My Heart Misses You (Valentine Card)

Welcome to my blog. Here we are again for another Double Trouble Challenge. This is Challenge #159, which will run through Thursday evening, February 15, 2024. There are three "Things" that make up the challenge:

Thing 1 (required): Trouble Maker has assigned the theme as "Love Is in the Air". Your project must be related to the subject of love. While hearts and flowers are symbolic of love, we encourage you to use an "air" element, such as a bird, butterfly, cloud, etc. My card using the theme, "Love Is in the Air", is posted above.

Thing 2 (optional): Double Dare is looking forward to you linking your project with the challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare #586.
 
Thing 3 (optional): Twisted Sister is challenging you to use the color board below. I used Ballerina, Bluebird, and Candy Apple plus the free colors of black and white.

The stamp set has been around for a while and I have used bits of it here and there but it was by accident that I came across it for this challenge. I CASE'd a card I saw on Pinterest when I recognized this as a stamp in my stash. I don't have a link to the original card but I wanted to disclose that I am not the original designer of this layout. I changed the colors and sentiment when creating my own card.

The cloud outlines were stamped, pink ink was added to the clouds with a blending brush, the tiny person was stamped and colored, and I hand-drew the rope. The sentiment, different from the original card, was also stamped directly onto the card front. The heart was stamped on red cardstock and fussy cut then added with 2 mm foam tape for dimension. This was added to a card base of blue cardstock.

The inside was lined with a panel of white cardstock, stamped and inked with clouds and a stamped, fussy-cut heart, leaving plenty of space for a message. I am going to send this card to my sister-in-law, whom I have not seen in a very long time, although we chat regularly. I know she'll enjoy receiving it.

Be sure to check out the challenges at DTC 159 and CD 586 and join in with our "Love Is in the Air" theme using three colors from our Fancy Five color board!

Thank you for visiting - please leave a comment.

Melanie

Materials

Stamp Set: Simon Says Stamp "Just Miss You"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH "Ballerina", Copic markers (for the tiny image)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Real Red, CTMH Bluebird

A Wee Bit o' Love - Valentine

My grand-nephew, "Penny", loves animals and always enjoys receiving mail so I created this Valentine for him using Sketch #562 from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges. This weekly challenge runs from Monday, January 29, 2024, through Sunday evening, February 6, 2024. (I also made a card for Penny's brother, "Oz", that can be viewed HERE.)

 

I have had this border die of Scottish terriers and knew it would be a hit with Penny. My family runs deep with Scottish heritage so I selected tartan paper for the strips. The variety of tartans seemed to work with the Scotties perfectly. In keeping with the sketch, I added a stamped sentiment. I wish that stamp had said "A wee bit o'love." The hand-drawn hearts represent the cord element seen in the sketch. 

Also included was a strip of patterned paper with "x" and "o" symbols, then tiny gem stickers in four colors (red, silver, gold, and green) were added to the dogs as collars. The inside was lined with a panel of white cardstock decorated with tartan strips and one Scotty left from the border strip on the front. 

For fun with sketches, stop by the AHSC Blog!

Materials

Stamp: Concord and 9th "All Wrapped Up"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Midnight Muse

Paper: Doodlebug "Hello Again", Paper Rose "Winter Plaid"

Dies: Cottage Cutz "Scotty Dog Border", Hero Arts Infinity (ovals)

Misc.: Honey Bee Gem Stickers; CTMH thin foam tape

Love You - St. Valentine's Day

It's time to make cards for family members to celebrate St. Valentine's Day, so I have been making a few Valentines in advance. This sketch, from the weekly Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, offers the opportunity to create another Valentine. This is Challenge #561 and is scheduled to run through Sunday evening, January 28, 2024.

Flowers are always appropriate on cards so that paper was my first selection, and then finding additional patterned papers was next. After cutting the shapes, they were adhered to a panel of scrap cardstock. I thought my careful selection to fit the majority of two large flowers into the largest shape was just right because I had also managed to capture a bit of the leaves. That is... until I added the additional elements. My sentiment circle was going to cover the leaves. The color of the leaves, a deep blue-green, was the reason I selected the pinstripe paper. It was time to tweak the plan. 

