even easier.

I cut the hearts from Whip Cream* and Candy Apple* cardstock using the Heart-Felt die set.*

I cut a 1.25" x 4" strip from Rock Candy cardstock.  It's a little hard to see, but I stamped the small heart from the Valentine Pals stamp set* on it repeatedly using Candy Apple ink.*

Before securing the background to the card base, I tied a pink organza ribbon around it.  I finished it all off with a sprinkling of Pink World sequins.

* denotes an affiliate link. I may be paid a small commission if you purchase items using these links - see my disclosure for details.

I Wuff You

Oh my! What a cute puppy. This is another stamp from the Valentine Pals stamp set*. Don't you just love him? I started by stamping him on  Whip Cream* cardstock with Black Licorice True Color Fusion ink*. Next, I colored him with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers (TN1, TN2, TN3, PP1 and BP2).  One of the things I really like about the FSJ Fusion inks is that you can color them with just about any medium without having to worry about the ink smearing.

Do you like that background?  I made it with Liquid Color*, coffee filters and photo paper.  It's a really fun (and messy) technique.  I made a video tutorial a few months ago. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/_pn8k-3zpgo

I used the Decorative Hearts die set* to cut the heart from Whip Cream* and Bubble Gum* cardstock.  The 1.5" x 4" floral paper strip is from the Follow Your Heart Prints paper pack*.
Next, I added some pink organza ribbon and a tag and finished it off with some Pink World sequins*. It was really fairly quick and simple and oh so cute!

* denotes an affiliate link. I may be paid a small commission if you purchase items using these links - see my disclosure for details.

Mice to Know You!

Valentine's day is coming soon and here is an adorable card you can make for a friend or loved one.

Isn't that little mouse cute?  It's part of a set of four critters from the Valentine Pals stamp set* from Fun Stamper's Journey.  If you don't like fussy cutting there's also a matching die set.*

Construction:

 I started with a Sweet Berry* card base and added a background I made several months ago using Liquid Color and photo paper.  You can read more about that technique HERE..

Next, I cut a 1.25" x 4" border strip from a sheet out of the Follow Your Heart Prints paper pack* and adhered that about 1/2" up from the bottom of the card.  I positioned the small striped strip from Deco Strips - Black Sticker Strips* about 1/4" down from the top of the gray border.

Then, I used the medium sized heart from the Decorative Hearts die set* to cut a heart from Bubble Gum cardstock* and a background from Whip Cream cardstock*.  Then, starting from the outer edges, I inked each of them with Sweet Berry true color fusion ink* so that the outer edges are darker than the centers.  Once that was done, I adhered the two pieces together and adhered them, slightly tilted, to the left side of the card.

I stamped the mouse onto Whip Cream cardstock* and colored it with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers: IG1, IG2, FS5, and BP2. After coloring it I used the die from the the matching die set* and popped it up on medium foam squares* on the right side of the heart.

I used the smallest heart from the Heart Felt die set* to cut a heart from Rustic Rose cardstock* and stamped "Mice to know you" from the Valentine Pals stamp set*. I popped that up on medium foam squares* just above and to the right of the large heart.

Embossed Hearts and a Frenzy of Flowers

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

This card was inspired by a sketch challenge on Journey Sketches.  It combines several different techniques and products. I made the background with my Gel Press.  I inked it up with Pretty Amethyst and Bubble Gum ink and used the Flower Party stamp set to make the pattern.  I love how it turned out!  The dark strip behind the heart is a left-over scrap from another background I made on the Gel Press.

I used two different embossing folders to emboss the hearts and I really love how the silver Inka-Gold makes the embossing on the darker heart pop!

