Sending You Sunshine

I got a little jump on Valentine's Day yesterday and made up this card:

Yes, I fussy cut a lot of images on this card. It's not something I would mass-produce for the kids' classrooms, but a nice card for one of my kiddos or even the hubby. Pretty much everything I used here is from the Holidays from the Heart mini book that expires December 31. (If you see something you like, buy it now because in a couple of days it will be gone.)

• Sparkle & Shine paper pack (Juniper pattern paper)
• Party Washi Tape 3-pack (pink polka dots)
• Sparkle Chevron Shapes (around arrow head)
• Charming Chevrons stamp set (red arrow head)
• Lots of Love stamp set (all other images)

Other products include:

• CS in Juniper, White Daisy, Ruby, and Cotton Candy
• Stamp pads in Black and Ruby (stamping), and Juniper & Cotton Candy (sponged edges)
• 3-D Foam Adhesive
• Micro-tip Scissors
• Dimensional Elements Mixed Shapes
• Dimensional Elements Signage
• White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

 Now I plan to go back to scrapbooking some Christmas pictures to finish up that Sparkle & Shine kit! I have at least 4 more pages to go from 2010, and plenty of product left to finish them up, so I just need to sneak in some free time...

Love is in the Air - Part 2

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of the Love is in the Air blog hop!  If you've arrived here from Nicolette's Beyond Scrappin' blog, you are in the right place! If you are just joining the hop and wish to start from the beginning, please visit Lisa's blog.  In case you get lost along the way, the complete blog hop lineup is at the bottom of this post.

Each blogger participating in this hop is featuring a project having to do with Valentine's Day or Love. This super-fun hop will be showcasing cards, layouts and projects that feature anything and everything to do with LOVE since that is what Valentine's Day is all about right!! You'll find an array of ideas throughout this hop. From decorations to gift ideas and more, we hope you'll enjoy each and every project along the way!! Be sure to leave a comment at each hop stop to show all the participants a little love. 

 For today's project, I'm showcasing an unusual color combination for my Sugar Shock Valentine's Day layout (and I apologize in advance for the slightly gross photos, lol).  I think it's great fun to add a bit of the unexpected to our layouts, especially when it makes our photos pop.  In this case, I latched onto what was a small bit of color in the photos, but the main topic of my layout, and made it stand out.

 

Yes, my odd children all have blue/green tongues - thanks to Valentines with Fun Dips in them. (You can click on the photo to make it larger and see the details and patterns on the paper more clearly.)  As usual when it's too quiet in the house, I found this disturbing scene: the "sharing" of the Fun Dips by pouring them in a pile on the kitchen table and taking turns licking.  I'm so glad they seem to have outgrown this phase; it's been a few years since this incident and I can just now bring myself to scrap it!

I started with the more traditional (and a little "wild") Valentine colors in the Roxie collection from Close To My Heart, and added some Lagoon cardstock for the base.  The title is cut using my Cricut - "sugar" is from the Nursery Rhymes cartridge and "shock" is from the Cuttin' Up cartridge.  I added a shadow to the "shock" also in Lagoon.

I cut hearts and the bracket shape in my title from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge collection.  I stamped on a few small ones with a coordinating heart stamp, and two pink ones with the "You're Sweet" sentiment.  I colored in the open parts of the sentiment with a Tulip marker to coordinate with the papers.  I attached bling buttons to the small stamped hearts, then adhered all of the hearts to the edge, popping some up with foam adhesive tape.  Finally, I stamped the "You color my world" sentiment on the heart in the center, and again colored in the open letters with the Tulip marker.  (Note: the stamps I used are no longer available, but the technique works for any sentiment with open letters.)

All of the products used in this project are from Close To My Heart.  If you don't have a consultant, I would love to add you to my newsletter list (above left), and invite you to shop on my website 24/7.

Thanks for stopping by again today!  I invite you to become a follower or follow by email (above right).  Make sure you hop on over to Jamie's My Amusing Life blog next to see what she has to share with you! 

The complete blog hop lineup is as follows: 

Lisa Pontious - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
Kristy Asche - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com/
Doris Parker - http://mybugandmecreate.blogspot.com/
Nicolette Simpson- http://beyondscrapin.blogspot.com/
Lori Brown - http://savingmine.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE!
Jamie- http://myamusinglife.blogspot.com/
Scraps To Treasures - http://scraps2treasure.blogspot.com/
Ashley Townsend - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/
Beckie - http://justbcreativecrazy.blogspot.com/
Janet Royer- http://janetscreativeworld.blogspot.com/
Jessi Buehrle- http://mylifeinartscrafts.blogspot.com/
Angela Urell- http://creativecraftin.blogspot.com/
Kimi and Pamela - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/
Christina - http://cema1cema.blogspot.com/
Mindy - http://papercreationsbymindyblog.blogspot.com/
Janet Smith - http://www.ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/
Erica - http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/

Vintage Paper Scraps Valentine

My maternal grandmother was born in the first decade of the 20th century.  Thankfully, she saved all kinds of interesting things, including some wonderful paper ephemera such as calling cards and "scraps".  These scraps were some of the original items placed in the scrapbooks of yesteryear, although my grandmother had her bits & pieces in a special box.

Last Summer at CHA, I found a very special company.  Paper Dreams Factory still creates paper scraps "made in Germany using art and processes created over 100 years ago."  Just browsing their online catalog, I can tell some of the images are the exact ones in my grandmother's box.  There are of course many newer images, including several from the 1950's and a whole herd of Smurfs!  Andreas Hamm, the President of the company was kind enough to give me a sheet of angel images, but for some reason I just hadn't gotten around to using them - until now.

