Shhh! It's a Secret

Just thought I would share some Valentine and birthday surprises I made. I don’t think the recipients of these gifts read my blog, so it’s a safe bet that I can share them with you without spoiling the gift giving. One of the two Valentine’s Day cards is for my sweetie (the card with the Bee Buddies - Hero Arts rubber stamp). I attached a spring coil (made from thin wire) between the heart and card using tape on each end of the spring. This gives the heart a jiggley bounce like a buzzing bee. The humor in the card and why I made it, comes from the fact that we have been having a bee problem at our house…. for years! Also in the inside of the card I wrote, “ You’re my honey-do guy!” because not a day goes by that I don’t ask my honey to do this or that. I’m so lucky because he does them too!
The other Valentine’s Day card in the photo (click to enlarge) is a shaker type made from a Heidi Grace blank card with a window (set of 10 in a box). I like making shaker cards (with glitter, confetti, etc.) but I find it time consuming to cut the window accurately. Because these blank cards already have windows, most of the hard work is done. I recycled a piece of acetate and used double-stick tape to attach it over the window. Then I put ½” mounting tape (foam tape with two sticky sides) around the window, making sure there were no gaps. Next I filled the window with confetti. Finally, I adhered the backing piece of cardstock (placement of the cupcake design was determined before covering the window with acetate). The edges of the cardstock and card front were sealed with double stick tape.
I think most young girls love to shop, so I usually send our young nieces money for their birthdays. However, I often feel guilty about giving such an impersonal gift. As a compromise, I usually try to make a small gift to go along with the cash. For the birthday of a niece born in February I made a pair of earrings. (See photo. Click to enlarge.) Although February’s birthstone is amethyst, I decided to use small faceted garnets because a reddish-pink stone seemed to go with the sterling heart dangle (earring back and dangles are from the Ben Franklin Bead Shoppe). The assemblage of the earrings was quick, requiring only a jump ring to join the earring back with the dangle and a head pin to attach the stone. The cupcake card was easily done with Hero Arts clear animal, candle, cupcake, and best cake ever word stamps. Designs were colored in with color pencil, glaze pens, flocking and glitter. The “Happy Birthday” rub-on had to be traced over with a pen because it did not adhere well to the bumpy surface of the Heidi Grace window card. Oh yes, I added a spring to the back of the cupcake to give it some action and angled it in the window so that the candle would be a surprise and the animal looks like it’s holding the cupcake.
The felt covered acrylic frame was decorated with felt Valentine stickers from the K and Co. Smitten collection. The idea for covering an acrylic frame came from a Martha Stewart show. I will try to write up the directions before Valentine’s Day and may do another one for Easter to include in the newsletter. I’ll try…

Lynn