Instructions

• Cut a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" card blank from Lemon Grass card stock and fold it in half.
• Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" mat from Bubble Gum card stock
• Use the Journey Gel Press to make the background with Pretty Amethyst and Bubble Gum ink and the Flower Party Stamp Set.  Cut it to 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"
• Cut a 3 1/4" wide heart from Pretty Pansy cardstock and emboss it with the Fancy Flourish embossing folder.  Put a little silver Inka-Gold on a paper towel and brush it over the top of the embossed pattern.
• Cut a 2 1/2" wide heart from Bubble Gum card stock. Position it over the flowers on the Post Card embossing folder and emboss.  Use a dauber or a cosmetic wedge to brush Pretty Amethyst ink over the raised portion on the debossed side.
• Cut a 2" x 3 7/8" strip from the leaf patterned paper
• Cut a 1 1/2" x 3 7/8" strip from a scrap of dark purple paper (I used left overs from another Gel Press project)
• Center the dark purple rectangle over the leaf print rectangle and glue them to the Flower Party Panel 5/8" in from the left edge.
• Cut a 6" length of organza ribbon and center it over the stacked stips as shown, attaching the ends to the back of the Flower Party panel with glue or double-sided tape.
• Affix the Flower Party panel to the Bubble Gum Mat and the Bubble Gum Mat to the card blank.
• Center the embossed Pretty Pansy heart over the vertical panels and adhere it with glue or double-sided tape.
• Pop the embossed Bubble Gum heart up on Journey Foam Squares and center it over the Pretty Pansy heart.
• Stamp three small leaf sets from the Pretty Petals stamp set onto Sweet Pear card stock with Lemon Grass ink.  Fussy cut around the leaves or use the Pretty Petals die set to cut them out.
• Use the Tattered Blooms Minis die to cut flowers from Whip Cream card stock. Set three of the flowers on a foam mat (a mouse pad or scrap of fun foam works well for this).  Using the large ball of the Journey Tool, press down in the center of the flowers, rubbing in a circular motion to give them a cupped shape. Glue a small slowflake shaped sequin to the center of three flowers, then glue small purple rainbow drops to the center of the sequins.
• Glue the leaves and flowers to the card as shown.
• Cut an oval from Bubble Gum card stock and stamp the Happy Valentines Day sentiment on it with Pretty Pansy ink.  Mat it on Pretty Pansy card stock. Pop it up on Journey foam squares and add it to the lower right side of the card.

Supply List

Here is the list of Fun Stampers Journey products I used to make this card.

Heart-Felt Die Set *
Tattered Bloom Minis Cutting Die *
Pretty Petals Stamp Set (Retired)
Pretty Petals Die Set (Retired)
Annual Celebration Stamp Set *
Flower Party Stamp Set (Retired)
Lemon Grass Cardstock *
Bubble Gum card stock *
Pretty Pansy Cardstock *
Sweet Pear card stock *
Pretty Amethyst Ink pad *
Bubble Gum Ink Pad *
Pretty Pansy Ink Pad *
Lemon Grass Ink Pad *
Journey Gel Press *
Journey Foam Squares - Medium *
Special Day Organza Ribbon *
Spring Filled Prints (Retired)
Journey Sequins Holiday Elements *
Rainbow Drops *

I also used these products from other suppliers.
Silver Inka-Gold
Fancy Flourish Embossing Folder (Paper Wishes)
Post Card Embossing Folder (Paper Wishes)

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Milk Carton Valentine Treat Box

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

It's February already!  Where has the time gone?  Do you have something for your Valentine?  Here's an adorable treat box I made with the Milk Carton die *

The Milk Carton die is approximately 8.5" x 11" so you will need to use a larger die cutting machine such as the Journey Platinum *.

Instructions:

Cut the milk carton from Bubble Gum card stock, then use the larger heart from the Basic Box Window Plates Die to cut the heart shaped windows from two of the sides. Cut two, 2" squares from Sweet Berry card stock and glue them behind the heart shaped windows.  Center the smaller heart die inside the larger window cut-out and cut the inner window.  Attach a piece of Acetate inside each window.

