February Twofer Challenge

Good afternoon and welcome. It's time for the second Twofer Challenge. This is a new challenge started by Our Darnell . The challenge is to make TWO cards, but use the same item(die, stamp, etc) on each card, BUT it must be for a different occasion.  So jump on over to see what the fantastic Design Team has created to inspire you, and check out the entries that have already been submitted - join in! When you do the linking, show both your cards together on the link.

 

Here's my Twofer cards side by side, which is the picture I'll link at February's Twofer Challenge.

The cards side-by-side:

 

 

 

Now here's the individual cards:

 

 

 

 

I was in the throes of making Valentine cards, and this little Hedgie was a UFO that was still on the desk crapalanche. Had the Valentine dies out, and found this Memory Box heart swirl, decided I could use it and perhaps take the center of the heart to create a green shamrock for the cards I will be needing for the next up holiday. Die cut this swirl 4 times to get that center piece, so have some extra dies now.Hedgie was die cut with a Gina Marie square die, matted with a S/B square die, and then the little heart trims were from the next Twofer card.  The heart swirl and the little heart motifs started out white, colored with copics. 

 

 

Recently received a package from some sweet bloggers containing speciality coated cardstock that some of their group have been using with brushos and other mediums. (thanks to you sweet ladies). Out came the brushos (in shades of green), Paper Artsy Infusions in Olive Green and a Gold mica spray. Did not pre wet the new c/s, but sprinkled the  brushos and Infusion powders over the surface, then spray starch. Let that sit just a bit to watch the colors fuse and bloom. Then decided to sprinkle some lemon yellow brusho and spray a bit of gold mica spray. Scrunched cling film, placed over the wet surface and left alone for a few hours.

 

One of the swirl heart dies was colored in copic greens...used the center heart waste to form the shamrock petals, glued over the heart shape. Added a gold sequin to hide the center join. An Impression Obsession shamrock die was cut and colored. The little red hearts that cascade down the Hedgie card above were from this shamrock, the piece that separated the 2 heart shapes of this corner shamrock. Added a smaller gold sequin to this shamrock. The gold horseshoe is a Your Next Stamp* die and the sentiment was a $1 cheapie clear stamp tucked in the St. Pat's supply box. Heat embossed with a gold EP (but not my fav Queen's Gold).

 

*a word about some good customer service from YNS: Ordered a stamp set from YNS that is geared to St. Patrick's day. A die set was sent instead, and so I emailed - received a very  prompt response, apologizing for the mistake, and assuring me that the stamp set would be mailed ASAP. Received the stamp set very quickly, and was told to keep the die set. This was my 2nd order placed with the company. Now that is MY idea of terrific customer service. Just sayin'!

 

  

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Ya'll come again when you have time! God Bless and many hugs.

 



 



Balloons and Ellie Valentine

Hiya....and another Valentine card. This image was in the UFO box, so just added some dp to a cardbase, die borders, and stamped the inside....oh yes, die cut and made a faux mat. A get 'er done.

No glossy accents added to the balloons on this card. The highlights are all created by Moi. No glare in the photo either. The tiny corner hearts are the cutouts from the border - this was an easy- peasy card to finish. I did add some Nuvo drops to the eyes, by placing a drop of the Nuvo on a scrap, then getting a bit on a straight pin and touching the eyeball. It added some spark to the eyes IRL. I always smile at this little Ellie. Hope you like it, and it makes you smile too.

Hugs & God Bless. As ever, thanks for your time to visit and leave a comment.

A Mouse for Valentine Day

Happy weekend. After a gloriously beautiful and warm Friday, we have dreary damp drizzles for Sat and more of the same expected for Sunday. Still on the Valentine kick, and this one was mailed to the DD. She kept a white mouse while she was away at college. (not at home, I might add, although we did have hamsters, turtles, parakeets and a gerbil at one time or another. I drew the line at mice).

- the photo looks washed out, and background looks pale blue - it was gray. The glossy accents on the valentine balloon created a glare. Other than that, was pleased with this one. The actual card looked nice. Think this was a Whippersnapper or Stamping Bella image. It was easy to color.  There was some green tucked inside, so I hope it will bring a smile.

