Who Loves You? - Owl Valentine

Hello all! I wanted to sneak in a post today to enter some challenges.  I had half of an idea on how to use this owl (which is actually from a Halloween set) with some other products in my stash to make a Valentine.  The rest of the idea came to me this morning.  

I die cut a heart in my pink cardstock and then embossed it with a woodgrain folder. I used a tan inkpad direct-to-paper to bring out the embossing.  I used some foiled pattered paper behind this, and then nestled my owl right in there.  

The inside of the card has a sentiment that I stamped out with an alphabet set.  

I think I know just the little girl to send this to.  

I’d love to enter Art Impressions Shades of Pink Challenge, ModSquad Challenge Animal Stamps, and SimonSaysStamp’s Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Supplies:  Art Impressions SC0735 Fright Night stamp and die set, Hero Arts Log Letters and Numbers alphabet stamp set,  Sizzix Thinlets Sentiment words dies, Firefly Hearts die set, Darice Woodgrain Embossing folder, Hero Arts Soft Sand ink, Gina K Dark Chocolate ink

January Carnations - Flower of the Month Card

Hello!  The Carnation is the Birth Flower for January and I always like to make a card for the flower-of-the-month, if I can.  I usually have used this stamp to color in, and I just sortof decide what color I want, but this time I wanted to use the stamp as a background.

I simply stamped the Jumbo - January Carnation in Gina K Wild Lilac ink, onto lavender  cardstock and die cut the panel.

I then cut out a sentiment in white cardstock, and used the same purple stamping ink to color the die cut.  I layered this over a sentiment cut from glitter cardstock, and voila, my card is finished. 

This stamp does come in a smaller version, as to all in the Birth Flowers series.  These are probably my favorite stamps in the entire I Brake for Stamps store.  (As always, save 10% on your entire order using my code SAVE10HEIDI)

I’d love to participate in WordArtWednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Thank you for visiting today! Have a wonderful day!

Coffee Cup Christmas Card set

It is the 25th of the month, so it is time for the Rudolph Days challenge!  I knew that I would need to make a card set this month in order to meet my monthly goal.  I also decided that I will keep a tally of total Christmas cards for the year at the bottom of each Christmas card post this year.  

I had a new stamp set I wanted to work with. I stamped the coffee cup in 5 different colors, added the cup outline in black, and then created a different card layout for each one.

The first card uses some cool patterned paper, a punched snowflake and gems.  

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes!

I really love this red, white and black card.  I embossed the background with an old Martha Stewart folder, and used little coffee beans instead of berries by the holly, and used some Wink of Stella pen to make them sparkle!

Inskpirational - Glitz a Strip challenge

 This pink card is home for my green cup. The papers were from a magazine. Boy! They are thin and shiny and a bit hard to work with.  It is a good thing they are pretty.  I had to heat emboss the sentiment because the ink wouldn’t dry on this paper.

This was actually the first design I did.  I used Nuvo drops to create my own sparkly berries.  

This final design is classic Christmas!  I used a sketch here and decided to mat in green to add a more Christmassy feel.  I love how it turned out with the sparkle of some silver gems.

Tuesday Morning Sketches #538

There were plenty of sentiments in the set and I was able to stamp inside all the cards.  

Supplies: Joy Clair Christmas coffee stamp set, various inks, BoBunny Altitude 6x6 paper pad, Heidi Swapp Christmas paper, Gina Marie Wonky Stitched Ovals and Tag dies, EKSuccess Snowflake punch.

Thank you for visiting!  I hope you will have time to leave a comment to let me know you were here. Please consider following my blog, and I am happy to visit and follow you as well.  

Have a great weekend!

2020 Christmas Card Goal to Date: 5

2020 Christmas Cards finished: 6

Chickadee Thank You Card

ETA (2/5/20):  Thank you to the Card Concept for choosing my card as an Honorable Mention!

Hello everyone!  I have had a busy week and it is just going too fast.  We painted the kitchen and family room on Monday, and there is a lot of work to finish up for that project (touch up + the putting away stuff + all the trim work I will need to be working on) and then all the normal stuff too!

I was thinking this morning on how to use of some of the 12 x 12 Plaid paper pad I got at Michaels, and I had an idea that “just worked.”  This card came together so fast!