Now you're ready to assemble the milk carton.  Here's a quick tutorial: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrUDBDGQWrM

After assembling the milk carton, attach the smaller heart cut-outs to the non-window sides of the milk carton.  Use the Tattered Blooms Minis die or your favorite punch to cut some small flowers from Whip Cream card stock. Add a flower with a pink sequin center and some leaves near the edge of each of the Sweet Berry hearts.

Stamp a tag with the Happy Valentine's Day stamp. Attach the tag and a double bow to a miniature clothes pin or a clip and use it to hold the milk carton shut.

Supply List:

Milk Carton die *

Basic Box Window Plates Die (Retired)

Annual Celebration Stamp Set *

Tattered Bloom Minis Cutting Die *

Bubble Gum card stock *

Sweet Berry card stock *

Whip Cream card stock *

Journey Sequins Pink World *

Light pink organza ribbon
Miniature clothes pin
10 Tags & Trims Cutting Die Set from Paper Wishes.

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Forever In My Heart

I have some more freebies for you; three sets of papers, two patterns and several quick pages for dimensional paper hearts.  These will only be available until July 28, 2013 so be sure to grab them right away.

Honeychurch

Made in the USA

Summer Sorbet

Here’s a card I made with one of the quick pages and the free digital papers that are included in the HoneyChurch set.

The quick page I chose makes a heart that gets thicker toward the center.  The patterns and quick pages, when printed full size (8.5” x 11”), make a fairly large heart.  Since I wanted something I could put on a card, I reduced my chosen quick page 1/4 size.  I designed the front of the card in MyMemories Suite 4.  It was very quick and easy to do.  First I added a 4.75” x 6.5” rectangle and filled it with the Aqua paper included in the kit, then I added the shapes I wanted and filled them with paper.  When I was done, printed it, cut it out and added it to the front of a card blank. 

The instructions for the heart, posted on the MyMemories site say to print two copies, but if you want the paper to show on both sides, you will need to print four copies.  After cutting the strips out, arrange them in pairs, back to back so the color will show on both sides. 

After making the heart, I glued it to the front of the card, then I added a layered heart dazzle to the center and border dazzles along the edges.

As always, you do not need MyMemories Suite 4 to use the papers and templates, but it does make it easier.

If you’d like to purchase MyMemories Suite 4, be sure to use coupon code STMMMS97442 to receive $10 off the purchase price plus a $10 gift certificate to use in the My Memories online store.

Z-Fold Valentine

Today’s card was inspired by the January 25 Creative Spark e-mail from Paper Wishes.  Rather than use the pattern supplied, I came up with my own modification which I posted on the Paper Wishes forum.

Here’s the front of the card…

… and the inside panels.

Except for the doilies, the papers are all from PaperWishes.  The stickers are from the Mix ‘ems Heart pack.  I don’t have very many stamps from PaperWishes yet so those are from a Valentine set I bought years ago. The labels are from the Layered Labels template.  I found the Forever Friend poem on scrapbook.com.  I tried to use fonts that matched the attributes in the poem.  That was quite a challenge!

Paper Pieced Valentine's Card

I have had a serious creativity block this week.  Finally today, I managed to come up with something, but only after staring at my supplies for what seemed like hours.

This one is really simple. 

• Draw or trace a heart on plain paper for the pattern
• Use a ruler and drew lines on it to divide it into sections.
• Use a light box to trace the sections onto different pieces of patterned paper
• Distress the edges of the heart pieces with white ink
• Glue all of the pieces onto red card stock, leaving about 1/16th inch between them.
• Cut out out around the heart. 
• Use the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl embossing folder to Emboss a piece of 4" x 5.25"
• Cut four corners using the corner die from the Cuttlebug Vintage die set.
• Mount the vellum on a white card blank
• Add the corners and the heart.

Some Bunny Loves You!

I had the day off today, so of course, I spent some time making cards.  Here is a Valentine's card I made that combines iris folding and 3-D decoupage.

 

For the iris folding, I drew a heart with one of my graphics programs and used it as a pattern for the cut-out.  I used the largest triangle from my iris folding triangle template which can be found here:
http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/pdf/triangleIris.pdf

The iris folding paper is gift wrap I purchased some time ago at the dollar store.

