Do Not Open Until February 1st, so let's Blog Hop it now

---

This valentine heart isn't to be opened until the first day of February, but I'll let you take a peek just because it's the InStyle Stamp's blog hop today. Yippee! Have you just been blown away by the design team's projects so far today? We are having so much fun and hope you are too!

We are having a good time with Valentine hearts for our blog hop and if you've just come from Joy's blog you already have a good idea. When you are done here you'll be heading on over to our guest designer Judy's blog. Are you ready for the peek?

InStyle Stamps Valentine Ava is delivering hearts galore to go on this box. Inside this BIG little box my dearest Valentine will find a sweet morsel for each day until Valentine's day arrives. For forteen days he'll get a chance to guess what is inside all the milk cartons but not before it's numbered day. Do you think he will be able to wait? LOL If you know my sweet hubby you know he has an abundance of patience.

If you want to start at the beginning and get the details for a chance at a PRIZE, go to the InStyle Stamps blog and hop through the design team blogs. To keep a hoppin' from here go to Judy's blog for more hearts inspiration... thanks for stopping by!

Want to see more?  Here's how the tag works...(just click on the image to see it larger.)

Details:

Stamps: Valentine Ava

Paper: Bo Bunny "Love Bandit Be Mine", Little Yellow Bicycle "Sweet Love" (Red Petals side), Real Red, Pink, Mohawk Smooth White, matboard scraps, clear acetate

Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers*

Accessories: SU! Scallop Trim edge punch, Bigz Mini Milk Carton die, slot punch, crop-a-dile, American Crafts brads, Cuttlekids heart dies, Cuttlebug Red Tag die, paper crimper, large brad, red embossing powder.

Prismacolor Details: Ava's Hair - Parchment, Mocha Light, Mocha Dark; Skin - Eggshell, Brick Beige, Cinnamon Toast; Eyes - Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown; Mouth - Clay Rose, Flagstone Red, Wings - Cool Grey 10% and 30%; Necklace - Leaf Green, Limepeel, Avocado; Dress, Hairband and Shoes - Henna, Raspberry, Mahogany Red; Hearts - Carmine Red, Crimson Red; Leggings - Brick White.

Credits (I feel like an award winner, but I just have to say a few thank you's.): This Valentine heart could not have been put together without some help and coordination from my awesome Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Thank You Lori!, and my sweet mother-in-law who met us at a basketball game with her Big Shot and accessories for me just in case I broke my CB with the Bigz die, thanks CJ! But to really be honest I have to thank my sweet hubby who will not only enjoy the Valentine but he actually helped me come up with the sayings on the treat boxes. LOL We had a blast!Thank you, love.

---

You're Fabulous!

---

Have you ever gotten a just because card? It's rare that I do, but I think I need to send more out this year. I used InStyle Stamps Tracy for the job of telling my friend all of her qualities over the phone and then I'll just write my own personal message on the inside. Tracy will be available February 1st in the Club Anime section of Instyle Stamps.

The pattern paper is unknown from one of the old Slab pack of papers. I cut out two of the flowers from the remaining paper and the browns are Close to Cocoa cardstock.

I used last week's sketch over at Mercy's Tuesday sketch challenge here.
Hope you will stop in on Friday for the InStyle Stamps Blog Hop. We have Valentine's on our mind. Who would have guessed! The hop will start at InStyle's blog and grab a cup of coffee and chocolate (or if your minding yourself a rice cake and water) and come on our blog hop. It's starts up at noon eastern time.


Details:
Stamps: InStyle Tracy, Verve Love's Flower
Paper: Close to Cocal, Pattern Paper unknown
Ink: LaserJet, Versamark, Prismacolor markers*
Accessories: Paper Crimper, dimensionals, Nestabilities Standard Square and Scallop Square nested together, MM pink rickrack, Martha Stewart Dotted Scallop edge punch

Prismacolor marker Details: Tracy's Hair - Light Tan, Sand, Sienna Brown, Dark Umber; Eyes - Pale Jade, Jade Green; Mouth - Blush Pink, Clay Rose; Skin - Eggshell, Brick Beige, Clay Rose; Phone - Warm Grey 70% and 90%, Warm Black; Shirt - Rhodamine, Crimson Red; Jacket - Brick White for shadows; Pants - Cool Grey 30% and 60%; Shoes - Mocha Light, Mocha Dark; Stool - Deco Pink, Clay Rose, Flagstone Red.

