Valentine Hugs

I love Valentine's Day. And I love the February challenge over at ABC Toys & Crafts: to make a card with the focus colors of red, white and pink. Soooo pretty!

Our current theme on the Design Team is Valentines, so I combined that with the challenge and here is what I came up with:

Isn't the paper sweet? It's from the Authentique Uncommon 6x6 paper pad. I love the colors and prints in this collection!

My cute little sentiment comes from the Hero Arts Say It All clear stamp set. I stamped it in bright pink onto ivory card stock that had been die cut using the Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic scallop ovals dies. I layered it on a 3-D Dot for dimension over a pink coordinating oval die cut.

And how about these darling Prima Sprites flowers! It's so great how they are shaped in hearts. I just added a few pearls in the centers.

I love how this card came together. It was pretty quick and easy and one that could so easily be changed up a bit to be used for different occasions. But I am pretty happy with the way it is. Now I just need to decide who to send this Valentine to ;-)

I hope you'll be playing along with us this month for our fun ABC challenge.

I also hope you have a very happy Valentine's Day!

Blessings,

Sarah

ABC Challenge Time!

It's the beginning of a new term and that means it's challenge time over at ABC Toys & Crafts!

I am so excited not only to share my card with you, but all the details of the challenge as well.

To start off, the challenge is pretty simple: To focus on three colors: Red, white and pink.

Here is the card I have created, which I hope will inspire you to play along:

I started by using some beautiful patterned paper from the Crafty Secrets Classic paper pad.

I die cut it with the Sizzix scallop card die. I put some pretty little Hero Arts pearls between each scallop.

My red and pink heart layers were embossed using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder .

I tied some lace around it and added a few flowers and it was complete. Fairly simple, but very romantic- perfect for Valentine's Day!

Now, for some challenge details: You may create a card or other project (such as a tag, scrapbook page, altered item, etc.)- just get creative with red, white and pink and share it with us!

You may enter as many projects as you wish, but must have them linked up by Saturday February 25th.

All details can be found at the ABC Toys & Crafts blog HERE.

If you are the winner, you will receive a $20.00 ABC Toys & Crafts store credit- or $25.00 if you also display the ABC Challenge Blinkie on your blog!

I hope you'll join in on the challenge and show us what you can do with red, white and pink! :-)

I'll be back in a few days with another card to share with you!

Wishing You Blessings,

Sarah

Love Is In Bloom!

Wow- it's already the 2nd day in February! And that means I am ready to share my first card I designed for ABC Toys & Crafts with you! And what better way to start than with a romantic Valentine?

I absolutely love romantic, flowery, vintage looking cards, and this one was so fun to make!

Here in the close ups you can see all the great textures and details I was able to achieve with the products I used.

I started with this beautiful Authentique paper which made it easy to add all kinds of pretty embellishments in a nice variety of Valentine colors.

The Spellbinder's Fair Isle pendant die provided a great background to build upon. I love how the little Hero Arts pearls fit perfectly into the holes.

And both Cuttlebug folders- the Swiss Dots and the Birds and Swirls add such nice texture as well as design.

For added sparkle on my small Prima flowers, I used some Stardust Stickles. I stamped my sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black ink onto a great little Nestabilities Label four die. Then I added a couple of sweet little hearts that were punched out using the Martha Stewart looped hearts Valentine edge punch.

You can find all these great products by clicking on the links, or go to the ACB Toys & Crafts Store to find even more great products- all at 10% off every day!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have enjoyed my Valentine. Please be sure to check back here with me as well as over at the ABC blog to see all that we have to share with you as we continue our Valentine themed cards and projects!

Wishing You Blessings,

Sarah

Blog Candy Winner!

Well, it's February 1st, and thanks to you, I have reached my goal of having more than 100 blog followers. Thank you so very much.

And now it is time for me to announce the winner of my blog candy:

Scrappin' Abby!

I could not think of the name of the internet picker thing I used once before, lol, so I went the old fashioned route and put all the names on pieces of paper in a little basket and had my youngest daughter reach in and pick one out. And Abby, it was you :-)

Please send me your mailing address and I will get these goodies sent to you.

