Happy Valentine's Day

 

Happy Valentine's Day! On a day about love, I thought I'd chat a little bit about what I've loved lately. 

One thing I've been enjoying a lot is a daily cup of tea. I make a cup of tea at the start of my lunch break at work and enjoy it shortly after. I was lucky enough to receive a large selection box of teas for Christmas from my sister-in-law a little while ago, so I have many delicious options to try.

Another thing I've loved lately is journaling. I try to journal daily, as I really enjoy the feeling of writing by hand. Throughout 2020, I'd invested in some stationery supplies and I filled out several journals completely. I'm happy to continue journaling regularly this year, as well.

And, of course, I've rediscovered my love for stamping and coloring. It took time to get back on track, but I am doing much better and making great use of my supplies. That makes me very happy.

Made for each other

 

We are getting close to Valentine's Day! I haven't made very many love-themed cards yet this year, but I may do so throughout the year as I am with Christmas cards. I find that one can never share enough love, so love cards usually get made a lot in my crafty space.

 I have gone through and reorganized some of my supplies a little. I like to periodically look through my stash - even when it's been organized in a way that works for me. I can pull out seasonal supplies or supplies I would like to use in the near future and remind myself of goodies I might have forgotten.

Since I'm not actively bringing in any new supplies, it's much easier to go through things in small batches and come up with ideas on how to use them. It's a very satisfying feeling to know I have everything I already need right at hand and work within the constraints of my current stash.

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's weekend! I have spent this weekend doing a few fun things with my husband, but I did want to share this simple little card I made with nothing but patterned paper, cardstock, a die and enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Lots of Nutsy Love

We're getting close to Valentine's Day. While I won't be making a ton of Valentine creations this year, you may see a couple of lovey-dovey cards in the next couple of weeks. I thought I'd start today's card with a cute critter. It's not a love set, but I think it works.

Thanks for reading,
~Elle~

Love Sheep

I'm still working my way through the lovely Birdie Brown sheep set, and I thought I'd switch gears a little and make a love-inspired card. The sheep with the cute heart just made me think it would make for a fun Valentine.

I know we're past Valentine's day already, but the world could always use a little more love...

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

I Vike You

It's time to get some Valentine's ready, and I thought I'd start with this super fun Viking stamp from Birdie Brown. I really enjoyed coloring the Viking - from choosing the colors to getting the textures just right. I'm very happy with how the fur overcoat turned. I brought in some colored pencils to my Copic coloring to get the texture just right.

I kept the rest of the card very simple, adding a sentiment and a blended background. I used a few distress oxide inks for the blending and a hexagon die to make my mask. It's a pretty simple card, but I really like how it turned out.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Warm wishes of love

I couldn't resist just one more cute cup-o'-love card. I kept things very simple and made my own patterned background with the heart-eyed smiley face from the stamp set. A bundle of hearts and some glittery enamel dots just tied everything together.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sweetheart

Today's card features a little shaker tag that came as a part of a Simon Says Stamp card kit. I haven't gotten as many kits in 2017/18 as I have in the past years, but I still haven't used them as much as I would like. Though - I now think a part of that is just due to seeing soooooo many people do "1 kit, 10 cards" videos/blog posts that it leaves me wanting to do something entirely different.

I'm excited to pull out those stamps, dies, paper and embellishment now that time has gone by and use them in a completely different concept.

And, of course, as today is Valentine's day, this card seemed especially fitting.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Cut above the rest

 Sugar Pea Desigs - Timper stamp, Gina Marie Designs - Stitched Heart die

I wanted to play with Sugar Pea Designs's lumberjack a bit more, so I created another Valentine's card. This time, I went for a combination of chocolate brown and pink - which I think is a fun and warm palette. It made the bluish tree and the friendly lumberjack stand out pretty well.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Timber!

Sugar Pea Designs - Timber stamp.

Okay, confession time... For a few years now, one of my favorite cards to make for Valentine's day is a lumberjack card. I don't know what it is about lumberjacks, but I just adore them and I really enjoy putting them on love cards. They make for a card that's both mushy (because love cards kind of always tend to be) and masculine. Plus, who can resist those plaid shirts?!

This lumberjack stamp is from Sugar Pea Designs and I've colored it several times, so I can hand them out as a Valentine to a few friends/family. I paired today's lumberjack with a dark red woodgrain and made a very simple little scene.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Purple Valentine

C.C. Designs - Roberto's Rascals: Cupid stamp

I wanted to round off my card selection for the Cards from the Heart card drive, so I came up with this simple little card. I used purple instead of pink and I love how adorable the jumping cupid looks.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sliced Bread

Simon Says Stamp - Funny Food stamp

I had just colored this cute little piece of bread when I decided to look through my stash to find a paper to match it up with. Lo' and behold, I found a polka-dot paper that reminded me of the Wonderbread packaging dots, and I thought that was just perfect! I kept the rest of the card very simple, but I think it turned out fun.

