Valentine Card with Elephant

Hello! This afternoon I realized there is only ten days left until Valentine's Day. That means I need to finish my cards so I can get them mailed on time. My nephew is three and currently his favorite animal is the elephant. That prompted me to make this Valentine Card with Elephant featuring the Edward Valentine image by Bugaboo Stamps. Copic markers were used to color the image using warm gray for the elephant. Papers were selected to coordinate with the colors used in the image. Instead of stamping a sentiment I used a XOXO die cut by Impression Obsession. Everything was adhered flat for easy shipping and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day. ❤

Challenges entered:

• Allsorts: Love 
• Brown Sugar: Love or Valentine's Day 
• Catch The Bug: Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday: Valentines 
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: Anything with Critters

Puppy Love Cards

If you're thinking you've seen this image on another one of my cards today then you're right. This post is mainly to remind me what my cards for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive looked like. I always look back on previous years to see what I made because my memory isn't that great.

I'm hoping these Puppy Love Cards will bring a smile to the recipients on Valentine's Day. For details about the card drive click here. The Puppy Love image can be found HERE. I'm entering this card in the Dragonfly Journeys challenge (The Power of Red) and Tuesday Throwdown (Anything Goes). Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Valentine Cards for Kids

Hello! I have a quick post and reminder about the Cards from the Heart Card Drive. If you can make a few Valentine Cards and get them mailed in the next couple of days then you still have time to participate. Here is the link (click here) with all the rules/guidelines for the cards, please read carefully before making your cards.

My approach to making the cards are to keep it simple and cute. Since you can't use embellishments, glitter, etc. I have fun with patterned papers and make sure the image is something kids will enjoy. This last week a fellow crafter/blogger posted a darling Valentine Card (click here) using this Puppy Love image and I immediately decided it would be perfect for the card drive. It comes precolored and since I am running short on time I knew I needed to eliminate hand coloring images. The XOXO sentiment is by Stampabilities and it's punched with a 1" circle punch and then matted to a 1 1/4" scalloped circle. I used a simple layout that I've used before and I usually make multiples of a couple different designs. That's it! I hope you have time to make a few cards and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges entered:

Dream Valley: Love
Crafty Creations: Anything Goes
The Crafty Addicts: Anything Goes

Valentine Panda Card

Last year I was playing along with Gerda Steiner's progressive challenge, then I had surgery and stopped. This months new darling Panda image prompted me to start playing along again. I really love this cute image and it's perfect to use on the cards I make for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive. The cards for the card drive are supposed to be gender neutral which this one really isn't. So, I'll probably send this Valentine Panda Card to one of my nieces. If you have time this month I encourage you to make cards for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive, click here for all the details and guidelines.

The patterned papers on this card have been in my stash for awhile and both are by The Paper Studio. Copic markers were used to color the panda image. It was challenging to make the purples match! I used the following purple Copic markers: BV11, BV17 and V17. The pink hearts are a little light but I didn't have the exact shade needed, so I used: R83 and RV34. The green is a single color of YG25. N2 was used to help shade the black on the panda and that covers all the colors used. I use this XOXO sentiment a lot on Valentine's cards and it's also by The Paper Studio. That's about it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Gerda Steiner Progressive Challenge
• Crafty Animals: Anything Goes
• Craftyhazelnut's: Patterned Paper
• Crea Chicky's: Valentine
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes w/ Something New Twist 

Brentwood Owl Valentine Cards

Hello! This past weekend Jessica Lynn Original created this cute new digital Brentwood Owl image called Wholelotta Love and I just adore it! I've used it to make several cards for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive. It's been a lot of fun playing around with different colors and patterned papers. There is still some time if you can make a few cards for the card drive, check out all the details HERE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Elephant Love Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time again for the start of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week our theme is Favorite Medium. This one was hard to narrow down, I like a lot of different mediums. So, I went with what I use the most... Copic markers. Bugaboo Digi Stamps is our wonderful sponsor this week and I'm using the Elephant Love digi. We would love for you to make a project with your favorite medium and share it with us. CLICK HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. Can't wait to see your creation in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Elephant Love Card Supplies:

• Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black and Real Red cardstock by Stampin' Up! along with black chevron paper by The Paper Studio.
• Stamps: Elephant Love digi by Bugaboo and XOXO sentiment by Stampabilities.
• Ink & Coloring: Copic Markers and Black Memento ink.
• Other Stuff: Coastal Cabana thick baker's twine by Stampin' Up!, Avery Elle pierced oval and scalloped frame dies, circle punch and stampin' dimensionals.

Valentine Card for Kids

This morning I woke up to a thin layer of ice on the trees in my yard. The roads are slick which makes for a good morning to stay indoors and cuddle up with a nice cup of coffee. Our weather forecast for the next week looks good, we just have to get past the cold today and rain tomorrow.

