Tag Archives: Valentine

Citrus Blooms Best Kind of Person Card

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Citrus Blooms Best Kind of Person Card

This Citrus Blooms Best Kind of Person Card is my first card using the Mediterranean Blooms Suite that I got recently. You’ll find it in the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog on pages 34-35. The designer paper in the Suite is what sold me, but the whole collection of products is beautiful. If you like these citrus images and tile designs, you will love this group of products!

Luckily, a Bundle Sale is coming Wednesday, June 5th, saving you an extra 10% over the Bundle price of 10% off normally for the stamp set and dies together. If you would like to purchase the Citrus Blooms Bundle June 5-30 is the time to get it! And if you don’t already own the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine or the Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine, these will be on sale 10% off also! Check out all the Bundles and make your shopping list!

To make this card, I started with an idea from a sample in the Annual Catalog. I did change the background paper and the greeting. When you start off with a brand new stamp set or Suite it’s often easier to copy an idea in the catalog. You’ll often start coming up with your own ideas for making it a little different as you copy the sample. That’s what the samples are there for in the catalog, to give us ideas of how to use the stamp sets!

The card base is Night of Navy. The Mediterranean Blooms Designer Series Paper has beautiful designs of fruits and tile designs. I chose a different tile design paper than the sample in the catalog and diecut it with the large outline die in the Citrus Blooms Dies. The oranges are stamped from the Citrus Blooms Stamp Set on Basic White Cardstock and then colored in with Stampin’ Blends Markers. You can use whatever colors and combinations of colors you like. You can combine two different colors, not just Light and Dark of one color. Just play and enjoy! After coloring, I diecut the oranges with the matching die. After adhering the designer paper to the card base, I adhered the oranges and leaves to the card using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The greeting is in the stamp set. I stamped it in Night of Navy Ink on Basic White, then diecut with the smallest rectangle die in the Nested Essentials Dies. Since I didn’t have much room on the card, I didn’t want to add a layer under the greeting, so I just used a Night of Navy Stampin’ Blend marker and ran it around the edge of the diecut greeting. I adhered a piece of Peach Pie 3/8″ Bordered Ribbon under the greeting. I ran some Stampin’ Seal Adhesive on the back of the ribbon. Then I popped up the greeting with Stampin’ Dimensionals over the ribbon. For a finishing touch (and because I just wanted to use them!) I added three of the Opal Rounds in Night of Navy. These come in three colors, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, and Clear in two different sizes.

On the inside of the card, since the Night of Navy cardstock is dark, I added a layer of Basic White Cardstock for stamping or writing a greeting or message and adhered a narrow strip of the same tile design I used on the front of the card at the bottom of the card insert. That really adds something when you stamp something or add some designer paper to the inside of the card!

I think anybody will be able to make beautiful and striking cards using even just the Mediterranean Blooms Designer Series Paper and even more using the Citrus Blooms Bundle. Remember, the Bundle will go on sale June 5th for the whole month of June!

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Bee Mine Bees Valentine Card

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Bee Mine Bees Valentine Card Jan

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!

If you are looking for one last card idea for Valentine’s Day, here is a card I got from my very dear friend! She always makes beautiful cards! I called this the Bee Mine Bees Valentine Card! It is made with the Bee Mine Designer Series Paper. I didn’t think I was into bees, but as soon as I started working with this paper it was just so cute! I loved cutting out the medium-sized bees on one of the papers and using them for embellishments! And the paper is not just for Valentine’s Day. The patterns will mix and match and not all of them have hearts. But hearts are for any time so don’t be afraid to use the cute bees with hearts!

This card uses several of the products in the Bee Mine Suite Collection in the Spring Mini Catalog. If you want to use just one item number for ordering all the products in the Suite, you will get the Bundle price on the stamp set and punch. Otherwise, just order the products individually that you want and/or the Bee Mine Bundle. Remember to think in terms of spending increments of $50 so you can earn FREE Sale-A-Bration products until February 29th!

