Happy Valentine's Day Treat!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm so excited, not only do I love this holiday but it is also Aidan's "birthday eve" so we're in for a whole week of celebrating.  Today I wanted to share the treat I made for Chris.  For those of you who know Chris he really dislikes this holiday and thinks it was created by the card, flower, and candy companies to make money (and he does have a point) but he embraces the holiday because he knows Aidan and I love it (he's definately a keeper).  So this year I wanted to give him a little treat that I knew he would love and his favorite candy are caramel cremes so I made this box with the Fancy Favor die and decorated in manly Real Red DSP and black (it also happens to match the card I made him and showed on Sunday).  I cut the hearts with the new Hearts framelits (love how easy they are) and spritzed the black heart with shimmer spray I made with the Champagne shimmer paint.

The strawberry is from the P.S. I Love You stamp set and I colored directly on the stamp with Old Olive, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip to get the three colors stamped at the same time.  Next I added some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the top of the berry and Crystal Effects to the dipped chocolate part so it looks shiny and wet.  The final touchwas the greeting (this saying is awesome!) that is from the same stamp set and I snipped the edge to make it look like a flag.

I love how this turned out and think he'll really like that his favorite candy is in it.

Hope you have a fantabulous day and get to spend some time with your loved ones.

Enjoy,

Diana

I Can't Stop Making Valentine's!

Good morning friends!  I have to say, I absolute love valentine's day (who doesn't love any reason to show your loved one's what they mean to them).  I also have to admit that I can't stop using the new P.S. I Love You stamp set, there are so many great imagines that I've only worked my way through about half of them.  I designed this card for our team meeting last month and it was so fun and easy to make.  The cardbase is Pink Pirouette and I added a piece of Twitterpated designer paper along with a piece of Going Grey cardstock that I ran through the Big Shot with the Striped embossing folder.  A piece of Baja Breeze 3/8" pleated satin ribbon was used to cover where the two pieces of paper meet.  The greeting was stamped with Going Grey and Riding Hood Red ink and was punched out with the Modern label punch, popped up with dimensionals, and pearls were added for a decorative touch. 

The hearts were so fun to make, the small one was stamped from the P.S. I Love You stamp set and punched out with the Heart punch.  I also used the same stamp set to stamp the circle before punching it out.  The large heart was made using another pattern from the Twitterpated DSP package and the new Heart Framelits.  These are so fun and easy, you're able to cut out multiple sizes of hearts quick and easy and position them anywhere, you've got to try these out!

What a fun card, hope you enjoy!

Diana

Sketch Challenge - P.S. I Love You

Good evening friends!  So we were reminded this weekend that it's still winter and got a good dose of cold, wind, and even a little snow, which made it a great weekend to hang out at home and relax with the family.  We also put the finishing touches on all the valentine gifts for classmates and family for the upcoming holiday so it was only fitting that my card for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge be a valentine.  I've been struggling to come up with card for my husband, that wasn't "girly" and decided that this sketch, with the P.S. I Love You stamp set would be perfect.  

I started with a Real Red cardbase and took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder for the background.  I stamped three images that were punched out with the 1 1/4" square punch and then punched out three squares with Going Grey cardstock with the 1 3/8" square punch.  The greeting in the bottom left is also from the same stamp set and was punched out with the Modern Label punch and popped up with dimensionals.  I also added pearls as a final touch.  The accent in the top left was made with a piece of Basic Black cardstock punched with the Decorative Label punch and folded in half around the edge.  I used a Real Red button from the Brights Button pack and a bow was tied with a piece of Cherry Cobbler bakers twine.

So what do you think?  This sketch was so fun and versatile.  I love how the card turned out and think Chris will like it as well.  Hope you have a good week and a happy valentine's day!

Enjoy,

Diana

Aidan's Valentines for Vets

Good morning!
So some of you may know that Aidan's at a traditional school, which he loves, and one of the things that they focus on is community service.  Right now one of the projects is Valentine's for Vets and as soon as I heard about this I loved it.  So I cut all the paper and we had fun punching out tons of hearts and had a great time.  Aidan did so well I thought I would share with you a couple of his cards.  The great thing about a lot of the Stampin' Up! products is that they are easy enough for kids to use and still make really nice looking cards.  We had a ton of fun and Aidan enjoyed writing special messages in each of the cards.

Valentine's Greeting

Good morning!  As you read this I'm on my way to the airport heading to San Antonio and Stampin' Up!s Leadership Conference, and I have to tell you I'm so excited.  Not only will I enjoy a few days with some fabulous ladies but the beautiful weather is definately something to be happy for.  Just like convention I thought I would share with you each day some of the swaps I made and will be sharing with my fellow demonstrators.  Today's card is another valentine (yeah I know!) and features the new P.S. I Love You stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog as well as the new Hearts Collection cutters and edge embossing folders. 

This card has lots of texture, after cutting out the large black heart I embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sprayed it with shimmer mist. The smaller hear is Very Vanilla and was first stamped with the En Francis stamp set in Crumb Cake, then the edges were sponged with Crumb Cake, and then the cubid was embossed with Cherry Cobbler embossing powder.

The designer paper is Timeless Portrait and was cut with the Scallop Trim border punch. The ribbon is Cherry Cobbler Polka Dot scallop ribbon and I flipped over so it was a solid color.

I created this card for an organized swap I'm in and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of it because I love it!

Enjoy and have a great day,

Diana

P.S. I Love You - Sketch Challenge

Good evening! What a start to the new year. We've enjoyed having the unusually mild weather this weekend and catching up with friends.  I've also been frantically working on swap cards for Stampin' Up!s upcoming Leadership Conference and still have a ways to go.  I also decided to get back into the routine with the Stamping 411 sketch challenges and loved the possibilities with this weeks sketch and decided it would be perfect to highlight the new P.S. I Love You stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I embossed a piece of Basic Gray cardstock with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder before adhering it to the Cherry Cobbler cardbase.  Then I took a piece of Twitterpated designer paper and matted it with Basic Black cardstock that was punched with the Scallop Trim border punch on both sides and  cut the "v" notch out of the bottom.

The main stamped image uses Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler, and Blushing Bride ink to stamp the various images from the P.S. I Love You stamp set.  The strawberry image was colored directly on the rubber stamp with Pear Pizzaz, Cherry Cobbler, and Chocolate Chip ink before stamping.  Then I decided to add Crystal Effects to the chocolate parts of the strawberries to make them look wet and glossy, and the new Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the tops of the strawberries for they sparkle (check it out in this close up image). 

Now check out the sketch challenge we were provided.  I love this card and it's so beautiful in person, the texture and sparkle is fabulous.  I've officially embraced Valentine's day, our decorations are up (yes, we even have red lights in Aidan's room and on the fireplace mantle), and I'm working on several valentine's projects right now. 

Hope you enjoy and have a great week!

Diana