---

Howdy Partner!

---

A very belated birthday card to my cowboy brother!

Tommy is from InStyle Stamps and I LOVE him! I used Mojo Monday's sketch #115 from November 30, 2009. I adjusted the layout and stretched the card base to keep the sentiment from hanging off the card.

Have a great Monday!

Details:

Stamps: InStyle Stamps Tommy, Verve World's Best and Wishful Elegance

Paper: Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Mohawk Smooth White, Kraft
Ink: LaserJet, SU! Writer Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa, Ranger Walnut Stain Ink, Prismacolors*
Accessories: Cuttlebug "Perfect Paisley" EF, Nestabilites Large Standard Circles, EK Success Star punch, SU! 1/2" circle punch

*Prismacolor Details: Tommy: Hat - Mocha Light, Mocha Dark (band - Light Umber, Sepia); Hair - Terra Cotta, Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown; Skin - Pale Peach, Brick Beige, Cinnamon Toast; Eyes - Sienna Brown, Walnut; Mouth - Clay Rose, Henna; Bandana - Raspberry, Mahogany Red; Shadow - Colorless Blender, Cool Grey 10%.

---

Make you own Valentine candy!

---

You won't get calories from this candy and you don't even need to be in the kitchen to whip up these confections. Let's have some candy fun!

Valentine Candy Corn and more!

Supplies for candy corn:

• 3 different sizes of circle punches, coluzzle or Nestabilities (used in the tutorial)
• mono-adhesive
• Glue for glitter (needs to dry clear)
• Glossy Accents (Crystal Affects, Paper Glaze will work too)
• glitter in white, pink, and red
• scissors

---

Step One:
Cut out one small white circle (Nestie #1), medium pink circle (Nestie #3) and large red circle (Nestie #4).

---

Step 2:

Using mono-adhesive, adhere them together. Make sure the small and medium size circles are liberally taped so they will stay together when cutting them in the next step.

---

Step 3:

Cut the stacked circles into 12 pieces. If you have a steady hand cut them out freehand or use the method in the instructions below to make them all nice and equally sized. I used a sheet of copy paper and diecut the large circle out for these instructions.

1. Circle to be folded.
2. Fold in half.
3. Fold into quarters.
4. Fold into thirds and crease with bone folder.
5. Unfold and mark each crease, then snip the outer edge.
6. Bend the cut edge on each wedge so you will have some space to mark the BACK of your stacked circles.

---

Step 4:
Now with the marks on the back of your stacked circles, draw straight lines connecting them. Cut on all the lines.

---

Step 5:
Round the corners on the outer edge and snip off the very tip then round with the scissors.

---

Step 6:
Start with the outer ring of red and add a thin layer of glue to a few of them and lay in glitter tray or paper and sprinkle darkest glitter on them. Shake off excess and lay aside. Continue until the outer ring on all pieces are done. Start with the middle ring of pink and do the same. Finally the inner white ring with white glitter. Let dry completely.

---

Step 7:
When dry apply a thin layer of Glossy Accents over the top to seal the glitter onto the paper. It creates a no mess embellishment!

---

You're done!

Want another piece of candy in the mix?
Here's an easy embellishment. Use a small circle punch and a heart punch. Apply a dimensional dot adhesive to the back of one circle and peel off cover. Add the tip of each heart to the adhesive on opposite sides. Apply another dot adhesive on top of the tips and flip over. Use the same steps to cover with glitter and seal with Glossy Accents and you have a wrapped piece of hard candy! Use patterned paper or different colors. (I used red with red glitter and it doesn't pop as nicely, so the next one will be white paper with different colors of glitter.)

Here are a few candy corn and a wrapped candy. The arrow is pointing to the one that has been sealed and it makes a difference in the vibrant colors.

What do I have sticking out of that sanding block? Well it is my attempt at a chocolate covered candy bonbon (the tip of a quilt pin) and heart (clay). I used burnt umber acrylic paint over a homemade porcelain clay that once dipped is flash heated with a hot embossing tool. Two tips: First, use new clay. The clay I used is old and cracked a lot during air drying. Second, try and air dry the paint. It might not wrinkle as badly.

 Whatever you end up doing, have some fun and share your experience! I'll close Mr. Linky February 1, 2010.

---

My Favorite Valentine Card

---

I looked on some of my posts about this time last year to see if I had posted this card and I couldn't find it. Even if I did post it I love this card and I'm sharing it again. It was when I first got into punches. I loved making this card. Why am I sharing this card from last year? Well read on...

