Saturday, July 18, 2015

Love and hearts

Today I'm going to share a few of the cards I made for my last Operation Write Home donation. These three cards, which all include a love sentiment and punched hearts, would make great non-traditional valentines, but they're also a great way to send a little love any time of year.

Love card made with Hello Love stamp set.
Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Hello Love, dots chubby stamp (Stamps by Judith & Heather)
Paper: Whisper White, Lost Lagoon card stock; silver paper
Ink: Going Gray, Crushed Curry, Lost Lagoon; Daffodil Delight Blendabilities markers
Accessories: Nesting Squares Rounded Quickutz dies (We R Memory Keepers), Lost Lagoon taffeta ribbon, corner rounder, Hearts Border punch, Dimensionals, Mono Multi liquid glue

To make the focal point for this card, I stamped the cloud and hearts image twice with Going Gray ink: once on the focal panel and once on scratch card stock. Using Crushed Curry ink, I stamped the sun on the focal panel so it overlapped the clouds. I wanted to have a solid sun image rather than an outline, so I filled it in with the darkest marker in the Daffodil Delight assortment of Blendabilities markers. I cut out the second cloud image and adhered it to the focal panel with Dimensionals and added a few tiny hearts punched out of silver paper. A few clusters of stamped dots was the perfect way to bring in some Lost Lagoon on the focal image.

Love cards made with KB's Leaf Branch and KB's Birthday Bird stamps (from Endless Creations).
Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: KB's Leaf Branch, KB's Birthday Bird (Endless Creations); Sweetie Pie Frames
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Going Gray, Watermelon Wonder card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Blendabilities markers: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Skin Tones assortments; Cool Gray alcohol marker (Copic Sketch C1)
Accessories: Small heart punch, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Crystal Effects, Dimensionals

I bought these bird and branch stamps at the rubber stamp show last month, and I love them. First of all, they're cute. But on each wood-mounted stamp you get two versions of the image: one side is the image facing right, and the other side is the image facing left. I also have a bunny and a couple of snowman images from this company, and I love being able to choose the orientation of the image. This clean and simple design is mainly basic stamping and coloring, but for a little pop of color, I punched a small heart out of Watermelon Wonder card stock, coated it with Crystal Effects and adhered it to the card front with a Dimensional. I also outlined the whole stamped image with a very light gray alcohol marker to add a little depth.

Love card made with hearts punched from scraps of patterned paper and a die-cut "Love ya" word bubble.
Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Just Sayin'
Paper: Tip Top Taupe card stock; On the Bright Side 6" x 6" Designer Paper Pad (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, Tip Top Taupe
Accessories: Large heart punch, small heart punch, Word Bubbles Framelits dies, Nesting Squares Rounded Quickutz dies (We R Memory Keepers), Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, paper-piercing tool, Dimensionals

This card design is a great way to use up scraps of printed paper, and it's a snap if you have a pack or pad with coordinating colors and patterns. I just punched out a whole mess of small and large hearts and then mixed and matched them until I had combos that I liked. You could easily use different punch shapes to make the card suitable for any occasion, such as stars for congratulations or birthday, flowers for thinking of you, or snowflakes for Christmas or winter.

Thanks for stopping by!

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