This card uses the Petal Pink honeycomb pattern for the card front and then two other papers layered on diagonals. The Sweet Sorbet paper with the squiggly bee flight lines is layered on Basic White and the paper with the little bees is layered on Basic Black. The large heart on the front has a greeting embossed in white from the Bee My Valentine Stamp Set. That’s such a cute saying I think! There is one of the cute little flower embellishments in the Suite, the Adhesive-Backed Hearts & Flowers, on the heart. Wrapped around the bee paper and under the popped-up heart is the Sweet Sorbet 1/4″ Bordered Ribbon. And of course, we have a cute Valentine bee, stamped and then cut out with the Bee Builder Punch which cuts out the bee body and the wings which could also be hearts plus a little bitty heart, which could also be little bitty wings. It’s really a more versatile punch than it looks like!

Are you doing something special for Valentine’s Day today?

Bee My Valentine Hearts Valentine Card

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Country Bouquet Hearts Valentine Card

Are you making Valentines? Here is a fun one, the Country Bouquet Hearts Valentine Card, with lots of stamped hearts! Sometimes I like to just stamp randomly all over the card. It just feels good and the simplicity is nice!

For this card, I used the solid heart in the Bee My Valentine Stamp Set in the Spring Mini Catalog. I started by stamping three Sweet Sorbet hearts. Then I just chose several other colors and mostly stamped three hearts of each color. You can use whatever color theme you like! I think I used Fresh Freesia, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Daffodil Delight, Soft Sea Foam, and Calypso Coral. I crammed them in there! Be sure to turn the stamp or paper so they are all going in slightly different directions. Not to be one to know when to stop, I also added some really small hearts stamped in Melon Mambo ink.

Before adhering the hearts card front, I wrapped around a piece of Silver & White 1/2″ Sheer Ribbon down the side. After adhering the front layer to the Sweet Sorbet card base, I tied a bow around that piece of ribbon. I liked this ribbon because you could still see through it to see the colored hearts.

For the greeting, I chose “With Love” in the Country Bouquet Stamp Set. I wanted to stamp it on the heart punched out of the Country Bouquet Punch but it was too long so I had to stamp each word by carefully inking up only one word at a time. It was risky but I did it! I could have done it a more careful way but I took a chance! I popped up the stamped heart over a diecut rectangle in the Timeless Arrangements Dies. Then I scattered around some Iridescent Rhinestone Jewels.

Have fun making some Valentines!

Valentine Stamping and Watercoloring

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Country Bouquet Watercolored Valentine

I seem to be getting a lot of watercoloring accounts popping up on my social media and some of them look so fun and simple! I don’t own a set of watercolor paints, but I knew I could use our Stampin’ Up! ink and the Stampin’ Up! Water Painters. I saw a card design a little bit like this card but made with cardstock hearts in kind of an ombre effect. I got the idea to use the Country Bouquet Stamp Set in the Annual Catalog for stamping hearts and then I watercolored them!

This Valentine only uses Real Red ink! The card base is Real Red. The hearts are stamped with Stazon black ink on Stampin’ Up! watercolor paper, Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper (149612). You need to use Stazon ink since it is waterproof. You don’t want any ink to smear when you apply the watercolor. Basic White cardstock doesn’t stand up well to water so watercolor paper is a lot better. If you still have some Shimmery White cardstock that unfortunately is retired now, it works fairly well with water.

To make this card, stamp hearts on the watercolor paper. If you already have some ink in the lid of the Real Red ink pad, you can start with that. Squeeze water out of the Water Painter to make a very light color with the ink. I had a scrap piece of watercolor paper that I tested my colors on. When you feel you have the shade you want, color in the top three hearts. Then add a little bit more reinker to the lid (don’t let all the water get onto your ink pad!), stir it up with the Water Painter, perhaps adding more water. When you get a medium shade with the ink and water, fill in the next row of hearts. For the last row of hearts, add more reinker and see what shade you have or add more water if it is way too dark. You want three different shades of colored hearts just using Real Red reinkers and water. See my photo below of what I was using.

Valentine Watercoloring

Either let the watercolor paper dry or hit it with your Heat Tool for a short time. It doesn’t take very long at all to dry with the Heat Tool. Then you can adhere it to the card base of Real Red. I used a LOT of Stampin’ Seal+ since the watercolor paper is heavier and possibly warped a little bit. I wanted to be sure it was going to hold on the card.

I tried to figure out what to do for a greeting and in the end stamped “For You” randomly in the empty spaces on the card. Not one to leave well enough alone, I also added some Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins in Petal Pink scattered on the front of the card.

On the inside of the card, I added a Basic White layer and stamped both greetings “Just wanted to say” and “Happy Valentine’s Day in Real Red ink.

IMPORTANT: Before you just close up that ink pad, take a paper towel and dab out all that water. You don’t want that all soaking into your ink pad and it would probably make a mess anyway just closing the lid!

This was a fun way to do something a little different but still use Stampin’ Up! products. Sometimes we may forget how versatile many of our products are, the reinkers being one of them. Try a little watercoloring with your reinkers and Water Painters or whatever small brush you have. If you don’t have the Stazon ink, I’d suggest just paint the hearts and omit the stamping. Make all the hearts different colors if you like. Just play!

February is here so this is the last month for Sale-A-Bration. It’s a good time to pick up a few things at Stampin’ Up!, thinking of reaching that $50 level or $100 level or more to choose a FREE product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure and the newly released products on this flyer.

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Bee Mine Book Fold Valentine Card

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Bee Mine Book Fold Valentine Card

February is coming soon so it’s time to get those Valentines ready to send and give! This is one of those fun book fold cards but the fold is at the top instead of on the side. Try this Bee Mine Book Fold Valentine Card for a fun card Valentine to send to someone!

This book fold card starts with a card base of Sweet Sorbet. The card base is cut at 11″ x 4 1/4″, then scored at 4 1/4″ and 5 1/2″. The 5 1/2″ score line is the center fold of the card. The 4 1/4″ score line makes the “binding” on the top of the card. Glue that area to the card base so that only the 4 1/4″ portion of the card opens. Once you have the book fold card base made, you can decorate the card for Valentine’s Day or for any occasion you need.

I used the Bee Mine Designer Series Paper in the Spring Mini Catalog. It is part of a big collection of products, the Bee Mine Suite Collection. You can purchase all of it or just some of it. The Bee Mine DSP is cute and is not exclusively for Valentine’s Day but you can use it for Valentine’s Day! Even if you exclude the obvious hearts papers, there are still plenty of patterns you can use for any occasion!

To decorate the card, I adhered a strip of 1″ x 4″ to the top book fold area. I chose the pattern with the little bees flying around. For the larger front of the card, I adhered a tiny heart pattern cut at 4″ x 4″. The three little white circles are die-cut from the Deckled Circles Dies. I cut out the larger bees with hearts on one pattern of paper and adhered each to one of the white circles. I glued them flat to the card but you could pop up the circle and bee or just the bee. For the greeting, I stamped one from the Bee My Valentine Stamp Set in Sweet Sorbet ink. There wasn’t one good place to put a greeting so I just made three and placed them around on the card.

I really like the Sweet Sorbet Ribbon that comes in the Suite, but to go with the black on the bees and for something different, I added a bow at the top with the Black & White 1/4″ Gingham Ribbon.

On the inside of the card, I added a 4″ x 4″ piece of Basic White and cut out another bee to put in the corner.

Here is another card I made in the book fold style with the fold on the side of the card and also using the Bee Mine Designer Series Paper.

Remember that Sale-A-Bration is still going on and will continue through January. With every $50 purchase, you may choose one FREE product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure. There are some great choices from stamp sets, to paper, to embellishments. And what’s better than getting stamping products FREE?!

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Bee Mine Z-Fold Valentine’s Day Card

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Bee Mine Z-Fold Valentine's Day Card

I already had this Petal Pink cardstock made into a Z-Fold card base in my package of paper so I started with that. I must have gotten that far one day and then changed my mind about the card! But this day, it was perfect! This Bee Mine Z-Fold Valentine’s Day Card is one of those cards that I was pleased about how it all came together!

Let’s start with the basics. A Z-Fold card starts as a regular card base, but the front of the card is scored down the middle and folded back on itself! You don’t even need to score the front of the card, just fold the right side back even with the fold on the left side of the card. If you do want to score the cardstock, score the 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ paper at 2 1/8″ and 4 1/4″. Fold in half, then fold the 2 1/8″ score line back to the fold.

