Valentine Splendor

I used the weekly sketch from A Cherry on Top for this Valentine card.

Valentine Be Mine!

An earlier freebie at My Scrap Chick  was a Gnome Candy Bar Wrapper.  This fabulous file is addictive!  And a wonderful way to use up scraps.  For these first adorable gnomes I used scraps from the Spring Butterflies and Dreamy Creamy collections...both from We Are 3  They are definitely fun to make!  I added some miscellaneous word art perfect for the neighborhood kiddies for Valentine's Day.

Here's a few others I made - all for the neighbor kiddies.  All from scraps - notice I did get a bit carried away!

New Release at We Are 3.

I created this card for a Valentine challenge at A Cherry on Top.  I went for "traditional" and used the gorgeous Little Garden - cut in a heart shape to give the card even more of a Valentine feel. 

I added tiny pearls to the fairy's wings.

The fairy is from Design Bundles.  The scroll border design were from Digital Scrapbook Experts.

The gorgeous sentiment came right out of the newly released Fairy Tale set.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Only 22 more days to Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd share this little sweetie Make-n-Take from the crop I visited Saturday.  My papers are from Creative Memories. 

Valentine Gift Bag

Don't you love having a stash of beautiful gift bags when you need one? Well, my go-to gift lately has been the gift of gift bags. For this bag, I used patterned paper to make a bag collar, and added a Valentine image matted with circles. I love how cute it looks. Then just some ribbon and we have a pretty little package.

Now That's Something to MEOW About!

Getting an early start on my Christmas cards?  For some reason when I saw the great color combination of pink, grey, and white in the Sweetheart digital paper collection by We Are 3, I thought Christmas.  The image is a freebie by Dearie Dolls - The Cat and the Christmas Tree.

Viney Valentine

Hello, Everyone!  I'm here today with a card starring Viney Flourish from Fred She Said.  It's a perfect addition to floral images and versatile for any occasion.  As for my card today, I mixed it with Blue Blossoms to create a Valentine bouquet.

The three layers of a Heart Doily are from Miss Kate Cuttables.

Lots of Challenge Inspirations

I am always impressed when I visit bloggers who make a card entered into challenge after challenge after challenge.  I am always so focused - I pick out that one challenge requirement and concentrate on that.  Today, however, I broke out of that mold - with the help of Amy's Amazing Cards.  

Here is my entry - a Valentine's Day card for my hubby.  For his gift, I will be treating him to lunch at the Crystal Palace in Tombstone - and take him shopping for a new Stetson.  Thanks, Challenges, for your inspiration!

Challenges:

• Crafty Gals Corner #57 - Love is in the Air
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Love Letters
• City Crafter #297 - Fantastic Plastic (Plastic Pearl Hat Headband)
• Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes
• Fantastic Tuesday - Sweetheart

Scrap Valentine Card

Good Morning, All!

For my Valentine cards, I want to use SCRAPS!  I have a TON of scraps, and this is just one card I made for Valentine's Day.

I love creating cards using my scraps (in this case, elements from Heartfelt Creations paper packs), because it's an easy way to clean my craft area.  And when you have lots of sheets of patterned paper from various collections, it's fun to combine all those papers in a creative way.

I also played with my eClips Print-2-Cut feature finally - for the heart.  Not exactly how I wanted it to print....and still need a bit of practice aligning the laser to the registration marks - but will definitely save time when I have some mass production to do....not to mention a much nicer fussy cut.  :D

More than likely, posts for the next month will be Valentine's Day cards made from my scrap piles . . . Enjoy!

Valentine Card

Wow, the year is flying by as quickly as I'd hope after planning to fully retire this coming December - only 291 more days, but who's counting? The bad thing about this year flying by....no time to get any projects done! TA DA! It's Valentine's Day ! So today I chose another card that's made from scraps. It goes against all rules for using patterned paper - but I still like it for a change of pace - quick and simple.

Valentine Talk

Jearise at Lorby's World devotes her blog to projects to help others.  I had a wonderful time creating this card to include in her hope to bring cheer to veterans in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  We sent cards to the Grand Rapids Veteran's home.  This is the card I sent (just no time to do more, unfortunately).

Join us at Lorby's World of Caring Facebook Page to be included in future random acts of kindness.  Nice of Jearise to do all the leg work of selecting those in need, getting all the details down, then inviting us to just do what we enjoy most - making cards that bring smiles to faces of others...she doesn't quit there.....she finds challenges for us to join with our cards...and also promotes them on her own blog.  Thanks, Jearise - great idea!

You're my cup of tea!

Good morning, all! I'm participating in the Queen of Cards Challenge on the Cardmaking and More Facebook Page.  This week's challenge was to make a Joy-Fold Card.  I made one Tuesday that was, I thought, cute as a bug!  But when I finished and reread the requirements for Queen of Cards - ooops....missed the Valentine's theme.  You can see my first card on the 2 Cute Ink Blog on Monday, as it features one of their new releases, Cupcake Ladybug.

So back to the drawing board....and here is the card I came up with for the challenge.  Anyhow, enjoy!

Tweet Gradient with Balloon Birdie

Hi Fellow Crafters,

Thank you for joining us on the blog today.  Whew!  The holidays are behind us, and now I must have 40 Valentine cards ready by the first of the year.  Perfect time to bring you some quick & simple cards.  

Today I am bringing you a slightly different way of coloring your digital stamps.  For some time now, I have been wanting to learn how to use the gradient tool in Photoshop for select elements of a digital stamp.  I found a great tutorial and had my balloon on the Balloon Birdie digi colored (gradient) in no time at all! (Yes, I am just so proud of myself....tee, hee.)  So this cute card is ready to go in less than five minutes!  Very easy project!