Ya'll have a good evening, and c'mon back when you have time. Always love to see each friendly name pop up in the mail to say I've had a visitor. God Bless and for any who are under the weather, prayers that you soon feel much better. Hugs

Hedgie in Heart Shorts

Welcome. Penny Black Hedgies have always been my favorite; still think PB has the cutest of any of the hedgehog images that I've seen. Hedgie was the first decently colored image I felt I did, when I was learning to use copic markers. It may even have been this little cutie in his undershorts. They are SO easy to color, have precious little faces and just make me happy to color. Have collected quite a few of these Hedgie stamps, and have to restrain myself when I see new ones.

 

Some of my Valentine supplies are stored in a square clear box- embellies, papers, etc & the design papers were from a 6x6 pack bought a while back. For holidays like St. Pat's, Valentine's, Fall and 4th of July, I find stuff easier to find if I keep together in these boxes. Don't use them as often as say, Christmas motifs.  This paper pack is double sided. Liked the scribbles paper with just the one red swirl in the corner, and the border is the reverse side.  The red circle mat was cut from the snippet box, as was the snippety red mirror c/s sentiment. Actually the black circle mat could truly be called a snippet, but it was not a small one. The black paper had been used for another project and was handy (in the crapalanche pile!). Maybe better to say it was just 'left over'?

 

I was going to schedule this for a Monday post, but it's been SO long since I visited the Snippets Playground, and (hanging my head in shame) several of my visitors have encouraged me to c'mon over. Hope this might get me in the gates if Parsnip still remembers me.

 

(When the snippets word is italicized in a post, I hope that reminds all of you who visit the Playground to join in with Challenge 319, and for those who don't know about the Snippets Playground -- that you will follow the link to find out about it! Lovely & talented people go there, so I'll be in a great group of friendly folks).

 

Thanks for your visit...Blessings and Hugs. 

CAS Mix up Valentine

Good morning, and I expect you are so tired of seeing Valentine cards. Sorry, but that is what I had to get made this week! If I were on top of things, I'd make these all year long, and share one or two along instead of a bunch at once. Oh well...I'm so glad you came by for a little visit. Just a few more, and I'll get on to some other subject.

Over at February CAS Mix Up the challenge is to use Felt, Cork or Canvas, plus stamping. I've never worked with either Cork, Canvas or Felt, but after seeing some really pretty entries, hunted up a 6x6 pack of DCWV cork and went to work:

 

 

Heart die cut the cork very easily, then cut the same heart with a smaller die using a very lightweight balsa wood that has been here for ages. Again, this is quite thin material, used for making model airplanes I think. (DH bought this wood for us to try die cutting, worked very well, but probably wouldn't be so great with an intricate die).  The 3rd heart was cut from corrugated paper - a cover from a Starbucks latte. Not sure what these things are called, but it's the little holder put around the cup to avoid burning your palm with a hot cup. Used the blank side, cut a heart. Colored with several layers of copic reds, then using my finger, rubbed some gold Novu mousse over it. Not bad for recycling.  Lastly, added a trim with thin copic wire. Folks, this was another experimental play session.

 

Needed a way to add the sentiment, but didn't want to stack any more on the heart layers. Found an arrow die. Cut 2 layers from a business card(more recycle!), used a gold pen to color each layer. [Remember to color the white edges that can be seen when stacking dies]. Heat embossed the sentiment  in gold onto a snippet of cream textured c/stock, punched holes in this with a tiny hand punch. Twisted some more of the copper wire to hang it from the arrow. (the wire inspiration came from this card)

 

Embossed a heart EF, stacked all of it on a white card base, Voila. So I'm off to link up with February's CAS Mix up. Why not join in?

Hope you'll take time to check out the Cards by Friends page...there's a gorgeous new card added.

Thanks for joining me today. Hugs and have a grand weekend. Come again when you can.

Quilt Valentine

Hello there. Let's cut to the chase, here's the card!

Gina Marie Quilt die, with the pieces left from cutting another quilt card. If using double sided paper, this only needs one pass of the die, as you can reverse the paper design to create the pattern. If single side paper, you need to use 2 different pieces, which results in 2 quilts. Used a Martha Stewart punch and white snippet to cut the small hearts. Colored with red copics, added some glossy accents. The border is an old MS punch, cut from a white snippet. A red mirror snippet cut the scripty sentiment. SU E/F for the white background.

