Channeling My Inner Kristina

Hello crafty friends.  I  love Valentine's Day. I love the story of St. Valentine's Day, I love red, black, and white, with a little gold (stayed tuned for more cards with that in mind), and I love telling the people I love the most, just that... I love them.

I think Valentine's Day just lends itself to big over the top cards with lots of fun embellishments and also to pretty classic designs with flourishes and beautiful written sentiments,  and that is how I typically like to roll. So, why is the card in this post so simple? Why is it about channeling my inner Kristina?

I realized this year that for several years (not sure how many and not willing to look) Kristina Werner has made a Valentine's Day card using just Crayola watercolors, inexpensive watercolor paper, and that is about it.  She refers to it as using "minimal supplies".

I have to be honest, when I think of Kristina's talent I typically think of her handwriting, stamp designs, and painting with Mission Gold watercolors, not Crayola watercolors and "minimal supplies".

I happened to have some Crayola watercolors from a project with the kiddos and though I might investigate why such a talent with access to so many creative options would take her time to make and video such a simple card.

To make my card, I first started with a scrap of watercolor cardstock, drew, hearts down the middle, and painted each one in a different shade of red.  However, I didn't measure the watercolor sheet and it was not cut to fit on a card and was not used in a finished product, but I have included it here.

Then I took another piece of scrap watercolor paper and drew a bigger heart with a smaller one inside.  I only did this to try and add some type of design element to the card.  I then stamped the sentiment with a Valentine's sentiment from the Winnie and Walter Sentimental: Love stamp set.  The front was glued to a pre-made card base and there you go.

After completing the project, I can honestly say something simple isn't really for me.  However, the card is ok and if you have kids or young adults  that want to make a card, but you don't want to buy more expensive items or they want to do something quick or simple, this isn't a bad idea.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I get the pleasure of sharing these cards with you on Valentine's Day.  Brandy made them with an inlaid die cutting technique - mixing and matching the die cut pieces from these shaped frame die cuts.

The frame die is a retired Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's XO Skinny Mini mini-stamp set.  How cute are these?

Hoping your Valentine's Day is special!

I'm entering these cards into Papertrey Ink's Win It Wednesday where the challenge is Favorite Cardstock Challenge to make the same card with two different cardstock colors. Definitely a good take on the challenge.

Andie for 

A CAS Valentine

I think this will be my last valentine themed post for a while.  I decided to make a CAS card here at the end of the valentines.  This card was created with red cardstock die cuts using my Divinity Designs Tulip Heart die.  I layered three die cuts on top of each other, gluing them down to create this fantastic focal point backed with a light dusting of pink ink radiating from the heart.  It was rough to capture the shading behind on camera, but the finished product is quite lovely.  A simple sentiment strip for accent and this CAS designed card is done.

'Tis the season of love and it is only a few short days away.  Here's hoping your valentine treats you well for the holiday.

I'm entering this card into Crafter's Castle February Challenge 14 Anything Goes.

Farmer's Market Valentine

Maybe you are all very excited to here that?  Either way, I have a combination of Papertrey Ink Farmer's Market Floral stamps and dies tucked behind the Papertrey Ink You Have My Heart stamp and die sets positioned over a Simon says Stamp This is the Life die cut frame.  I think this might be my favorite from this year's cards.

I'm going to enter this card into Papertrey Ink's Transformation Tuesday.  I made this card last year and decided to make a twist on that version this year.

Everyday Love Cards

I decided to have a little watercolor fun in making some more everyday love notecards.  This time I white, heat embossed onto a die cut watercolor paper using my Papertrey Ink With Love mini stamp set.  I used my Mission goal watercolor to color the images and then gold, heat embossed the sentiment.

The pink cardstock card base was die cut using my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die.  It makes for the perfect simple background for the die cut shaped sentiment frame raised with a foam sheet to match.  Simple and easy to put these cards together with some rough twine along the edge.

Floral Valentine's Day Card

Quickly popping in to share this valentine card made creating a dry embossed frame using my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die set on a pink cardstock card base inked with pink hink for effect.  The heart was die cut using my Papertrey Ink You Have My Heart die set stamped with my Papertrey Ink Farmer's Market Florals stamp set.

Such a lovely valentine card, don't you think?  I'm linking this up to SSS Monday challenge Love is in the Air and the Wednesday challenge Simon Says Anything Goes.

I'm also enter, for the first time, Crafter's Castle Challenge 14 Anything Goes.

Be Mine Valentine

Sharing more valentine's cards.  This time, a pink cardstock card base from the stash coupled with a white cardstock Papertrey Ink Shape Shifters Circle 2 die, Papertrey Ink's You Have My Heart die set and the stamping using my Papertrey Ink's You Have My Heart stamp set

I can't decide which one I like best, but I think they are both fantastic.  I'm linking this up to SSS Monday challenge Love is in the Air and the Wednesday challenge Simon Says Anything Goes.