Thanks for reading,
~Elle~

More Cupid Love

C.C. Designs - Cupid, Simon Says Stamp - Small Love You die, Simon Says Stamp - Scallop Borders die

Of course, I couldn't resist making another card with the adorable Cupid stamp, so I went with a more traditional look featuring hearts, scallops and a glittery "love". I also used an aqua color on the heart that Cupid is holding just to add a bit more contrast.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

CAS Valentine

C.C. Designs -Roberto's Rascals: Cupid, Simon Says Stamp - Hello Beautiful

Today's card is another CAS Valentine for the Cards from the Heart drive. I decided to use the adorable Cupid stamp from C.C. Designs, along with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Hello Beautiful. Since the drive does have some requirements, I kept the card super simple with the image and a few pops of pink.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Pizza My Heart

 Simon Says Stamp - Funny Food stamp

Of course, I just could not resist making one more stamp featuring Simon Says Stamp's Funny Food set. This time, I decided to feature one of my favorite food combinations- pizza and fries. I don't have it often, of course, but it's one of those comfort junk foods I had when I was young that reminds me of home.

I used a speech bubble die to create an area for my sentiment and paired the images with a warm orange polka-dot paper and a few glittery enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Donut Worry!

 Simon Says Stamp - Funny Food stamp

I had a lot of fun with the Funny Food set on my previous card, so I decided to make another! This time, using the cute donut.

When I think of a happy color, I always gravitate to yellow. Golden yellow is the color of sunshine, and in my mind, it's the color of a smile. So, I paired the vanilla donut with the white icing with a yellow stripe.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

One in a Melon

Simon Says Stamp - Funny Food stamp

Today's card features a cute little set from Simon Says Stamp called Funny Food. I love puns, so this punny little set was a must-have for my stamp collection. I kept this card very flat and simple, so I could send it along to the Cards From The Heart Card Drive.

I colored the melon image with Copics and fussy-cut it out. I know this set has coordinating dies that cut around the little feet/arms, but I didn't purchase the dies, so I had to make-do with my trusty scissors. I paired the image with a red gingham that reminded me of a picnic tablecloth. A few dabs of Nuvo drops finished off the card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

LF- Monster Valentine

Lawn Fawn - Lovable Legends, Lawn Fawn - Puffy Cloud Borders die, Lawn Fawn - Monster Mash (sentiment), 

Lawn Fawn - Stitched Party Banners die

Since I was in a Valentine's kind of mood, I thought I would make a card that was just a bit more suited for a boy. So, of course, I had to use a Nessie monster and a monster hugs stamp.

For this card, I made my own cloud stencil using the Puffy Cloud Borders die, and I sponged some Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade distress inks to make clouds. I used some Salty Ocean for the sea. I added the panel to a striped patterned paper and tied a soft seam-binding ribbon in the pool tones underneath. A couple of enamel dots hide the banner holes and add a glittery detail.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

NT - Pink and Kraft Love

Neat & Tangled - My Favorite Nut, My Favorite Things- Love & Adore You die, My Favorite Things- BG Romantic Script Background Stamp

Since I still had Neat & Tangled's My Favorite Nut images on my desk, I decided to make another card using this set. This time around, I made my own tone-on-tone background using kraft ink on MFT's Romantic Script background stamp.

I really like the combination of pink, white and kraft for love cards. I think the kraft adds a woodsy, warm feeling and it contrasts great with pink and white. So, those are the colors I chose for my card base, ribbon and patterned paper.

I wanted to try something a little different with the sentiment, so I die-cut the words love and you out of kraft cardstock. It gives the sentiment a raised watermark look, that's subtle bit still easy to read.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

NT- Valentine Nut

Neat & Tangled - Favorite Nut

Today's card features Neat & Tangled's My Favorite Nut stamp set, and it's a fun Valentine-themed card. I played with the idea of making a Valentine's series, as I'd like to send some cards in for Cards From The Heart Card Drive this year, but I don't know how many extra challenges I can handle beyond the "card every day" goal I've set for myself. If you do have some spare time, though, I recommend taking part in the card drive. The cards need to be received by January 31st, so there's still a couple of weeks to participate.

Since the card drive has some requirements, I kept my card very CAS. I colored the image with Copics and added some texture with colored pencils. I added a simple panel and a striped background, along with a little paper pink heart.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~