Suuuper Long post on Valentine's Day cards

Happy New Year all! I am back! I have not been around for quite a while. My mom passed away in November and I had no desire to scrapbook or create for that matter. Yesterday I found a bag of her ribbon scraps and decided to make a few cards in her honor so I hope you enjoy them.

I like the vintage look for Valentine cards it feels right to me. The aged, distressed and worn in "love" look reminds me of timeless treasures from years ago.

There are quite a few looks I go with when creating my cards including the cutesy, whimsical fun look. I just love the All About Valentines Day set fom the Cutting Cafe. Regina covers all the looks you could want from whimsy to classy at very affordable prices too. The files are printable pdf files you just print out on cardstock and create with. I love the ease of it. Sometimes the Cricut just doesn't give me the sense of really crafting because it cuts for you. I hand cut (I am sure you can tell ;) but it relaxed me and eased me back into the creating mode.

Some of the cards have combined looks with Cricut and hand cut items along with some super sparkly glitter! Oooh! I love that look too! I bought Martha Stewart glitter to use and I just love it. Its texture is so super fine and it coats so well. I am in love with her products all around honestly. My next purchase will be the lady bug edger. Did you see that yet? I almost bought it but then I saw the corner one as well and to make it really look like the ladybugs are walking all around the edge of your paper you need to use both. It will be a future purchase for sure. I just love lady bugs.

Here's a trick I thought I would share with you. If you already knew than I guess I am just out of the loop then! To get the look of "stitched" down ribbon without actually sewing apply a piece of double stick adhesive to the back of the ribbon length first and as you apply it to the card gather and pinch the ribbon to pucker up the adhesive as you press it down in place. Just be sure you cut a little extra ribbon as you need more length to gather to get the "ruffled" look. I found it "sew" much easier than turning on the sewing machine! No pun intended!!
This effect is used on the Valentine card ~Be Mine~ with the two flowers and pearl in middle.

The word KISS is cut from Winter Woodlands-I cut apart "Frosty Kisses" and just used what I needed. Cute right? This is yet another versatile cart to own. The glitter is Rose Quartz by MS.

The mini hearts are embossed using my Cuttlebug get this- on Coredinations paper and then ever so gently sand them in a circular motion to expose the inner color. I used here chocolate and cherry cordial. Yummy!!!! I wish I had purchased more than one sheet of it now. : (

The Valentines children are cut from A Child's Year. This cartridge amazes me every time I use it. I had no idea it contained so much. It is a must have if you are considering it. It's now my go to cart when I need a cut. It covers all seasons and occasions even the every day events like picking a flower or walking a dog (puppy in our case!!!). That will be covered in my next post!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Don't forget if you want to see anything close up just click on it.