Valentine's Day cuties

I purchased the "Create a Critter" Cricut cartridge and decided to use it today. These are Valentine's Day cards for my nieces and nephews. I have a million cards in my basement and just keep making more. I desperately need to sell them! It wouldn't hurt to mail a few also, now would it?! So in an effort to share my beautiful craft I made these to send.

The hippo is Pixie Pink, Pretty in Pink and Pink Pirouette. The ribbon is Regal Rose and I think it is retired. The flower is from Petaloo - I bought a big collection at one time. The DSP is a sheet from the neighborhood mini stack (wasn't that last year's Sale-A-Bration?). Inside I plan on writing "Hippo Valentine's Day."

The whale is Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue and Pacific Point. The DSP is Brocade Blue form a 6 X 6 retired hostess pack from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is Bashful Blue and I believe long retired. Inside I am going to write "Whale you be my Valentine?"

On Monday my Sale-A-Bration stuff arrives! I am excited to try out the flower punch as I have a color scheme a brewin' in my head! I decided to skip the pre-order and paying for SAB sets. This way I get them free like everyone else. I simply had to wait like everyone else - that was the hard part! I am going to try and get my Pathophysiology read tonight and my Vietnam history class stuff done tomorrow. That way I can play on Monday night! I have already finished my gerontological readings. Those are the three classes I am taking this semester, by the way. A good night to all - Heidi

Mona and the Monarchs

I made these butterflies a LONG time ago. They are a QuicKutz die that I love and bought at Hobby Lobby! They are cut from Tangerine Tango and Basic Black cardstock. I decided that today might be a good day to do something with them. The Greenhouse Gala DSP from Stampin' Up was a close match so I used that as my background. I had some foliage cut out of Old Olive that was a Sizzix sizzlit die and I adhered that behind the butterflies. I had also made the flowers previously from Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa and Summer Sun and Yo Yo Yellow. The die is flower, daisies #2 by Sizzix and available through Stampin' Up. The first time I saw that die I thought whatever, but then when I saw the flowers you can make with them - whoa! I was SOLD! Depending on how you stagger and arrange the layers you get a fantastic effect! Some corduroy Chocolate Chip buttons finish of the flowers.

The sentiment in the next card is from Butterfly Prints by Stampin' Up.

A head on picture of this card does it no justice so I took an offside shot so you could see that the butterflies' wings are dimensional. They are bent up and give the card a bit of realism.

A couple of weeks ago I received some "art" cards in the mail. They were 14" X 17" cards that will help you learn about great paintings and their artists. They sent me four cards and Mona was one of them. I do not need anymore stuff on my coffee table so I won't be ordering this! My husband wants to frame the other three "art" cards, but I hijacked Mona to make a card! I think the saying from Papertrey Ink's Signature Greetings set is appropriate. Mona is matted with So Saffron and Basic Black from Stampin' Up. I felt bad cutting her up like that!

I felt so bad cutting her up that I used her hands for the inside. I think the card has an "artsy" feel to it. I am betting my friend Letty will like it - she's artsy. Have a great night! - Heidi

Cricut cards

Here is a few of the cards I have made lately with my Cricut Expression. I took a class at Hobby Lobby and learned a lot. I could've read the manual, but that is boring and I am more of a hands on person. The above card is a 5 1/2" X 5 1/2" square card. It uses all Stampin' Up supplies except for the stamp and peach flesh are from Papertrey Ink. The stamp is signature Greetings and the flesh of the peach is melon berry cardstock. Stampin' Up supplies are chocolate chip, peach parfait, daffodil delight cardstock and paper. The ribbon is peach parfait also. The bling is Hero Arts. the peach is off of the Preserves cartridge.

These happy birds are from the home decor cartridge. The stamp is well scripted by Stampin' Up. Marina Mist, Bashful Blue and Pacific Point are the cardstocks I used for this card. I really do love these birds. Mom's tail got a few dew drops and I colored in the eyes. Have a great day - Heidi

Immortal Love Forever!

I'd like to say that I am not addicted to making these Immortal Love cards, but I guess that I am! The above card uses the chipboard embellishments (chess pieces) and the 4 1/2" X 6 1/2" mat stack of Immortal Love by DCWV. The sentiment was computer generated and run through my Cuttlebug with a Spellbinder die.

On the above card the corners and the heart on the right are also chipboard embellishments and the paper from Immortal Love. Simple and easy on the eyes. I hope to post some Cricut cards I made before I go back to school in two weeks. Have a great night - Heidi

Even more Immortal Love cards

I am addicted to making cards with the 4 1/2" X 6 1/2" mat stack of paper from DCWV called "Immortal Love." They are papers inspired by the vampire trend, but I believe that it is more Twilight inspired - truly. Each card uses a sheet from the mat stack. The above card is made with black and Lemon Tart (from Papertrey Ink) cardstocks. Some bright yellow ribbon, some Hero Arts rhinestones and an Immortal Love chipboard embellishment finish off this meadow card. Edward did "sparkle" when he and Bella were laying in the sunshine of the meadow.

