Love and thanks

While I've had a bit of time off work over the holidays I fully expected to be busy stamping in my craft room and then sharing all my creations on my blog. I was going to finish my cards to ship to Operation Write Home and restock my personal stash of birthday cards. But in reality ... that's not quite what happened. I have done a bit of stamping, but I've also been busy playing with some new toys (namely, a couple of Lego sets and a Kindle Fire HD), reading, watching movies and just generally relaxing. It's been glorious, and to be honest, I'm really not ready to go back to work on Wednesday. Sigh.

But I do have a few cards to share with you, so here are the first two: a love card (perfect for Valentine's Day or any other time) and a thank-you card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: You Are Loved
Card stock: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party
Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Decorative Label punch, Calypso Coral baker's twine, corner rounder, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

I wanted to use non-traditional colors for this card so A) it didn't look like your usual Valentine, and B) it was a little more gender neutral. I admit that this card still leans to the feminine side (flowers and butterflies will do that), but it's not pink and frilly, so I guess I partly accomplished my goal.

I started out by stamping the bottom portion of the card with a flower image and then added a strip of Calypso Coral card stock slightly below the middle of the card. I wrapped a piece of baler's twine twice around the strip, tied a knot near the right side of the card and let the "tails" hang down. I stamped and punched out the greeting, adhered it over the knot with Dimensionals and added a few die cut and embossed butterflies.

Supplies (all Stampin Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: So Many Thanks
Paper: Basic Black, Confetti Cream, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay card stock; Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper (DSP) pad
Ink: Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay markers
Accessories: Plaid embossing folder (Sizzix); 1", 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" square punches; black grosgrain ribbon; Dimensionals; Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue

This is one of those cards that didn't turn out the way I imagined it in my head. I don't know about you, but that happens to me a lot, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the recycling.

I started out by punching many squares from three colors of card stock and coordinating DSP -- a great way to use up some scrap pieces. (In this photo, the squares that are a little lighter in color are the DSP.) I played around with the arrangement of several of the squares on a plain card base until I was happy with the layout and glued them down with Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue. Then I embossed the entire card front with a plaid embossing folder to add some texture. I used markers to ink the sentiment stamp with different colors, matted the stamped image with Basic Black card stock to help it stand out and adhered it to the card with Dimensionals. The bottom of the card needed something, so I added a simple strip of black grosgrain ribbon. I made four cards of this design (and I have enough squares left to make several more), and each one turned out a little different.

Coming up: a few birthday cards and an update on my personal stamping challenge. Thanks for stopping by!