Natalie's Valentines

 

My 6-year-old daughter, Natalie, requested to make her own Valentines this year.  Of course, this made me super excited to see her interest in paper crafting!!  So, she and I sat down with my stamps, inks, ribbons, and embellishments and cranked out 18 Valentines on little homemade 3x3 cards

(3x3 envelopes from SU, not shown)

 

 

Each one is completely different--which made it fun and interesting for us and hopefully will be enjoyed by each of her classmates!

 

 

Here's a closer look at a few at a time...

 

Love that Chevron background stamp from the Whoo's Your Valentine stamp set!!

 

Adorable!  Super cute Valentines and such a special mommy-daughter memory!!

Hope you take time to craft with your loved one today :)

 

Stamps used: Whoo's your valentine (CTMH), Hoop La La (SU), Card chatter--Love(CTMH), Year Round Cheer (CTMH)

Papers used: Sweetheart (CTMH, retired)

Inks: Riding hood red (SU), Blush (CTMH), hollyhock (CTMH), black

Ribbon: red velvet (CTMH), pink pleated (SU)

Embellishments

Buttons: CTMH, Michaels

Glitter paper: CTMH (new product!!)

metal heart brads: OTC

Heart punch: Marvy

Glitz glitter gel: CTMH

Whoooo's Your Valentine Treats

 

I made these little goodie boxes a few days ago and they turned out so cute!  I used the CTMH's promotional kit, Whooo's Your Valentine, which came with the diecut box forms, the treat tubes, glitter paper, cardstock, and stamp set.  This little stamp set comes with a CHEVRON stamp--which I LOVE--and all sorts of cute hearts and sentiments.

 

I'll admit--I was sort of expecting detailed instructions with this kit.  But instead, they just pictured a dozen of these made up for inspiration.  I did use the pictures for just that--inspiration--and didn't really copy any particular one to the letter.  I used Blush, Hollyhock, and Riding Hood Red (SU) inks, a 1 1/4 inch circle punch, a 1 1/2 inch scallop circle punch, and a heart punch (green Marvy).  I also added my own ribbon--pink pleated ribbon (SU) and red velvet ribbon (CTMH, retired).

 

I also used a few silver heart brads from my stash, and then filled each treat tube with either conversation hearts or Valentine M&M candies.

 

Lastly, I popped some glitter paper circles on top of each treat tube lid for a little bit of bling :)

 



 

These pretties will probably go to my Bible study small group ladies, my MOPS small group ladies, or perhaps to a few neighbors.  They are just too cute for the kids' classmates--sorry, but I have dibs!!

 

 Hope you have a very creative day and thanks for stopping by!

Stamp and Heart Card

 

I know, I know--let's just get through Christmas, right?  Well, sometimes I like to take a breather and do something NOT Christmas related in the month of December!  Here is a super simple card I made using two punches--a Marvy heart punch and the CM stamp place n' punch.  I just layered the punched shapes into a grid--I've done this design many times for various holidays and for everyday sentiments!  Inside of the card reads "I heart You"--sentiment is from Card Chatter Love from CTMH.  I added a silver heart brad to the center square--easy peasy lemon squeezy!

 

Hope you have a creative day, my friend!

Remarkable Wreath Cards

 

 

 Had a great time stamping with this beautiful stamp set this week--it is called Remarkable Wreath by CTMH.  It has a twig wreath, bow, banner sentiments, and various wreath fillers, such as berries, leaves, flowers and such.  It is a fun and easy set to layer since they are all clear stamps--love that!

I am ALWAYS in need of Christmas thank you cards, so I made a card featuring a Christmas style wreath with a "thanks" banner inside.  I stamped the wreath with Cocoa ink, the leaves in olive ink, and then used Riding Hood red ink (SU) to paper piece the bow and banner sentiment.  Then, I had fun adhering green and red gems in the wreath (do this using a paper piercing tool to make it easy on yourself!), and I placed larger red gems on either side of the focal image (which I popped up with foam dots).  I don't recall the source of the patterned paper, but the cardstock used was Sweet Leaf and Cocoa (CTMH).

 

 

And...now for a Valentines' version!  It is never too early to craft for the next holiday! LOL!  Again, I stamped the wreath in Cocoa ink, and then stamped the sentiment and berries in red ink.  I punched the wreath out using a 2" circle punch--I like how the wreath can either be in a circle or square focal point--can't decide which I like better!  Again, used adhesive gems, this time in red and pink, for the wreath.  Patterened paper was from the Sweetheart paper pack (CTMH, retired) with cranberry and cocoa cardstock.

 

Hope you, too, have a creative day!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Year Round Cheer Cards

Took a little time today to play with a new arrival for me--CTMH's December stamp of the month, Year Round Cheer.  This is an adorable little set that has a picture and sentiment for every month of the year!

 

My first card is for the month of January.  I love the sentiment that goes with this one--I got married in January, had my first baby in January, joined a gym in January...this month truly has proven to be a FRESH START in my life over the years!

I used Enchanted paper (CM), Juniper ink (CTMH) and black ink, epoxy gems (CM), and glitz glitter gel to add a bit of sparkle to the focal point snowflakes.  Love how this patterned paper suddenly looks wintery when you pair it with snowflake stamps!

