Love in Variations...

You would think that with all the Valentine stuff I've been posting lately that I'm a romantic, but honestly, I'm not. I have a terrible time remembering dates and special occasions and if it weren't for the genius who invented post it notes, I'd forget my own name.  

I may not agree with being forced to smother your special squeeze with over sized teddy bears and aid in their eventual diabetes with the mammoth box of chocolates on one specified day, but I do agree with appreciating them all the time, so I've made cards that can be given year around.  

Flag Love

Simple Flowers

Hearts Abounding

Shabby Chicish

Bicycle Love

Heart Shaped Love

Just a few ideas to share.

Hope you enjoyed them and thank you so much for your visits.

Hugs n' Happy stamping...

Lisa x

Valentine Wheelbarrow

Can you feel it? The lovey dovey ooey gooey mushy kissy stuff is in the air and I'm loving it!  

Here's another super adorable cut file from The Cutting Cafe.  A wheelbarrow heaping with hearts.  It's a CAS style, but speaks volumes.   File used was Wheelbarrow Deliveries; cut file 

 ( Set includes 2 styles of wheelbarrow, wheelbarrow fillers and sentiments) 

The Cutting Cafe

Hugs n' Happy Stamping,

Lisa x

Valentine Sundaes Ornament #5

Okay, I lied...

I said I'd make 8, but I'm afraid I'm stopping at 5 types of ornaments on the tree.

I'm so happy with these, I can't imagine trying to make anything else and I think our tree is stuffed full sufficiently to bring in the holiday o' love.

I wanted to share with you how I made these and they're CHEAP!  Almost everything came from The Dollar Store except for the Washi tape and the red yarn.

I Love You

I bought a set of 5 clear plastic cups for $1 and decided to fill them with my old ribbon cardboard reels.

When you tear the ends off and wrap them in white cardstock, they make the perfect ice cream to fill the cups.

Ribbon was then glued around the top edge and crinkles of brown grocery sack added for the "fudge or chocolate" element.

12 hand made roses were then glued on for the cool whip, a 1/2 of a straw, a cherry "like" topping added and then a love you tag with yarn bow and some word blocks for sentiment and that's that. I also added some alternating strips of Washi tape to outside of the glass for decoration too.

Super light to hang from a tree and I think super cute and fun!

 Oodles

 Sweetheart

 Tons

This sundae had a mishap. As I was pushing the ribbon reel down in, I pressed too hard and broke off the stand so I flipped it upside down and created this variation instead.  For those of you Dr.Who fans out there, I rather think it looks like a Valentine Dalek.

More

Maybe there's a few ideas in here to inspire you to make your own Valentine ornaments.

Hope you've enjoyed your visits and I thank you so much for coming by to check out this post. 

 Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs n' Happy Crafting,

Lisa x

Hugs again,

Ornament #1 - Vintage Crochet Heart Ornament

Ornament #2 - Rosette Silhouette Ornament

Ornament #3 - Shadowbox Ornament

Ornament #4 - Birdhouse Ornament

Birdhouse Valentine Ornament #4

Happy Monday!

I accomplished nothing that I had to do, but boy did I procrastinate like a champ and had fun crafting instead.

Here is my Valentine ornament #4 in a set of 8....little birdhouses.

I began with black cardstock and cut 4 houses out and then painted them in white acrylic paint.

Once the acrylic dried, I coated them with crackle.

While the crackle dried, I thought it would be fun to recreate a metal roof for a couple of them so this how I did that.

I used a piece of metal tape that I cut to fit the roof, folder embossed a design and then inked it with Adirondak inks.

Once the ink was dry, I painted on a light wisp of white paint and then filed it off in places for the very old and weathered look.

Birdhouses need little eggs and I didn't have any so I created hot glue dots and then gave the dots a coat of white paint. Once the white was dry a light splatter of baby blue ink added as well. 

 Viola, baby bird eggs.

  Hand rolled roses, little banner cut from the Silhouette machine, a little bit of moss from the Dollar Store and those fabulous pink gems from my blog buddy Mitra; THANK YOU!!  

They look so perfect on these houses.

There are little holes on the top of the roofs so that these can hang from lights and illuminate through the little door and windows...so cute!

Thank you so much for all the very sweet comments of encouragement and thank you so much for stopping by.

Hugs n' Happy Crafting,

Lisa x

Shadowbox Ornaments #3

Hello again!

Still on my mission to fill the bare limbs of my once Christmas tree, as it transforms into our family Valentine tree, and I'm back with the third of eight ornament designs.

Here's a couple pictures I took to explain how I made them.

Each starts with a heart box cut from a cutting machine and then a cut heart flourish type frame placed on top.

5 more Valentine shadow boxes ready to get started.

I had the cutting machine cut out several trees, fences and keys to decorate.  I also printed out and fussy cut several vintage Valentine images.

 

Here's 

Headed to Lover's Lane ;)

You're Hot!

You're a Dear

I Love You!

 Puppy Love

and lastly...

Squeeze Me!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for the visit.

I'm off to finish up my house chores and then watch more Dexter. Good grief, that show is addictive!!

Hugs n' Happy crafting,

Lisa x

Ornament #1 - Vintage Crochet Heart

Ornament #2 - Rosette Silhouette

A Mother's Love....

Hello there to you!

I just want to apologize for not getting around to visit this week. I'm just running so far behind on kid, house and family stuff that I've not seen my desk in over a week. I WILL be by to visit starting next week and I really look forward to it. I've missed all your inspiration.

Well, it's Saturday and that means it's time to share another Onion, Mitza Pitza and Quirks project.