 

Just a few more to finish up, photo, make inserts and get in the mail. Might take some St. Pat's day motifs with me to Florida if I can get some stamped. Still hunting for Mr. MoJo, but at least the UFO box is coming in handy!

 

Ya'll have a great afternoon. Hope it's nice where you are. Hugs.

  

Technique Valentine

Hi. Another valentine...as that's what I've been working on. This one was fun - used some Lindy's Magicals mica powder, spray and Pink Himalayan salt (thanks to Bonnie's generosity). Created the background on a play day, and then wondered how to use it.

 

 

- wet heavy weight c/s and sprayed a mixture of Pink Dylusions which had been mixed with white & water. While it was very wet, sprinkled a pinky shade of Lindy's Magical mica powder over it. Used the spritzer tool to move it around the paper. Then sprinkled a coarse grind of Pink Himalayan salt over the surface and left it alone. The salt wicks up the liquid & creates some interesting texture on the surface of the c/s. Not sure it's visible in the photo, but it's there.

 

Sponged some Pearl Cosmic Shimmer over the surface (this is a new product to me, and wanted to see what it does.) The jar has a sponge in the top of it...and I learned you need to do this very lightly. Didn't mean to get as heavy a result as I did, but since the background was rather dark, this looked ok...just sayin' use a lighter hand than I did.

 

S/B heart die cut out the shape & emboss the design. Stitched heart is from a Gina Marie heart die set, and Fiskars punched silver heart  heat embossed with Altenew Antique Silver EP.  Lace doily from VOS. Heart EF embossed textured gray c/stock, sponged lightly with Memento inks in the purple family, added some Cosmic Shimmer around the surface too.  MBox die sentiment heat embossed with Altenew Silver EP. Added the pearls and called this one done.

 

Take care, thanks for visiting, and hugs. 

Watercolor Valentine

Hi, thanks for surfing in. Another UFO Valentine - from an effort at trying some Gansai water colors and spattering. This background was just brushed on a piece of cardstock handy at the time I felt in the mood to play. I had also been using a pink Dylusions spray mixed with water and white Dylusions spray. Haven't played with those sprays for a bit. Tried again with the spatter stuff. This _should not_ be that difficult a technique, but I tend to get blobs rather than spatters.

 

 

- Brushed red Gansai water color trying to get the ombre look that is so popular. This was not watercolor weight c/s..it didn't pill, but warped a little. Started to toss it, but I've learned to wait, look and think a bit before trashing - usually. The pink spatters got put on later when I was playing with Dylusions spray with another effort and just shook the spray tube around over the surface of this piece. Still thinking "this is just trash anyway". At least I didn't get big blobs this time.

 

Had the white cutout section laying around so started to play with placing that along with the black THoltz twig heart and hmmm....could this become anything? My creative process is not very complicated as you can see! Went through the lace box (which I have tons of lace from when I used to sew)...and just started placing the bits around. We have a large extended family, so I need a few Valentine cards. Figure since I'm their aunt, they will be forgiving if it's not the greatest card in the world. (and people always appreciate your time and your thoughts for them, even if you're not the greatest artist in the world!) That said, I don't deliberately try to do a rubbish card. I've discovered that often when I don't like my results, a kind relative will say they liked it.

 

Added the gold braid since I meant to use the mirror gold for the sentiment (once this got going) and a black glitter heart, snippet from another card. Again, a "get-er done card". (Thanks Lynn...that is a very useful phrase!) Creating something, even if MoJo has wandered off.

 

Thanks for your visit, God Bless and hugs. Hope any who are feeling poorly, are on the mend. 

Edit: a sweet blogger friend just gave me a heads up that this card will fit in with the February Watercolour Challenge ..so off to link up! (thanks Miz B)

Red and Black Quilt Valentine

Hello, welcome, and here we are at the beginning of another week. Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and I'm trying to finish a few. Been going through the UFO's, finding some 'schtuff', and trying to think of ways to use it. We are hoping to be in Florida for Valentine's Day, so need to get ahead of the game with a few for the near & dear; therefore will be doing a few scheduled posts.

 

 

The quilt front was made some time ago using a Gina Marie Quilt die. Thought the red & black might work for a Valentine card, if I added some embellies on it...