For this card, I used the very cute Bee Mine Designer Series Paper. I wasn’t so much into bees when the Spring Mini Catalog came out, but the paper has won me over! It just makes me happy to work with it! For the front Z-Fold panel, I used this super-cute red pattern with little white flowers. On the inside, I used the pattern with the Daffodil Delight plaid lines.

The greeting is in the Bee My Valentine Stamp Set and is stamped in Memento Black ink on Basic White. It is diecut with a rectangular shape in the Nested Essentials Dies and then layered on a larger Daffodil Delight layer. When you adhere the greeting to that Z-Fold make sure you are only putting glue on the correct half and not the whole area so that the card will still open!

Since I put designer paper on the inside of the card (or if you have a dark-colored cardstock, you may need a lighter piece to stamp or write a greeting on the inside of the card. I die-cut a piece of Basic White to match the Daffodil Delight diecut piece and made sure it was placed directly behind the greeting on the front of the card. Put the card face down, and lay the inside diecut piece face down along the backside of that greeting. Apply glue, then fold the back of the card over so that it adheres exactly in the right place. When the card is closed, you don’t want the inside greeting itself or the diecut piece showing from the front if possible.

To embellish the card, I cut out bees from the designer series paper and adhered those to the front and inside of the card. I also used the Bee Builder Punch to punch out some Sweet Sorbet hearts to use, also.

Try this Z-fold card if you haven’t already. Here’s another example of a fun Z-Fold card. I think it is an easy way to make a card seem extra special!

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Bee Mine Z-Fold Valentine's Day Card Inside

Layered Stripes Wonderful Card

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Layered Stripes Wonderful Card

Like my card from yesterday, I will ask if this Layered Stripes Wonderful Card is a Valentine or just a “regular” card. What do you think? I think it could be either one! It’s Real Red so it certainly could be for Valentine’s Day! The greeting could be for Valentine’s Day OR just a nice greeting to send to someone any day!

This card is stamped with the large background stamp in the Spring Mini Catalog called Layered Stripes. You’ll find it on page 28. I forget what compelled me to buy this stamp because I think I would normally skip over it. And now I finally got around to playing with it! I used my Stamparatus to stamp it to get a solid image. If I needed to stamp it more than once, I could do that since the Stamparatus holds it in exactly the same place. The stamp is actually larger than a layer you would use on a card. You could have the background stamp stamp-side up, apply ink, and then lay the piece you want stamped on top of it carefully. Or you can stamp the image on a larger piece of paper and then trim it down to the size you want it.

My card base is Real Red and I added a layer of Basic White to help the stamped stripes stand out a little bit more against the white instead of the red card base. The greeting is from the Celebrating You Stamp Set and then diecut with one of the Stitched Rectangle Dies. I also cut out the next larger rectangle in Real Red so have a layer. I still had to play around with it on the card to see how the greeting was going to look the best because obviously the background of the card is pretty bold.

Finally I settled on using the Real Red layer behind the greeting but I adhered it over a piece of White 3/4″ Frayed Ribbon. (You can choose this ribbon (2 spools!) FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 purchase of Stampin’ Up! products.) The greeting is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. I also added a small bow of Real Red Ribbon in the Real Red & Burlap Ribbon Combo Pack. And for a little sparkle, I added three small Iridescent Rhinestone Jewels. I love these things! They go with just about anything and always add a nice touch to your project.

I think there are other fun techniques to use on a stamp like this Layered Stripes background stamp, like applying different colors to the stripes for one. It will be fun to experiment with I’m sure!

Remember, there were some extra products added to the list of Sale-A-Bration products to choose from with $50 or more purchases and a couple special ones with a $100 purchase instead of two $50 Level products. Check out the flyer below! To see ALL the Sale-A-Bration choices, click HERE to see them in the Online Store. Remember Sale-A-Bration ends on February 28, 2023.

New SAB Products Feb 2023

Country Floral Lane Heart Punch Card

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Country Floral Lane Heart Punch Card

Is this Country Floral Lane Heart Punch Card a Valentine or an all-occasion card? I think it could be either one! Hearts aren’t just for Valentine’s Day so this could be a “Thinking of You” card…but it could be a Valentine! So make it whatever you like! Of course, you can change the greeting for your specific occasion!