This month's prize at InStyle Stamps Over the Hump Day Blog Candy GiveAway (OHBCGA) post is 5 digital images of your choice! All you have to do is post a link to your favorite V-Day card. It could be yours, a friend's creation, etc. You have until 11:59 pm PST on February 16th to post a link to your favorite Valentine Day Card. The winner will be announced by 6:00 pm PST February 17th during OHBCGA.

What are you waiting for? Go find a fav old or new and submit...here.

That's all for today. Have a great Sunday!

God bless!

---

Verve Valentine Release Time

---

It's been awhile since I participated in all the challenges that happen during the week of a Verve stamp release. I etched out some time and got busy with the challenges. Here is the outcome of my time. Enjoy!

Challenge A: Use chipboard on your card.

Details: Sentiment is from the limited time Verve Regal Hearts Digital stamp. Patterned paper is from the Shabby Princess "Amore" digital paper (more of it appears in my blog banner) and a SU! pale Yellow. Ink on the edges of flower, chipboard frame and paper is Ranger Walnut Stain. I punched out the flower with Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch twice and colored the center and edges with Cream and Yellow Ochre Prismacolor markers then dabbed Glossy Accents on the center and sprinkled Martha Stewart Carnelian glitter over it. The layout is from Mojo Monday Sketch #111.

Challenge B: Make a Valentine Favor Box

Details: I printed out a milk carton template (linked on Diane's blog here) on paper and tacked the corners of clear acetate over it and scored with ruler and stylus then cut out the outer lines. Hand folded it carefully and then used a bonefolder to get the edges crisp. I stamped the the belly band around the bottom with the heart from Hundred Hearts across the long edge of letter size paper and spacing and masking for the layered look. Then colored them in with Prismacolor markers (Scarlet Lake, Henna and Raspberry) I printed out the sentiment using Leftovers font in various sizes and another heart stamped on the tag. Then I diecut tag shape from Cuttlebug's Red Tage Alphabets which was too long so I trimmed it off. Added a brown button with red embroidery floss. I tucked the sentiment under a bright red ribbon I had in my stash.

Challenge C: Use Turquoise ~ Grey ~ Black colors on a card

This card was already on my mind when I saw the color challenge. I debated on adding the Real Red to the heartcones of this evergreen but I think they really make this a sweet card. Trees are from Christmas in the Air colored with Light Aqua, Aquamarine and Teal Blue (the tree stump stripes are filled in with Cool Grey 70%), red hearts are from Thankful Accents. Sentiment is stamped in Graphite Black from Hundred Hearts stamp and the Grey CS card base is stamped using the border stamp from Thankful Hearts and the larger heart from Thankful Accents. The diecut shape is Basic Black and a white cardstock with the perforated edge cut off and sponged with Tempting Turquiose.

Challenge D: Use the provided sketch

This sketch was the hardest of all. I can't explain it to you but I had so many ideas and none of them worked. That brings me to a word of warning. When using Ranger Crackle Paint over Prismacolor markers be prepared for the colors to change dramatically. The colors I used for a heart pendant were the same as on the hearts of my treat carton and they turned into the highest neon orange I have ever seen! If I find it I'll post a picture of it.

Details: Anyway, this card, using the Amore digital papers from Shabby Princess, was quick once I gave in to the pendant idea for the circle element.  I embossed the red paper with the Finial Press folder by Stampin' Up. Stitched the tan paper onto the floral dp and also around the sentiment from Regal Hearts Digital Stamp (there's no longer a link for this because it was only available during release week. sorry). The flower is the MS Hydrangea punch on on the red digi paper with the same center as my other flower. I distressed the edges of the sentiment, circle and flowers with Ranger Walnut stain ink. Red satin ribbon from my stash and it's finally done. Whew!

Challenge E: Get in Shape! Any shape card but A2

Details: Kraft paper and Amore digi paper were stitched together. I overlayed the sentiment on the digipaper before I printed it out. In MS Powerpoint, I used the heart from the Verve Regal Hearts digital stamp set in various sizes and rotated them to create a frame and then added the whole heart image three times onto the frame. I colored the frame background with Prismacolor Deco Yellow marker and then went over it with Parchment marker because it needed to be a more muted color. The hearts were colored with Prismacolor Scarlet Lake, Henna and Raspberry markers and the scroll work around them was filled in with my Star Dust Gelly Roll pen (see photo below). That's it! Thanks for stopping by.