 

SU E/F for the card front, and this looks a bit warped in the photo. The eyes thought it looked ok, but the camera didn't. Guess a couple books will go atop this prior to inserting in an envelope. :-)

 

The bold sentiment has dimension added by a dark sticky-back fun foam. Finally was able to find the sticky back foam in the local Hobby Lobby. Glued that to a black glitter snippet...cut the quilt binding, the MBox heart border from the same black snippet. As my friend Lynn says "this is a get'er done card".

 

Thanks for stopping by and ya'll come back when you have time. Hugs & Blessings.

 



Happy Valentine's Day

Welcome and many Happy Valentine wishes coming your way!!! Today's post has the remainder of the Valentine cards that got made and now hopefully, on to some St. Patrick's Day and Easter cards.

Let's get started:

You've seen this cute PB hedgie before. He happens to be a favorite among the old wooden block stamps.

S/B Deckled Rectangle die cut the image, faux mat with black, then placed upon an embossed background, with some leftover white stitched swirl at the bottom.

The UTEE covered heart was from a Gina Marie stitched die (snippet from earlier projects)

- Tutti Love sentiment....this was made from many layers of scrap paper that covered the air brush table where spraying is done. There's a large craft mat (like the Ranger brown one found in stores, but I was able to buy a couple of large pieces at a store, where this is used to cover the work tables). I usually put some scrap paper over that craft mat if I'm spraying...sometimes something interesting happens. Thought the overspray made some pretty colors, so die cut a bunch of layers, glued together, and Voila.

Here's the rest of the Valentine cards:

If you have any questions about products used, please ask. There were a couple different techniques used on card #3, the background of which is a mop-up piece from working with the cameo created heart stencil, using sprays & brusho-s with the stencil. The center heart was created by coating the Corbel Heart die that with versamark, embossing over white c/s, dumping some red EP over the embossing, and heating. Tried this technique with a black c/s and it looked terrible as the red just became shiny over the black, and didn't show up as I thought it might.

Again, thanks for joining me this afternoon, and I certainly hope all of you had a marvelous Valentine's Day. Big hugs.

CAS Mix up Challenge February 2017

Good evening, and hope you've had a great Saturday. Back again with another card to try to join in with the February 2017 CAS Mix Up Challenge.

 

But first, please help me say a big hello to a new follower, Asha M.  I can't determine if Asha has a blog, but Asha if you do have a blog, please provide me with the link. I like to introduce my new friends to my old friends, and I want to be sure to pop over to enjoy your work too. Thanks for joining as a new follower. Love to make new friends!

 

Here's the card and my optional choice item was the Tim Holtz Sizzix 660222 Thinlets Scribbles & Splat die set - the heart.

Many of you have commented about being unfamiliar with the Silks Glaze products, so included a picture of what this product looks like. The sets are available in Hobby Lobby and other box store, and individual pots are available in Stamp/Scrapbook/Art stores and this is a Luminart product. Can be used as watercolor if thinned to that consistency, but also as a thicker acrylic paint. Some of mine have 'hardened' since being in the stash for a while, but just spritzed some water in the pot, and let it soften...much as would happen with the Twinkling H20's.

-Mixed Media weight c/s 98#. Splashed some of the red color over the c/s, let it begin to dry just a bit, then dabbed a piece of bubble wrap into the still wet color. Finished drying with a heat tool, as I wanted to get the card into the challenge. (more about the woes of this card below!) Flattened the card overnight, but in the photo, it looks like it may need even more pressing time.

- black c/s was crinkled in an old Fiskars crinkle tool. Tried this with a lightweight chipboard, nothing was happening. Decided to try with a lighter weight c/s, and it crinkled nicely. (also separated a box that my ATG tape came in, as that weight was too heavy to crinkle. Once I separated into 2 layers, it crinkled great, but after spraying Dylusions Black Marble over the 2 pieces, then a bit of Tattered Angels gold, it wasn't great background for the heart. (Message: stop when it looks good, don't keep adding more!!!) S'ok -- , can be used on another project.

- Red Mirror c/s to cut the Twiggy heart, using the nice heavy metal shim, and it cut smoothly with a couple of fwd/backward passes.

- Old wooden block stamp inked with Versafine Onyx and stamped. Tiny red punched heart from the snippet left from the twiggy heart.