The silver metallic circle was adhered along with the stacked hearts stamped with a tiny sentiment and then a set of leaves fussy-cut from the floral paper was adhered. This was still in keeping with the sketch and added the color I wanted. A few silver pearls were added and the card front was adhered to a white card base. The inside of the card was decorated with leftover paper scraps and another silver circle with a dragonfly silhouette. The dragonfly was originally die-cut to use with the sentiment but I went with the leaves instead.

I think this sketch design is a great way to use up scraps from my stash so I am planning to use it again. I am also sure that my sister-in-law in Florida will enjoy receiving her annual St. Valentine's card!

Be sure to visit the AHSC 561 Blog!

So glad you stopped by to view my card. Your comments are welcome.

Thank you,

Melanie

Materials

Stamp: The Stamps of Life "Candy Hearts 2"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Silver Foiled, Bravo Burgundy (retired)

Paper: Altenew "Enjoy the Ride" Collection, Honey Bee "Pinstripes & Polka Dots - Winter"

Dies: The Stamps of Life "Candy Hearts 2", Hero Arts Infinity (circles), Kokorosa (dragonfly on the inside)

Misc.: Honey Bee (silver pearls)

Violet Garden - Thank You

 

11/26/2023 Update: Splitcoast Stampers "Favorite of the Week" 

ending 11/25/2023.

Serving on Design Teams occasionally steals a little time from participating in other challenges. I had a little spare time today so chose to use this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. This is Challenge #552, ending Sunday evening, November 26, 2023. The sketch is below:

I recently created a collection of 12 cards from a 6" x 6" pad of patterned paper along with some die cuts that were included. (I have a few family members who enjoy receiving bundles of cards as gifts.) I still had a fair amount of the paper remaining and it was on my desk so I decided to use it for this card. I can always use a few extra thank-you cards in my stash during the holiday season so I duplicated the card as well.

My niece was visiting and crafting with me, making shadow boxes as gifts for family members, so I availed myself of her green cardstock because it was a great match with my floral paper. I adhered my little hand-cut squares and rectangles to the green cardstock, and with foam tape added the sentiment and the floral die-cut. A few shiny green gems were added. The holographic paper did not photograph well - it looks wonky in shape and the bright, shiny hues of silver don't show. This card layer was adhered to a white card base. I enjoy decorating the inside of my cards, so I added a matching floral die-cut leaving sufficient space for a personal message.

Be sure to visit the AHSC 552 Blog and join in their challenges! 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I appreciate your comments.

Melanie

Materials

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White; green & lilac mirror from an unknown source

Paper: Paper Rose "Violet Garden" including cut-apart, sentiment, and ephemera; Scrapbook.com holographic paper

Misc.: CTMH thin foam tape; Honey Bee gem stickers

Happy St. Valentine's Day

A new biweekly challenge is open at Double Trouble Challenges. This is Sweet Color Challenge #103 and it runs through Sunday evening, February 20, 2022. Our challenge has three "Things":

Thing 1 (required): Trouble Maker wants to see projects made from at least three of six colors. These six colors are commonly found in a bag of gumdrops or candy hearts - pink, yellow, lavender, white, orange, and green. 

Thing 2 (optional): Double Dare is challenging you to link up with Inspiration Station Challenge #23. You will earn one chance in our random draw so be sure to check out the guidelines.

Thing 3 (optional): Twisted Sister has added a twist by asking you to add at least one heart to your project and she will add one chance for you in our random draw.

My card includes four of the six colors - pink, yellow, green, and white and has 19 hearts (18 of which were cut in half by the die). I adhered the yellow and green shapes to a panel of white cardstock. The large heart and the sentiment were added with foam tape and the 36 half-heart pieces were inlaid. I had some tiny white resin hearts so added those as well. The entire panel was added to a card base and the inside was decorated with a few small die-cut hearts.

I also decided to participate in a few other challenges. Please visit their blogs and join their challenges!