I hope you will have fun with them!

Thanks again to everyone who participated in my contest. I will be doing another giveaway before long, so stay tuned ;-)

And tomorrow, my first post for the ABC Design Team blog will be up! I can hardly wait to share my card with you there. I hope you'll stop by and check it out!

Have a wonderful first day of February!

Blessings,

~Sarah

The Perfect Sentiment: Missing A Button

Wow- the week sure flew by! And it's time again for another great challenge from The Perfect Sentiment.

This week it is to create a card with a "missing you" sentiment on the front.

The "twist": Use a button or buttons on the card.

Here is the card I made which I hope will help to inspire you:

I used some beautiful Daisy d's patterned paper. I just love it! The lovely blue and ivory lace trim is some that I bought at an antiques/flea market. I topped it with some natural colored crochet trim and pinch-pleated them onto my adhesive.

The flower is by Prima. In the center of it I added a really pretty blue glass- almost moonstone looking- antique button I got at an antique store. It is one of a set of three buttons, which I have been hanging on to waiting for just the right project. I think it looks great here- and happily I still have two of them left :-)

I hope you enjoy my card and are inspired to create your own "missing a button" card.

This week we are playing "just for fun"! I hope you will join us and get your card linked up at The Perfect Sentiment Challenge Blog by Tuesday at 10:00PM EST.

For more inspiration, be sure to check out all the wonderful cards by all the DT's here:

Jennipher

Sami

Jan

Sassy

Abby

Theresa

Jessica

Maggie

Ashley

Sam

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Sarah

Items used to make my card include:

Stampin' Up! card stock: Black; Brocade Blue

PTI white card stock

Patterned Paper: Daisy d's - Romance collection

Natural Crochet Trim from Classy Cards 'n Such

Prima flower: white Madrigal Blossom

Cuttlebug dotted embossing folder

Stampin' Up! oval punches

Stamp from Stampi' Up! set Three Little Words

Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger

Farewell Valentine

The Valentine I have to share with you today does not necessarily need to "be" a Valentine, since there is no reference to St. Valentine's Day on it. It could be a "missing you" or an "I love you" or a "thinking of you" or even a birthday card, for that matter. But, it does have a romantic feel to it and with its' traditional Valentine colors, along with the fact that St. Valentine's day is only a couple of weeks away, I have entitled this my "Farewell Valentine".

The reason I have incorporated the word "farewell" into my title, is that this is the final card I have designed for Classy Cards 'n Such. I have enjoyed being on their design team, but the months quickly passed and now it is time for me to move on in new directions.

And now for the details of my card:

I started by making my card base with a piece of shimmery card stock from the Specialty Paper Variety Pack. On that I put a piece of pink card stock which I had dry embossed using the hearts embossing folder. I tied a bow around that with some beautiful light pink sheer ribbon. Then I placed my stamped image which was layered over some gray card stock on top. Finally, I added three gorgeous little Gillian raspberry flowers. They are so, so pretty and with their speckles of glitter they add such a wonderful feminine touch. And that was it! A quick, easy Valentine.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you'll come visit me again soon!

Blessings,

Sarah

In addition to the above mentioned items, I also used:

PTI white card stock

Stampin Up! Going Grey and Pretty In Pink card stock

Image from Stampin' Up! Vintage Postcard stamp set

Design Team News!

I am back today with some exciting news to share with you:

Starting in just a few days, I will be designing for ABC Toys & Crafts! I am really honored to have been chosen to be on this team and am so excited to get started.

I have been shopping at ABC for years and really enjoy their online store. I hope you will check out all they have to offer in their online store. I am sure you will be happy with their many products and their wonderful customer service.

Coming soon will be more news about challenges and all the fun goings on over at the ABC Toys & Crafts blog; I'll be keeping you posted :-)

Thanks for stopping by today. And don't forget- my blog candy give away is coming up very soon! I will be picking my winner next Wednesday, February 1st. So be sure to get your entries in. Reminder: you must mention in a comment to me how you have made yourself eligible- be it by becoming a follower or posting on your blog, etc. See THIS post for details!

Wishing you blessings,

Sarah