 

 

Next up is the February image--did this in both a horizontal and vertical style (had to do with the scraps I had left of the patterend paper), and I stamped in both Blush (CTMH) and Riding Hood Red ink (SU)--can't decide which color ink I like best--either one works, I suppose! Patterned paper is from the Sweetheart paper pack (CTMH, retired). Sentiment was stamped in black and square epoxy gems add a finishing touch (CM).

 

Finally, March!  As a Christian, I am not a big "luck" person, but I went ahead and stamped the sentiment along with the clover, just to keep the focal point nice and squared off :)  Used the Miracle paper pack (CTMH, retired) and some adhesive gems (CM).

 

Hope you enjoyed these ideas!  It is fun to do multiple holiday themes in one sitting--as crafters, that is how we roll!!

Valentine Pencil Toppers

One more Valentine project for you before the Love Month closes out. I made these pencil toppers last year for my daughter's Valentine exchange at preschool. I found these adorable Valentine themed pencils in the Target dollar section and bought several packs. Then, I had fun using up some of my Valentine themed patterened paper from Making Memories--it was an 8x8 pack--I size I rarely use--so it was perfect to transform it into this project. To make each one, I cut out a 3" x 3.5" rectangle of pattered paper (this paper pack is all double sided) and then rounded the corners with a corner rounder (CM) and cut two little slits in it with a craft knife about a quarter of the way down from the top and bottom for the pencil to slide through later.

Next, I punched out a 2" circle of lighter colored cardstock and stamped a heart design on it with either red or black ink (heart stamp is Fiskars, dotted circle is CTMH Connections stamp set). Then I layered this circle onto a 2.5" circle of pattered paper--I wish I had a scalloped circle punch of this size--but I did not, so I used my old-fashioned scalloped decorative scissors to trim around it (these STILL come in handy). Then, I attached the scalloped circle to the rectangular cardstock using two brads--I felt this was the most secure way to do it, because the circle will curve quite a bit when you slide the pencil through. The last step was to print out a Valentine sentiment on some sticky address labels and stick it across the pencil on the back--this secures the pencil inside, covers the brad ends, and provides a place to say to/from.

They turned out super cute and were well received, and I enjoyed looking at the "bouquet" of them before we took them into school.

Teacher Valentine Gifts

I wanted to share with you what I made for each of the kids' teachers for Valentine's Day this year. This picture isn't the best--it is a bit dark and was quickly taken before we all headed out the door to preschool--you can see Isaac's Valentines in the baggy all ready to go to school and my planner. Anyway, this is such a fun gift bag to make and I have recreated it many times--I love how you can make TWO from just one sheet of beautiful patterned paper. This particular bag is "busier" than others I've made since I decided to use another patterned paper for the trim, but you could always choose a solid or a more subtle print. This "bag in a box" is inspired by Lisa Stenz's club kit from Nov 2010--be sure to check it out. I have also seen templates and tutorials online. Basically, the bag is constructed by making a square cardstock tray (1" high) and then wrapping a piece of 6x12" patterned paper around it to make sort of a funnel shaped bag. For this particular project, I used CTMH's Sweetheart paper pack (retired) and their Love Ya stamp set (retired) for the gift tag, using black and Regal Rose (SU!) ink. You'll want to use cardstock to make the bag base, but for the rest, the lighter weight patterned paper is fine. I've also found that the best adhesive to use for the actual bag is red-lined sticky tape--you can get it from SU or Michaels. You also may notice that I stamp in coordinating colors quite a bit, but if I don't have a particular ink color to match, like the pink in this case, I do not sweat it--you'll be amazed when you stamp with a similar shade how you can "trick" your eye into thinking that they match. At any rate, there is plenty of room on the back of the tag to write "to" and "from"--since the pattern of the tag is busy, I simply adhered a white sticky address label on the back to write on. Then, I used some black ribbon I had in my stash to tie up the bag after stuffing it with Valentine candies. I hope the teachers liked them!

Isaac's Valentines

I know Valentine's Day was almost two weeks ago, but I did want to share with you what I did for my son's Valentine exchange at school before the month gets away from me. Since he only has 8 kids in his class, and I did not feel like dragging my 3 kids into yet another store, I decided to whip these up one evening during my craft time. I used one of my favorite "boy" stamp sets Playin' Hard (CTMH retired) for the digger image and stamped it in Basic Gray ink (SU!). Then, I cut a slit above the digger's scoop with a craft knife and layered a punched heart (Marva) which I had popped up with some 3D foam tape, so that the tip of the heart fit into the slit. I then stamped the sentiment with the smallest alphabet from CTMH's Trinity stamp set (love how you get 3 fonts in 3 sizes with this one stamp set), highlighting the word "dig" in the pun with Riding Hood Red ink (SU!). Then, I layered the stamped image on a piece of patterned paper from CTMH's Sweetheart collection (retired). Isaac seemed to really like them and I think they turned out "masculine" enough--hard to do with Valentine themed craft supplies sometimes :)