The tree and moon card is Basic Black and Basic Grey cardstock from Stampin' Up. The chipboard moon is also an Immortal Love embellishment. The stamp is from Word Play by Stampin' Up. The rhinestones are also from Stampin' Up. The tree sparkles and is part of the paper. I amlost put silver cording across it, but I wanted to keep it simple.

I think this last card is my favorite! The paper is awesome all by itself and the chipboard embellishments (trees and moon) make it pop even more. The cardstocks are Basic Black (Stampin' Up) and Ocean Tides from Papertrey Ink. Ocean Tides is really close to Sage Shadow and I think either would've done a good job pulling color from the paper. I printed the sentiment out on Ocean Tides cardstock with my computer. Then I ran it through my Cuttlebug with a Spellbinder die - it turned out fantastic, if I may say so! The ribbon is Ocean Tides twill - also from Papertrey Ink. Satin ribbon would've been more elegant, but I don't have any (boo hoo). I thought of putting the sentiment "go jump off a cliff," but I think this is better. Insert evil laugh here. Have a good night - Heidi

Immortal Love & Twilight inspired cards

I must have had my head in the sand because I didn't know that DCWV was coming out with a new stack called "Immortal Love." It is based on the vampire trend and is not an official Twilight product, but it certainly could be. I bought mine on Sunday at Joann's and they are already out of the 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 mat stack two days later! I didn't buy the big 12 X 12 stack or matching album because I am not doing any scrapbooking with it - just cards.

**All cards features a piece of paper from the mat stack and are 5 X 7 in size**

The blue rose card has glitter (sparkle) already on the paper. The piece is matted with Baja Breeze from Stampin' Up and Smokey Shadow from Papertrey Ink. The saying is from Occassional Quotes by Stampin' Up. The envelope has the rose from Fifth Avenue Floral and the swirls from Baroque Motifs stamped on it. I had some fuzzy velvet ribbon that matched nicely, but the new Baja Breeze seam binding would've looked just as nice (if I had any at this time!).

This card has a triple row of bling that was in the ribbon aisle at Joann's. It is supposed to be ironed onto whatever you are sewing, but I glued it onto my card. I guess it could be a belt or hat embellishment and is sold by the yard at JoAnn's. I used Real Red as the card base, but now I am thinking that Poppy Parade would've been better as it is more red-orange in color. The LOVE is a die from Cuttlebug. The chipboard rose is in the Immortal Love chipboard box with all kinds of cool letters and objects. I made my own black leaves and blinged out the scalloped circle behind the rose. There is a matching envelope (there is also an Immortal Love cardstock stack) made from matching cardtsock and stamped with the rose from Fifth Avenue Floral.

Last, but certainly not least, we have a Team Jacob card. Me, I am Team Edward all the way, but I am also a creative fool! The base of this card is Bravo Burgundy and Crumb Cake. The piece of paper is killer and my picture doesn't really do it justice. I stenciled in the Team Jacob and punched it out and doodled in a border. Neat, clean and nice. I was trying to think of a different way to make this card a stunner, but I am at a loss right now.

Hope you enjoyed my Twilight-esque cards. It's snowing here and I might go hide in the basement a little longer. - Heidi

Manly Cricut cards

I have been playing with my Cricut Expression machine again! I also love the Cricut Lite Wildlife cartridge that I got from Wal-Mart! This one is an eagle cut from Early Espresso and Soft Suede. Then I layered him onto Marina Mist, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso for the base. The color combination is thanks to my Color Coach from Stampin' Up - I love that thing! I sponged in some clouds with Whisper White craft ink and hit the corners with the art deco corner chompers. The sentiment is from the Butterfly Dreams set from Papertrey Ink.

This happy fella is also from the Wildlife cartridge. He is cut out of shimmery paper that I believe is a stack from Wausau papers. I used a white gel pen and black Sharpies to give him some details. The sentiment is from the set On Your Birthday from Stampin' Up. The card base and ink color is a retired Stampin' Up color called Handsome Hunter.

Gobble Gobble. I am far too anal to not draw in details on my Cricut cut outs. Sorry about the picture! This bird is cut from Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip. The paper is a DCWV stack for Fall. I used a houndstooth embossing folder on Chocolate Chip cardstock for the upper left panel. The cardstock base is Peach Parfait from Stampin' Up. Inside it says Happy Thanksgiving, but of course. Have a fantastic day - Heidi