You can learn to gradient color your digital stamps here, compliments of Adobe.

Scraps to Treasure Blog Hop - Anything Spring

Welcome to the Scraps to Treasure Blog Hop. This month's theme - Anything Spring.

Nothing says Spring like flowers! Yesterday I received a great Close to My Heart Stamp Set - prize from Janet's Creative World in the Altered Frames Blog Hop last week. The stamp set, Happy Valentine, has gorgeous roses and sentiments to die for (in particular, a great "Smitten"). When I looked at my calendar and saw I needed to get ready for the Spring hop, it was close at hand and perfect! Thanks again, Janet!

My scrap pieces of paper today came from a dollar-store pack purchased seven years ago! ( I remember this, because neither my husband nor I had jobs and no money for the good stuff!) As you know, I seldom throw anything away. And this is why! Today, I just saw this paper in a different way! Here is a pic of the actual paper. I cut the "stripes" and created two borders - one from the flowers and one from the ornate green patterned striped. 

I used scraps of Buttercup Dot (Bo Bunny) for the roses - and I have a folder full of green scraps that I keep mostly for leaves. I stamped and cut two images on green....and two images on Buttercup. I accented the Buttercup roses with Copic Markers - then popped them up on top of the green leaves, adding a couple extra leaves in between.

Kathryn is the next stop on the hop.  But if you came here first, be sure to "spring" through the rest of the hop. The line-up is below in case you need it. My line up may be just a tad off, as I just started working at Hobby Lobby, and am posting my card early as I know I won't have time this weekend while working. We are setting up the first Hobby Lobby in Tucson....and if any of you have experienced a store set up, you know I'm beat when I get home! Yet, even though, have to admit I am enjoying the experience! However, there is no spring in my step these days - so I will be stumbling through the hop! Anyways, hope you are enjoying the hop!

Pam L. ~ http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
Robin S. - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/
Lissa Marie - www.somanycrafts.com
Robin C -http://cutonedesignsbyrobin.blogspot.com/
Paula - http://preciouspagesbypaula.blogspot.com/
Cicily - www.pinkdalmationscrapper.blogspot.com
Ellen - http://cardmonkeyspaperjungle.com/
Camille - http://shortonideasaz.blogspot.com/
Kathryn - http://creationswithkathryn.blogspot.com

Pop-Up Valentine

Hi Everyone,

Today I am bringing you a pop-up Valentine - full of creative inspiration to get your mojo jump started.  

Cuttin' and Stampin Weekly Challenge #5

Hi Everyone!

Yay!  It's Tuesday once again...the beginning of my weekend!  Today once again, Cuttin' and Stampin' is asking everyone to put their best foot forward and showcase your fabulous Valentine cards in their Weekly Challenge #5.  Grab your favorite papers and enjoy this week's challenge.

Here is my entry...something simple with the help of Graphic 45 and their Place in Time paper collection.  Nonetheless, entering to join in the fun!

Cuttin and Stampin Weekly Challenge #4

Hi Everyone,

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, and cards in the Cuttin and Stampin Weekly Challenge will give you creative ideas for the dear one in your life.  Be sure to join the fun using your favorite stamp.  Be creative and have fun!

Stamps used on this card come from the Posy Patch Stamp Set by Heartfelt Creations.

Scraps to Treasures - Valentine Treats

Welcome to the Scraps to Treasure Valentine Treats Blog Hop.  Scraps to Treasure is a group of crafty people who take their leftover scraps and come up with beautiful and fun projects that center around a monthly theme.  This month's theme is Valentine Treats; our crafters were put to task in creating something that used only scraps, but was also Valentine-Treat related.  Jessi Buehrle at My Life in Arts N Crafts (http://mylifeinartsncrafts.blogspot.com/) is our hostess for this hop, and is giving away some goodies.  To be entered to win this fabulous prize, you must...

1. Follow all the blogs in this hop
2. Comment on all the blogs in the hop as well
3. Head on over to My Life in Arts’ n Crafts’ fan page and give it a like

     a. If you come back to Jessi’s blog and leave a comment saying you did so, get entered in for a second chance. 
And don’t forget to check out Jessi’s etsy store - new items added monthly. 

Now let's see what Valentine treats await us!

We were asked to create a Valentine Treat Bag, Topper, or Container - of course, using scraps.  I created a treat bag holder using cream cardstock embossed with circles, with a decorative punched border.  I used a Valentine image (from Graphic 45 Place in Time) I had left over from Valentine cards I made for my local customers.  I matted the image with Peacock Blue Glitter Ritz - embellished with a flower given to me by Avania Floral Embellishments at 2012 CHA - topped off with a ribbon.  The package contains some red hot hard candies in a bag.

 Tahi - http://tahisscrapcorner.blogspot.com (You came from here)

 Camille - http://shortonideasaz.blogspot.com/ (You are here)

 Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com (Your next stop)

If you get lost, Jessi has the entire hop list on her blog.  

38 Days Until Valentine's Day

The Christmas rush is over, and now you find yourself scrambling to get cards and gifts made for the Valentines in your life.  Here are just a few that I've been playing with.

Valentine Medley

We are planning to pop into Valentine's Day with a pop-up Valentine Card class at AZ on January 24 - details here.  Spent way too much time trying to figure out the first card...but after hours and having to reinstall Sure Cuts a Lot and my Cricut not playing nice, Voila! Very pleased with the results.  Really loving the tunnel card down below!