Happy Monday everyone! I've had a busy day today with the first of this month's classes. I'll share some of those projects later in the week, but for today I wanted to share a simple little lidded box that I made with my Envelope Punch Board to hold some cute little Valentine's love notes. Now I didn't do the best job of photographing this one - the lid edges get a little lost against the background:

Here's the box with one of the little notelets inside:

Here's the low-down on today's project:

Sending Love Notes - Way back at Onstage last November we made three little notelets using the Sealed with Love Bundle. I modified mine slightly, cutting down the panels of Sending Love patterned paper and adding each one to a 3 1/2" Whisper White card base. I designed a few more using the other stamps in the set and made a bunch of co-ordinating envelopes and decided to make a little box to keep them all in. 

Love My Envelope Punch Board - Not only did I use my Envelope Punch Board to make my designer series paper envelopes (each made to fit a card of 3 1/2" square and requiring a 6" square piece of paper) but I also used my Box Buster tool to help me design a 4" square lidded box to hold them in. I love making lidded boxes usign the EPB rather than a scoreboard, as it makes them much more sturdy and rigid. It's really easy to do - you just need to make your lid 1/8" larger than your base for a snug fit.

Ribbon and Hearts - I continued the red and white theme of my project by adding a triple loop of Sending Love Ribbon with a double bow to adorn my sassy red Valentine-embossed heart to complete my box embellishment.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I will be using these little notes to hide in my children's school bags and pencil cases this month; they love to find a surprise note when they least expect it; I might even slip in a little chocolate treat too. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges again where they are also celebrating Valentine's this week.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board	Love Notes Framelits Dies	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sending Love Ribbon Combo Pack
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my sweet friend Claire to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

I've been sharing lots of Valentine's-themed cards with you in recent weeks, almost all of which have featured the Sealed With Love bundle and Sending Love Designer Series Paper. For today though I wanted to go back to some products in the annual catalogue that would make a Valentine's card but are not designed specifically with that in mind. I had a few bits and pieces out on my desk, then when I saw this week's inspiration photo over at Fusion I knew exactly where I was headed - I even used the sketch layout too (turned through 90 degrees). Here's what I came up with:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Quilt Of Love - I drew inspiration from a number of elements of the Fusion photo for my card: the border of pink flowers (courtesy of the Jar of Love stamp set), the cream textured panel (created with the Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder) and the red flower-entwined heart as a focal point. My colour scheme also came directly from the photo - here it is if it's one you would like to save to use too:

Have A Heart - I die cut the heart from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits set and embellished this with flowers from the Jar of Love set and leaves from Swirly Bird too. 

A Gift Of A Sentiment - The sentiment on my pale pink banner comes from the exclusive hostess set 'A Gift of Love'. I love the soft script of the sentiments in this set and think this one is such a lovely way to let someone know how much they mean to you. 

I think this is a pretty Valentine's card that makes a softer alternative to the bright red and white colour schemes of my previous cards. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges where they are also celebrating Valentine's this week.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our fun theme this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have a morning of sport and one of the James Juniors has a trampolining birthday party to attend this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies	Jar Of Love Photopolymer Bundle	Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	Gift Of Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I am your hostess this week and I have a sketch for you to work with:

When I came up with my sketch I had an idea about what I was going to do with it, yet when I came to make my card ended up going in a completely different direction -go figure! I'm still loving those patterns in the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Pack and just had to feature another one on my card today  - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Sending Love - My sketch allowed me the opportunity to showcase another of these gorgeous red and white patterns in the Sending Love stack; the large panel is perfect for a bigger pattern, so I decided to go with the white hearts on a red background. This was the starting point for my card, my mat, base and embellishments followed from there. 

This Card Is All Heart - I decided to replicate the heart pattern in my embellishment shapes and represented each of the diamonds in my sketch with a layered heart. Having heat-embossed the white stamped heart onto red and layered this onto white to echo my mat border, I felt it still needed a little something; I decided to add in an additional background heart in red glimmer paper and bingo! I backed my tiny hearts with a red glimmer one too; all cut with the Sweet & Sassy framelit dies.

Hugs And Kisses - I heat embossed my sentiment in white directly onto my card base. I love the delicate scripted font and it was perfect for the recipient of this card; my daughter has a love of all things sparkly so with the addition of the glimmer paper this has to be her valentine's card. I paired my 'hugs and kisses' with an 'I love you' on the inside - and finished with the flourish that is also featured in this set.