Backstory: You'll remember an earlier card done for the challenge but as I went to link, realized I had forgotten to stamp on it. Decided to remake the card so basically the same background was done. This first try had some great texture from the bubble wrap, and then smooshed the wet bubble wrap over the white areas, got some lovely spatters. Went to stamp the text...big time SMEARS! Said a couple of discouraging words too. That's when the 2nd w/color background was made, and as sentiment was stamped again, I was being _VERRRRY_ careful. There is a  slight smudge under the 'N' - not so visible to the eye, but figured the camera would catch  it....hence the tiny punched heart.
I was beginning to think it was not meant I should enter this challenge. LOL!

Do check the Cards by Friends tab if you have time, as some lovely new Valentine cards are being shared here. Thanks for joining me tonight, and wishing you a wonderful Sunday. Big hugs.

Watercolor Valentine

Good evening, and welcome. Hope that any of my Northern states friends are ok with the snowstorm that dumped on you last night and today. We had sunshine, but brisk air with winds making it feel colder. Tonight the temps drop...but AH...No Snow!

Tonight's card was meant to go into the February CAS Mix Up Card Challenge. As I pulled up the blog to have available to link after finishing this post, I realized: No stamping! Dang it! So I'll share it anyway, and hopefully get time to do another card that has some corrugated paper, AND remember to stamp on it.

- Used Silk Glaze to watercolor the background, attempting to do an ombre effect on watercolor paper.

- Oval was a snippet from a die cut (using a recycled card). Thought it looked artsy behind the corrugated paper.

- Sprayed the corrugated paper snippet (which has been on the airbrush table who knows how long, and had oversprays of other colors on it too). Used Dylusions Fire Box red and an Adirondack spray red. Some of the earlier overspray colors - which included a gold, peek through the reds, and I quite liked the effect.

- Gina Marie Stitched Hearts die was cut from a snippet of dark red c/s. Then used Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, 4 layers, heating between each layer, adding more versamark and another coat of UTEE. This creates a very glassy look. It's fun to crackle the product and then use a vintage ink to distress it.

- Hero Arts Valentine word sentiment die from 3 layers of glitter gold paper (snippet).

Hope you like this one. And I hope you'll be able to join in with the February CAS Mix Up Challenge. Remember: have stamping on the card too!!

The other evening, an old card from our Christmas Club Card (the Birds & wings card) showed up on the blog with the current date. Have no idea why or how this happened. I only realized it _had_ happened when some comments came in. Scurried quickly to the blog, and there was the old card. Figured out how to change the cuttrent publish date back in time, but for anyone who remembered the card, that's why a Christmas Club Card showed up. I blame it on Gremlins!!!

Thanks for joining me tonight. Ya'll stay warm. I'm off to finish up some visiting with blog friends, so catch you later. Got a bunch of Valentine cards that will be posted the next few days. Trying to get started on a few St. Patrick's and Easter cards. Big hugs.

Penny Black Balloon Hedgie Valentine

Good afternoon & happy Monday; thanks for stopping by. Sure hope you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was quiet, had sunshine, but one day it was awfully windy.

Yay - there's 2 new followers showing in my followers list. A big welcome to Birgit of Crafting While I Wait! So happy to have some new followers, as it's been quiet for a long while. Thanks for becoming followers, and I hope my friends will pop over to say Hello to Birgit, and enjoy some gorgeous cards. I've not been able to determine who the other new follower is, so if it should be you, please let me know. I add the names of followers in my spreadsheed database, and then your name is included for when Blog Candy winners are chosen.

Speaking of Blog Candy: For a while now, there's been some goodies collecting in a box. Was hoping to reach the 350 followers milestone, then Blogger played games with the followers. However, all the Blogaversaries I've been seeing around Blogland reminded me, I have a 5 year Blogaversary coming on March 12. So if the milestone goal happens first, some of the candy will go for that. And then there will be another give-away for the Blogaversary!  That 5 years has gone by so fast, and I've met so VERY many lovely people.

I hope you won't get too tired with Valentine cards in the next few days, but that's what I've got to work on. (and get in the mail too!). So here goes with today's, using my favorite Penny Black Hedgie. Just love this little guy, and he's so easy to color. This is an old wooden PB, bought when I first started learning how to stamp.

 

 

 

Copic coloring, some Winks added on some of the hearts. The background around Hedgie & his balloons is BG0000 and BG000 (pale blues).