 I know, angels are really more of a Christmas thing, but this one seemed almost Cupid-like to me so I NEEDED to make a Valentine with it!  Look at those embossed details on that image; these are just so pretty in person.  There are several other designs on their website I want; I will say that their online catalog is not to easiest to navigate, but if you're just browsing around it's fine.  My particular sheet of angels can be found here.  You do need to create an account to see prices, but they are very reasonable.  This sheet is $1.99, with discounts for bulk purchases.  I'm not sure of their shipping fees yet, as I haven't had a chance to browse around enough to complete an order.  They are distributed from Rhode Island, so for we Americans I anticipate reasonable shipping prices too.


The patterned paper is from my stash - I think it was in the Target $1 spot last year or two years ago.  The cardstock colors are Hollyhock and Vineyard Berry (CTMH).  I just added a few self-adhesive pearls (CTMH) and some ribbon from my stash.

Very Vintage Valentine and Project Declutter Continues

I have a Valentine posted on the Cutters Creek blog today.  Head on over and check out the details!

 

Also, an FYI for those of you following my clutter busting quest.  Earlier today I was inspired by a couple o other bloggers and I cleaned out not one, not two, but THREE junk drawers!!  I now have my "pencil drawer" restored to order, as well as hubby's "household tool" drawer (which mysteriously had about 50 Allen wrenches in it) and the mish-mash drawer somewhat purged of junk.  I can probably now find birthday candles, a screwdriver, grocery list envelopes, and scotch tape without a 30-minute hunt!  Still haven't hit that pantry yet, but the kids are off school with snow days, so I'm guessing it may be a bit before I get to that.  On the bright side, I have scheduled the hubs to drop off that broken TV this Saturday morning, and I have several bags ready to go to Goodwill once I'm able to get through the snow!

Look Beyond the Obvious

When debating whether to buy a set of SVGs, remember to look beyond the obvious!  I purchased the set of Valentine Cone Boxes from Lettering Delights, and they have SO much potential beyond Valentine's Day.  (Only one of the boxes even has a heart on it!)  I thought this cone I made would be perfect for a May basket or a sweet Mother's Day gift.  Change the papers and decorations, and they're perfect for birthday parties, wedding favors, and more!

This cone has cute scalloped flaps, which I chose to fold down in the open position.  Before adhering them down, I sponged the edges with Baby Pink and Chocolate stamping inks.  I used my Crop-a-dile to add large eyelets on either side, and strung ribbon through as a doorknob hanger.  Then I created some paper flowers to decorate the front.

The paper flowers are easy to make.  Using Make The Cut, I imported the swirl from Basic Shapes.  I sized one at about 4 inches or so, and the other two between 2 - 2.5 inches.  I didn't worry about exact sizes.  Once cut, I hand cut the end of the swirl over to meet the next cut - no need to be perfect as this will be hidden in the middle.  I then inserted the outside end into a quilling tool (or use small tweezers) and rolled a few rounds up tightly.  After that, I removed the tool and rolled the swirl up the rest of the way, added a Glue Dot to the center circle and pushed the rolled up flowers down into it.  For larger sized flowers, you won't be able to roll it all up at once; you'll want to add Glue Dots along the way to keep it held together.

Once the flowers were rolled, I used some Liquid Glass between & on the rolls.  This is both to help it hold together better, and to add some bling.  I dipped mine in both micro beads and Prisma Glitter, then set them aside to dry.

For the leaves, I found the perfect file in the MTC gallery.  (Go to File > Import > From MTC Gallery.  This file is called Large Leaf - I deleted the circle and sized the leaves down to random sizes.  Once cut, I used my embossing stylus to add veins to my leaves, then sponged on some matching ink.  Finally, I added everything to the front of the cone using Glue Dots.

For those of you waiting for winner announcements, I'll be announcing them all at once when the last deadline has passed!

DPL Swap Spoiler - Valentine

SPOILER ALERT! If you're in Mandies Valentine scrapbook swap on Down Paper Lane, I am about to show my contribution. If you don't want to see, don't look any further!!

There, all covered! Now, on to my fun swap items. I signed up to do mini file folders, which I haven't done in a while, so I thought it would be a little challenge. I'm happy to say that this went so quickly, I got them all done start-to-finish yesterday. I know V-day is over, but since we scrapbook after the fact we can make stuff any old time!

Here's one set of completed folders. I used my Sizzix File Folder die to cut all the folders. Cardstock used is White, Blush (Close To My Heart), Hollyhock (CTMH), and Cherry Splash (Bazzil Basics Paper). Ink colors used are Blush (CTMH), Hollyhock (CTMH), Riding Hood Red (Stampin' Up!), and White Daisy pigment ink(CTMH). I also used white embossing powder with the white ink. Unless otherwise noted, stamped images are from the All My Love stamp set (CTMH).

For the top folder, I punched a 3/4" strip of white CS with the new Pinking Hearts Border Punch from SU! (This is available through 4/30 in their Occasions Mini catalog.) The square with the heart is cut from an old piece of patterned paper scrap, layered on Cherry Splash CS, and all covered with a square clear epoxy sticker. I then added a heart eyelet for a finishing touch.

For the center folder, I random stamped the entire front with a heart stamp from Anita's Rubber Stamps. I again used the Pinking Hearts punch, added some white grosgrain ribbon, and a Hollyhock nail head (snap). The square heart image is from a discontinued stamp set, but it is easily substituted by one in the All My Love set.

The final folder uses another leftover scrap of paper for the strip across the front. Mini brads are from Oriental Trading Company. The round image is stamped in Riding Hood Red on Blush CS, then covered with a round clear epoxy sticker.

I can see these lined up on a layout as shown here, or angled randomly across the bottom of a layout. I would probably use a photo turn in my page as a means to keep the folders closed that would allow them to be opened easily for viewing.