Another Mini

I'm loving the mini valentine cards right now. This card has many of my favorite companies represented.

Stamps:

Cherish sentiment - Faith Collection - Kodomo Inc.

Polka Dot background - Tiny Textures set - Tim Holtz Collection - Stampers Anonymous

Flourish (stamped on background and on the butterfly) - Reindeer Flight set - Tim Holtz Collection - Stampers Anonymous

Ink:
Alabaster Fluid Chalk Ink - ColorBox
Pearlescent Poppy Brilliance Ink - Tsukineko
Jet Black Archival Ink - Ranger Industries

Die:
small butterfly - Nested Butterfly set - Spellbinders

Embellishments:
Clear Jewel Trinket Pin and White Velvet Blossom - Maya Road
Rhinestones - Hero Arts

I might have to photograph this again tomorrow when there is light though. The colors are not true in this picture. I'll try to fix it, because you really need to see how beautiful that Pearlescent Poppy Brilliance ink is.

Just a simple little valentine card (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"). I used a heart stamp that I have as a pattern to cut out the window. Stamped a cute little bird image from the Bird Notes set by Crafty Secrets. The sentiment is from the same set. Added some Distress Ink to define the edges of the red patterned paper.

Surprisingly, of all of the valentine cards I have made so far, this was my husbands' favorite...totally shocked me. Of course since I make him choose favorites who knows if he actually likes it, but he had to pick something. lol.

I was so shocked that I asked, "Are you sure? That's really your favorite?" It was confirmed. My poor husband. To be fair though, he's usually a pretty good sport about the whole thing. And I try not to set him up for failure with a "Do you like this?" question. It's almost always a group of items..."Look what I made today, which one do you like best?" There really is no wrong answer there, just surprising ones sometimes.

LOVE mini

This little mini valentine (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") was inspired by a design I saw on Debbie Olsons' blog:
The cute little floral image is from the Lotus Floral stamp set from the Amy Butler line by K&Co.
The designs in this set are all just wonderful. I can't wait to play with them some more.
I made the little corner accent by cutting a square with the Labels One Nestabilities die by Spellbinders, then cutting it into four pieces. I added some twine and a little metal Asian coin. I don't know what anyone else will think of this card, but frankly I don't care because I could look at it for hours. Every now and then I have a project like that, one I just love in spite of, or maybe because of its calming simplicity.

This laid back Valentine card is going to be a part of the Be My Valentine card class to be held at Scrap-a-Latte next month.

This card began with the LOVE squares in the center. These are from a stamp set by Magenta called Floral Love. I've chosen to do one of my favorite techniques for vintage style stamps, the Shabby Chic technique. I started with dark brown paper, stamped and embossed with clear ink and powder, painted with the Pebble Adirondack Paint Dabber, then wiped the paint off of the embossed areas with a damp paper towel.

The background was created with the Butterfly Bliss stamp set by Impression Obsession. I stamped the swirly pattern with VersaMark Ink then stamped the butterflies with paint.
When I had finally done that much I was stumped. I just sat there and stared at it waiting for inspiration to come. I finally ended up coming back to my favorite standby embellishments...Maya Roads Metal Blossoms and Kaisercraft pearls. With my love for classic and vintagy (is that a word???) things it seems like those embellishments show up alot.

Speaking of loving Maya Road, check out some of the new items that will be coming out soon!
www.mayaroad.typepad.com/mayaroad
Wow! Loving it...can't wait to get my hands on some of those vintage leaf pins!

Check back tomorrow for more Valentine designs.
(Yes, I'm actually going to post two days in a row.)

Finally, some new photos

I am so excited that Ranger Memory Glass and Memory Glass Frames are available again. I made this neat little necklace using the 1" Frames and Clear Glass. I so wish you could see this in person. The depth created by embossing on different layers of glass is so beautiful. The background stamp is a new one from Kodomo Inc. It was the perfect addition to this piece.
I finally got around to creating another Hexagon book. This one is actually quite similar to the first one, except that I fixed my previous problems of the hinges being to loose. This one can actually be hung up, tossed around, opened and closed without falling apart. I used silk ribbon for the hinges this time, and used three interlocking "hinges" for more stability.
I painted the silk ribbon with the metallic paint dabbers, making them a perfect match for the painted backgrounds. It also ended up being a great match for the nails. I will definately try this again. The ribbon is still flexible when dry and will hold it's shape a little bit. It definately changes the texture of the silk, but I was pleased with the result. It was exactly what I needed in this case. Oh, and isn't that a cute little flower image? It's from my new favorite stamp set, Nottinghill, by 7 Gypsies. Every single image in the set is a winner. I LOVE it.