I've a second little project for you today - I can't give Miss Rebecca a Valentine's card without a chocolate treat , so here's a little something that took me just minutes to put together:

I took one of our clear boxes, filled it with chocolate hearts and added a belly band, some Sending Love red ribbon and a tag with some sweet Sending Love heart embellishments. I love that with just a few basic supplies I can turn a few chocolates into something special that I know my daughter will love. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you:

I look forward to seeing what you create with my sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have our usual morning of sport but have an unexpected free afternoon; both of the James Juniors have had sports fixture cancellations this weekend, so we will be able to enjoy some unexpected additional family time together - I'm looking forward to it already! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Sealed With Love Photopolymer Bundle	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Red Glimmer Paper	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Sending Love Embellishments	Sending Love Ribbon Combo Pack	Clear Tiny Treat Boxes

Today I'm sharing two quick and easy cards using the Sealed With Love bundle that use the same layout for two different looks. The first one was inspired by this card by Mary Fish - but I wanted both my cards to be about 'sending love' rather than Valentine's Day specifically, to show just how versatile this bundle is. Here's my first card, where I simply switched out the sentiment for one from the Designer Tin of Cards stamp set:

For my second card I reversed the colour palette to 'red on white' as opposed to 'white on red' and paired the sentiment on the outside of the card from the 'Sealed With Love Set' with the words 'On Your Birthday' from the Popcorn stamp set on the inside:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Hearts To DIE For - On both of these cards, the heart edging die totally steals the show! It creates the perfect border for the strips of Sending Love designer series paper and is sized perfectly to border an A6 size card front. 

Sending Love - As I mentioned in Wednesday's post, the Sending Love designer series paper stack has some great paper patterns and designs that work for birthdays and general 'love' themed cards too, not just for Valentines. This design is great for using leftover strips of paper; 'waste not, want not' as the old saying goes! 

Not Just For Valentine's - The variety of images and sentiments in the Sealed With Love stamp set will take this set through February and beyond; who doesn't like to receive a little love note every once in a while?

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

And the 'red on white' version:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Love Notes Framelits Dies	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Today I'm sharing a fancy fold card that I made for my first technique class of the year that is also perfect for a couple of challenges this week:

The ladies over at TGIF Challenges are working with a love theme and the gals over at Just Add Ink have a blog hope this week featuring Pop Up and Interactive Cards. I urge you to check it out and the wonderful entries into this week's challenge, there are some fabulous examples of interactive cards on show.

I have been wanting to have a go at the Twisted Pop Up Panel card that has been appearing everywhere over the internet in recent weeks, so having watched a few tutorials I got down to business. On the outside a fairly straightforward looking envelope-style card:

It's when you open it up that the magic happens and the pop-up is revealed:

And here it is fully opened so that you can see the fun fold out panels in all their glory:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Twisted Pop Up Panel Card - I looked at several different versions of this card in order to work out how to create my pop-up panel card and in true Crafty Owl fashion didn't follow any one set of instructions, rather combined a number of 'learns' to create my card. I may well shoot my own video tutorial on this later this week, so if you'd like to find out how I did it, then pop back and check it out. One things for sure, the ladies at my technique class loved it and have definitely got the bug for creating more of them now!

Sending Love in Red and White - My technique class featured the Sealed With Love product bundle - used for the 'Sealed with a kiss' button on the front of my card and that fabulous stamped and diecut heart that adorns the 'O' of the word LOVE. For me this card was a real opportunity to showcase the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack, with five different patterns on show. The real challenge was which five of the twelve red and white patterns in the DSP stack to choose - check them out:

My team laugh at me as they think I have an unhealthy obsession with designer series paper and to be honest, they are probably right! I'm not one of those to keep it and stroke it though - I do cut into it and use it and am always looking for ways to incorporate it into my designs. I particularly like the 6" x 6" stacks, which are incredibly good value for money.

Large Letters, Big Impact - I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Large Letter Framelits are great and well worth the investment! They are great for a sentiment with impact; I've paired mine with the 'you' from the 'Hello You Thinlits' to complete my Valentine's message. If you are considering purchasing the Large Letter Framelits, now is an even better time to pop them in your shopping basket - add a little something to them and earn two free Sale-A-Bration items or alternatively why not include them in a starter kit? 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Large Letters Framelits Dies	Hello You Thinlits Dies	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Love Notes Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Good evening lovely readers! It's the big day tomorrow so in anticipation I have one last Valentine card for you, and unlike many of my others, this one has a distinctly masculine feel. Today's card uses this week's sketch over at the Global Design Project and I am also linking up with The Friday Mashup (I chose Valentine, but not with candy!) and Just Add Ink where the challenge is something beginning with 'v':

I decided that this sketch was perfect for the globe in the 'Going Global' stamp set, paired with some of the map patterns in the 'Going Places' designer series paper stack. Take a look:

I layered my background and mats with Basic Black and Lost Lagoon, and used a piece of atlas patterned paper for the base layer and a piece of the street map paper for the top layer. Did you know that the papers in the Going Places stack are actual maps of real places? The street map here is of Brooklyn in New York, USA. I added a strip of Lost Lagoon embossed with the World Traveller embossing folder across the centre then for the focal point circle, I stamped the globe in Lost Lagoon onto Very Vanilla, having stamped off once so that it wouldn't overpower my over-stamped sentiment. I stamped the 'love' banner element again separately and fussy cut this and popped it up on dimensionals. I also punched a red heart from of Confetti Hearts Border punch and added over the stamped one and decided to create a mat for my circle element in red, to add a contrasting pop of colour and really draw you in - I know it's a masculine card, but it is Valentines, right? There are lots of layers on this card and I'm really pleased with how it came together.