My goal this weekend is to finish my Valentine Cards for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive. I usually make 12-18 cards. This card has black scribble heart paper by The Paper Studio with some scrap red by Stampin' Up! The dog stamp is by Recollections (several years ago) and I colored it with Copic markers. To finish it off I added the XOXO sentiment by Stampabilities. If you have time I definitely encourage you to make a few cards for the card drive. It's for a great cause! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Valentine Card for Kids is entered into the following challenges:

• Brown Sugar: Anything Goes
• Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything Goes
• Pattie's Creations: Animal Image

XOXO Kitty Card

Valentine's Day is only a short two weeks away! Although I don't make too many cards for this occasion, I couldn't resist this new image by Gerda Steiner called Love You Kitten. This little cross eyed kitty is super cute! I found the image through another challenge where this card was linked and I knew immediately I had to have it. Luckily, I'm just in time to link up to Gerda's monthly challenge using this image.

To create this XOXO Kitty Card I used last weeks sketch from The Paper Players with a couple of changes. The patterned papers are from the new Love Blossoms paper pad by Stampin' Up! (140548). The image was printed twice on white cardstock. One image was die cut using a stitched circle die by My Favorite Things. The second image was colored with Copic markers, fussy-cut, Stickles and glossy accents were added and then adhered on top of the other image with dimensionals. To pull in the flowers from the patterned paper I stamped and punched two Petite Petal flowers and adhered them to either side of the XOXO sentiment. Two candy dots were added to the center of the flowers and some green leaves were punched using the Bird Builder punch. That's it!

This XOXO Kitty Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Gerda Steiner: Monthly Challenge
• Sweet Stampin': Valentine 
• Crafty Friends: Animals/Birds
• My Time To Craft: Love is all around

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Simple Purple Valentine's Card

This week my friend Jessi created several cards using the color purple. Seeing all her posts (click here for my favorite) really inspired me to created this Simple Purple Valentine's Card. Purple is one of my favorite colors but for some reason it doesn't show up in my card creations very often. For this card I used the chevron heart stamp by Hero Arts. I stamped the heart onto a top note die cut and heat embossed it with two shades of purple. I used Zing! purple metallic and Stampendous! PEARLustre in Amethyst. I love the color intensity of a heat embossed image. Don't you? The purple patterned paper is DCWV, the XOXO sentiment is by Stampablities and the final touch are three small rhinestones by Recollections. This card came together quickly and was super easy to make. If you don't have heat embossing tools, simply stamping the image will work. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will visit again soon!

My Simple Purple Valentine's Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Sweet Stampin': Love/Valentine's
• Addicted to Stamps: Hearts
• Come and Get It: Clean and Simple
• 2 Sisters: Embossing
• Totally Papercrafts: Clean and Simple
• Challenges and Candies: Monochromatic
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

Heart detail

Sweet Cupcake Valentine Card

Welcome to all my new followers! I'm only one follower shy of hitting 100. Whoo hoo!!! Today I have another card I made for the Cards from the Heart card drive. This Sweet Cupcake Valentine Card is a simple layout with minimal supplies. I'm trying really hard to adhere to the rules and that means no bling. The black scribble heart patterned paper is from The Paper Studio and the cupcake stamp is from the dollar bin at Michael's. The cupcake liner was paper pieced using some scrap paper from my stash. I used a 2" circle punch and a 2-3/8" scalloped circle punch. The XOXO sentiment stamp is by Stampabilities and the final touch was a smidge of cherry cobbler dazzling details on the cupcake heart. Well that about sums it up. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Sweet Cupcake Valentine Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Throwdown: Baked Goods
• Sweet Stamps: Anything Goes
• Just Inspirational: Anything Goes
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

Chevron Heart Card

Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a wonderful day. It is super windy today which has made for a great day to stay inside and make a few cards. I hope you've decided to make some cards for the Cards from the Heart Card Drive. If you need more information you can see my post below or click the link provided. To create this Chevron Heart Card I used the sketch from the challenge at Your Next Stamp. The Chevron Heart stamp is by Hero Arts. I used the rock and roll technique with classic stampin' pads in Real Red and Cherry Cobbler and then I fussy cut the image. I added some stitching detail, glitter tape, and to add a little pizzazz I used the Dot Flourishes stamp by Inkadinkado. The checkered patterned paper is from American Crafts and the polka dots are from the retired neutrals dsp by Stampin' Up!. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day.