I chose a Mossy Meadow card base since that is one of the coordinating colors of the designer paper. Over that, I added a layer of Basic White cardstock to set off the designer paper a little better.

The paper is the Country Floral Lane Designer Series Paper in the Spring Mini. The papers aren’t strictly for Valentine’s Day so you can use them later in the year, too! For this card, I used the pink floral pattern with a dark green background on the top half of the card and the pink little hearts paper for the bottom portion. These two patterns are actually the two sides of the same sheet of paper! The top portion measures 3 3/4″ x about 3 3/8″. The pink hearts paper is 3 3/4″ x 1 3/4″. The pink paper overlaps the top portion just a tiny bit. Be sure to wrap the ribbon around to the back at the seam to cover the two papers meeting before you glue it down to the Basic White layer. The ribbon is the Petal Pink 3/8″ Soft Polyester Ribbon which is beautiful and really soft.

For the greeting, I found this one in the Celebrating You Stamp Set. It is stamped in Mossy Meadow ink on Basic White. Then punched out with the plain heart in the Heart Punch Pack with a Petal pink scalloped layer with the scalloped heart. These two punches come together in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog in the Heart Punch Pack. If you missed out on the Country Bouquet Punch (it is due back in April!) these heart punches will be fun to use instead.

The heart is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals and I added a small Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewel on the point of the heart. I think it is the perfect finishing touch!

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Country Floral Lane Valentine Candy Bars

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Country Floral Lane Valentine Candy Bars

These Country Floral Lane Valentine Candy Bars are a very old project I have been making all of my stamping years! It is so easy and so fun! You can use any size of candy bars and decorate for any occasion, as simple or as fancy as you like!

I got these “regulation size” chocolate bars in a 6-pack at the grocery store. You could use the very small snack-size bars or you could use the giant-size candy bars. The brand, size, and type doesn’t matter either with a project like this. You only need to be able to wrap some paper around the candy bar or even a bag of candy.

My measurements don’t really matter to you because it all depends on the size of YOUR candy bars. But if you want a starting measurement, for my candy bars I wrapped around a 5 1/2″ x 6″ piece of cardstock, then a piece of designer paper, about 4 1/4″ x 6″ on one and 3 1/2″ x 6″ on the other. Six inches provides a fairly wide overlap for the back so you could make that a little shorter if you needed to save paper.

On the pink candy bar, I first stamped some flowers in the Country Bouquet Stamp Set using Versamark ink on the Petal Pink cardstock just for a little interest on the top and bottom. Then I wrapped around a piece of the Country Floral Lane Designer Paper. I suggest just lightly wrapping it around and not scoring it according to any measurements. Each candy bar and wrapper may be different, there is some thickness to it, and you don’t want the wrap to be too tight that you can’t pull out the candy bar or too loose. After I wrapped the cardstock around the candy bar, I held it in place as tightly as I wanted it and actually ran my Bone Folder along the sides which gave a pretty nice crease.

To decorate the pink candy bar, I used the Country Bouquet Punch to punch out the two hearts and leaves directly from the Country Lane Floral Designer Paper. As I write this, this punch is not available and will not be until April. If you want to use that design on the paper, just cut out the hearts and leaves by hand. I used the Real Red & Burlap Ribbon Combo Pack to wrap around the length of the candy bar with the Burlap Ribbon, then tied at the top with the Real Red Ribbon. This gives the recipient a “handle” to pull out the candy bar.

The Sweet Sorbet candy bar is wrapped with Sweet Sorbet cardstock and then a layer of the Country Gingham 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. This paper is cute and so versatile to use on many projects. At this moment it says, “Low Inventory” so if you want it, order it right away!

To decorate this candy bar, I stamped three hearts with the Country Bouquet Stamp Set and punched out with the Country Bouquet Punch, Again, if you don’t have it, just cut out the hearts by hand. I also added two greetings from the same stamp set plus the little hearts stamped inside one of the hearts. That center heart is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. I used the Black & White Gingham Ribbon to wrap around and pull out the candy bar.

As I said, this is a fun project! Even children can do it! If you want to see the small, Snack Size candy bars decorated, here is a Halloween example.

