you + me = forever

Hi everyone! Hard to believe that this first month of 2025 is already almost over and February is nearly here! Wasn't it just New Year's?  But hey, if you're a card maker there's just enough time to finish up those Valentines!

A few of my designer paper pads were stacked randomly on my desk and I noticed how dramatic the black, red, white, pink and teal looked together. With these paper pads it was easy to pull together a card that required minimal stamping and practically no coloring.  

I had some card stock scraps laying alongside my trimmer and decided to use one (a leftover piece of pink card stock that measured 3.5 x 11 inches) as a card base.  The overhanging banner die brings the card's full finished measurement to 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

It's hard to see here but the black background from Craft Consortium's Scorched Paper designer paper pad has just the faintest hint of pink in it.  The Valentine papers are all from Echo Park Love Notes and were all die-cut using our fishtail banners die set.  Since one of those little designer prints included hearts dangling clothes-line style, I was inspired to dangle a little heart-shaped button from a piece of baker's twine to the front of my card.  Just needed to stamp a couple of sentiments from our Farmhouse series. Easy peasy!  

The "cross my heart" block on the inside is just another square of designer paper that was practically the perfect size with minimal need for trimming.  I added a little scrap of white underneath so there'd be space for the sentiment and a signature.  I used a Copic marker to make a teeny tiny heart next to the sentiment to tie it in with the tiny hearts on the designer paper.   

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Simple Sentiments (outside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Scriptural Thoughts (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Scorched Wood 6x6
• Love Notes
• Divine Twine Baker's Twine - 240 Yard Spool - Aqua
• heart shaped button from stash
• red Copic marker (for tiny heart inside)

Happy Day Iris Valentine

Recently I went to Distaff Day in Orlando and (among lots of other things!) bought a four-pack of mini-braids of spinning fiber.  

Spinning friends, they're 4 oz of 100% Blue-Faced Leicester wool being spun with a tiny Jenkins Tulipwood Kuchulu that weighs ~ 9 g.  

Looking again at these colors, I think they absolutely influenced my choice of designer paper for this week's Stamp Simply project!  And not just that but also the "Snowpacalypse" weather maps that we have had here in the Deep South this week!  Similar color palette!  

We ended up not getting any snow, but my brother near Lake Charles, Louisiana did indeed have a blizzard that resulted in 6 inches of "sneaux" and record-breaking cold temperatures.  (As I am writing this, our high temp for the day here in NE Florida is 39 F). So it is hovering just above freezing and our irises are blooming and the azaleas are confused as well!  

So I put together an Iris Valentine using these gorgeous papers with lots of layering and splattering to emphasize these bold colors.  I think they are so gorgeous, both individually and collectively!

You can barely see it, but there is shimmery copper ink stenciled onto the kraft card stock tag using the Tim Holtz Bricked stencil. That shimmer helps bring so much glimmer and glitz to a card IRL but it is hard to capture on screen. 

I got a little carried away with the spattering, especially on the inside, but to me it looks like party confetti and it makes me happy while we've got such dreary grey skies outside!  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Happy Day Iris Bundle
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Bricked (stenciled on kraft tag with Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown
• May Arts 1" Grosgrain w/Satin Edge - 30 Yard Spool - Turquoise
• Flowers
• Gems
• click together alphabet stamps 
• distress oxide inks
• Copic markers

My Heart Belongs to Yooper

I love making cards that are a personalized "fit" for the recipient!  That's especially true when it comes to making a Valentine for my one and only.  

For us the Yooper sets and this designer paper work really well for personalizing a Valentine because we met in a place that had hot air balloon decor, and Patrick drove a VW albeit not a "bug" but a "scirocco." His Navy call sign was even "Yooper." 

It was easy to replicate a hot air balloon using a heart die, a folded strip of paper for the balloon's basket, and some jute for the strings that hold the two together.  The "my heart belongs to" sentiment was cobbled together by masking together various sentiments from the Yooper set.  The easiest way to do it is to use a marker to ink what words you want to use.

Of course, your significant other may not be a Yooper, so I've shared alternatives for spelling names in case stamps are not an option for that part!  Little alpha-beads or a Dymo would work really well instead (see the foreground of the first photo). 

Here's a the inside with a Valentine greeting from one of our Typewritten sets and an accent strip from that cute Love Notes designer paper. 

 

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yooper) (Yooper and "my heart belongs to")
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten Year Round Greetings (inside sentiment)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Farmhouse Pierced Nested Hearts (for hot air balloon)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Country Church (cloud dies)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Echo Park Love Notes 6x6
• Ribbon
• Jute
• Blue-green Copic marker for heart on cloud
• button from stash
• alternative alpha-beads or Dymo for spelling loved one's name

Sending Love

Hello again everyone!  I'm happy to be cozy and warm in my squishy chair as I write this post because it has been COLD even in Florida! It got down to 33 overnight a few nights ago!  Brrrrr!  I am happily snuggling with my spinning and knitting and a hot cup of coffee, tea or cocoa!  This is definitely the weather for sitting with a warm knitting project in your lap!  

Today's Stamp Simply project features our beautiful Vintage Peony stamp set.   Although this set has coordinating dies, I didn't use them for this project, deciding instead to stamp a simple background with the peonies on plain white card stock.  I colored them with Copic markers and filled in the empty space with faint stenciling and spattering with copper ink for some shimmery sparkle.  

Here is a closer look at the banner sentiment and the coppery stenciling behind it.  

The colors of the peachy-pink peonies are reflected in the choice of designer paper for the card's inside.  And because the Tim Holtz die set I used last week was still within reach I was inspired to stamp a little reminder card/envelope to enclose as well.  

Here is the inside of the card by itself...

...and a close-up of the little envelope and its accompanying note, which measures approximately 3 x 2 inches.  The little bee is from the same Peony stamp set, and the serrated stamp die is included in the Postale die set with the envelope, hand and more.  The sentiment is from a set in our Typewritten series.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Vintage Peony
• Craft Consortium Watercolors 6x6
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper (for stenciling and splattering)
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Crackle
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Hearts
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Sage
• Copic markers

Additional supplies for the little envelope and "reminder"

• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Typewritten What You Mean to Me
• burlap string
• printer paper for die-cutting small envelope

Happy 2025!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you're having a wonderful start to what will be a healthy and happy 2025!  

For today's project I combined several Tim Holtz dies and a couple of sentiments from two Stamp Simply sets to create a New Year's wish for you and yours.

When preparing to create this card, I was thinking of sparkly New Year's Eve celebrations, champagne toasts, the countdown to midnight and the New Year, so it seemed only appropriate to use a sheet from Craft Consortium's Ink Drops Midnight paper pad.  I love how the lighter hues streaking through the darker colors gives the illusion of glitter and sparkle.  I added extra splashes of Delicata ink to intensify the bubbly New Year's Eve ambiance. 

Here's the inside, kept clean, simple and elegant with gold splatters and a sentiment stamped in Tuxedo Black ink.  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Happy Day Iris (sentiment on tag)
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Snowflake Blessings Border Strip (sentiment on the inside)
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Christmas Stockings & Mittens (small snowflake)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Countdown (numbers)
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Postale (hand)
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Midnight 6x6
• Delicata Non-Tarnishing Ink Pad - Celestial Copper
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Latte
• Seam Binding Sampler - Christmas - 30 yards

Sending blessings to you and those you love for each and every day of this brand new year.  And happy crafting!  ❤️