One Red Heart

If I had my way I would create using hearts all year long.

 But, of course, Valentines Day is the time when hearts are everywhere plus the card I want to share fits a few online challenges.  I started out with this great heart background die from Simon Says Stamp.  I cut it from watercolor paper and then colored it with yellow/gold with some Distress Stain and Heidi Swapp Color Shine.  With this die you can leave all of the cut out hearts, you can remove some of them or all of them.  I opted to take out some and leave some. 

 I know my color combo is rather unexpected for Valentines Day but I loved that it ended up a little bit out of the ordinary  I created a background with Distress Stains.  When these are added to watercolor paper and spritzed with water, the look is always a little bit of a surprise.  I cut the die from Silver Glitter cardstock so that I could add a few hearts into my background die and then I added one red heart with foam tape.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.  

 This fits the Just Us Girls "heart" challenge.

 It fits the Inkspiration Photo challenge because of the subtle colors and the heart.

And it fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of "hearts".
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's all about RED

Plus it's the time of year for all things LOVE and the color RED.

 So that's the theme of my card for this post plus that makes the card fit the CAS-ology challenge and the Addicted to CAS challenge.  It all starts with a "messy" background using the newest Distress Stain color, Candied Apple.  I love how something this simple sets the stage for about any kind of other elements.  

 The wreath and the word "love" are die cuts from Simon Says Stamp.  I used a gold metallic paper for the word "love".  The wreath is finished with Liquid Pearls. 

 Here is the Addicted to CAS challenge.

 Plus the CAS-ology challenge.

And the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Anything Goes.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love Red Hearts

I could use hearts in my crafting all year long but of course with Valentines Day coming up that is the natural time to use them.  

 I hadn't used my Lil' Inker heart dies yet so this was the perfect time.  I wanted to add some interest to the white background so I used white embossing paste and a dot stencil.  The die cut words are a die set from Simon Says Stamp.  

 This angle shows off the embossed dots and the great accents with the heart dies.  This set includes several sizes of hearts and it also adds the stitching detail.  I just kept cutting hearts and then embedded them.  The striped heart is created by covering the paper first with strips of washi tape.  The red is glitter paper.  

Here is The Card Concept challenge that was my inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

LOVE and red seem to go together

I am so loving creating cards that fit for Valentines Day and the biggest reason is because of the RED!!!

 Todays card is no exception, lots of red.  I created a messy background with a stencil and some Distress Stain on watercolor paper.  I love how the Stains work with water and watercolor paper and I love the resulting messy look.  

 To keep with the Sunday Stamps sketch, I used a couple strips of Washi Tape on the side.  On top of that I added a little bow from Recollections. The die cut word, "love" is from PaperTrey, Inc. 

 Here is the Sunday Stamps challenge.

 This also fits the Friday Mashup challenge.

And the Curtain Call challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A new AAA Cards Challenge

 So happy that it is time again for an AAA Cards challenge, the first for 2015.  And what better challenge then to create something with a heart.

 Here is my card.  This was actually very quick and easy although it might look a little complicated.  I created a background with a Simon Says Stamp stencil and some Distress Stains.

 Once that background was dry, I stamped this adorable Tim Holtz cupid with black ink.  Color was added with Copic markers and then I coated it with Glossy Accents.  The "love" die is from Lawn Fawn and I added a row of little red hearts.

Take a look, this is the adorable prize being offered at AAA Cards and some other good news if there is a Design Team member call.

I sure hope you can play along with us this week.

This also fits the Addicted to CAS challenge.

And the Card Concept challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Black and White

I wanted something really simple and I wanted to use the Crazy 4 Challenge of opposites.

 I had wanted to use a window on a card and the cut out heart worked just right here. The heart stamp has a matching die and both are from Hero Arts.

 I stamped the heart with black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder so the black was a little more intense.  The tiny heart and flower finished off the card. It's a mini, 3" square card. 

Here is the Crazy 4 Challenges.

This also fits the Fusion inspiration photo.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some Love and some Washi Love

What better way to start a card then with some Washi Tape.

 I actually got this tape on clearance after Christmas but since I am such a huge fan of this plaid look, I knew I would use it all year.  I thought it fit pretty cute for Valentines day.  

 After I placed a few torn strips of the tape on my paper, I cut out the heart using a die from Simon Says Stamp.  I also cut out that same heart shape from some silver glitter paper and so I placed the glitter heart in the place of the cut out plaid heart.  That adorable little moose is from Paper Source and the "love" is a die from Lawn Fawn also cut from the silver glitter paper.  

I so love this inspiration photo for the Stampin' Celebrations challenge and thought my card fit in well here.

It also fits the CAS(e) this sketch.

It also fits the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge of Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love, Love, Love and some hearts

So I picked up a set of stamps by Tim Holtz, these are the mini version and the set covers several holidays.  I picked out the three that went with Valentines day and sat down to play.

 I stamped each image on a square of watercolor paper. I stamped them in black and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I like to do that because it makes the black lines more intense and I can use any other inks on it and the black won't run.  I created a background piece for my card base with a stencil and various Distress Stains.  

 I turned this closeup on it's side so you could get a good view of my little sequins that I placed in some glitter glue.  It also helps the golds to show up.  I colored my "14" image with Copic markers. It is really fun how these work on watercolor paper.  I then added color by spritzing my piece with water and swiping mini Distress Stamp pads across it.  I could add the browns and pinks were I wanted them and the inks ran because of the water.  I sprayed on some Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine and those wonderful gold chipboard pieces are by Teresa Collins.  I embossed a stitched square into the paper. 

This fits the color combination at Curtain Call. 

 For this one, I cut the little cupid piece with a banner die from My Favorite Things when I was done coloring it.  That background is also created with a stencil and Distress Inks.  The little row of hearts is a die from Reverse Confetti. I used the red negative of the cut and placed the pink cut hearts into that with foam tape.

 After I colored in the little Cupid, I added a coating of glitter glue.  The LOVE die cut word is from My Favorite Things.  

This fits the retro sketch for this week.

 For this one, I did all of my coloring of the candy heart piece and then cut it out with a My Favorite  Things banner. I love this banner set because there are so many choices in size.  You can see I cut it again, slightly larger from gold metallic paper and then again, slightly larger from pink cardstock.  

 The kraft colored doily is from Recollections, I distressed it by wrinkling it and adding inks to it.  The word "LOVE" is cut from the gold metallic cardstock and added to the one banner.  You can see my dotted embossed background on the kraft cardstock base. I embossed a die from My Favorite Things into the paper. 

 This fits the My Favorite Things sketch.

They all fit the Crafty Gals Corner Sweethearts challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love and Kisses to You

I just love hearts! I love using hearts on projects, they are probably my favorite accent.  So, Valentine's Day is a fun holiday for me to create some fun things. I am adding this to Paper Smooches Valentine's challenge.

First up, a really cute little card that is tied to a glassine bag of chocolates.  The card base was cut with the Cricut and the rest of the goodies are stamps and a banner die from Paper Smooches.  This little frog is so completely adorable!!! 

 It fits with the CAS(e) this sketch.

 Next up, I ordered this totally cute tiny coffee cups with lids from the internet and then we decorated them to use as gifts for all of the staff at two of my grandsons school.  The cups are about 3" tall. 

I cut the red tag using a Reverse Confetti tag die, embossing those tags with a heart Cuttlebug embossing folder. The other tags are from a set of tags by Recollections at Michaels.  We stuffed them with amazing homemade salted caramels!!!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Candy always works

What better gift is there then candy that is dressed up adorable? Well, there would be better things, but I mean something you can give a friend and they would be thrilled.

These are little, cone shaped plastic bags filled with Valentines colored M&M's with some really cute toppers. The little Scottie Dog stamps by Pink Persimmon just seem like the perfect way to make these irresistable.

I have mentioned this before but one of the things that makes this stamp so cute and fun is that you have a choice of a few different coats to stamp on him. The zig zag circle is also a stamp, stamped with black and embossed with clear embossing powder on red paper. These are then cut in a circle shape and matted with white cardstock cut with scallop scissors. This great ribbon by Bo Bunny ties it to the package. I love this ribbon because the dots are on both sides.

For this dog, I stamped the entire dog on a piece of patterned paper. Because the dog is solid black, the black portions cover the pattern and because the coat area stamps empty, the patterned paper shows through giving him a really cut coat. The little bow around his neck is a separate stamp so it can be stamped in the color you want and then glued into place.
Another view.

To remind you, this is the dog when it is first stamped on white cardstock without any coat pattern.

*****

And a couple photos

Look what we discovered this last weekend? RAIN and the joy of walking in the rain. It does not rain here very often, in fact we go months without rain so we had never taken our youngest grandson out to play in it before. He was taken with the entire experience, the boots and the umbrella which he usually forgot goes OVER your head!
The walk would not have been complete without learning to splash in puddles. Here, his big sister was helping him.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SCOTTIE DOG CANDY TREATS card
Materials:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Rubber stamps – Pink Persimmon
Patterned paper – We R Memory Keepers
Versamark black stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Ribbon – BoBunny
Candy package - Wilton