My Chevron Heart Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Your Next Stamp: Sketch/Photo Inspiration 
• DL.ART Thankful Thursday: Hearts
• Pattie's Creations: Stitching Faux or Real
• The Crafter's Cafe: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Pile It On: Holidays/Celebrations

Heart Monkey Valentine's Card

It's time again to start making cards for the children at the hospital on Valentine's Day. The last two years I have participated in the Cards from the Heart Card Drive organized by Winter Sims. I urge you to participate! It's a lot of fun to make cards for a good cause. This Heart Monkey Valentine's Card is my first card for this year. I usually make several of each design and I stay with simple details to make sure I follow the rules. She is accepting cards until January 31st. Here are the rules and details that I copied and pasted from her blog:

As always, here are some of the guidelines from the hospital's and a few of mine. (Please read carefully.)
* Cards need to be a Valentine theme.
* Cards can't have anything about 'Get Well Soon', 'Feel Better', or anything reminding them of being sick. (Only Valentine Cards)
* Please make cards that can be used for any gender or age. (This could be a little tricky, but I think you can handle it!) :)
* No buttons or anything that can be pulled off and become a chocking hazard.
* Cards MUST be able to fit into a 4 1/2 X 5 3/4 envelope (A2 size, but can be smaller, just not bigger). I CANNOT use them if they are bigger! (I will provide clear envelopes for each card, so there is no need to send one with your card.) The clear envelopes make it easier when they hand them out to the kids.
* You can include a message in the inside, but please remember, nothing reminding them of being sick. (Maybe just a Valentine sentiment.) You can also sign your first name and what state you are from.
*I will be excepting cards for the whole month of January. ( Jan. 1 - Jan. 31, Please don't send any after that, because I have to send them off so they will get to the hospitals in time for Valentine's Day.) At the end of the month, I will draw names for prizes.The more cards you send, the more times your name goes into the drawing to win prizes. Let your kids get involved too! I will be adding more prizes and sponsors, often.  :)
* Please send a piece of paper with your name, address, email address, and the amount of cards you sent. (It will help when I have the drawings.) A lot of the prizes will be sent from the sponsor, so I NEED to have your email address for sure!
*Please send cards to me at:

Winter Sims
"Cards from the Heart Card Drive"
P.O. Box 754
Warren, TX 77664

* If anyone wants to donate a prize for the drawings, please email me with the details at wintersims1@aol.com .
*You are welcome to use the Card Drive badge on your blog to spread the word, just remember to save it to your computer first.

I know it seems like there are A LOT of rules, but they are the hospital's rules and we want to obey them, to keep the kids safe. So I hope you will join us again for another great year and help us put some smiles on those sweet kids faces on Valentines Day! :)
Go here to check out the Sponsors and Prizes.

If you have any questions, please just send me and email at: wintersims1@aol.com

My Heart Monkey Valentine's Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Simply Create Too: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles: Anything Goes

Contemporary Valentine Card

Hello! Here is a quick Saturday afternoon post to enter a couple of challenges. This Contemporary Valentine Card is entered into the following challenges:

• CAS-ual Fridays: Make Your Mark
• Addicted to CAS: Hearts

I started this card by colouring the square with my Copic markers. Then I cut the heart with my Cricut machine, adhered it with dimensionals, and then added the sentiment. Depending on your colouring speed this was a super quick and easy card. Thanks for stopping by!

Heart Mouse XOXO Card

This week is flying by! Today is my Friday, so hooray for the weekend!!! This afternoon I made another Valentine's card to share with you. This Heart Mouse XOXO Card was made using the sketch from Repeat Impressions and a digital stamp by Bugaboo Stamps. I coloured the image with my Copic markers and used dimensionals to adhere the image. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

My Heart Mouse XOXO Card is entered into the following challenges:

    1. Make It Monday: ANYTHING GOES
    2. Crafting by Design: ALCOHOL MARKERS
    3. Lady Anne's: ANYTHING GOES

XOXO Flower Card

Today, I received my first crafting injury.  I was punching out the corrugated kraft flower and pinched the palm of my hand pretty good.  So, I now have a bruise from crafting.  Oh well, beauty can be painful. 

The XOXO Flower Card was made using the Retro Sketches challenge and the colour challenge from ColourQ.  I love the simplicity of this weeks sketch, it was super easy to put together and still maintains a dramatic look. 

XOXO Flower Card Supplies: Black folded card by Recollections, real red cardstock, whisper white cardstock, and Summer Smooches dsp by Stampin' Up!, parakeet cardstock by Bazzill Basics, kraft corrugated paper (source unknown), Fiskars apron lace edge punch (01-004597), blossom punch by Stampin' Up! (125603), 1" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, Cricut machine, Straight from the Nest cartridge (leaves), Charming stamp set by Stampin' Up! (retired), black dye ink, XOXO sentiment stamp by Stampabilities (A1026), VersaMark watermark stamp pad, Zing! white embossing powder, heat tool by The Paper Studio, rhinestone brad, and stampin' dimensionals.