Happy Almost Valentines Day!

 I am so excited for Valentine’s day to be here… I have some cute Valentines to give my youngest kids and I have had so much fun making valentines for friends too!  Have you???  Made Valentines???

So hopefully these Valentine’s will inspire you!  My first one is the first one I sent… to my bff Brandy when she was having a bad week.

 Would you like to see a vid on how to make a 3D object for a card… I have played with this technique a lot and think I have it down now… pick out a paper you like that isn’t too light but not too heavy either… I laid it all flat and it mailed with just 1 postage stamp!  Yay!

Next up is a card me and my daughter made for my mom and dad….

 The large polka dot print is popped up on the card and the sentiment is on the card base… I was inspired by a card that used this technique on a blog I can’t remember now but loved the inspiration it gave me to make a lovely card for my mom and dad… I used my 6 x 6 doodlebug paper to make it and embellished it with them too!

For the inside…..

 

 My dd Brandi colored in the tree limbs after she drew them out and added this cute bluebird from Doodlebug stickers that I got when I bought the paper pad…

She used washi tape I had gotten when Pick your Plum had a sale on it… she likes the washi tape!!!  And adorned it with a cute valentine envelope from mini love notes by doodlebug and added her own sentiment!  So nice!

Finally in the Valentine department is a Valentine I made for one of my doctors…. and am showing it on ABC Challenges 🙂

 I popped up the border and sentiment on this one and had hearts exploding from the cute mini envelope…. added my sentiment and left the inside blank for her to pass on to a Valentine of her own!  Love those kind of gifts you can regift so easily!

Below you can see the dimension better on the card… totally worth making it… and I used mainly leftover pieces to put it together!  Score!!!

Now onto our current home improvements… my honey has been busy… working on
THE FOYER that looked like this….

 You can see a few boxes of the new tile we will be installing… once the old floor is gone…
And the craigslist table we found that matches our Casa Del Loro theme with a big parrot on it!

Here is the floor about 2/3 gone but concrete left still to chip up little bits at a time….

We had a gold and glass chandelier in the room and changed it out to brushed nickel and frosted glass… goes more with the ceiling fan in the living room and the look we are trying to attain in the house as we update it.

When he isn’t chipping away at the flooring in the foyer he is working out back… focus is on 2 areas… first is a low spot in the ground where he will plant the flowers against the florida room

So stay tuned for more Valentines and more home reno as we make this house our home forever 🙂

Happy crafting and have a blessed day!

Hope you found some inspiration in this rather lengthy blog post!

Kathi

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A Valentine for my new doctor :)

It has been a few days and I have several things to share… and lots of pics to inspire… so grab a cup of something yummy and take a little break!  You deserve it 🙂

I meet a new doctor today… part of moving to a new state is getting a new doctor… so I got crafty and made them a Valentine!  lol  I didn’t sign it and I hope it will get passed along to someone who needs it.  My inspiration for this card came from Lori on her post here.  She made this card!

So I pulled out my gypsy and my cute Doodlebug paper and started to create a similar card!

 

I used a 12 x 12 page to design my card… the bottom half of the layout is for the card… as well as the hearts.  The framed looking piece on the top right is for a future card but I like to use up all my mat when I lay things out… The top right is the decorative paper… I pulled it so only the part I wanted cut is cut instead of wasting paper or needing a larger piece of paper… I used cardstock for the card itself and Doodlebug Lovebirds collection for the rest!  LOVE this paper… I did turn my pressure down from max to high but my blade depth remained on 6 and all but one edge of the frame cut out PERFECT!

So here is my page laid out on my mat.

And here is my final card!

 I was inspired also by a challenge going on at ABC challenges…. for conversation hearts as an inspiration!  So I will be posting this card there….  Here you can see the fold better….

 it is called an “s-fold” card and is found on the Artiste cart by CTMH!  Here is the inside….

 And not to be left out… as I showed you the scraps of paper I started with my honey used this bunch of scrap wood left over from the fence we had installed and the door we took out of the kitchen/dining room….

 He nailed it and screwed it…

 What will it be????  It has a purpose!  I promise 🙂

 

 To hold his toolboxes… on rollers too!  Everything to make is was reclaimed… from this house or projects we have done that didn’t turn out as planned… to make this terrific storage and it is very sturdy and won’t tip over.

The toolbox was a craigslist find a while ago in Tennessee and it was free!  My honey sanded and finished it to keep the original patina but all the drawers and lid work well… even his little toolbox that holds odd tools fits on the bottom!  SCORE!!!

What are you making with reclaimed stuff?  I am using a paper pack that I bought but all else was from my stash and as I have made over 10 cards already with it… that paper could now be considered free to use!  What do you think?

Hope you have a fun day finding something to inspire you!

Kathi

BLOG CANDY WINNER and Valentines ~ Happy February!

