The Countdown is ON!!

If you are still thinking about what to do for Valentine's Day for those near and dear to your heart, time is running out.

Wanted to share a few more of the cards that I created. 

The white/cream centers were from a previous Mother's Day project and thought they would be perfect for this card. The LOVE is a Quickutz font. I have a lot of left over letters as there are two on each die. Will definitely use those for another project. For now they are in a baggie together so they won't get too lonely.

The hearts and arrows are from a pack that was recently on sale at Michaels. As you can see I adapted the size of the embossed piece to fit the card. Really liking how the black circles turned out. I punched them from the black paper that is matting the focal elements. Sneaky, I know, but a great paper saver.

This is the two-sided paper pad used for some of my inside sentiments. I believe it was from Bazzill. Will check and correct my post as needed.

Finally, the last cards for today. I think I have about five sheets of the paper left that I used for the cards and will create 6 two-page spreads using that. Yippeee, now I can take advantage of the after Valentine's Day will- you- please- take- this- paper- off -of- our- hands- sale. Why certainly.

Please keep inking in the name of love.

Until then.

Happy Valentine's Day

Oh, my. I cannot believe that my poor blog has seen such neglect from me. I have been a busy bee and wanted to share with you a few Valentine's Day cards that I have cranked out. The stamps are Recollections 2016 except for the Bee Mine.

I am desperately trying to use up the pack of paper (Recollections 2015) that I purchased so that I can justify to myself the need to get a NEW package of love themed paper.

The inside sentiments are cut from a scrapbook page that is double sided. Perfect for making card fronts or inside greetings. They did need to be trimmed as they were 4x6. 

Recollections black card stock is my go to for anchoring my layers. I have considered using the gray one made by Recollections, and just might do that on my next set with some really soft pink paper. I did clean up the Bee smudges with a few gem stones. In card making you can usually cover any bloopers.


Thanks for stopping by and keep inking in the name of love.
Until then.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope that each and every one of you had or is having a very loving day and that you got all of the hugs and kisses you ever wanted. If you did not, I am sending a virtual hug your way!!! Just wanted to do a quick post to share the corner bookmarks I made for my team and for my son's team of teachers. Let me apologize for the horrible lighting. I used one of those foam things and snapped these next to the window this morning before dashing off to work.

These are soooo much fun to make that I could crank them out in record time. I think I will make up a huge batch and decorate as needed. 

I forgot to enroll my kids into the Book-It Program through Pizza Hut. Once they reach their reading goal, they get a certificate for a personal pizza. Well, I can't do a pizza, but I can give them a bookmark for each goal. I would have loved to have a set as a kid. I had so many books going at once. Since I do have some kid friendly carts, I will make those more personal to the student.

Until Then.

Valentine's Corner Bookmarks

Can you believe it is February already? Glad I got a jump start on making some Valentine's Day gifts. I made a set of corner bookmarks for my students and for my son's classmates. He picked up some paper last week to make some for his teachers--a pack of the MME 6x6.

Here are a couple of up close and personal pics of the boy and girl reading. They are from the A Child's Year cartridge. I cut the top layer and put it through the cuttlebug then inked and spritzed it with Glimmer Mist.The border punch on this one is from Recollections.

The Spellbinder Lacey Circle anchors the image. I used my Sakura black gel pen to stitch an outline. On this one I actually inked around the circle prior to removing it from the die. I cut the bottom using the Scalloped Spellbinder heart.

The bookmark itself is cut from an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper to measure 4  1/2 x 4  1/2. The leftover 2 inch strip is what I used to emboss the hearts border (cut down to one inch). Waste not want not.

I cut the initials using the Zooballoo font and placed them inside a heart from the Love Struck cart. I stamped the paper using a candies heart rubber stamp. You can find all of the complete information on the YouTube Vee-dio.

I truly enjoyed making these for my students and my son's classmates. I know that they will enjoy having their own personalized bookmark and lucky for me that the two kids with the same initials were a boy and a girl. No way to confuse those bookmarks. LOL

It's not too late to crank out a set for your co-workers or for your own family. Give those folks with a Nook or Kindle something to envy!!!

Until then.

Grow Love

Happy February Everyone. 

How many more months until spring? Mmmm. Maybe a countdown to Spring calendar with the days going from winter designs to spring ones?  I think I will leave that for next year.

Well, this will be a quick post as I have been under the weather for the better part of last week. As a member of the CropChocolate.com design team, our February Challenge was a love theme. This is what I produced.

I had wanted to glitter and stickle the hearts and just bling it up. Most of the prep was done before I got ill. It was assembling the entire thing that proved most daunting.

The paper line is from one of my favorites: Fancy Pants.
I cut a number of hearts from various Cricut Cartridges. Some were stamped on and some left blank. Glimmer Mist was spritzed for a bit of sparkle and shine.

 I used the Spellbinder Scalloped hearts die and cut them on white paper. They were inked with Distress Inks and hole punched on each scallop with a 1/16th inch punch. On the back of some of the white ones, I wrote love notes to my son. 

I cut and tied miniature bows for the hearts and the branches.

The hearts below were backed with one of the chocolate pieces and the hanging ribbon enclosed on the inside.

Next step was to decorate the bucket. I used a Recollections border punch. Adhered the bottom paper layer and then added a layer of lacey ribbon.

