Stamp with Annette

Clean and Simple Valentine

I wanted a Valentine that could be made very quickly and with minimal supplies.

I think I succeeded. :-)
Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Card Stock: Whisper White

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 3

Friday got away from me. So sorry! But I hope today's projects will make up for having to wait. This is the last project that I had for my 12 Weeks of Christmas:

My friend Jessica made it, and I absolutely love it! She used the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper and Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler card stocks. The Winter Wishes Stitched Felt was in the Holiday Mini Catalog and no longer available, but you could replace it with punch art, stamped images or create your own felt pieces. The letters were cut out using the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies for the Big Shot. I think it would be great to make this now, and then be able to pull it out in December, all ready to go! :-) I love, love, love this dsp. It will probably only be available until May 31, so now's a great time to get it.

When I was trying to decide how to turn this Christmas idea into a Valentine's idea, I debated over several ideas. I thought about making one that said "love" and had hearts and other Valentine's embellishments. I know I would really like that! But then I saw an idea on Pinterest that I really liked, too. So my Valentine frame is this:

It says "I love you because..." You use a dry erase marker to complete the sentence. Then you can change your reason as often as you like. I started out making this with Riding Hood Red. I changed it for two reasons: 1) I didn't like the red with this frame that I had. 2) I decided I want to put this on our bathroom counter and Always Artichoke matches my bathroom. So it's not your traditional Valentine colors.

I used My Digital Studio to create my images. I just filled a page with the Designer Series Paper and created a text box for the words. I printed it on Whisper White card stock (it filled most of the page). I cut a 5X7 piece for the background, trimmed around the words, and layered them on Always Artichoke card stock. The hearts are punched out with the Heart to Heart punch from Always Artichoke and Brushed Gold card stocks. When I finally figured out what I wanted to do, this was extremely easy to put together!

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 2

This is the second of three Christmas projects that I didn't have a chance to share before Christmas:

Super cute gift card holder created by my friend Karen! She used the Holiday Stocking die to create it. The Two Tags die was used for the tag. The accent pieces were run through the Big Shot with the Snow Burst embossing folder. The Stocking die and the embossing folder were in the Holiday Mini Catalog but are still available. However, the Dear Santa stamp set that Karen used on the tag is not. (We may see it in the next big catalog; we'll find out in July!)

To create the background on the stocking, Karen placed her stamp pad directly on the card stock and pressed lightly. Now that you know that, you can probably see the rectangular outline; that's the edge of her stamp pad. She just repeated the process all of the stocking with two different colors. This is Karen's signature technique. :-) How is this a gift card holder, you ask? Well, simply cut out two stockings and glue them together, leaving the top edge open. (Note: Be sure your glue - I used Tombow Mulit - is just on the outside edge or your gift cards won't fit.) Wouldn't it be cute to have a tree full of stockings?! Hmmm, maybe next year. :-)

Ok, so I needed to turn a Christmas stocking into a Valentine's idea. I wasn't sure how I was going to do that, and then I saw an idea using Valentine socks to count down to Valentine's day. These days, they make socks for every holiday, so that's what I did:

Here they are a little closer:

I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, Real Red card stock, Very Vanilla Craft pad, clear embossing powder, and Victoria Crochet Trim.

I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, Whisper White card stock, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, and Pretty in Pink Classic pads, Pretty in Pink 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad, Heart to Heart punch.

Real Red and Whisper White card stock, Real Red marker, white gel pen.

The frame is one that I had been planning to put chicken wire in and haven't had time to finish. So instead, I stretched a piece of our hemp twine across the back and used some small clothes pins from my stash to hang the socks. I think I need to find a different colored wall to hang it on, but I do like the finished project. My kids will really like it if on Valentine's Day they find gift cards in those socks. :-)

If you haven't been buying and redoing old picture frames like me, you could just tack some twine to the wall to hangs some socks. Change them out for every holiday! Let's do some four leaf clovers for March, Easter eggs for April, flowers for May... It would be so fun to have a spot for a little treat each month.

Tomorrow I will be sharing a super cute collage frame that my friend Jessica created. And a Valentine idea for that frame. :-)

Have a great Thursday! Happy stampin, everyone!

Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 1

Last week I mentioned that I didn't get to finish my 12 Weeks of Christmas email series - for various reasons - but I still wanted to share the projects with you. They're awesome! Some of us might actually start getting ready for Christmas 2012 now, but that would not be me. I'm doing good to be ready for today! So to make these projects relevant, I decided to turn them into Valentine's ideas. You get one today, one tomorrow and one on Friday. :-) I hope you enjoy them. Here's the project for today:

These wonderful gift bags were made by my friend Karen. She used the Letters from Santa Designer Series Papers to make the bags and the Stocking die for the Big Shot to make the tag. Here is my Valentine's version:

I used Basic Black (12X12), Whisper White, and Real Red card stocks. The hearts were made with the Heart to Heart and Small Heart punches and the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit. I embossed some of the hearts using the Stripes and Perfect Polk-a-Dots Embossing Folders. Here's a little detail for you:

For the handles, I used 5/8" Basic Black Satin Ribbon and 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain. I just put Snail on the back of the grosgrain to attach it to the satin ribbon.