I stamped the branches using a green inkpad and a brown marker.  The pinecones were stamped with marker too, and the wee chickadee was just barely colored in.  My Versafine ink had a hard time drying on the green cardstock, even with heating it. It must be some type of coated cardstock that I grabbed out of my scrap bin.  

Supplies: Close to My Heart Spruced Up stamp/die set, Memento and Versafine Black ink, Hero Arts Forever Green ink, Tombow markers, Recollections Christmas Plaid 12x12 paper pad, Gina K Designs Dark Chocolate cardstock.

I’d love to participate in Freshly Made Sketches #419, And The Card Concept Cozy Cabin Challenge (I used the blanket and woodsy setting for my inspiration). And the ModSquad Challenge Animal Stamps.

Thanks for visiting today!

1920’s Fashion Valentine

Hello!  I am continuing to work on Valentines! One of the nicest things about making your own cards is that you can personalize each one.  This one is made with a teenage girl in mind — one who doesn’t care for hearts. 

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps 1920’s Fashion Ladies stamp set, Old and New stamp set, Versafine and Memento black inks, Gina Marie Loopy Rectangle dies, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers

Save 10% on your order at the I Brake for Stamps store using my code SAVE10HEIDI.

My background is the salted watercolor technique.  To get this texture, lay down a wash of watercolor paint on watercolor paper and, while it is still wet, throw some salt down on it.  After it dries, rub off the salt and it is ready to go. 

I added a few die cut butterflies as my embellishment.  I also added some glitter pen to the dress details and the little butterflies, but it didn’t show up in the photo.  I am happy with how this card turned out!

I’d love to enter Word Art Wednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Do you personalize your cards for each recipient?  Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for visiting today!

A Carrot Valentine Card

I have been having fun making some Valentines from non-Valentine sets.  This one will be going off to a nephew.  

I colored the image with colored pencils and die cut that panel.  I heat embossed the matching sentiment on dark orange cardstock. I also cut some hearts out and embossed them just to make it look a little more Valentine-y.  

There is an imperfection in this card (the bear is not quite level!), but it really is only noticeable in the photo, not as much when you have the card in hand.  So, I decided to still post it and I definitely am still going to send it!  Not every card has to be exact!  I hope no one out there in the blogosphere thinks so!

Supplies: Stamps MFT Rooting for You stamp set , Paper Echo Park Homegrown 6x6 pad, Gina Marie X Stitched circles, Gemini heart dies, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I’d love to enter this card into WordArtWednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for visiting today!  Have a crafty weekend!

Valentine’s Hugs and Kisses Card

Hello!  I have a very traditional looking Valentine to share today.  I thought that the grungy look of the sentiments in I Brake for Stamps Old and New stamp sheet would look good with the Chalkboard technique.  That was my starting point for this card.

I heat embossed the sentiment, then smudged white ink around the edge of the panel.  After framing this out with another red die cut, I used some neat foiled patterned paper for the background.  My embellishment, the stamped lips,  is also from the stamp set!  I thought this turned out nicely, and definitely, the photos don’t do this one justice.

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Old and New stamp sheet, Recollections White Detail Embossing powder, Spellbinders Fancy Edge Rectangles dies, Hero Arts Red Royal dye ink, Versamark embossing ink, Avery Elle white pigment ink.

Save 10% on this stamp set, or anything you order at the I Brake for Stamps store using my code SAVE10HEIDI.

Thanks for visiting today!

House Mouse “Cherries Jubilee” Valentine Card

Hello!  I hope you have been having a good weekend.  I was lucky enough to have dinner with friends last night, just us girls.  

Today, I have this sweet image to share with you.  I just love this cute mouse, and the cherries are so cheerful.  After I colored the cherries in this pinkish red with alcohol markers, I decided to make it into a Valentine.  

The card is cut a little smaller than A2 to accommodate the die shape.  On this inside I stamped some hearts and a Valentine sentiment.  This was really fun to create!

Supplies: House Mouse Designs Cherries Jubilee stamp, Gina K sentiment from Spring Blessings stamp set, Spellbinders Fancy Edge Rectangles dies

I would love to enter the House Mouse and Friends Challenge - Anything Goes/Optional Food or Drink.

Thanks for visiting!  If you are new to my blog, I would love it if you left a comment and chose to follow my blog.  You can find my facebook page on the right sidebar if that is an easier way for you.  Have a good day!