 Two love pieces were cut and used to hide the seams where the sides joined.

The final step was to decorate the tree. I printed out my own Vee-sim for one side of the topper and 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Thanks for stopping by. Sorry that I was unable to go into more detail. It took a lot of energy for me to post this, but I wanted to share my project.

Trying to get myself well. 
Until then.

Love Struck Cricut Cartridge

Belated Happy Valentine's Day!!! If you celebrated, I hope you had mucho fun. If you were in the northeast you were having a love/hate affair with the snow. Love to see it falling softly to the ground, hate to get out and shovel it all up.


I do want to share a beautiful Valentine's Day letter that my precious son wrote to me.

Reading that makes me overjoyed. HUGE SIGH. His love heart on the front of the card/letter is adorable. He took that idea from the Love Struck cart. Isn't he creative? LOVE it!!! I really like how the sun is shining in his picture. Gave me wonderful thoughts of spring.

I did find some time to play around with the Limited Special Edition Love Struck Cricut cartridge from Provo Craft and create a series of Vee-dios. Initially, I was not going to purchase this cart. Then I thought why not. Boy, am I glad I did. These images are perfect for just about any project. If I had to pick my faves they would be the heart with wings, cupid, the mailbox and #10 the heart with the flowers around it.

Scroll down to see some of the other images.

You can also find all three Vee-dios at the end of this post.

Number 10 just looks so sweet and innocent. I can see that being used with an 'I love spring/easter message". How precious and darling that would be. "Sending you a basket filled with love" and stuffing a basket with those cut out heart images. How 3-D and different. If you cut it the right size you could also attach some of those crystals to the center to add a bit of bling. Those lips...how about I've got a secret, wanna hear it.

Or...can I come over and whisper some sweet nothings in your ear.  Last one...I said I wan't gonna tell....but someone has a birthday, and I know it is you...or some other corny tag. You get the idea.

I am sure I could spend another day and half thinking up ideas for ways to use those sweet treats on that cartridge.

Although I did not do it on the Vee-dios,  you do know that all of these images will just have to get a bit of ink and all in the Name of Love.

Until then.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. It has been a whirlwind one for me. My car had to be taken to the auto doctor for diagnoses and repair. The bill is going to be whopping. There is a little solace from the deal. The company loaned me a beautiful 2009 Acura TL. I am SPOILED. On board GPS, XM Radio, Keyless start up, power everything. Oh, to live the good life.

Back to business. I wanted to post a card that pays homage to the men in our lives. They don't always want frills so I went with classic red, black and white.

I stamped the hearts on red mulberry paper and ran the black through the Cuttlebug inside the Swirls embossing folder. I then used the deckle edge scissors to trim. I used clear Versamark, clear embossing powder and used the heat gun to get a glossy look. On the bottom black mat I used the Fiskars hearts texture plate with Versamark and powder. The valentine's ribbon is from Michael's. The red mat is from Hot Off The Press Paper Pizazz Solid Jewel Tones. And lastly I grabbed a few rhinestones to give the hearts a bit of sparkle.

Enjoy. It is hard to believe what a difference the clear embossing ink over versamark made to plain, matte, black cardstock. It is so much fun to Ink in the Name of Love.

From my heart to yours on Valentine's Day.

Until then.

From My Heart to Yours

It is almost time for Cupid to makes his rounds and shoot his arrow--yup, Valentine's Day. Hopefully if you are seeking love you will find it, and if you have love, you will cherish every moment of it.

As my son, Zachary, and I were sitting down writing out cards for his classmates, it occurred to me that I needed to post something here in honor of love.
I hope you can see the embossing on the hearts.

The materials I used include the heart acrylic stamp from Basic Grey and the quote from Little Yellow Bicycle. The ribbon is called Dots & Stripes purchased from Michael's. Cardstock: Pink flowers from EK Success Simply Classic Inspirables Feminine Delight (INSC003), Chocolate mat is American Traditional Designs Textured Paper, Cream mat is Bazzill String of Pearls.

Inks: Chocolate Pigment Ink is Anna Griffin--All Night Media Plaid (19ACH) and Pink is from Ink it Up! The button and brads are JoAnn and the flowers are from Prima-Got Flowers?

After stamping the hearts I realized they did not have any pizzaz to them. I cut them out and used the Tsukineko #81 clear embossing pen to trace over the brown ink. I then dipped them into my Tsukineko #05 Clear Embossing powder and the used the heat gun. I adhered the two side hearts and then used three pop dots on the center heart--adding the ribboned button.

I wanted to add ink to the Bazzill card but needed a soft look. I used my cosmetic wedge to apply ink working my way onto the card using a circular motion. I did the same for the card base.

After adhering the ribbon to the cream base, I used glue dots to secure it to the Chocolate mat. I then used my Glue Glider Pro Permatac to secure the entire collage to the card base. Adding the pink helped to achieve the right look.

This one is a just because I love you card. I wanted something that was not totally feminine and wanted to think outside of the box. Hmmm...I think I might have to go back and ink the edges of this card with chocolate or pink.

It is sometimes hard to believe what a difference a little ink makes. Whether you purchase your cards from a local store or create your own try adding a little ink somewhere unexpected--helping you to Ink in the Name of Love. Wishing you all of the best From My Heart to Yours.

Until then.