Next time you need a gift bag, just grab this pattern and some of your scrapbooking supplies and make one to match the fabulous card I know you will already have made! :-) Download Gift_Bag_Pattern

Come back tomorrow to see the stocking die turned Valentine!

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Are you coloring-challenged?

Some people love to color. Others, not so much. If you are someone who shies away from line art because you can't stand the thought of coloring the whole image, I invite you to rethink your tendencies.

I received this super cute box filled with yummy brownies from my friend/customer Angela for Valentine's Day. She is such a sweetie! I'm showing this to you now because 1) I didn't get to it in February, and 2) what Angela did is relevant for any line art image.

Angela used a marker to highlight just a couple of things in the image, the things that shouted "Valentine" to her, things that shouted "color me red," things that made the card coordinate with the package. She didn't take the time to figure how to color flesh and hair or what other colors would coordinate with her package. She added some embellishments (ribbon - non-Stampin' Up!; scallop border punch) and created a project that was quick and easy, super cute, and made my day! Thanks, Angela! :-)

You could do this same thing with any of the images from the Greeting Card Kids set that Angela used. For the school kids- color the apple, the girl's hairbow, the books, the lunch bag, the boy's suspenders. For the Christmas image- color the tree, the girl's hat and mittens. For the Halloween image- color the pumpkin and the girl's hat. You get the idea.

Now, go dig out a line art stamp set and see how easy it is to make a cute, quick card!

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Stamp Club Valentine #2

I called this card a Valentine, but I guess it wouldn't have to be:

I was inspired by Kimberly VanDiepen on this card. I took her basic card and made it my own. I love this new set, Eat Chocolate! It's in the Occasions Mini Catalog, available now through April 30. Here's the inside of the card:

Chocolate always works, Valentine's Day or not.

Wishing stamping and chocolate for your near future!

Annette

Stamp Club Valentines

Stamp Club was last Monday, and we made a couple of Valentines.

It's hard to tell (I really should have used my other camera. I will remember next time!) but this is Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler. The Vanilla layer was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The heart was embossed and cut out with the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit. There were several little tips/techniques on this one card:

1. We made the scalloped edge by trimming off the top of two hearts (cut with the same heart  Embosslit), snipping the two "humps" apart, and attaching the pieces to the back of the stamped strip. 

2. We used the Clear Mount I {Heart} Hearts set with the F (4 7/8" X 6") clear block.  We were able to arrange several hearts on the block at once to create a background image that could be stamped all at once.

3. To gather the ribbon, we frayed one end with our fingers, grabbed one of the fibers and pulled. 

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

More Stamp Club

I wanted to show you the card we made at stamp club. I really like the way it turned out. I combined a couple of ideas and used the Love You Much bundle.

It's kind of hard to see here, but the front of the card is folded back to the center fold, so when the card is closed, you see the card front on the left and the inside of the card on the right. The focal point is attached only to the card front. I used the scallop edge punch on it and added a strip of Chocolate Chip under the scallop.

Can you see the Crystal Effects on the flower and the vase? It gives it a nice glassy look and also acts as an adhesive for the ribbon. On the inside, I also put Crystal Effects on the little heart.

Supplies used: Love You Much stamp set, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip card stocks, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper, Riding Hood Red Classic pad, Chocolate Chip marker, scallop edge punch, Crystal Effects, and Riding Hood Red taffeta.

Happy stamping, everyone!
Annette

Stamp Club Project

Monday night was my stamp club night. I love to have the girls come each month to stamp with me! This month we made two projects using supplies from the Love You Much Bundle that is available this month. Here is one of them:

Love, love , love this little box! This is the pillow box die for the Big Shot and Candy Lane Designer Series Paper. I punched out the hearts with the new Heart to Heart punch and put transparency behind them. And on the inside? Cherry Cordial Kisses. Mmmmm!

This was pretty much cased from the Stampin' Up! demo web site. They provide such wonderful ideas for us! This particular idea came from one of last year's Artisan Award winners. Each month they provide awesome project ideas for the rest of us lowly stampers who need their inspiration to get us going. :-) Wish you had access to all of these wonderful ideas? I would love to have you join my Pash-annette Stampers team! Contact me today for details.

Happy stamping, everyone!
Annette

Am I done yet?

Sometimes I volunteer to stamp things without thinking it all the way through. This was one of those times! It didn't seem like much. Just stamp on plain brown bags for the fifth graders at my son's school. The room moms would fill them with candy. I already had the bags, thanks to my sister and her bargain shopping. (What would I do without her?!) All I had to do was a little stamping. On 100 bags! (Everything's big in Texas - including our school!)
OK, so maybe it doesn't look like much, but I used five different stamps and Craft ink. So I had to stamp one side, lay them out to dry, stamp the other side, then lay them out to dry again. What do I do while doing "brainless" stamping? I watch movies! This was a 2 1/2 movie project. Good thing I like movies!

I really didn't mind doing these bags, but they did take a little longer than I anticipated. If you decide to do something similar, I might suggest having a stamping party for your room moms. Add a little chocolate, and it would make a great girls' night out!

Happy stamping, everyone!