Our theme this week to 

Draw Your Own Focal Image/Sentiment

Mother and Child

(Please feel free to download)

Sentiment created on the PC, also free to download

This week has been so much fun with the kids that they were truly my inspiration for this drawing and the sentiment. 

A very CAS style for me, but I hope you enjoy it.

Hugs to you all!!!

Please enjoy my wonderful buddies projects here as well :)

Onion (Sue's blog) here

Mitza Pitza (Mitra's blog) here

Let Me Call You Sweetheart...

Happy Top Tip Tuesday again everyone as we welcome in another fabulous challenge hosted by our very own uber creative Annette. Our theme this time around is...

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

(Romance or include a heart for Valentine's Day)

Thank you goes out to Stamp Fairy for providing me with the cutest and cuddliest little couple,  Molly and Sam Love 1.  I decided that a sweetheart needed sweets so I've decorated this candy dispenser cutting file as their stand with lots of heart and pretty flowers.

Here's the dispenser divided for easy candy filling

Now to the good stuff....EATING the candy!! 

Are you feeling the love yet? Well, perfect! Then head on over to Top Tip Tuesday for our  

Let Me Call You Sweetheart challenge and be in the running for prizes from our sponsors Stamp Fairy and Stamp and Create.com.

Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for your visit!

Hugs n' Happy Creating,

Lisa x

Kiss Me You Fool!

Take a little trip with me through retro TV Land and imagine yourself sitting in a classroom. As you look around, you see 'Greasers' everywhere and Afros are the stylin' hairdo.  The teacher approaches the blackboard and writes, "Who dislikes making masculine cards?" Suddenly from behind you, you hear..."Ooh Ooh Ooh, Mr. Kotter-r-r-r, pick me, pick me!!"  That's right, I'm sitting right behind you playing the role of the lovable Arnold Horshack.  

What is it about masculine cards that cause my brain to seize up? Well, it's several factors, but for the sake of not dragging this post out further, I'd like to share my contribution to the world of manly-man cards and a fun little tip too. 

This week at Our Creative Corner, I will be hosting and the theme I have selected is Make Mine Mushy!  There is a little twist, I've also designed a sketch to use. Here's the skinny...

Create a Valentine card using the sketch below

The sketch can be rotated and we need to be able to see all the elements from the original sketch, but used however you like. Follow it exactly or alter it as long as all elements are present.

Now let me show you a closeup of one of the elements....

Want a fun tip to add more texture to your masculine cards?

Well then, I mustache you to read the following picture....

So there you go...It's almost Valentine's Day and now you have a sketch to work with, some goofy inspiration, a little nostalgia from times past and if you step over to Our Creative Corner, you'll find even more outstanding motivation from my team.  Just remember, MAKE MINE MUSHY!!

Hugs n' Happy Crafting,

Lisa xx

Wood You B Mine?

The concept was great, but I'm not sure it came to fruition with this card.  I still love the rustic, masculine aspects about it, but I'll gladly take suggestions for bettering the outcome.

This is my card for Our Creative Corner where Lili is again hosting this week's challenge theme of

Use Woodgrain!  You may use a technique to simulate woodgrain, or use designer paper, or an actual piece of wood! But the woodgrain needs to be there. You also have to use at least one button.

I decided to layer my cardstock with a book page and then stamped out, using the TH magnetic tree, on the cover and reveal wood embossing from the negative space of the tree. Using the actual cut out, I've placed it atop other white powder embossed trees from SU! Lovely As a Tree Set.   Oh and of course a little Stickles heart because it's asking the question, "Wood you B Mine?"

This would be a super time to make a masculine Valentine card for your squeeze so come on over to Our Creative Corner and share in the fun.

Thanks so much for your visit.

Hugs n' Happy Stamping,

Lisa x

Smooches....

Do you love sketches? Do they just make your life a little easier? Well if you answered yes to both of those, then we have the perfect challenge for you over at Dutch Dare!  This week we'd love to see whatever you'd like to create using the following Sketch Challenge.

Here's a little sneak peek inside of the card I've made.  I'm having the best time with my new Cameo, when I'm not banging my head on how to manipulate it, and I've resolved to decorate the insides of my cards too. So far so good!  

In the words of Bob Barker, "Come On Down" to Dutch Dare and have some fun with our 

Sketch Challenge.

BONUS NEWS

The prize this week is from our very own fabulous leader, Kelly, who is an Independent Close To My Heart Consultant and she is offering a prize package of OVER $40. If we have more than 25 entries, she will add an additional $10 to the prize.  That's right, YOU could win a prize total over $50!!

ALSO....

We've had a few lovely ladies step down from Dutch Dare, so we are also hosting a 

DT CALL!!!  

Thanks so much for popping in...

Hugs n' Happy Stamping

Lisa xx

Drive In Date Night

Okay, so Gone With The Wind made its debut in 1939; however, it's held its romance and popularity through the generations. Therefore, it only makes sense for a young couple in the 1950's to enjoy this classic movie in a classic car while at the Drive In Theater.    

This is my DT card for Make It Monday and a huge thank you to our sponsor, Digi My World for providing the awesome digital image, 50's Drive In.  

I had a little fun with the big screen as well as inserting a black and white image of a couple actually sitting in the car, with love quotes, of course!

We'd really love for you to pop on over to Make It Monday and share your latest and greatest makes OR share with us something that you made awhile ago.

While you're there, please check out the fabulous works of my teammates and see who their Pick Of The Weeks are.

Speaking of that....

I cheated and picked two!
Absolutely LOVE these amazingly designed holders.  Fantastic ideas ladies and incredibly inspiring.
Thank you BOTH for sharing them with us at Make It Monday
#193 E.T.

 #203 Angela P.

Hugs n' Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx