Happy Valentine's Day 2012

This card was made using two of my favorite sticker manufacturers: Mrs. Grossmans' and Martha Stewart. The card is a simple 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white card that I framed 1/8" from the edges with a thin red line from the Mrs. Grossman's Design Lines series. The background heart is the Grapevine Wreath from Mrs. Grossman's Paper Whispers series. The 3D glittered heart wreath and bird are from the new Valentine stickers from Martha Stewart, as is the small heart at the bottom of the wreath. The text; which I cut apart and rearranged,  is from Mrs. Grossman's, as is the bow; which is made from vellum pastel ribbons from Mrs. Grossman's .

Unfortunately all the Mrs. Grossman's sticker used are all retired although all are still available at Gentle Creations on line. Happy Valentine's Day!

Generic blank cards.

I am a strong believer in always being prepared and that is one reason I always keep several generic blank cards on hands. Here are a couple that I made over the week-end.

I wanted to have a spring like feel to the first card and yet be able to use for any occasion during the season. I started by selecting some beautiful 3D glittered magnolia blossoms and birds from "K&Company/E.K. Success". The blue lines in the blossoms directed me to complete the card using various blue tones.  The background is a glittered patterned paper from the "Die Cut with a View" Linen pad; which I mounted on a metallic blue paper from "The Paper Company". I also used a white tag from "Martha Stewart/E.K. Success" which I framed by coloring the embossed detail with a thin blue "Sharpie" marker.

For the second card I wanted something that was a little more inspirational and could again serve several occasions, including Easter. Again I started with a 3D glittered sticker from "K&Company/E.K. Success" but this time I selected a batch of crocuses. The background paper is a lightly patterned tan paper from one of the many "K&Company/E.K. Success" pads on the market; which I edged with gold lines and filigree corners from "Star Form". To create a text area I added a shimmering white piece of paper (again edged with gold lines) in the center of the card and then added the flowers to the lower portion of the white panel to leave room for a future text.

These cards can easily become birthday cards, get well cards and even Mother's or Easter Day cards based on the text added.

Valentine's Day 2012!

I've been making so many cards for OWH that I almost forgot to make my own personal Valentine's Day cards. Since I like ornaments, how about an ornament for Valentine's Day!

The fancy flourished heart is a glitterd rub-on from "Royal & Langnickel Brush Man." I located the rub-on heart on the lower portion of the card slightly off center and then using a fine point red "Sharpie" marker I drew a line from the top of the heart to the top of the card. I then added a sticker text from "Sticko/E.K. Success". To finish off the look I drew a squiggle line and added a small glittered pink heart from "Mrs. Grossman's" to the red marker line just above the large heart.

One more bird themed card!

Sometime I can't leave well enough alone. I was looking to make another card and came across one more bird sticker and I just had to use it.

The card background is a piece of "Prima" paper; which I edged in brown ink. The die-cut tag is from "K&Company/E.K. Success". The flowers and bird are 3D foiled and rhinestone stickers which I found at a dollar store - so there is no manufacturer orther than "Made in China". The text is a gols sticker from "Stampendous" that I colored black with a "Sharpie" marker.

Bird Themed cards!

A friend of mine by the name of Cathy Bowman Russell periodically sends me surprise packages and the last one included a sheet of "K&Company/E.K. Success" birds stickers. Then this week I found yet another "K&Company/E.K. Success" sticker sheet with birds. The signs were all there, I needed to make "bird themed" cards. I made three.

The first card uses the newest sheet of "K&Company/E.K. Success" stickers from which I selected a highly detailed 3D cardboard sticker of a flamingo. The background paper is from a 5"x7" pad of "K&Company/E.K. Success" paper; which I edged with bright green sliver lines from "Mrs. Grossmans". The oval was cut and embossed using the "Spellbinder" oval dies from an ivory textured paper from "Bazzil Basics"; which I edged with brown, red and black inks from "Martha Stewart/E.K. Success". The text is a gold sticker from "Stampendous" that I colored using a red/brown marker from "Sharpie".

The second card uses a flat paper sticker with an epoxy pigeon from the same sheet of "K&Company/E.K. Success" stickers that I used for the first card. I managed to find an almost perfect match for the background paper from a "Prisma" pad. I covered the card with the "Prisma" paper, added the sticker and then edged the entire card with grey ink from "Making Memories". The tag was cut using the "Spellbinders" Fancy Labels set from antique gold paper and ivory paper for the inset. The ribbon is from "Offrays" and is actually the back side (the other side is orange). The text was computer generated.

The third card was made using my friend's supplied stickers. The embossed paper sticker from "K&Company/E.K. Success" was on a yellowish paper; which I trimmed as well as I could from the actual peacock image.  To compensate for the parts that I could not trim off I used a pale yellow card made from "Bazzil Basics" paper and edged with grey and olive green ink from "Tsukineko". From the same sheet of stickers I cut out various pieces of branches and some of the flowers; which I then reconfigured around the peacock. I added two 3D flowers with a rrhinestone center from a different package of "K&Company/E.K. Success" to add some depth to the card. The text is an old cardboard tile but I don't remember the manufacturer.

Cathy, these are for you as I know you like birds!