Happy Valentine's Day

I hope all of you stampers have a Happy Valentine's Day!

This is one of my favorite Valentines that I made this year.  I ended up adding three little white half pearls vertically to the left of the tree.  It really bumped the card up a notch.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it before it was sent.



Valentine Defined with Holiday Best

A simple card using Valentine Defined, Holiday Best and Things I Love (the individual hearts).

Colors:  Real Red and Whisper White

Holiday Best is a retired hostess set, but I have one for sale if you want it.  It's a useful little set with a stamp for each of four different holidays.



Another Valentine

One reason I love jumbo wheels is that it's so easy to make a background with them.  This card uses the I {Love} Love jumbo wheel, the tree from Valentine Defined and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, all inked in Rich Razzleberry.  Card stock is Whisper White and Melon Mambo.

Valentines using the I {Love} Love wheel

 I've got two Valentines for you today, both using the the I {Love} Love jumbo wheel.  Both are Whisper White and Real Red.

The first card also uses 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and Holiday Best, a hostess set from last year.  Holiday Best is great because it has a stamp for four different holidays.  And, I happen to have extra available for sale or as a choice when I offer the chance to win a free hostess set.  Keep your eyes peeled because I do that often.  Or, contact me and I'll sell you a set -- no waiting, no leaving it to chance.

The second card also uses a stamp from Love You Much (the three hearts, which are punched out using the heart to heart punch) and one from Valentine Defined.  I also used the Full Heart punch and

dry embossed it with polka dots (they don't show up too well here, but they look cute in person) from the Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates.

The bottom of the wheel design isn't that curved in real life.  Guessing it has something to do with my photography :)  Kind of like why sometimes the layers look crooked in the photo when they are straight on the card.

Valentine Defined Baby Card

This card uses the heart tree from the set Valentine Defined.  The cute little baby image is from Love Bug, a hostess set from last year and the sentiment is from Whimsical Words, a set I got for free last year during Sale-a-bration.

Speaking of Sale-a-bration, it starts on January 25th.  For every $50 purchase (before shipping and tax), you can earn a free item (choose from stamp sets, designer series paper, and more).  Contact me or come to my Open House on Jan. 22 for more details.

Even though Love Bug is no longer available, you could use stamps from other sets -- maybe the carriage from Fun and Fast Notes (and use the words under it in place of Small Wonder).  Although I don't post much from Fun and Fast Notes (looking at the Category list it looks like never, but that doesn't seem right), I use it a lot.  It covers many events and you can mix and match the words with the images to get even more variety.

The DSP is retired, but it's very, very similar to one of the patterns in the Soft Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack.  What a great value that is:  40 sheets of high quality, double sided designer series paper for $19.95

Valentine Defined (with Very Vintage Wheel)

Today's card uses the Very Vintage jumbo wheel inked in Bashful Blue for the background.  The circles are from the Circles 2 die for the Big Shot.  The biggest circle is 2 1/2" so you could use the new extra large punch for that.  The images on the Whisper White circle are from Valentine Defined (ink colors:  Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Real Red).  I used the Scallop Edge punch on the Pretty in Pink cardstock and the Word Window and the Modern Label punches around the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

As with yesterday's card, and many other cards, this does not have to be limited to a Valentine's Day card.  Neither does the Valentine Defined set need to be limited.  Check back tomorrow for a baby card using an image from this set (and some other sets).

Same Card, Different Sentiments (Valentine Defined - Crumb Cake)

Today I'm going to show you a little something different.  Often I say that you can use the same card for many occassions just by switching the sentiment.  But sometimes that's hard to visualize, so today I'm going to show you the same card three different ways.

The first card has no extra sentiment on the front.  Use it for a notecard, add the occassion sentiment on the inside, or put it on the front when you decide what to use the card for.  The second two use a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, which you know I love.  Change it out and it goes from a Valentine's card to an Anniversary card.  You could also make it a birthday card.  You get the idea.

Did you notice the difference between the first card and the second two (besides the added sentiment)?  The first was scanned and the second two were photographed.  I'm thinking I like the photos better, even if they do take a little more work.

Valentine Defined (Bashful Blue base)

Another card done with Valentine Defined, from the new Occasions mini catalog.  The base of the card is Bashful Blue.  The ink is Rose Red and Regal Rose.

I've updated my Classes page -- be sure to check it out.  I'm having an Open House on Jan. 22.  I'd love it if you could come!  Let me know and I'll send you directions.

Valentine Defined (Melon Mambo)

This card, made with the set Valentine Defined from the new Occasions Mini Catalog, is made with Melon Mambo.  Since the base of the card is Whisper White, it's kind of hard to see the edge of the card itself, but if you look closely you can make it out.

This image was scanned rather than photographed.  I'm still trying to decide if I like using scanned images.

Valentine Defined (Rose Red)

Hi Stampers!

I've just started working with the set Valentine Defined.  Very cute!  Lots of possibilities.  I'll be posting a series of cards made with this set.  Enjoy!

Sue Root, your Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator

You know I've mentioned before that my photography doesn't always do the cards justice, so I tried scanning this one (and the ones you'll see in the next several posts).

There are no lighting and shadow problems and the image is fairly straight, but the colors seem even further off than in the photos.  This card was done in Rose Red.

What do you think -- are the photopraphs better or the scanned images?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Thanks!