Sloth Valentine Card

ETA 1/17/20:  Thank You Art Impressions for choosing my card as Top Spot!

I enjoy puns, and animals can’t be beat!  Especially for Valentines, this saying is sure to make just about anyone smile!  

I colored this stamp from Art Impressions’ Sloth-some set with alcohol markers, die cut out the panel and then just used patterned paper and a embossed piece of cardstock to create the layout.  I had some enamel dots with some arrow shapes, so I decided to add one to the card.  (I agonized over that detail, lol. Got to find some way to make it take a long time to finish!)

Supplies: Stamps Art Impressions Sloth-some, Die Gina K Designs, Embossing folder Darice

I would love to enter Art Impressions Hugs & Kisses challenge and Word Art Wednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Are you making Valentines this year?

Thanks for visiting!

Woodsy Mouse Masculine Valentine

Hello!  I have a cute card to share today that I am probably going to use as a Masculine Valentine. 

 It is cute,

 it is woodsy,

 and I like it!

Card process:  First I stamped my mouse and mushroom image with Memento Black ink. I colored it in with alcohol markers.  Next, I masked around the mushroom cap with masking paper.  I used red ink to stamp the Bubble Wrap background onto the mushroom cap. After removing the mask, I used colored pencils to add just a little detail.  

The background is kraft paper with a Darice woodgrain embossing folder. I inked the raised portions with Gina K dark chocolate brown ink.  I then used the brown ink to stamp my sentiment, and embellished the card with Spellbinders die cuts, cut from paper scraps.

I combined 3 different stamp sets for this card.  

Mostly Mice Sheet

Bubble Wrap Lattice and Flowers Sheet

Bauble, Doily and Words Sheet

Save 10% on these, and your whole stamp order at the I Brake for Stamps store using my code SAVE10HEIDI.

Thank you for visiting today!

New Sympathy Card Series: January

Hello and happy Monday!  

One of my personal goals this year is to create more Sympathy cards.  I feel this is a very important card to send at such a sad time, but they are difficult to make in a hurry.  My goal is to make at least one per month this year.  

I was very lucky to win this stamp set from Joy Clair, which is a new company to me.  There are several lovely phrases, and some sentiments useful for the inside too. (I neglected to photograph the inside of my card this time, whoops!)

Supplies: Joy Clair Heartfelt Sympanthy stamp set, Anna Griffin Embossing folder, Gina Marie Wonky Stitched Ovals dies, Recollections White Embossing Powder, Versamark ink, Memento Black ink.

I would love to enter SimonSaysStamp’s Monday Challenge - Anything Goes, WordArtWednesday’s Anything Goes challenge and Double Trouble’s Hot or Cold (Embossing) challenge

Christmas Cards for 2020 Already??

Hello!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

This past year, I made more Christmas cards in November and December than in past years.  It was a bit overwhelming, so this year, I hope to get many more Christmas cards done throughout the year.  If I did ~5 a month, I would be comfortably ready to send them out after Thanksgiving this year.

I won this stamp recently, so it was the perfect choice for my first Christmas card of 2020!

I simply colored the image (House Mouse Sharing a Sip) in with alcohol markers and added flocking to the hats!  I love white flocking on winter hats!

I would love to enter House Mouse & Friends Challenge - Anything Goes/Optional Christmas, Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes, SimonSaysStamp’s Wednesday Challenge - Something New, and WordArtWednesday’s Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thank you for your visit today! 

First Card of 2020!

Hello and Happy New Year!  

Did you have a good holiday? Ours was good, but we did travel quite a bit, and then were busy around the house.  I am always happy to go back to my routine.  And I will be happy to be soon back visiting all your blogs and commenting.  

I made a little clean & simple card using I Brake for Stamps Mostly Mice sheet and for the stamped background and sentiment, the Bubble Wrap, Lattice and flowers sheet.  All are stamped in dark brown ink. (As always, save 10% on your entire order at I Brake for Stamps using my code SAVE10HEIDI.)

 The mouse is simply colored and cut out, then popped up on dimensional tape.  I am thinking I should make a few with a Thank You sentiment, too. I haven’t sent out my Christmas thank-you’s yet.

I would love to enter Cute Card Thursday’s Anything Goes Challenge.  And the ModSquad’s Patterned Paper Play (the blue cardstock is stamped with a background stamp to create my own patterned paper).

Have a simply wonderful day!