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2206

Use Your Stuff #441

Get Creative #108

We welcome you to join in our challenge fun at DTC103 and Inspiration Station #23.

Materials

Stamp: None (computer-generated sentiment)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Petal Pink, Pear Pizzaz & Barely Banana

Dies: Spellbinders "A Lotta Heart" (3-die set)

Misc.: SU! Resin Hearts (white) and CTMH thin foam tape

Hearts Slimline Valentine

We are so pleased to have you join us for another biweekly challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare. This is Challenge # 431, beginning on Friday, February 12, and ending on Thursday, February 25, 2021. Below is the Challenge Board. I used pink with vanilla as my color of choice plus gray as a neutral and metallic gold as a free color.

With St. Valentine's Day falling on Sunday, the 14th, I decided to use this pink challenge to make just one more Valentine. On a panel of vanilla cardstock, I used a "just-stitching" die set of hearts to create the random design. Because I usually make a terrible mess when I splatter ink, I decided to try a stencil, using both pink and gray ink. I added a gold-bordered ribbon and adhered the die-cut panel to a rectangle of gray with only a bit showing. This was added to the pink card base. The sentiment was die-cut from gold paper and two shadows were die-cut - one pink, one gray, then stacked and adhered to the card front. The inside was lined with a die-cut scalloped vanilla panel embossed with the just stitching heart dies. A die-cut "you" in gray was added along with a punched gold metallic heart in gold metallic.

Be sure to stop by the Color Dare Blog to view the challenge guidelines and the inspiring cards created by the Design Team.

Materials

Inks: Stampin' Up! Petal Pink & Basic Gray

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Basic Gray & Petal Pink

Dies: Lawn Fawn "Just Stitching Hearts"

Stencil: Stamperia Mixed Media

Punch: Stampin' Up! (small heart on the inside of the card)

Dies: Pink & Main ("love" with shadow) & SSS ("you" on the inside of the card)

Misc.: Stampin' Up! Gold Metallic Edge Ribbon (Petal Pink) & foam tape

My Valentine for You

Thanks for visiting my blog! It's time to join in some crafting fun by combining three challenges. Here they are:

1. Double Trouble #76 has three parts. The first part is required and uses what is called the 3-2-1 Recipe. Use at least three embellishments, at least two patterned papers, and at least one image. The second part, which is optional, is to add your card to the Heart2Heart Challenge. The third part, also optional, is to add hearts for St. Valentine's Day. This challenge is open from Monday, February 1, through Sunday, February 14, 2021.

2. Heart2Heart Challenge is partnering with Double Trouble #76. This challenge runs for the entire month of February. If you used at least one CTMH product and showed some love, you may be eligible to enter the H2H Challenge.

3. I also chose to use the sketch from Atlantic Heart Sketch Challenge #406 as inspiration for my design. This weekly challenge is open from Monday, February 1, through Sunday, February 7, 2021.

I thought this might be a fun masculine Valentine. I wanted a "Big Foot" but only had a Yeti stamp set so that had to do. For my card, I adhered a panel of gray cardstock to a Kraft-type card base, followed by a panel of wood grain patterned paper. Using the sketch, I made a tag from red plaid paper, adding the stamped, die-cut image that I had colored with Copic markers. The little speech bubble serves as my sentiment. I added the jute tied in a simple bow to the tag and then added the tag to the card with foam tape. I also added a heart die-cut from red foiled cardstock. In keeping with the sketch and the 3-2-1 recipe. I added three embellishments. The inside was lined with a panel of white cardstock and another heart die-cut from plaid.

We hope you'll play along but it's up to you. I have added the blog links for your convenience.  We know you'll enjoy all three and Double Trouble offers a prize decided by a random draw of participants.