Valentine's for Work

So, I did exactly as I said - I've made a big batch of valentines to give out at work.  I thought I'd share with you the fun mix and match die cutting that I did.  All coffee cup paper pieces were die cut using my Honey Bee Stamps' Coffee cup card die set.  I used papers already in the stash - again with no dent in the pile problem!  That's a testament to the stash, not my abilities, I hope.  

The heart shape on the front and the sentiment are all made using my Papertrey Ink You Have My Heart stamp and die set.  They stamp like a dream - I am falling more in love with Papertrey Ink's products with every step.

I think this makes me all set to get these cards done and ready to hand out in a few short weeks.  The trouble is that this has inspired me further to create a few more personalized valentines.  I've left that Papertrey products on the workstation so that I might add a few more to the pile, ready for the day of loooovvve.

How about you?  Any valentine making plans?

Valentines with a Coffee Cup Theme

At Christmas time, I was so inspired by Nicole Spohr's Christmas gift card coffee cup holders that I picked up Honey Bee Stamps' Coffee cup card die set.  Nicole used the gift card holder which is slightly different from what I purchased.  Nicole's card has a "tri-fold" design which would ensure that the gift card is held in place.  My die set is the one which creates a standard A2 sized card which folds at the top and have the shape of a paper coffee cup.  The die set comes with the layering pieces for the lid, frame for the cup and insert for the frame of the cup.  There are also two dies for the sleeve that would traditionally protect your fingers from the heat of the coffee.  I decided to move in a valentines direction since Christmas is well and over, so I coupled these cards with some stamped die cuts using my Papertrey Ink You Have My Heart stamp and die set.

I decided to walk on the wild side and die cut from leftover patterned paper from a 6 x 6 Our Daily Bread Designs pack along with die cuts of hearts, arrows, etc. from coordinating cardstocks.  I cut way more patterns than I needed and just had fun pairing them together to create each card.

In the end, I finished off 4 different cards for the stash.  As I photographed these, I decided that I might want to make a bunch to give a valentine to folks at work.  I'm envisioning a Ghirardelli chocolate square tucked inside and held in place with a glue dot and that sleeve.  Nothing big, but a small way to brighten the day of a coworker or two (or 10 since I have a few folks in my organization at work).  Stay tuned as I intend to make more card bases and paper piece some more valentines.

I'm going to enter this card in the following challenges:

City Crafter Challenge Blog At the Tearoom

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Simon Says Add A Sentiment

Coffee & Creativitea Macaroon Inspired

A Hello Birdi-ful Card Set

As you know, I've simply gone ga-ga over the watercoloring.  Brandy and I are both enamored with the various techniques and have invested in a couple of different supplies in the last several months.  I put all of this to good use to make these valentine's for my co-workers.  It's taken me some time to upload and edit these photos with my guest design work over at the City Crafter Challenge Blog, but I finally got it all done.

I cut a heart shape out of some scrap paper and used it to trace the shape onto some Arches watercolor paper.  Brandy and I have discussed her watercolor class and the recommendation that a professional grade watercolor, like Arches,

can make a big difference in your watercolor projects.  I found that to be especially true for me when creating this kind of blended wash.  The water and color just flow better on the Arches paper.  If you look at each card you can see more or less success in the blending.  A couple came out with blooms that I would call mistakes but in the end become interesting texture and color in the finished heart.

I used three primary tube watercolors to create the colors - blending to make purples and some of the darkness in the blues.  All in all, I'm pleased though I think there is significant room for improvement.

The sentiment, birds and branch are all stamped onto the Arches watercolor paper using my new Greeting Farm Tweety Pie stamp set.  I colored the images with the same watercolors, blending to create shades of red, orange and purple.  I am super pleased how the birds blended to highlight the breasts of the birds.  Brown was a little difficult to make, so the branches come across a little flat.  Still, a fun project and a good excuse to practice my skills.

The sentiments were all stamped onto the hearts once the watercolors dried using black Archival Ink and Crimson Close to My Heart ink.

The ladies at work loved these cards, filled with small Dove chocolate hearts.  A small treat in a week filled with Valentine's fun.  I hope your day was special.  Wishing you happy, watercolor filled crafting!

A Sweet Valentine's Day Card

Brandy shared this lovely Valentine's Day card that she created for her sister.  The card was made using the Simon Says Stamp February Card Kit.  The kit is already sold out, but you can see how easily this card went together considering the lovely patterned papers and embellishments that come in the kit.  I super love how she distressed the edges of this card - softening the look and then pairing with such lovely patterns.  All round, a great valentine, don't you think?