 

- Cheery Lynn die sentiment

 

- MB Oval Master Frame 99357 - cut from a 6x6 Recollections Christmas Noel pack. The design is a wood grain motif. Happened to notice the opposite side is white, with some raised embossing, so used that side. The frame is popped up on foam strips placed along the inside edges.

 

- Rhinestone hearts to trim, and the white card base was edged with DI Weathered Wood and Memento Summer Sky sponging. This enhances the light blue background around Hedgie, that the photo is not showing, but looks nice IRL. The camera IS showing the adhesive dots that were on the rhinestone hearts, though, which IRL the eye does NOT see! Go figure!!!

 

Ya'll have a great evening, and come again when you have time! I try to visit all who leave comments, but sometimes I'm not absolutely certain that my comment was published. So if I should miss coming to enjoy your work, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Sometimes Blogger likes to tease me! Hugs

 

Valentine Bear

Good afternoon and Happy Saturday. Today's card has a DeeDee's Digi that came from my time as a Design Team Member at DeeDee's. She has closed her shop and is now doing other things, so I've linked to her new blog. DeeDee designed such cool images, cute, easy to use; this image is one I found printed out in my stash box, and it went along to Florida at Christmas time. Got colored when I was enjoying the sunshine & dolphins playing.

- Digi Bear colored with Copics, die cut with a S/B pinking circle; black mat cut with a larger pinking circle from the same set. DI Worn Lipstick sponged around the outside edges.

- Cheery Lynn Italian doily cut from red c/s, and Elizabeth Craft Heart Background cut from red c/s that had more pink tones in it. (Recollection card pack of Valentine colors).

- Behind the heart background, old dictionary page was torn, sponged with DI Picked Raspberry with Festive Berries at the corners and edges to deepen the color. Crinkled up the old page, then sponged a
layer of Festive Berries over all of it, with the deeper color hitting on the wrinkled parts. The boo-boo here is that the torn piece had to be applied in a landscape fashion, because I don't tear very well! The cut out hearts need to be vertical; so the script is sideways!!! Oh well. I had already done all the sponging, wrinkling, etc, when I realized this would be the result.

- Hero Arts Valentine word die cut from black cardstock.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and ya'll have a great weekend! Be back later to share a card for our Christmas Card Club.Tha's all folks! Hugs

Chanelling Jennifer McGuire for Valentine's Day

Good afternoon...and {sorry} - back with another Valentine, and also added some cards to the Cards by Friends tab...so I hope you'll enjoy some pretty cards along with me. Aren't I so lucky to have such talented and generous blog buddies? Oh yes I AM!

Recently saw a video by Jennifer McGuire called Negative Space Coloring. I liked the techniques she demonstrated, plus also liked the dies and stamps she used, so you know what came next! Now, I needed something for DH for Valentine's Day, and I had a cutesy little Elly colored & die cut, but ---honestly --- it really wasn't "Him". So decided after my Simon Says Stamps order arrived pretty fast, tried out Jennifer's technique one evening. Remember that I didn't go back and review the video, just sort of winged it with what I could remember of what she did. Got a couple things I didn't do exactly right, but you know what? I still liked the final results! YAY for ME!

- MB Postage Square die die cut, Altenew Botanical Garden stamp inked with Versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold. Stamped again onto Eclipse masking tape, cut out, applied to the embossed image on the die.

- DI Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door & Scattered straw applied with the sponging tool. Jennifer says start in the middle (I forgot that!started at the bottom with Candied Apple, lots of coverage). Started blending the Spiced Marmalade as the next layer...and decided that the Barn Door would be too much red, so just continued with the Marmalade to the edge of the c/s. Oh yes, left the c/s inside the die so I could get the white edge. Then used some of the Scattered Straw at the very top edge and corners, to lighten up the Marmalade just a bit. Looking good, so burnished this with a paper towel. My only problem in doing this was that the tiny leaves at the bottom of the bloom mask wanted to lift, and I did manage to get some ink on one of the leaves.

After lots of burnishing, added some of the white pearl Perfect Pearls (remember the Faux Metal technique?)...burnished the pearls in very well, and did it ever add a nice shine.

- PTI Quick Stitch Sentiments for the Love script.

- a scant black mat, then adhered to a scant gold mirror mat. glued this to the embossed card front.