If you need any supplies for any projects, remember Sale-A-Bration is still going on during February and just the other day Stampin’ Up! added more choices of products that you can earn with a $50 or more purchase. Check out all the choices HERE.

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Country Floral Lane Valentine With Heart Punch Pack

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Country Floral Lane Valentine With Heart Punch Pack

With all the excitement over the Stampin’ Up! January-April 2023 Mini Catalog (the Spring Mini), we often forget about the Annual Catalog. It’s easier to look at the newest catalog and all the shiny new products. But now that it is time to make Valentines, I remembered the Heart Punch Pack in the Annual Catalog! It’s a shame the Country Bouquet Punch will not be available in time for Valentine’s Day, but maybe you have the Heart Punch Pack you can use instead (or other past heart punches and dies).

This Country Floral Lane Valentine With Heart Punch Pack card is an easy card to make. It starts with a card base of Petal Pink cardstock. I added a layer of designer paper in the Country Floral Lane Designer Series Paper, the Petal Pink with little white hearts.

The hearts are punched with the Heart Punch Pack. This is two heart punches, one with scalloped edges that can act as a layer underneath the plain heart. It’s great to have the two punches for layering and for the two designs. The scalloped heart is Petal Pink and the plain is Basic White. A greeting is stamped with Petal Pink ink from the Country Bouquet Stamp Set.

To help the heart stamp out I die cut a Basic White square from the Stylish Dies. You can use any square shape. The two hearts are adhered together, then popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

But before I adhered the hearts to the square I added some White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon back and forth behind the heart. I usually like to put down some Stampin’ Seal on the back so I can stick down the ribbon and then add Dimensionals to help hold it down as well as to pop up the piece.

Trying to keep the card simple, but wanting just a little something else to add to the card, I added a frosted Heart Pearl. In this package are three “colors” of pearls – Glossy White, Milky White, and Pearl White. I just put the heart at the bottom of the heart and then stopped myself from adding any more! It’s so much fun to add some embellishments to a card!

This is just an easy, basic Valentine. Change the colors, the paper, or even the greeting to make more cards!

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Country Bouquet Punched Hearts Valentine

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Country Bouquet Punched Hearts Valentine

If you like punching, this Country Bouquet Punched Hearts Valentine is for you! Just grab some cardstock or designer paper and start punching hearts to your heart’s content! January is just about over (who would have thought?!) and February will be here next week so it’s time to be making lots of Valentines!

This card uses Shimmery White cardstock for both the card base and the layer. I could have added a colored layer underneath the Shimmery White layer, but sometimes I like the white-on-white look. I love the Shimmery White cardstock because it really does have just a tiny bit of shimmer that you can see up close.

Then I chose several colors to use for the hearts. I used Flirty Flamingo, Blushing Bride, Highland Heather, Pool Party, So Saffron, and Soft Sea Foam. Some hearts I used from one side and some from the other to get them going in different directions. The Country Bouquet Punch punches a large heart but also a smaller one at the bottom so I also got a collection of small hearts. That gave me the idea to fill in the spaces with small hearts! There still was some empty space that I thought could use something. I got out the matching Dark Stampin’ Blends and used the bullet tip to make three dots randomly around in the empty spaces. You wouldn’t have to do this step but it just added a little extra color.

I used a greeting in the Country Bouquet Stamp Set, which you can purchase as a Bundle with the Punch. It is stamped with Flirty Flamingo ink on Shimmery White. I diecut it with a banner die in the Stylish Shapes Dies. Then to have a little extra layer without covering too much of the card, I diecut the smaller banner and layered the greeting on top. The whole thing is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

And why not add a few Heart Pearls on the card with punched hearts all over it?! It’s almost always good to add a little bling or sparkle!

Hope you like this valentine idea that you can make easily with the Country Bouquet Punch!

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Love Cats Valentine Card

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Love Cats Valentine Card

This Love Cats Stamp Set in the Spring Mini is just a cute stamp set you should have! It’s just a basic stamp set – no dies, no matching designer paper, no ribbon, no anything else – just a stamp set for you to simply stamp and use your creativity to develop something as simple or as fancy as you want! Valentine’s Day will be here sooner than we can imagine so it’s time to get going on some Valentine cards although you could use these cat stamps for just regular cards, too!