For the crowning touch, I used this little bunny from Colleen Parry's Petals and Patches collection at PCCrafter.  Isn't she adorable?  The decoupage was done in five layers and didn't take very long at all.  When using more than three layers for decoupage, I use card stock between the layers instead of double-stick foam squares, otherwise it makes the card too thick to mail.

List of materials:

• A2 Red glittered card blank from DCWV
• White card stock (print the bunny on this)
• Pink card stock (print Some Bunny Loves You on this)
• Fiolex Girls font
• X-Acto knife
• Drawing software (or draw heart free-hand)
• Three different colors of giftwrap cut in 1" wide strips (about 18" of each color)
• Heart jewel
• PSX Mini heart brads
• 5 copies of Bunny from the Petals and Patches collection at PCCrafter printed about 3 inches high.
• Precision tip scissors
• Glue

You can find detailed instructions for iris folding here:
http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/irisinst.html

A Victorian Valentine with Tea Bag Folding

I have been looking through the sampling of Valentine's Day cards in the Treasury of Greeting Card Designs from Dover and I find it interesting to observe the differences in today's Valentine's Day cards and those done in the late 1800's.

Two of the changes I noticed right away are that the cards of yesteryear used the color red much more sparingly and frequently incorporated violets, a flower which is not seen nearly as often in today's Valentine's cards. Roses were also popular, but were usually interspersed with other flowers as well.

Here's a card I made using one of the images from the Dover treasury as a base.

To create the tiles for the tea bag medallion, I loaded the image into Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 and zoomed in on the violets that were in the lower left corner. Here's the tile:

I printed it out at 1.75 x 1.75 inches. The fold I used can be found here:

http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/tbstar.php

After folding the medallion, I gave it a border by mounting it on two, two-inch squares of dark green card stock. I also added a little pink jewel-flower to the center.

Materials & equipment used to make this card:

• 4" x 6" card blank (ivory)
• Art from Treasury of Greeting Card Designs
• 8 tea bag tiles
• Gold peel-off border
• Queen & Co. flower-shaped jewel
• Tea bag folding instructions
• Dark green card stock.

Valentine, I love you beary much!

I love paper piecing!  It is a great way to use up scraps and you never quite know what you are going to end up with.  I wasn't sure if the brown paper I chose for this little guy was going to work out.  I was a little worried that he might look like he has chicken pox!  Now that he's done, I think he's cute!

 

I have a light box, so I scanned the pattern, then used the light box to trace the pieces directly onto the paper I planned to cut them from.  It's much easier than tracing and transferring. I also cheated a little bit on this one.  Normally, would trace the pieces in pencil, cut them out and mat them on black card stock.  After that, I would trim the card stock, leaving a 1/8 to 1/16 inch black border, but I ran out of black card stock and there weren't any craft stores open late at night, so I just traced the pattern pieces with black ink. That was MUCH faster, and I think it looks almost as good as the other way.

This pattern came from one of my favorite resources for paper piecing,  a book called 202 Paper Piecing Patterns by Annie Lang.  I bought my copy several years ago, so I don't know if you can still get it. If you can, it's well worth picking up.  It includes clear instructions on how to use the patterns as well as completed full color examples of each one.  And of course, the art is just plain adorable!

I have done several other cards using patterns from this book.  A few of them can be seen at: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/paperpiece.html

Two Hearts Cut and Fold

I was supposed to do my homework tonight, so naturally, I made a card instead.  I'll do my homework tomorrow, I promise! (I'm beginning to sound like my kids!)

Since Valentine's day is just around the corner, I decided to make a Valentine's card.  I like doing cut and fold, so I created a new pattern.  This one is much simpler than the other ones I have made.

The cut and fold for this one turned out fine, but I'm really not all that crazy about the rest of the card.

You can find the cut and fold pattern at : http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/cutandfold.php