2021 Meals on Wheels valentines

If you've been around for awhile, you may remember that every year I make a bunch of valentines for the organization that manages the Meals on Wheels program in my area. The cards are delivered to clients along with their meals, and I hope they bring an extra bit of cheer to their day. If you're new here, check out the Meals on Wheels valentines I've made in years past. There are a lot of easy, quick, and cute ideas. I also try to keep some of the designs more masculine or gender neutral since I don't know who will be receiving them.

I dropped off this year's 92 cards at the community center this morning, so it seemed like the perfect time to share the designs on my blog as well. And if you still plan to make some cards for Valentine's Day, maybe these will give you some inspiration. (There are a lot of pictures, so I apologize in advance for the long post.)

Supplies:
Stamps: Mini Love Cards (Colorado Craft Company)
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, River Rock card stock (Stampin' Up!); olive green card stock (unknown)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Mossy Meadow, Lovely Lipstick, Granny Apple Green, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake Blends markers (Stampin' Up!); R81 marker (Copic)
Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies (Stampin' Up!), white rhinestones (Taylored Expressions), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)
Other: Gel prints made with various acrylic paints, white envelope paper (Stampin' Up!), and a gel press plate (Gelli Arts)

Several weeks ago I spent a day just making a bunch of gel prints, and I started my valentines with those. The prints were 6" x 6", so for this group of cards I cut several prints in half and used them as backgrounds behind these sweet images I colored with alcohol markers.

Supplies:
Paper: Thick Whisper White and various colored card stock (primarily Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Hearts Entwined die (My Favorite Things), sequins (unknown), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)
Other: Gel prints made with various acrylic paints, white envelope paper (Stampin' Up!), and a gel press plate (Gelli Arts)

For this batch of cards, I trimmed several of the gel prints down to A2 size (4-1/4" x 5-1/2") and adhered each one to a heavy white card base. I chose a coordinating color of card stock for each card and die cut it with the Hearts Entwined die. When adhering the die cuts to the cards I left in some of the "throw-away" pieces to create some solid hearts along with the outlines.

Supplies:
Stamps: You Color My World (Unity Stamp Co.)
Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade, Coastal Cabana card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Bermuda Bay, Bronze, Smoky Slate Blends markers (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Postage Stamps Nested Frame Cuts dies (Hero Arts), resin hearts (Stampin' Up!), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)
Other: Gel prints made with various acrylic paints, white envelope paper (Stampin' Up!), and a gel press plate (Gelli Arts)

I thought these colorful gel prints worked perfectly with the paint can image, so I colored the image and sentiment using coordinating markers. I die cut each image with a postage stamp-style die and adhered it to the center of the gel print background.

Supplies:
Paper: Poppy Parade, Real Red, Crushed Curry, Pineapple Punch, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Naturals White card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Journaling pen (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Heart punch (Stampin' Up!)
Other: Gel prints made with various acrylic paints, white envelope paper (Stampin' Up!), and a gel press plate (Gelli Arts)

After I trimmed down the gel prints for the previous group of cards, I had some usable pieces left over. I punched some hearts out of those pieces, as well as out of some coordinating card stock scraps, and combined them into this simple layout (my favorite for quick-and-easy valentines). I doodled a border around each card to frame the hearts.

Supplies:
Paper: Thick Very Vanilla card stock (Stampin' Up!), Insta Photo Fun card stock (DCWV), crinkle card stock, cork sheets, vintage choral sheet music (unknown)
Ink: Gold glimmer metallic paint (Hero Arts)
Accessories: Heart punch (Stampin' Up!), resin hearts (Stampin' Up!)
Other: Gel prints made with various acrylic paints, white envelope paper (Stampin' Up!), and a gel press plate (Gelli Arts)

I warned you that this was a favorite layout. :) I love that it's gender neutral, and you can mix it up with different colors, textures, prints, etc. I included one gel print heart on each card and then used a variety of items from my stash. (The kraft hearts with black print are from a paper bag printed with vintage-style newspaper ads that I received a stamp order in -- I think it was Honey Bee Stamps.) I splattered the card bases with gold before adding the hearts.

Supplies:
Stamps: Monster Love (Concord & 9th)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Ruby Red, Sweet Sugarplum, thick Whisper White, thick Very Vanilla card stock (Stampin' Up!); striped paper (American Crafts)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), white paint pen (Posca)
Accessories: Monster Love dies (Concord & 9th), foam tape (3M), white crochet thread (DMC)

I bought this stamp/die set ages ago and had never used it. But I thought it was perfect for some cute valentines. And I saved time by stamping the images on colored card stock instead of coloring them.

Supplies:
Stamps: This Little Piggy (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, thick Whisper White card stock; Subtles Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); alcohol markers - W1 (Copic), Crumb Cake, Flirty Flamingo, Granny Apple Green, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), resin hears (Stampin' Up!)

I love this cute little piggy! I did color in these images, but I didn't worry too much about blending and shading. I used a simple twine bow or three white resin hearts (depending on the orientation of the card) for a simple embellishment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Gnome-One Like You (Unity Stamp Co.)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White card stock; Brights and Neutrals DSP Stacks (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); alcohol markers - W1 (Copic), Real Red, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Nude (Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Resin hearts (Stampin' Up!)

These gnomes are so cute -- and easy to color since they aren't too detailed. I used two pieces of DSP for the background, and instead of having them meet or overlap, which I would usually do, I left about a 1/4" space between the two pieces. I really like the finished layout!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tree's Company (Raisin Boat)
Paper: Sea Glass card stock, Zoe paper, Hello Lovely paper (Close to My Heart); Petal Pink card stock (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Hearts dies (Little B), white tea lace paper doilies (Stampin' Up!), foam tape (3M)

These are probably the most feminine cards of the bunch, but I love the combination of the coral and sea glass colors. And the doilies work perfectly behind the hearts.

Supplies:
Stamps: Etched Flowers (Darkroom Door), Bloom with Heart (Fun Stampers Journey)
Paper: Petal Pink, Soft Sea Foam card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Petal Pink, Soft Sea Foam (Stampin' Up!); Oreo (Taylored Expressions); Pigma Micron 03 black pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Sparkle Silk (Fun Stampers Journey), resin hearts (Stampin' Up!)

This was the last batch of cards I made, and it's also the only layout that is a single-layer one. I was worried they would be too plain, but in the end I really like them. I stamped the hearts using the same color ink as the card stock, stamped the sentiment in black, and then splattered on some sparkle, doodled a border, and added one small resin heart on each card. Simple, but lovely.

That's it! I hope you found some ideas for your own valentines or other cards. Thanks for stopping by!