Thank You Valentine Card

I am reluctant to put away my Valentine supplies because I love hearts.  By incorporating hearts into my general card stash, I have been able to stretch my craft dollar.  In this example, I used a Trinity Stamps hot foil plate to set the dark blue foil onto lavender card stock before die cutting out the heart shape (die comes with the foil plate).  Recently, I purchased some pretty Easter papers (Echo Park) from HM Ben Franklin Crafts. I decided that the new Easter 12x12 card stock would be a perfect background for the foiled heart.  By adding some paper flowers (from HM BFC) and a foiled sentiment strip, the card was easily completed and serves the double use as a Valentine and/or thank you card.

I used a Paper Arts card blank with matching envelope (from HM BFC) for the base. I think having a matching envelope adds elegance to any card you send out.  Hope you'll try to get more use out of your Valentine supplies by making double duty cards. Hearts and love never go out of style so spread them around and make the world a better place.

 

Sending Big Hugs Cards

Amongst the Valentine paper crafting items at HM Ben Franklin Crafts I discovered the Lawn Fawn giant lettered sentiment die.  At first I just imagined using it for Valentine cards but then I realized that by just adding a single word I could change up the purpose of these cards. (See photo below.)  Also in the Valentine section of HM BFC I saw some lovely card stock papers which I knew could be used for non-Valentine projects.  For these cards I selected some Echo Park papers.  I like that the backs of the papers are coordinating so I just reversed a sheet to die cut the super-sized words. 

As you can see, I just added the foiled  words (using my Spellbinders hot foil machine) to the same style card and I now can use them for different occasions. The little dog with the heart was created from a Sunny Studio stamp set.  Although the image was intended for Valentine's Day, I know that I will use it for other projects...the dogs are so cute.  Even though these cards didn't make it in time for V-day, I hope that you can see that hearts are not just for Valentine's Day.  Send love out into the world everyday!

 

'Love Is In The Air' Valentine Card

Although it is barely discernable, this card started with a card stock that has a pastel print of clouds.  Using the Whimsy slimline die with hearts, I cut out the front panel and glued it onto a self-made blue slimline card.  It was simple to stamp the images, color them with Copic pens and fussy cut them out. I tried to keep the card in the pastel range instead of the usual bright reds and pinks of traditional Valentine cards. I like the soft look of this card. For the words, I shaped them on the acrylic block before stamping so that they would seem to be floating.

I was super happy to find just the right lavender colored slimline envelope at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. The stamp set from Clearly Besotted (a new company for me) worked very well, printing a clear sharp image with permanent black ink. (Sometimes lesser quality stamps need to be repeatedly stamped with specialty inks to get a clear image.)  Anyway, I am happy that I was finally able to use this Whimsy die which stayed in storage from last Valentine's Day because I just couldn't fit it into my schedule of card making.  Again this year it is past Feb. 14th, but I am going to keep making cards/projects with hearts because I just LOVE them!

 

Tweet Heart Valentine Cards

As soon as saw the Trinity Stamps birdie image, I thought of the Snow White and Cinderella animated films.  The sweet birdies really reminded me of the entertainment world of my youth.  It didn't take long to whip up these cards.  I kept them simple and made them one sided like the old vintage Valentine cards.  I found some conversation candy heart print papers to use as backgrounds. Together with the Whimsy, Spellbinders and Sizzix dies (shown below) it was simple to put together these two cards  The stamped images were colored with Copic pens and then fussy cut before mounting them on foam dots.

Here is another version of this card which uses more vintage colors and has the addition of glossy heart stickers to add a little bit of texture.  I am pleased that these Valentine cards take me back to the sweet innocent days of my childhood.  I feel thankful to have such wonderful memories to remember..

 

You're Pawsome Valentine Card

I made a practice background with my Hero Arts Hearts Hot Foil Plate.  I thought the red foil hearts really upgraded the plain black and white XOXO card stock.  Then I purchased this Sunny Studio mini stamp set, Puppy Love.  The images made me smile and matched very well with the background rectangle which I mounted on a plain white gift enclosure card.  The dog images were stamped, colored with Copic pens, and fussy cut before mounting them with foam dots. Sometimes a gift enclosure card (knda old fashioned?) is just right for a small gift that says,  "I'm thinking about you".

However, I forgot to make the card fit any of my existing mini envelopes. These cards were a little too big for some and too small for others. My solution was to add some washi tape decoration on the bigger envelopes...LOL!  Anyway, these cards will go into my miscellaneous mini card stash.  I like knowing that I'm prepared for a variety of gift giving occasions.

 

Valentine Kraft Treat Containers with Windows

I'm not sure why but I was excited when I found these plain Kraft treat containers with acrylic windows.  I just knew I could make something out pretty of the unadorned Kraft cardboard containers.  HM Ben Franklin Crafts had these three shapes (and others as well) that were folded flat but easily assembled.

Here is the third form with a cute handle.  I had an epiphany of sorts when I placed the Daiso origami pack (of 60 sheets) next to the containers.  It was a simple task to use my Spellbinders heart die set to cut out three sizes of hearts.  The origami papers are thin enough so you can cut several sheets at the same time.  It was super easy to use Beacon 3 in 1 glue to adhere the hearts to the Kraft containers, even the sides got decorated.

For extra color, I added some red heart stickers from my ever expanding stash.(Notice the locking flaps closing the Kraft treat containers.) I think the overall look of the Valentine Kraft treat containers is very pleasing and I'm looking forward to getting more plain treat containers to decorate.  Is it time to bake Valentine cookies?

 

Silly Puns and Conversation Hearts Valentine Cards

When I was a child, Valentine's Day was an exciting event. I was especially fond of conversation heart candy, silly sentiments, and of course the ever mysterious classroom Valentine mailbox.  I'm not sure if the public education system allows teachers to have a mailbox in their classrooms anymore due to the fact there were always some children who didn't receive any cards.  These cards are my attempt to capture some of the sweetness of my childhood memories during Valentine's Day.  I started by foiling some tiny hearts using my Spellbinders foiling machine and the Spellbinders foiling plate shown below.  The printed card stock that I chose was rather plain so the foil hearts really added some bling. I used the largest Whimsy slimline die to cut the background paper before adding the foam conversation heart stickers and gluing down the pizza and strawberries die cuts.  I found these decorations in my Valentine stash box and I don't remember which company made them.  I do remember buying them from HM Ben Franklin Crafts where they should currently have some items suitable for adding onto cards.  The card base was made from plain white card stock folded with the corners clipped using a corner rounding punch. These cards were super easy to complete and are destined for my two pint-sized sweethearts. I'm hoping their childhood Valentine's Days are filled with anticipation and joy like mine were.