DTC#76  --  H2H  --  AHSC406

Materials

Stamp: Hello Bluebird "Yeti or Not"

Inks: Distress Oxide Walnut Stain and Copic Alcohol Markers

Cardstock: CTMH Toffee, Stampin' Up! Whisper White & Basic Gray

Paper: Whimsy (plaid) & Stampin' Up! (wood grain)

Punch: Stampin' Up! Tag Topper Scallop Punch

Dies: Hello Bluebird "Yeti or Not", Whimsy (heart)  & Frantic Stamper (zigzag bottom edge on tag)

Misc.: Jute, heart stickers, and foam tape from stash

Slimline Valentine

The biweekly challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #491 began on Tuesday, January 26, and will run through Sunday, February 7, 2021. This is a sketch challenge with an optional twist. This optional twist is to make your card into a Slimline design. Here is the sketch:

Using slimline dies, I added a panel of vanilla cardstock onto a gray panel, followed by a rectangular panel die-cut from pink heart-patterned paper. I have been trying to use up some of my smaller scrap pieces so the three required elements are fussy cut from an old paper collection. I sponged pink ink onto the rose. The elements and die-cut sentiment were attached with foam tape. A few creamy colored pearls were added. The inside of the card was decorated with additional paper scraps.

Visit the TSOT491 Blog to join the challenge!

Materials
Ink: Distress Oxide "Picked Raspberry"
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla & Basic Gray
Paper: CTMH "Feels Like Home" Collection
Dies: D2BArtzy Wavy Framelits & Cutplorations (XOXO)

Misc.: Pearls and foam tape from stash

Bee Mine Valentine

Feb 3, 2021 Update:  Top Three Winner in AHSC Challenge #405.

Early this morning my cat awakened me protesting about his need to be fed. He has me well-trained so I got up, fed him, made coffee, and decided to catch up on some card making. On Mondays, I enjoy looking at the weekly sketch for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges and was immediately drawn to use the new weekly sketch for another Valentine. I had materials on my desk from a card I made yesterday (click HERE to view it) so decided to see what I could do with the leftover bits. Below is Sketch #405, running from Monday, January 25, through Sunday evening, January 31, 2021.

First, the bee image was stamped, colored with Copic markers, and then die-cut. The heart was also die-cut from red foiled cardstock. The edges of the foiled honeycomb paper were die-cut with a border die and the black/gold stripe paper scrap was trimmed to fit. All of the elements were added to a black card base. The heart and the bee image were popped up with thin foam tape. Googly eyes were added to the bee image for a fun element. The sentiment was stamped and added using foam tape and a small punched heart was added. The inside was lined with white cardstock and a few small punched hearts. 

If your looking for a great sketch challenge visit the Atlantic Hearts Blog and join the fun!

Materials

Stamps: Paper Smooches "Bee Mine"
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black & Copic Alcohol Markers
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black & Foiled Cardstock (red)
Paper: CTMH "Gold Foiled Patterns" & Stampin' Up! "Golden Honey" Collections
Punch: Stampin' Up! (small hearts)
Dies: Paper Smooches "Bee Mine", Lawn Fawn (perforated stitched heart), MFT (stitched zigzag border die)
Misc.: Googly eyes and foam tape from stash

Bee My Love Valentine

01/27/2021 Update: 

Top Three Winner at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #404.

Today is the last day for the weekly sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts. I have been making a few valentines for family and friends and was inspired to use this week's sketch for one of them. 

Using a black card base, a panel of striped black and gold metallic patterned paper was added. Next, I added a smaller rectangle of white with gold metallic patterned paper using foam tape. The red metallic heart was cut using a punch and added with foam tape. The bees and sentiment were stamped, colored with Copic markers, and then die-cut. I added the bees with foam tape and adhered the sentiment directly to the heart. The inside of the card was lined with white cardstock and stamped with a large Copic-colored bee. Small punched hearts of red metallic paper were also added.

Atlantic Hearts Challenges is a great place to find fun sketches and inspiring DT cards so be sure to visit their blog!

Materials
Stamps: Paper Smooches "Bee Mine"
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Alcohol Markers
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Foiled Cardstock (red)
Paper: Stampin' Up! "Golden Honey" Collection
Punches: Stampin' Up! 
Dies: Paper Smooches "Bee Mine"
Misc.: Foam tape