This card has a Real Red card base (my favorite color!). The Basic White layer is stamped with cats in Smoky Slate ink. I would say “randomly” but since the stamp is pretty big, it was a little difficult to get the cats spread out all over the cardstock as I like to do with other smaller stamps for backgrounds. But this was the idea I had in my head so I went with it. When you do this, always fill in the edge spaces even with a partial stamp.

Next I stamped a cat in Smoky Slate on a scrap piece of Basic White and cut it out by hand to place somewhat how I have the cat on this card. But it didn’t stand out so I stamped another cat in Memento ink in black and I like that better. I actually placed him on the Basic White diecut circle so that his tail would align with the Smoky Slate tail stamped on the card front. You may or may not be able to do this, I wouldn’t worry about doing it, but for my card it didn’t look like an extra tail sticking out from the cat! The circle is die cut with one of the Stylish Shapes Dies and layered on a scalloped Layering Circles die in Real Red. I also very carefully inked up the three little hearts with a Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker and stamped those above the cat. This piece is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals after a piece of Real Red ribbon in the Real Red & Burlap Combo Pack in the Spring Mini.

For the greeting, I stamped one in the set in Real Red ink on a scrap of Basic White. I thought about diecutting it in some way, but decided to just cut each word apart and adhere it to the focal point with the cat.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the stamped gray hearts – just leave them as is or color them in or what. I decided to color in the small gray heart with the Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker and added a few freehand small hearts randomly. They were easy enough to draw myself! Not being one to leave well enough alone, I colored a few Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels with a Dark Real Red Stampin’ Blend marker and placed three of those jewels in some of the empty spaces on the background.

This card may sound like a lot of steps but you already have the design to copy so you only have to make it! Here is another Love Cats card I made using designer paper that you may like. You still have time to order this stamp set and have it in time to make Valentines. Even if you are not a cat lover, this set is too cute! Enjoy!

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Love Cats Head Over Heels Card

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Love Cats Head Over Heels Card

This Love Cats Head Over Heels Card came about because my Love Cats Stamp Set just came yesterday so I quickly made a card with it! I’m a dog person, not a cat person except for some occasional cute cats we see around the neighborhood. But this stamp set has fun cats and is irresistible! Whether you make Valentines or other cards with this set, you will have fun making them and the recipients are sure to love them whether they are dog or cat lovers! Cute is cute!

This card has a Balmy Blue cardstock card base. The paper comes from a fantastic deal during Sale-A-Bration! The designer paper on this card is the Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper and is available to you FREE with a $100 purchase! Most Sale-A-Bration products are earned with a $50 purchase but a few are there for your larger orders if you want to choose them. This pack of paper has very versatile, pleasing designs that you can use for cards, scrapbook pages, and all kinds of projects. You get 48 sheets, 4 each of 12 designs! The paper on this card is the Balmy Blue pattern on one side and the blues and greens on the other side.

I thought I would try stamping the cat right on the designer paper so I chose a pattern that wasn’t a busy one. I strongly recommend you use your Stamparatus so that in case you don’t get a good, dark image of the cat the first time, you can stamp again (and again!) to get a solid-colored image. Or make sure your ink pad is well-inked! The “other side” of the designer paper is adhered along the side of the card.

The greeting is in the Love Cats Stamp Set. I stamped it on Basic White and cut it out with one of the Stitched Rectangle Dies. I think it looks fine even without being on a layer.

I decided to stamp the little heart on the cat stamp again on Sweet Sorbet Cardstock and then cut it out. I glued it carefully over the stamped heart with the cat to add a little more color to the card. I probably could have colored it in on the card but I liked the cutting-out idea! Then I stamped and cut out two more Sweet Sorbet hearts to use as embellishments on the card. I think those add just the right amount of interest and color!

That’s all there is to this fairly easy card! There are lots more fun ideas to use with this Love Cats Stamp Set!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! and SALE-A-BRATION!

Blessings of Home Floral Bouquet Valentine

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Blessing of Home Floral Bouquet Valentine

Although this card has the title of Blessings of Home Floral Bouquet Valentine, it could be a valentine but it could be a wedding card, anniversary card, or engagement card. Change the greeting for a birthday or “thinking of you” card. Flowers can be for almost anything!

I actually wanted to make a card that could be a valentine without hearts like all the other ones I made. I chose this bouquet stamp in the Blessings of Home Stamp Set in the Spring Mini Catalog. I used my Stamparatus to stamp the image on Basic White because I wanted to make sure I got a good impression. As it turned out, it was okay but I re-stamped it which was easy to do with the Stamparatus just to make it a tiny bit darker.

I looked through the Heart & Home Designer Series Paper and decided on this green leafy background which I thought would look good against the bouquet of flowers. The card base turned out to be Melon Mambo cardstock after I colored the flowers. The first layer on the card base is Basic White embossed with the Pretty Flowers Embossing Folder. The designer paper is cut smaller so the embossing shows at least a little bit around the margins.

Can you guess what the flowers are colored with? Almost always I use Stampin’ Blends Markers, but I was in the mood for something different and tried the Watercolor Pencils! We have two different packages of Watercolor Pencils. I used some colors from both boxes. When you color with Watercolor Pencils, you likely will want to use a Blender Pen to smooth and blend the colors. You can actually just kind of scribble in some color and then use the Blender Pen, which is moist, to move the color around and smooth it out. You can’t work it too much or you will rub and moisten the Basic White paper too much. Just a light and quick touch are all you need. Watercolor Pencils always take me back to my early days in Stampin’ Up! when we used Watercolor Pencils a lot and I loved using them with the Blender Pen! Now we have more things for coloring and I think they get forgotten, but they are fun and easy to use.

Stampin' Up! Watercolor Pencils

The whole flower bouquet was die cut with one of the Flowers of Home Dies. You can purchase the stamp set and dies together in the Blessings of Home Bundle and save 10%.

The greeting is stamped in Melon Mambo ink and is from a stamp in the Blessings of Home Stamp Set. It is die cut with one of the Rectangle Stitched Dies. It fits just underneath the floral bouquet, which is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. For a little sparkle, I adhered three Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Whether you use this card for a Valentine or some other occasion, using the Blessings of Home Stamp Set will guarantee you a pretty card!

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Sweet Talk Little Envelope Valentine Card

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Sweet Talk Little Envelope Valentine Card

I was still in the mood for making a few more valentines, and I got lucky designing this Sweet Talk Little Envelope Valentine Card. I might have thought it up myself, but it turned out the paper size just made this card into what it is! I planned to use my favorite sheet of paper in the Sweet Talk Designer Series Paper which is the top of this card with all the hearts. The other side of that paper is this purple stripe, which I used on this card in my previous post. As it turned out, when I cut my designer paper and cut the length at 5 1/4″, the piece that was left over on the length was this purple stripe piece! Instead of making the whole card front the hearts paper, I added the striped section at the bottom and I really liked it!

Usually, to cover the seam between two papers, I like to add some ribbon. On this card, I added the Real Red 3/8″ Mini Ruffled Ribbon and just tied on an extra piece in a knot, rather than a bow. I was keeping it simple! I adhered this piece to the Real Red card base.

Since there was a die cut that forms that little envelope lying on my table, I decided to just use it! The die in the Sweet Hearts Dies cuts out the envelope and also makes the score lines so all you have to do is fold it up! Add just tiny bits of glue when the paper is going to meet so you keep the envelope “open” if you want to stick in some hearts or something.

I adhered the envelope to the card and then found two cut-out hearts to insert. One is a conversation candy heart from the designer paper that is just cut out by hand and the red and white heart is cut out from the paper sheet with the candy box designs and little bitty hearts. I added a Rhinestone Basic Jewel to the front of the little envelope.

The greeting is stamped in Real Red ink from the Sweet Conversations Stamp Set just on a scrap strip of Basic White Cardstock. I flagged the ends just by cutting with my Paper Snips.

This was an easy card to make, and I say, when you come across a design you like or color combination, or paper combination, go for it! Make several! It was one of those days that after I made this card, I just started making a bunch of similar cards. Some had the same paper combination, some had a different focal point on the front….whatever I came up with! It was so much fun!

If you are still making valentines (or haven’t started yet!) just go for one basic style and as your creativity develops in the moment, change up the paper or the greeting or the embellishments or flip the card from vertical to horizontal. Just play and have fun!

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