That's all from me today; I'm looking forward to an early Valentines dinner this evening and will be back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Going Places Designer Series Paper Stack	Going Global Wood-Mount Stamp Set	World Traveler Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot	Circles Collection Framelits Dies
2" Circle Punch	2-1/2" Circle Punch	Confetti Hearts Border Punch	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

I've had a busy day today with a couple of meetings and a long task list, but many jobs ticked off so very productive! I even managed to fit in a quick spot of crafting this evening so rustled up this fun card for this week's sketch over at As you See It:

Whilst I started out with the sketch (as is often my way!), I also have a few more linkups, as I used the Color Throwdown colours too for my card, the technique that is being featured over at Happy Little Stampers and my card fits with the theme over at Stamps, Ink, Paper. It's not often that this happens, but all of these came together neatly for today's card which is definitely destined for a Valentine - take a look:

I created some simple layering using Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry and Gold foil cardstock to frame my central panel, which I created by inking the solid heart side of my Happy Heart embossing folder and using it to stamp the pattern onto a piece of Shimmery White cardstock. I tried a few different versions, some that I spritzed with water and some without, and this one which was stamped on 'dry' was my favourite. To finish I added a melon Mambo punched heart and my diecut 'love' sentiment from the retired Expressions thinlits - retired it may be, but I will never part with mine, I just love those diecut words and this one was perfect for today's card. 

This is one of those cards that was really fun to make - a little time getting well and truly inky can bring such pleasure! I just love the effect from the inked embossing folder too - I think it makes an unusual background and is a great way to get further mileage out of your embossing folders. In real life this card has a wonderful lustre and sparkle too - difficult to see in the photograph though, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

That's all from me today; back bright and early tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Gold Foil Sheets	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad
Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

These three colours feature in the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack which made it an obvious choice to feature on my card today, but I also wanted to have a go at a fun card using the 'Bear Hugs' stamp set. The saying in this set 'I love you this much' was just asking for a bear with growing arms; it was on my 'to do' list when I saw this great example by Kirsteen Gill and knew that a double-slider card was the way forward. The mechanism in my card is the same as Kirsteen's, however I altered my measurements and dimensions to fit a standard A6 14.9cm x 10.5cm metric card. Here's my finished card:

A simple enough layout, using a base of Blushing Bride and a piece of Blushing Bride heart-patterned paper from the Love Blossoms pack too. I used the Rose Red for my border, sentiment and stamped heart but the real fun element of this card is what happens to my Crumb Cake bear when the little tab is pulled on the side of the card:

His arms expand to show just how much he loves you - isn't that just the cutest?!! Interactive cards are such fun, whatever the occasion - my daughter loved this one! 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

I had a great day of classes yesterday, with my second 'Love Blossoms' technique class of the month and my Project Life memory keeping class - lots of fun layouts of babies, toddlers, wartime Cairo and sightseeing in New York to name a few! I so enjoy my Project Life class and feel privileged to have my ladies share and document their precious memories with me. 

Today I'm sharing a Valentine's card that uses this week sketch over at As you See It that also fits the colour palette over at Can You Case It: black, reds and white or neutrals. I was also inspired by the photo of the ombre repeated heart biscuits over at The Card Concept to create my 'Clean and Layered' card today:

I decided on some layered heart borders for the striped/border elements of my card using a trio of reds and a sentiment stamp I don't use very often - take a look:

A trio of Watermelon Wonder, Real Red and Cherry Cobbler panels, layered so that the alternating colours show through, and the hearts that I punched out using my Hearts border punch I randomly adhered, spilling from the sentiment, taken from the 'Friendly Wishes'  stamp set. A Basic Black mat for definition and a double bow of black and white baker's twine finish my card. Hearts and reds - what more do you need for the perfect Valentine?

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Friendly Wishes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Hearts Border Punch	Basic Black Baker's Twine	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a rather special card to share. I made another shadow box frame card using the same tutorial by the lovely Amanda Bates at The Craft Spa as the card I shared previously here  - she is without a doubt the queen of fancy folds in my book! The beautiful Bloomin' Heart thinlit was asking to be made into the centrepiece of a shadow box card I thought. So here's mine:

I made my base out of Whisper White with the heart cut out of Rose Red and embellished with Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper flowers and pearls and decorated my frame with a piece of Love Blossoms designer series paper. The square that I cut out of the centre was used to decorate the box that acts as the 'envelope' for the card:

I think this makes a great 'wow' card for a special birthday, Valentine, wedding, anniversary - and the boxed card can even be sent through the post as a large letter, although I must admit I think I'll be hand delivering mine!

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Bloomin' Love Photopolymer Bundle	Big Shot Die Brush	Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack	Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Rose Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White 12" X 12" Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels