handmade cass

I came across an old mini card I had stuck in my daughter's lunch box years ago. She had it stashed in a drawer in her dresser. And almost four years later, it's still one of my favorite coloring projects . I was still thinking about that rainbow maned unicorn (alicorn?) when I only had an hour to make a valentine card for a friend. Supplies : ink - Ranger Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, and Peacock Feathers) and Lawn Fawn Premium Ink Pad (Jet Black) stamps and dies - My Favorite Things (Friendly Unicorns) markers - Arteza Everblend Markers cardstock - Neenah Classic Crest (Solar White) blending brushes - Picket Fence Studios (Life Changing Blender Brushes) other - Studio Calico Shine Spray

I wanted to make Valentine's Day cards for my kids and turned it into a personal challenge to use some older supplies. (I'm not afraid to admit that I love collecting craft supplies even more than I love using them.) It's hard to remember but I'm pretty sure I had all of these things before having kids, which makes them at least 10 years old. Patterned paper is one of those things that I have way too much of and should never buy more of. However, my tastes have totally changed since I started paper crafting. I used to love Basic Grey and their heavily distressed patterns. Now I lean more cute or clean and simple (think Lawn Fawn). This Basic Grey "Oh Baby Girl" collection was unopened, and perfect for fussy cutting some stamped letters. Last week I was really inspired by Jennifer McGuire's video about pattern paper piecing. Isn't it funny how I tried so hard to conserve every last bit of this paper when it has just been sitting on a shelf for t

The minute I saw a sneak peek of the Lawn Fawn "you're just my type" stamp set I knew I had to have it! I have a thing for vintage typewriters, so these images spoke to me. I got to work making some Valentine's Day cards to send to friends and family after seeing this inspiration card . I love how the designer used patterned paper for wallpaper! I have also been using Lawn Fawn's "jet black" ink that works with Copic alcohol markers. I think it gives a darker and more crisp impression than Memento ink, but it still doesn't look as good as Versafine black ink (which is not Copic friendly). Can we take a minute to appreciate these new "Made of Hearts" USPS forever stamps that are giving me all the heart eyes?!

I have been using this Simon Says Stamp "love you" die so much lately. I especially like it with the thick, sparkly Stardream cardstock. One line of straight stitching on my sewing machine turned this into a matchbook style card - perfect for a gift card. Supplies : Love You Die - Simon Says Stamp Tag Punch, Doily Stamp, Ink - Stampin' Up Cardstock - DCWV Other - doily, ribbon, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

While on vacation earlier this year, my daughter fell in love with a play mailbox that included some letters and postcards with velcro stamps. When she kept talking about it a week later I knew that I had to make one for her. So this was her Valentine's Day present this year. I found a wooden mailbox at Joann that had magnets on the door and a flag that moved - perfect! She insisted that the color of the mailbox should be blue because that was the color of the one she originally liked. It was easy to take the mailbox apart for painting and finishing it with a couple coats of clear spray paint (my new favorite thing!). And she was happy to help me go through some fabric scraps to find good pieces for her "envelopes". My favorite part are the snail stamps.  She has actually played with this so much more than I expected! This kid loves getting mail just as much as I do. If you ask her what kind of mail she gets in her mailbox, she will usually tell you that she go

I made this doughnut card for my husband for Valentine's Day this year. This was the conversation that followed... Him: I really like this card. That donut is awesome. And I still like it even if it isn't true. Me: No, it's true. Him: Aww. That's nice. I love you too. Me: I actually like cinnamon rolls more than donuts now. Him: Oh. Makes more sense now. I tried using my Distress Markers with a water brush for the first time on the donut. I'm not so sure about the technique.  Jennifer McGuire makes it look so easy!  Supplies : Stamps - Hero Arts | Stampin' Up Dies - Papertrey Ink Ink - Memento | Ranger Archival Ink Markers - Tim Holtz Distress Markers Glitter - Stickles

I had the best of intentions when it came to putting together a little Christmas package of crafty love for a friend, but I was late. Really late. Sorry Christine! So I changed themes and made her some tags for Valentine's Day instead.  Supplies: Embroidery Kit: Amy Tangerine for American Crafts "Capture" kit Washi Tape: We R Memory Keepers Stamps: Simon Says Stamp "Envelope Sentiments", Lawn Fawn "Critters in the Forest" & "Bee Mine", Avery Elle "Party Animal" Twine: Peppermint Divine Twine from Whisker Graphics Tag Die: Papertrey Ink Ink: Hero Arts Neon, Hero Hues Chalk Markers & Pens: Stampin' Up Stampin' Write markers (heart ombre), Copic (fox), Sakura Glaze  Cardstock: assorted scraps

I saw a very punny valentine in the last Paper Source catalog and had to make my own version.  Now I am using the hedgehog stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Critters in the Forest" set on all my valentine's cards.    And I am squeezing a sentiment about hedge-hugs wherever I can. This bookmark using the Lawn Fawn hedgehog will be included in a card for a friend that is always reading. These were the colors I used for inks and Copic markers: And I made a couple valentine's cards at my last monthly Stampin' Up card class.  I love the new honeycomb embossing folder! This card also has a bookmark that tucks into the die cut heart pocket on the front.

I love it when my husband creates homemade cards for me.  They usually involve a piece of printer paper, a ballpoint pen, and a sharpie.  But this year he went all out.  Luckily I had taken out a bunch of my Valentine's Day supplies for a mini book, and he used what was out on my desk.  This is his masterpiece. My first reaction was - wow!  I was very impressed with his punching.  Then I couldn't hold back and said, "you used my expensive markers!".  He tried to deny it, but there is always bleed-through proof with Copic markers. Love him anyway.  It's best that he doesn't know how much I spend on crafting supplies.

Time to get started on my Valentine's Day cards, because it will be too late to mail them before I know it. I had started a couple cards at my last Stampin' Up class, but ran out of time and mojo.  So I put some finishing touches on these ones today and feel inspired to get a whole new batch done this weekend! This is the "manly" card for my husband.  Not quite what I envisioned, but I know that he will still appreciate the fact that it's not solid pink.  The background is a small ledger stamp from Stampin' Up that I just used over and over again.  Although it was hard to get the image lined up each time, it adds the perfect aged patina I was looking for. This card has lots of embossed texture.  The hearts on the front are all from an embossing/die folder.  Love those because you get double the fun with one pass through the Cuttlebug.  I also added a couple pearls on some smaller hearts to mimic the swiss dots embossing on the white stock.  A really fun and

I have been thinking about what kind of flowers to give my mom for the last few weeks. And I was sure that I was going to do something with blue hydrangeas, but it all changed when I saw these pinky-orange roses. I think the arrangement turned out pretty good for an amateur, but next time I'm going to try using some flower foam in the bottom to keep the stems from going all over the place. And the reason I had hydrangeas on the brain...I finally found the batik that looks like a blue hydrangea (top row, third from left).  I got the top row selections at Rosie's Calico Cupboard and the bottom row were all Christmas gifts from my sweet mother-in-law. I have a throw pillow from my husband's grandma that has one tiny piece I have been trying to match for a while. Now that I have it I'll have to come up with an awesome project.

I decided to make treat bags for my coworkers with homemade butterscotch cookies this year. And what better way to use up all of those scraps you've been saving than to make a bunch of gift tags! I had so much fun making these with all the random bits and pieces that I have collected over the last couple months. I also used some crepe paper from the party store (70 cents for a roll) and a couple different colors of felt (on sale for 16 cents per square). I also used some Stickles, a set of Marvey Uchida heart punches, and a new set of Stampin' Up clear heart stamps (on the left).