- XO embossing folder with a red pattern that was in the stack pulled to do V Day cards, thought the shade looked well with the Distress colors. The embossing looks sanded, but I didn't sand it...the paper effect did that.

- MB Heart Chain border die cut from a snippet of gold mirror paper. Trimmed off some of this border, stuck a heart in 2 corners, and Ta Da....it's done.

Great Impressions Puppy Valentine

Hi, and I know you must be getting awfully tired of seeing Valentines, but hey, tis the season and all that! Also I've had some inquiries about the products used in making the paste backgrounds I've shared recently, so gathered the last session's supplies together to share a photo. Especially with the glass beads paste. Here is what I used for the last play session - so I hope this helps anyone who had a question. Sorry I didn't share these initially, but sometimes I get in a hurry (sometimes????HA!)

Have tried to place items so that you can see the product names and most of this stuff can be found in the arts section of many craft stores. The Lindy's products came from Joggles . The Starburst spray comes as a dry powder, you heat demineralized water, mix the product to a liquid. There's some videos at Joggles showing how to use these sprays, also directions for the mixing. The Magicals I'd had for a while, didn't remember how to use them...happened to see a video over Christmas where a blogger had used them on a technique!

Now, 3 cards done with the same image, an old one that DH bought when we first started this stamping hobby. Of course he bought it with DD in mind, and he made her a card that year. Sadly, he's lost interest in making his own cards (but he has plenty of suggestions for ME to make a card at times! LOL)

Great Impressions wooden stamp, colored with copics, die cut with a Sue Wilson die using a center die that fit the image (don't remember which SW die it was). Heart brads from long ago, Glossy Accents applied for some shine.

A S/B Labels 40 die from a red snippet for the mat. Decided to use a dauber, add Versamark around the edges, sprinkled Ranger Queens' Gold around this. Added a little touch of glitz.

- Snippets from different 6x6 Valentine theme paper packs, and a Recollections pack bought on a 50% sale. Bits & bobs. The cupid on #3 is part of the paper design, added glossy accents to it.

- PBlack Sweet Heart (51-184) dies cut the heart arrows. Some thin gold washi added, and when these were going into the envelopes, that washi started to lift. Burnished it back down again, and hope it holds until the card is opened. I just don't have great success with this stuff. Again it was something on sale, and I wonder how old it was...maybe the 'sticky' dries out???Ah well, another cardmaking adventure. One more V. card to make for DH. I have an image colored but it's an Elly and  not sure he will go for cute! We'll see. I can _give_ him the card, so no rush to get in the mail. My BAD! 

Hugs & thanks for popping in. If you're wondering how I've managed to post so much this week, it's called: taking stuff to color when you go away, getting the cards made up, and doing scheduled posts!! I'm not usually so organized, folks!!! LOL & Hugs.

Note: the links I try to add, are not always where I bought the product. I try to find a picture so you can see what the product looks like!

Doggie Valentine

Hi, and I bet my regular readers will know who is getting this card (DD- the family dog lover).

Whipper Snapper Design Love Dog (CU014) - colored with copics, die cut with a S/B rectangle. The Love heart has glossy accents for shine as does part of his bow tie.

- S/B Cascade Hearts coverplate cut the red background, which was placed over some pink glitter paper.

- Dies R Us Frantic Stamper Reverse Paw Print Border (FRA-Die-09570)(the paw pad is shaped like a heart). Can't find the image to link, so probably DieRUs have discontinued this, even though it's a recent purchase. If interested, perhaps you could google and find a source. Same pink glitter paper as behind the red hearts, and used some of the tiny confetti from the die to add a couple extra hearts around.

- Little Yellow Bicycle sentiment die, from the same pink glitter paper. This is the same dog image used for DD's Christmas card, (well, that one had a bone and no spots!) and she liked him. He's just a happy goof!

Ya'll have a great afternoon, and thanks for popping in. Gosh, guess I should start on Easter cards next. I'm about tired of Valentine cards! Still got a few St. Pat's to finish. Hugs

Penny Black Kitty with Valentine Balloons

Welcome, and thanks for visiting. Today's card is from the Penny Black Transparent Share a Hug set. I'm allergic to cats, so don't usually buy cat motifs, but the Penny Black kitty is one that I gravitate towards. He's cute & looks so happy. Easy to color as well.