---

InStyle Stamps January Sneak Peek

---

Good Morning! I hope you are all just swimming along in the new year. I say swimming only because Finding Nemo has been played over and over again by my dear son so much that all I can hear is Dori saying, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swim..."

Okay, jumping back on the trail to a sneak peek of an InStyle Stamps new anime images coming out. Let me introduce you to Kristina. Now isn't she fit and fun on her basket adorned bicycle!

She's all done up with Prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS (odorless mineral spirits). I sketched in the path and hills and did the same coloring. I even used my pencils on the clear embossed background! That was something new for me, or at least it's been so long that I don't remember doing it before.

That's it from me for now. You can see more image sneak peeks by going over to Instyle Stamps blog for the whole list of Design Team creations.

Have a great day!

Details:
Stamps: Kristina, Verve Thankful Hearts, SU! Swirls and Blossoms BG
Paper: Close To Cocoal, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, White cardstock
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Pencils*, Ranger Walnut Stain, SU! Write Marker in Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Green grosgrain ribbon, buttons, thread, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirls EF, circle punches, Nestabilities Tags 5

*Prismacolor Details: Hair - Yellow Ochre, Goldenrod, Yellow Ochre ; Eyes - Light Cerulean Blue, True Blue; Skin - Light Peach, Peach; Sweater - Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Light Umber, Dark Brown; Pants - True Blue, Peacock Blue, Indigo Blue; Shoes - Terra Cotta, Dark Brown; Bicycle - frame- Warm Grey 50%, Black; Handles and seat - Lilac, Parma Violet, Imperial Violet; Basket - Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Dark Brown; Hearts - Poppy Red, Carmine Red, Hearts: Pink, Poppy Red, Carmine Red; Trail and horizon - Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown, Dark Brown, Limepeel, Apple Green, Grass Green; Sky: Cloud Blue, Light Cerulean Blue; Background paper - Pink, Carmine Red, Spring Green

---

Belated Birthday Revised

---

Update: This post was first published on December 28, 2009 and quickly taken down for editing and rework on the images. When I uploaded it anew I noticed it fit Mo's Challenge #13 for the new year. Now isn't that the best outcome for procrastinating and perfectionism?

As our busy schedule drastically dropped off to a crawl on Christmas Day, I began to catch up on a few things. One item waiting for me in my Craft room was a card for my dear hubby. It was his birthday on December 1st and I was busy with other projects and holiday schedules, so it was set aside for two reasons. I colored the image and didn't have a plan for the card design and the other reason was because my hubby didn't want me staying up late nights on a card for him. So it's nearly a month past his birthday and I've finished it. LOL Give me an inch and I'll take a mile. {wink}

He's seen it already but I can't post without saying "Happy Birthday" to my wonderful husband, super father to our two children and my bestfriend. You're the best!

He loves to read books and play computer games based on sci-fi and fantasy, so this is my attempt at that style. It is a leather covered book of wishes as the title on the tag implies "Tome of Endless Wishes".

Oops! Something fell out! [photo removed] Not really. {giggle} I made the wizard image detachable so my hubby could take it out of the card and hang it on the wall of his office cubicle.

Here it is by itself. I colored three images so I could paper tole to give added dimension.

And if you haven't completely gotten tired of my ranting on here is the detail of the back of the card. All done with paper.

Hope you enjoyed my special project! Thanks for hanging on to the end. {wink}

Details:
Stamps: Mo's Digital Pencil - Trying to Read, SU background stamp
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Going Grey, Mohawk Smooth White
Ink: LaserJet Printer, Prismacolor Markers, Ranger Tea Dye and Walnut Stain inks (sponging)
Accessories: Sissix Tween Frame diecut, Nestabilities Tags 5, Hole punch, Xacto knife, Martha Stewart Score board, Tandy Leather cord, DMC brown embroidery floss
Techniques: Paper Tole, Sponging, Edge Distressing

---

Love You to Pieces

---

Instyle Stamps Mitchel and Tiff are my sweet couple for today's card. They're just too cute. It's time to start making those personalized cards to say "I love You", if you can believe it, for Valentine's Day. The color challenge over at InStyle Stamps for January can help you get started and you may get a freebie for showing it off on your blog. To be honest I wasn't sure if I could put all these close colors together, but sure enough I was able to put together a card that didn't send anyone into a dizzy spell. Here are the colors. Go to the post on Too Cute For Words to get all the details.