Welcome to my blog… I wanted to share some cards with you for ABC Challenge blog… I really love their blog challenges and this week is Valentine’s themed!

But first let’s give away some BLOG CANDY!!! Yay for Doodlebug delight being mail bound Monday!  The lucky winner is:

Amy E. with her post:
Yay for giveaways! As you well know, I’m already a follower! Haha! I just found your Pinterest button and followed you there too….

Thanks Amy for following me here and on Pinterest!  Check the end of this post for a link to contact me!

As for Valentine’s… I am mailing my sweet Sis-in-law her card so I decided to make my nieces and nephew cards too!  They are blessed with 4 amazing children and I love them each so much!  Now on to some Valentine fun… these cards came together quick and easy … some washi tape, ribbon, glue and imagination brought it all together!

 So I punched holes to sew on these cards… and as you can see… there is faux stitching but not actual thread there because I punched to close to the card edge and the yarn I used was a little think making the holes a little bigger… maybe I could have sewn on them with thinner thread but this is supposed to be fun NOT tedious… so off with my markers I went… using by Sakura gel pens I used a different color on each card!

First is Jared’s… he is the oldest

 I added black ribbon to his and this was in the kit I got these in.  It looks heavy and manly so I thought his card was perfect for it!

Next is Madison’s card… and this is the card I will feature on ABC cards… I made the hearts with….

 washi tape!  Yep, I laid it on the side of the sewn on paper I wanted to throw away… about 4 strips in a square gave me more than enough to punch out these floating hearts… and here is the inside of this one!

 Next is Hayley’s card… she is a huge ball of energy in a cute little body… so I put hers on a action wobble by CTMH!  It is way bouncier than my homemade version and quite economical when I was ordering things anyway… SCORE!  The heart with the arrow through it is a heart Pammy made for me to use when we had our Valentiney craft day… I wrote Hayley’s name on it with my Zig marker and whallahh!  A fun interactive Valentine..

 And finally little Delaney is so sweet… so I told her on the outside…

 and the inside too!

Hope you enjoyed this Valentine smorgasboard…

Amy email me with your info here.

Blessings!

Kathi

Card Kit Series ~ Post 1 of 5

I am going to do a series using a kit I bought from Wendy Coffman here!  I was so excited to get it and showed you the kit in the package here… but watch that flat paper come to life in this series!!!

The review on this kit overall is WONDERFUL!  The pieces came all cut and ready for me to stamp, embellish, and complete with one stamp set that I got also in the Whoo’s your valentine set I bought from Wendy as well!  All this loveliness in one package must be completed soon… so to work I went!

First I followed Wendy’s EXCELLENT directions with pics for each card and the card box… each post will feature one card or the card box to make the series of 5 😉  Hope you enjoy this and see if there are more of these available if you are interested in playing along!  Wendy ROCKS!

The first card is a Valentines card that my daughter fell in love with… she picked the Valentine I would give to her when she saw this card!  lol

As I said in my previous post I got 2 kits thinking me and my daughter would do this together but she wasn’t in the mood so she kept me company while I crafted 2 cards at a time… one with Wendy’s suggestions and one I did with my own style injected!

Here is the card she designed and I put together…

 She instructed me to use chocolate ink on all my edges.. and I did do that some but I am more light and bright and less vintage in my style… here is a close up of the cute owls 🙂

 This card was cut with the Cricut Artiste cart and is called an “s” fold card… there are several designs on the cart with the heart being one of my faves 🙂

 And this is a lighter brighter version I made with the second card… I still inked but I used all different colors that brought out the pinks and blues in this card… and I got the owls stamped just as I liked them too!  This one is going to my daughter as she put the eyes on and feels a sense of ownership in this card… it is just waiting for me to write a sweet note in it!

 In my daughter’s eyes the mommy owl is looking down on the baby owl protecting it and the baby owl is looking at the sun and adoring it and feeling safe.  That is what she said!  She cracks me up with how she makes a story!

 The kit comes with Glitz Glitter Gel in 2 colors for embellishing your cards and gift box… and as I said Wendy’s directions and pictures are professional and spot on to replicate her work … or do like I did and do your own thing a little bit!  Like popping up the little owl on the branch 🙂

Next on my desk is another card you will see tomorrow.. I am making one for a neighbor who suffered a loss in their cable supplying internet, tv, phone, and security system when our fence installer accidently sliced their cable.

Next up also is how to decorate my new FAVE wall in the house… the kitchen wall… it was this…

 and now it is this color… a creamy light peach!  My son’s idea but he wanted a bolder peach…. I am happy with this peach with pops of brighter peach…. I thought a banner on the wreath would be cute … what do you think????  The ceiling fixture is getting replaced with something silver or brushed nickel… in the meantime help me out please with ideas!

Don’t forget about my giveaway.  There is still time to enter… for details click here!

Have a blessed day!

Kathi