This week's freebie at Too Many Ideas, PaperFacesDesigns' blog, is this cute heart-themed tag cut file. Therese had made a pumpkin tag in the Fall and I found myself in need of a heart-themed version, so I bugged her about it and ta-da! Ah, the power of the DT! I had planned on using the tag for a magnet card that I saw on the Fiskars blog, but with only a couple of days until Valentine's, it will have to wait for another time...the Moms already have cards in the mail!The card on the right is a window version I made for fun; I freehand cut the window and stamped it all over with three shades of red. I love the effect you can get with Core'dinations cardstock and an emery board!
There are still a few Valentines-themed challenges that I wanted to try, so I made the tag on the left.I had too much fun coloring this Penny Black stamp again.Inspiration:Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #39: HeartsDelicious Doodles Challenge #12: Valentines DayDutch Dare Challenge #99: Love is in the Air
Cut file: Heart Tag by PaperFacesDesignsSupplies: Recollections, Hammermill, and Core'dinations cardstocks, textured paper by the Paper Studio (I think), ZipDry glue, pop-dot, Fiskars papercutter and scallop scissors, CelebrateIt! ribbon, Versamark and StazOn inks, Martha Stewart detail scissors and embossing powder, stash silicon frame stamp, gstudio sentiment stamp, Crop-O-Dile II, Bountiful rubber stamp by Penny Black
Copics:Hedgehog: E11, YR00, E02, E51, E50, 317Poppies: YR04, RV29, RV59, R27, R29Daisies: RV29, E04, R59, Y06, Y08Roses: RV 29, RV04Mums: RV21, RV23, RV04Foliage & Background: BG10, YG41, G21, G02
Last week, I was moved to purchase the PhotoShop-ready Valentine's Day Cootie Catcher template by Creations by Julie. I've made them before, which is why I knew that $2 was a steal. The template is easy to use, if you understand Layers, so I was able to insert a digi paper pattern right into it. I've never used digi paper before, but I fell in love with the Cardscrapper's free set, especially the heart-circles. Love the blue! I put the "paper" behind the text at 60% opacity, and printed it at full opacity on the reverse side of the cardstock. I didn't change the text this time, but the font is PupCat, a freebie, so you can grab it if you don't have it.
Valentine's Day Cootie Catcher template by Creations by Julie for GingerscrapsDigi stamps by PaperFacesDesigns: Angel Anna, Angel Chelsea, Angel Teaghan, and I heart U coupleDigi paper: Lollipop Press Blog Hop Rak - Page 027 by Natacha Diemer (FREEBIE!)
The day after I purchased this template, I was asked to whip up something for the MFA/Creative Writing & Publishing Arts program at UB to use at the AWP 2011 conference (the Association of Writers and Writing Programs). Nothing major, just something cheap, unique, and memorable. I live for this kind of project, and am very lucky to be able to do this kind of stuff. I whipped together this cootie-catcher. I'm not sure if they were used, but I wanted to share it anyway.
Last night I was in need of a little Shopping Therapy, so I splurged and bought the brand-new Tree Carving digi collection from Little Musings. I love how it comes ready-to-color as well as pre-colored. Handy! I used the letters as its own image for the backing paper. Just for the sheer thrill of it, I used the "braid" texturing plate on the backing papers.I'm also entering this card into the Let's see some Love challenge at Spoonfull of Sugar Challenges, which I haven't participated in some time (although I always enjoy looking at their DT projects!). 
Digi stamp set: Tree Carving by Little MusingsCut file: Heart and Roses Border by PaperFaces Designs
Inspiration:Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #90Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge 138:
Let's see some loveSupplies: K&Company Valentine's Designer double-sided paper pack, Hammermill and Recollections cardstocks, HP printer & ink, Copic Ciao markers, MS detail scissors ZipDry glue, CraftSmart ink, Cricut Expression, SCAL, silicon stamps by Alys Paterson for Quick Cards, Fiskars papercutter and texturing plate & tool, Recollections border punch, Post-it Notes (see tutorial at There She Goes)
I took a little time during the past coupla days to actually read my blog feed, which is filled with yummy craft sites, so by the time I got around to starting a project my head was filled with ideas. And they all poured into this one card...Now that I've discovered slider cards, I'm going to have a difficult time going back to flat ones! I love the way you can layer elements but still see each element when it's in the "up" position. I have a cheat-sheet with the dimensions taped up in my craft space, and once you get the hang of the folding/gluing part, it's really easy.I started with Curtain Call's Act 68 color combo (Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette), even though I knew I didn't really have great matching marker nor ink colors. I did, however, have an gorgeous Core'dinations cardstock that was a great match for the Melon Mambo, so I dry-embossed it with one of my new Fiskars texturing plates. I did the same with a white cardstock for the slider strip and pop-up pieces.I had taken the energy to watch a video tutorial on making a Go-To-Sentiment card at Papertrey Ink (with the sound on, which sometimes I don't bother with, because I'm at best a visual learner. As mom said about the SuperBowl Commercials, "Some were really great, but of course we never watch them with the sound on. We're not interested in advertising.") The concept behind the Got-to Sentiment card is simple: put together all of your similarly-themed sentiments to create one image. However, if you know anything about stamping, this is a real trick of stamping skill and luck. Because I have few sentiment stamps (I'm still looking for a good, affordable collection), the largest group I have is Made for You themes. I started by printing a TLC Creations digi stamp sentiment, to mix it up. I printed two, in case I messed one up, but I ended up using both. I had lots of fun lining up the stamps, but the fact that 3 of them were rubber made it a bit more exciting...For the pink "framing" on the front sentiment piece, I used the old Post-it trick, inspired by a tutorial at There She Goes. Ah, where would the crafty office worker be without Post-its‽ I once helped a student use them for a stop-motion animation project; Brilliant! I used this trick years ago when I was dabbling in spray-paint art, but really felt like the tutorial helped me see it in a new way. I deckled the edge of the Post-its before I stamped the paper with chalk ink.I thought that the sentiment group really lent itself to a Valentines card, so I added PaperFacesDesigns' I Heart U Couple. The moment I saw Mad for Markers' Crazy Hair Colour Challenge, I knew I wanted to make something that my husband would like, since his #1 suggestion for my coloring is "Bright Hair". He never suggests Bottled Blonde or Auburn, rather fluorescent blue or Chartreuse. So, I gave these kidlets Wild Wasabi-inspired tresses. I can't decide if this is my official entry into this challenge, just because it's really fun and I'm only 75% satisfied with the result.
Digi Stamp: I heart U couple by PaperFacesDesignsDigi Sentiment: TLC CreationsThere She Goes Wednesday Trends: Post-it NotesMad for Markers Challenge: Crazy Hair ColourCurtain Call Color Challenge: Act 68: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Pink PirouettePapertrey Ink Make It Monday Series: Go-to Sentiment CardSliding Pop-Out Card Tutorial: Kim Score for SplitcoaststampersSupplies: Hammermill and Core'dinations cardstock, MS detailing scissors, ZipDry glue, HP printer & ink, Fiskars papercutter, deckle scissors, corner punch, texturing plate & tool, Copic Ciao markers, HP printer & ink, Memento ink, ColorBox chalk ink, stash eyelet, CelebrateIt! ribbon, sentiment stamps from gstudio, Hero Arts, Alice in Wonderland set, Beatrix Potter Two Bad Mice set, and Bentley the Bear set from Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine, Post-it notes
So I've only had my Copic markers since Dec. 24, and I'm already low on several of my blue shades. But I find myself getting better at coloring with them, so I continue to indulge myself and just try not to color with blue. This week's Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo fit the bill: Concord Crush, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake.
I had lots of inspiration (see my list below) for this card, but the part that took me the most time is the most difficult to see: I stamped the front cardstock with hearts in Antique Linen distress ink, and did the same for the XOXO circle. I sanded down the circle to give it more depth, and added a bow because I had just that much ribbon leftover!
Digi stamp: Lovebirds 2 by PaperFacesDesigns
Inspiration:
Sketch: Mojo Monday #177
Color: Picture Perfect Creations Color Combo 48
Sketch: Critter Sketch Challenge #51: critter/animal image
Theme: PaperPlay Challenge '11 Week 5: Stamp It Out
Supplies: Core'dinations cardstock, Xpress Copic paper, MS detailing scissors, ZipDry glue, HP printer & ink, Fiskars papercutter, deckle scissors, and corner & circle punches, Copic Ciao markers, Tim Holtz distress ink, InkItUp! ink, silicon stamps from gstudio and Hero Arts, Recollections border punch, Celebrate It! and Offray ribbons
![cg says [something loudly]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FPmCZqXj2-YcQaqnchsA3zKcMX4MIsNrt-Q1wM9gJSyUJH_a6g_V1m_JKR0tKEOGU6F1AFBv8al43phB58tEMIPcT3G0wXzmJpswV9I5mFB7zOhpv8a8dpEAR6i9uS0mkOQKp_pC6PE/s1600/blogheader.gif)
This week's freebie at Too Many Ideas, PaperFacesDesigns' blog, is this cute heart-themed tag cut file. Therese had made a pumpkin tag in the Fall and I found myself in need of a heart-themed version, so I bugged her about it and ta-da! Ah, the power of the DT! I had planned on using the tag for a magnet card that I saw on the Fiskars blog, but with only a couple of days until Valentine's, it will have to wait for another time...the Moms already have cards in the mail!
There are still a few Valentines-themed challenges that I wanted to try, so I made the tag on the left.
Copics:
