Be My Beary Valentine

What a great weekend!  We've had a great time spending time with friends this weekend and today was capped off with stamp-a-stack and we had a great bunch of ladies.  This was our first opportunity using the new letterpress plates and they were quite a hit (thanks ladies)!

I finally feel like I'm getting back into the  regular routine after the holidays which means I was finally able to participate in another Stamping 411 challenge.  I really liked the wide open space for this week's challenge which gave me plenty of space for a perfectly beary valentine.  I started with the little girl bear from the Beary Best Friends stamp set.  I stamped the image twice, once on Whisper White, and again on Pretty in Pink DSP (for the dress).  I cut out both the bear and the dress with paper snips before coloring the rest of the bear in with Stampin' Write Markers. 

Next I used some Pear Pizzaz ink and a Stamping Sponge to great some "grass" on the bottom of the main Whisper White piece of cardstock.  I used a piece of Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon around the paper and then attached a bow I created with the ribbon and a crystal circle brad.  I used the small heart punch, large heart punch, and heart to heart punches to punch out lots of heats from DSP as well as the new Red Glimmer paper (fabulous!) to use as ballons.  After gluing all the hearts in place I created balloon strings with a Basic Black marker.  The greeting is from the Filled with Love stamp set and is stamped in Pear Pizzaz. 

The entire image is mounted on a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock before adding the Pear Pizzaz card base. Now, check out the sketch layout below.

I really like how sweet this card turned out!  Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Happy stamping,

Diana

Good morning ladies! With the start of Labor Day weekend you know what that means…all the kiddos go back to school (if they haven’t started already). This year Aidan starts Kindergarden and I’m more nervous that he is (he’s super excited). In honor of the start of school for another Holiday mini swap I’m in I made a card perfect for teachers using the new Season of Hugs stamp set from the Build-a-Bear Collection.

These bears are soo cute and the little lunch box and apple make a perfect card any teacher would love.

Stamp Set(s):  Beary Best Friends, Season of Hugs

Ink:  Basic Black, Early Espresso, Tempting Turquoise, Various Stampin' Write Markers

Paper:  Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzaz, Pawsitively Prints II DSP

Accessories:  Stamp-a-majig, 1/2" Pear Pizzaz Poly Ribbon

Now as much as the little girl bear is cute I had to make a boy version for my little kindergardener, he even helped pick out the colors to color the shirt.  He's so excited to give it to Ms. Fowler.

The Build-a-bear products are definately growing on me, they are too cute!

Have a great day,

Diana

One Layout, Three Different Cards

Like many demonstrators we sometimes end up with extra cardstock cut for classes and workshops. Normally I just use the extras to make up multiples of the card and add them to my card stash. For a recent workshop I had enough supplies cut to make a lot of cards so I decided to use the same layout and pieces but changed the stamp sets and occassions. The first card below is the card from the workshop and the next two are alternates.

Stamp Set(s): Good Neighbor, Whimsical Words

Stamp Set(s): Picinic Parade

Stamp Set(s): Beary Best Friends, Beary Best Wishes

This card is a favorite of Aidan's. It's a great card for a kids birthday, Aidan colors the bear for each recipient.

Enjoy!

Beary Best Valentine

Happy Sunday from snowy Virginia! We enjoyed another snowfall this weekend and when it was all done we ended up with over 7" of snow. We loved staying inside and watching the snow fall and after digging out we enjoyed playing in the snow (Aidan made is first snow angel and had a blast). After a week break I'm back to valentine's and today's creation for the Stamping 411 challenge uses the stamp sets from the Build a Bear Collection.

The card starts with a base of Ballet Blue cardstock. Then I took a piece Real Red Cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder (love the texture!). Then I wrapped a piece of Brocade Blue 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon around the Real Red cardstock before placing 2 Vintage brads through the ribbon.

The stamped images are from the Beary Best Friends stamp set that are stamped in Basic Black in and the greating is from the Beary Best Wishes set and was colored in with Stampin' Write markers before stamping. I just took the plunge and got some of the SU! watercolor crayons so this was my first time using them along with a blender pen.

I used the Bearly Lovely Sizzlit die to cut out the pieces for the love heart that the 2 bears are sharing.

This is going to be Aidan's valentine this year and I think he'll love it. He's just getting introduced to build-a-bears and today he and I spent time decorating some of the die cut bears so stay tuned, I'll be posting pictures of our beary great creations later this week.

Enjoy!