February is the month of love..

I know Valentine's Day passed quite a while ago but I really enjoyed making Valentines this year, and you could adapt these to use for any holiday or birthday.

The first cards I made were sent to family - my son's grandparents, godparents, and aunts and uncles.  I rarely make square cards but I felt like doing something different when I sat down to make them.  These were 4.25" square so that they would fit in an A2 size envelope and wouldn't cost any extra for mailing.

I started with the 6x6 Be Mine collection from Echo Park.  I looove these papers!  So cute and sized just right for cards.  I coordinated the card stock and baker's twine once I decided on which sheets to use, and once I decided on layout I made these assembly-style using my Cuttlebug to cut all of the circles, flowers, and banners ahead of time.  I made these over several days, but if I had make them in one shot it really wouldn't have taken much time.  I made a total of 8, but I just photographed my favourites. :)

Here is my supplies list:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo textured, Very Vanilla, Whisper White.  Echo Park "Be Mine" collection 6x6 pad.

Stamps:  Fancy Pants "Little Star" clear set.

Ink: Color Box Chalk ink Charcoal, Rouge, and  Dark Peony.

Ribbon:  We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Baker's Twine.  Pink satin ribbon from my stash.

Adhesives:  Tombo Mono adhesive runner, foam squares.

Dies:  Spellbinders Standard Circles, Large.  Cottage Cutz  Flower mini.

Other tools: Sponge, paper trimmer.


I also made a card for my husband.  This was our 10th Valentine's day together, and while we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate I wanted to make a special card for him.

Again I started with the "Be Mine" papers from Echo Park. Since I don't have a whole lot of Valentine stamps, I chose the sheet that had the sentiment "so In love with you" in the corner.  At first I considered cutting out the sentiment by hand, but my cutting skills aren't the greatest, and since the sentiment was flush into the corner I didn't have a die that I could use to cut it out evenly, so I decided to use one of my circle dies to cut it off center, and then I would just put the sentiment in the corner of the card, like it was on the sheet I took it from.

The circle set the tone for rest of the card.  I cut various circle shapes from the sheet the sentiment came from, and a music sheet from the pack to layer together.  I also used Cuttlebug's "Seeing Spots" embossing folder to add more circles to the background.  Some ink, an arrow to emphasize the sentiment, and some sparkles I couldn't resist finished off the card. This card turned out to be one of my favourites and my husband loved it too.  :)

The only change I would make is that the arrow and strip at the bottom was die cut from a sheet I embossed first, so the emboss flattened a bit when I ran the dies through my Cuttlebug.  You can still see the emboss though so I wasn't concerned enough to start over, just something to remember for next time.

Here are the supplies I used:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Basic Grey, Melon Mambo textured.  Recollections Kraft.   Echo Park "Be Mine" 6x6 pad.

Ink: Color Box Chalk Ink Charcoal, and Rouge.

Dies:  Spellbinders Standard Circles Large.  Quik Kutz (Lifestyle Crafts) Arrows Cookie Cutter dies.

Embossing Folders:  Cuttlebug Seeing Spots.  Quik Kutz (Lifestyle Crafts) Hounds Tooth.

Other tools:  Ranger Inksentials blending tool.

Adhesive: Scotch Quick Dry.

Embellishments:  Pink gems from my stash.