Light Pink

Hot Pink

Red

White

I also had some help on the card by using the sketch for this week's Mojo Monday. Sketches are always a number one must for me when making a card. Here's the sketch and a link to Mojo Monday's Week 120 post.

I'm learning that starting with paper selection is a strong second. It takes me twice as long OR longer to get a card complete when I don't start with these two elements first. Guess what I did on this card? I colored my image first then I had to get out plain cardstock to make the card go with it because, you guessed it, I didn't pick out my paper first! LOL


Want to know more? My papercrafting goal is to start creating small areas of interest, so enters my first attempt at a ribbon ensemble. The dangle started out as a corner piece to fill the top right portion of the sketch in hopes of balancing out all the details on the rest of the card. I found a home for it but then I moved on tostruggled at what to do with the ribbon area of the card. It was just suppose to have a silver ribbon on it, then I had the black satin bow already tied up and in my stash, but it still had some holes...so the corner piece had a hole-punched hanger attached to the top of it and became a dangle on the ribbon. By the time I got to this point I was too tired to change a thing on this card so it stays as it lays. LOL And now you know more about my card.

Details:

Stamps: InStyle Mitchel and Tiff, Verve Thankful Accents, Sweet on You

Paper: Bo Bunny Paper, Basic Black, Going Grey, Real Red, Pink Passion, LSS light pink, Mohawk Smooth White

Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers and Pencils*, Pink Passion, Real Red, Graphite Black

Accessories: Zing Silver Embossing Powder, Offray Black Satin Ribbon, Martha Stewart Silver Ribbon, SU! Silver Cord, Large gold brad EP'd silver, Nestabilities Classic Circle and Scallop Circle, and Tags 5 Book plate die, a lot of SU! Dimensional dots.

*Prismacolor Details (pencils used in parentheses): Mitchel: Hair - Goldenrod, Light Tan (Cream, Light Umber); Shirt - Crimson, Raspberry (Crimson Red); Pants - Warm Grey 10% and 50%; Shoes - Warm Grey 70% and 90%;  Tiff: Hair - Light Tan, Dark Brown (Dark Brown); Shirt - Process Red, Henna (Process Red, Mulberry); Pants - Warm Grey 70% and 90%; Shoes - Pencils only Warm Grey 70% and Black blended with OMS; Both: Skin - Eggshell, Brick Biege, Cinnamon Toast (Light Peach, Peach)

---

It's A Beautiful Day!

---

for the Club Anime Sketch Challenge! Like the sketch?

I decided to use Kei for this sketch card she'll be available next week in the Club Anime. As of my post 4-inches of snow from a couple of days ago has just been washed away by ice-rain and a thunderstorm. Just wanting a little warmth and sunshine right now, so Kei is going to get me there in my dreams.

I colored her with Prismacolor markers, as you would have expected, and went to find some paper to compliment the colors. I couldn't find what I wanted so I got out some Crushed Curry ink and a sponge and made some. The patterned paper is from Making Memories Black and White pack. (I used my Prismacolor markers to color the flowers, too.)

I hope you can join us over at "Too Cute for Words" with this sketch. You have a whole month to work on it and then mention it over on the post. That's it.

Well now, I feel like I've had some sunshine! I hope you all have a beautiful day. Thanks for stopping by.

Details:
Stamps: InStyle Kei, CTMH True Happiness
Paper: Mohawk Smooth White, Making Memories Black & White Paper Pack
Ink: LaserJet printer, Prismacolor markers, SU! Crushed Curry
Accessories: Martha Stewart Hydrangea 3-in-1 Punch and Photo Corner Punch, Nestabilities scallop circle, Megabilities Large Rectangle, SU! Crushed Curry Grosgrain ribbon, SU! circle punch and Leaf die

Prismacolor Details: Kei's Skin - Pale Peach, Brick Biege, Clay Rose, Cinnamon Toast; Mouth - Clay Rose, Flagstone Red, Cherry; Hair - All Cool Grey 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, Black; Eyes - Celdon Green, Teal Blue; Shirt - Deco Yellow, Tulip Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Brick White; Pants - Blue Slate, Cerulean Blue, Brittany Blue, Muted Turquoise; Shoes - Light Tan, Sienna Brown; Swing - Light Walnut, Dark Walnut, Sepia. Hydrangea's - Blue Slate, Muted Turquoise, Brittany Blue

---