Flights of Valentine Fancy

It's the first Saturday of February & that means a new challenge at Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Are you working on Valentines?  If you make a card with a Penny Black image & use a heart you can enter this month.  My card uses the sweet Valentine Dance stamp which was given to me by a dear friend.  

You may recognize the background since it's another piece I made by inking the Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Feather Illusion folder with Distress Paints seedless preserves & spun sugar--a technique I saw on Alexandra's blog HERE.  I randomly swiped on some Distress Stain Brushed Pewter.  The butterflies are stamped in seedless preserves & over-stamped in Delicata Silvery Shimmer on vellum mounted to white cardstock. The sentiment is also stamped on vellum using StazOn Jet Black.  The hearts were colored with a pink marker before adding Stickles.  Finally found a use for the little stickers with silver hearts.

Work day for me, but I'll catch up on my blog reading soon.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Edited to add:  Entering the "H" challenge at SSS Monday & Anything Goes at Loves Rubberstamps.

Mixed Media Valentine

I have no illusions--the artistic genes skipped me--LOL!  Never a doubt that nursing was the place for me.  I was so excited to discover stamping because I could use other people's images for creative projects.  I love seeing the variety of styles & techniques by my fellow paper crafters even when it's outside my realm of possibility. Turns out lots of nurses also got those artistic genes. Two of them are Sue & Mona. At first I was just awe-inspired by their work. Eventually I realized I can make use of some of their techniques without trying to do what they do. The red glitter Memory Box heart has been sitting on my table for days.  I began coloring a piece of watercolor paper with Distress Paint spun sugar, adding some water with a brush.  
Then I used a Heidi Swapp mini stencil from Alexandra's Blog Candy in the corner with worn lipstick (swiped with a bit of Gesso to soften) & stamped the Art Impressions sentiment. Next the piece was dry embossed with Anna Griffin Rosa folder & spritzed with Tattered Angels Snow Angel.  I used the mister of TA Scarlet to add drops of mist I encouraged to run. My friend, Maria, gave me the beautiful lace which I attached across the bottom along with a row of white sequins that came strung together. The PTI tiny tag was lightly sponged with spun sugar, stamped & attached to the heart.  I made sort of a "junk bow" (Melissa Phillips) with white seam binding, tulle & pink grosgrain embellished with pink paper flowers I dry embossed & a pink glittered rose.  The flowers were in the pink box I won from Mrs. A long ago. The heart is mounted with foam tape & a couple red gems cover dots that are part of the sentiment. The piece is matted with black cardstock & attached to the card front. I'm entering several challenges: 
Country View Challenges--Drips & Drops
SSS Monday--H is for...Hearts
Inkspirational--Rose Shades of Red &/or Pink
Loves Rubberstamps--Anything Goes
Dies R Us--Hearts
The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge--Think Pink
The Mixed Media Card Challenge--Love
Thanks for making it through this long post & leaving me a comment.

Happy Heart's Day

I'm still using up Sizzix blooms I cut from the photo paper I colored with Alcohol Inks Cranberry & Wild Plum. Again I dry embossed them & layered them with vellum blooms.  I've had these little silver heart brads for years & aren't they cute as the flower center?  I was inspired by the sketch at Mojo Monday--a challenge I hope to enter regularly this year.  The hearts panel is made with Tim Holtz stencil & Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink.  
Finally used some Washi tape on a card--2 strips of the silver/white chevrons attached to cardstock. The A Muse sentiment is one I've had for years & still love. It's stamped in Memento Grape Jelly & Stickles is added to the tiny heart. The dry embossing is by Cuttlebug & the card front stitching is by Lil' Inkers.  

My card fits several challenges so I'll join in at Dies R Us, Fusion, SSS Monday & Die Cut Divas. Thank you so much for taking time to check my card.

Hexagons for Christmas

I missed the last 2 Merry Monday & PTI MIM challenges, so decided to combine them: use a bow & layering Cover Plate dies. Since I only have one PTI Cover Plate I started by die cutting the hexagons in red & green. They're glued together slightly offset before attaching to the card.  I stamped a small poinsettia from Peaceful Poinsettias in 3 of the negative spaces using Hero Arts Pale Tomato & added Stickles to the centers.  
The sentiment from the same set is matted & mounted with foam tape after I tied on the beautiful twine--a gift from my friend, Nat. Fun to make something a little different.  The hexagons are really versatile, I think. Thanks so much for taking time to check my blog.
  

Happy Valentine's Day

I've had to cut down my spending since I changed to working very part time.  That means I always check out sales.  Some of them are not too impressive, but when MFT has sales it's usually a significant discount & not on stuff no one wants. 

The end of last year I bought a few new items: Leaf Filled Flourish, Diamond & Dots Border, Rolled Gardenia. Oh my goodness--hope you can get an idea from the picture of how wonderful the flower is!  I think I'll be cutting this flower out of all my colors of felt--best $6 I ever spent! The leaves have Wink of Stella giving them a beautiful shimmer.  All stamps are MFT.  I'm entering the MFT sketch challenge, the MFT color challenge, SSS Wednesday & SSS Work It Wednesday. Your visit is very  much appreciated.

Another Valentine

I had some left over alcohol ink & vellum flowers after making my DT card for W2SB, so used 2 of them for another Valentine.  This time I also dry embossed the vellum & added the flower center (MFT Prima Donna Petals) which was cut from a scrap of the paper colored with the alcohol inks. My inspiration came from Freshly Made Sketches. I used MFT Fishtail Flags cut from vellum & Dizzy Doily cut from white cardstock. Finally opened the Tim Holtz hearts stencil & used it with Picket Fence paint & prisma glitter on the card front.  
A little enamel heart provides a flat embellishment--mail friendly! I'm also entering the challenge at SSS Work It Wednesday & SSS Wednesday.  Hope you're not tired of Valentines--more to come!  
Drowning my sorrow with brownie & ice cream--LOL!  Another disappointing end of the season for one of our football teams.  This time it was the Seahawks loosing the Super Bowl at the last minute.  It was a great year anyway & we'll be ready for next season!  Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.

Alcohol Ink Flowers

February 1st--how did that happen?!  Time for another Words 2 Scrap By challenge. This month we're asking you to do something different--not what you usually create.  I decided to use my alcohol inks.  Most of the time they just decorate the shelf--LOL! I used Cranberry & Wild Plum on glossy photo paper & then brushed on some Distress Stain Brushed Pewter after die cutting & dry embossing the Sizzix flowers.  I bought the die in close-out long ago but had never used it.  I glued them together with some vellum layers & embellished with a large jewel brad I've had for over 10 years!  The border die is Our Daily Bread Design, the leaf flourish is MFT (a year end splurge!) & the sentiment is Savvy Stamps.  I added satin ribbon, clear sticker dots & a strip of Elizabeth Craft silver glitter. I'm entering the Anything Goes challenge at SSS Wednesday and SSS Work It Wednesday.
The big day has arrived--Seahawks playing in their second straight Super Bowl!  We're forgetting the calorie counting for a day so I can have bownies with coffee ice cream--yum!  Go Hawks!
Edited to Add: Entering the challenge at Die Cut Divas.