- Center red balloon got a layer of Clear WoS, then added some glossy accents for shine.

- A sizzix die (has no name on it) for the Kitty. Papers from stash, and the top scallop was a 6x6 Authentique pack, cut with a La-La Land border scallop. Authentique and Graphic 45 are 2 of my favorite paper companies. Love to find these patterns in 6x6, which I personally find more user friendly.

That's it! Don't forget to check out the Happy Little Stampers February Christmas Challenge. The theme this month is a Tick Tack Toe challenge one.

Ya'll have a nice evenin', and Big Hugs.

Edit: Thanks to visiting Carol's Blog this evening, I learned that this card might fit in with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for February  going on to use hearts or red with a PB product. Just linked in, so I hope it works as this post went live today.

And one other sweet blogger suggested this cute PB Kitty would fit in over at Penny Black & More since it fits in with the February challenge of Anything Goes with a Stamp and a die! Thanks Brenda.http://stamping-fantasies.blogspot.com/.    Aren't bloggers just the greatest support community? Yes indeed!

Memory Box Heart Valentine

Hello again & welcome. Another pink Valentine, from an afternoon of play with Lindys Magical powder, Ranger Transparent paste, some liquitex Gel medium (which thins out the paste and I've not been adding water spritzes), with some glimmer sprays over the background once it's dried a bit. Usually will be made from either watercolor weight paper or Canson 98# (or 100#) mixed media paper. Cardstock weight paper does not work as well, and especially if you plan to do any later embossing. Needs the heavier weight paper to work well with the moisture in the other products. I've learned that if adding water spritzing, use a very light hand too. Sometimes I'll add in some Dylusions spray, Tattered Angels or some similar shimmery spray of that sort. Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays are fun to add in the experiment as well. If planning to use the 'paste mixture' with a stencil, better to keep it less liquid, but if smooshing or painting a card surface, thinner mixture works better. Mainly it's just about having fun and seeing what happens. It's always magical.

MBox Ferrand Heart die to cut the motif from created card stock.

Adhered die cut to Canson 98# mixed media white card stock which had been embossed with a woodgrain EF. Placed a piece of white memory foam behind this piece for some dimension, and adhered to white side fold card base.

- Cheery Lyn Valentine die sentiment from the same background piece. Happy die came from a Happy Birthday set (think it was a Memory Box die). I thought the flourish font style looked ok together.

- Used a tiny punch to get some itty bitty hearts for trim. (actually the heart on the lower right is covering a place where the outline of the heart tore, had to be reglued. You could just barely see where it fit, so Voila, a tiny heart rescued. Added a few more around, just because I could, AND it looked more like it was planned!)

By the way, I'm not pushing websites when I  link to a product. This is just to show what the die or product looks like.  Just sayin'.

Another easy card to do. Come again when you have time. Blessings & Hugs.

Ellie Valentine

Hello - thanks for coming by for a visit. Tis the season for Valentine cards, but I'll try to intersperse some St. Pat's Days among these. I need to do some of both holidays. So here goes with another Valentine card, using backgrounds created from playing with Gel medium, transparent paste, Lindys Magicals powder, and sprays. This one is a more traditional 'in the pink' one.

Sparkle n Sprinkle Ellie the Elephant set 553 colored with copics, die cut with a S/B classic circle. Searched, but couldn't find this available as a digi **- but it might be. I'm not an 'elephant person' per se, (more into Hedgies) - but I think Ellies are just too cute. Must be the big blue eyes!

- created background paper embossed with a hearts EF, and small hearts were made using the very smallest of the S/B Heart die set. This was done with the portion of created paper trimmed off in making the card front.

- S/B Scalloped Square die cut the black & white hearts DP.

- white snippet punched with a Fiskars hand punch, just because the shape fit the stamped sentiment which was done by an old tiny wooden block stamp.

Remembered there was a VOS sheet of dimensional heart stickers tucked away, so hunted up, and used to add a little more dimension.

This was a fun card to do. Had the image colored earlier, had made the background (fun to do) and just hunted around for bits & pieces to make a card. My usual method of making a card! Hope you like it.

Big hugs and have a wonderful afternoon. Blessings.

**Edit: A sweet blogger sent me the link for this digi: http://www.beccysplace.com/ellie-and-tippy.
Thanks  for this digi link Kitty.