It Must be February

Everywhere I look there are pink hearts, pink cards, red heart lights; yep it must be February. I spent this past weekend making the heart garland (above). I used Photoshop Elements to make the hearts. Go me! It was my second attempt at designing in Photoshop and it worked pretty well. I added Stickles and Prima flowers for embellishments. I used a light pink ribbon to join them together.

My next project was taking some calling cards which my Father had given me and arranging them in a frame. The card in the top row middle was my Grandmother's; the one next to it on the right was her Father's. Next up was my Mom's Valentine's Day card.

I saw one of these cards and just had to try one. I found a tutorial on YouTube and within minutes I was ready to decorate her card. She is a seamstress and quilter, so I'm hoping she will enjoy all the sewing embellishments. I've made two more with a third on the way...can't show those until I've given them to my Valentine's. And there were mini books too...

These are Ali Edward's design and when I saw them I knew I had to make them too! I made one for my brother, sister-in-law and nephews. So yep it's February and I've surrounded myself with pink hearts, pink cards, pink garland and well pink everything.

Valentine Tags

My co-hort in crime visited this weekend, which spurred me to do tons of crafting. I managed to make 18 Valentine tags (three sets of six) which I've listed on our Etsy shop - The Ivory Tower.

Each tag is 3" x 5 1/4" and covered with paper, flowers, glittered grunge board, ribbon, Stickles and other embellishments. I embossed each card first and colored them using inks. I highlighted the hearts by coloring them with my Copic markers then added Glossy Accents. Using all the pinks, reds, light greens and whites definitely chased my winter blues away.





For My Valentine...

I had an aha moment when I spotted this tin mailbox in a craft store. I'd been looking for something simple, easy and special to make for my Valentine's. Candy is out (diabeties) and I didn't think my nephews would appreciate jewelry so I needed something different. 

After I picked up the tin, I bought two packages of foam stickers to decorate the mailbox. I know I could have gone all out and used ribbons, stickers, rub-ons, flowers, paper and the whole nine yards but I wanted simple. Next was making and printing journal cards. 

Between now and Valentine's day I will be writing messages on the journal cards. The special things my Valentine's do throughout the month that I want to thank them for, notes of appreciation and lots of love will be written on those cards which will be waiting inside the mailbox for my Valentine's to open on love day.

Valentine Journal Cards PDF

Yesterday and Today Layout One

Taking a class with Ali Edwards and Tim Holtz are definitely on my bucket list, which is why I signed up for Ali's Yesterday and Today class at Big Picture Classes. I will be working with old and new photos and writing the stories about yesterday and today.

What struck me while working on this page was:

• how each of the photos invoked so many thoughts and memories
• how each photo has a story to tell
• how much I loved my joy at being in a tub full of water at 2 1/2
• how much I still love the water today
• how much of my personal history is in the details of the photograph

I've been doing digital scrapbooking for about two years. For me a hybrid page is filling in a template, printing it off and adding a few embellishments. Ali's way was different. I started with the photos; making a photo strip and the larger photos. They were printed and added to a 12x12 page along with the words and embellishments. I liked the process and can't wait to do other pages.

Today I am Loving...

Today I am totally loving my white Gelly Roll pen by Sakura. I have been drawing line borders to all the photos I've worked on today. If this pen had a Facebook fan page...I'd join!

"Snow" Good

I finally got a chance to play with my Cricut cartridges! I bought Snow Angel for the Imagine, Winter Frolic and got Simply Charmed as a gift. These snowmen came from the Winter Frolic cartridge and all were cut from white cardstock and the snowflakes were from Winter Woodland. I used the Imagine colors from Nursery Tails color the snowflakes. (I love the color fill feature on the Imagine!)

I colored the snowmen with copic markers and used Crystal Lacquer to add dimension to the hearts, noses and hats. I decorated the snowflakes with Stickles and gemstones. Stickles are another favorite supply of mine. I spent New Year's Day coloring, outlining and getting the snowmen ready. The snowflakes were pretty easy, just add a bit of Stickle to each point, let dry and they were ready to use. Once everything was dry and ready to go - the next day, I decided to make tags. Those tags then became winter birthday cards which read inside "hoping your birthday is snow special". I have several friends whose birthday's fall in January so hoping they think these cards are "snow" good.

One Little Word 2011

Over at Ali Edwards website (okay I admit it, I'm a huge fan) it is time for One Little Word 2011. The idea is simple, pick a word or let one find you and focus on that word throughout the year. My friend chose hope for her word. I chose Believe.

Believe wasn't even on my list until I saw it in someone elses post for One Little Word 2011. The minute I saw the word, it sang to me and I knew it was meant to be my word for 2011. Believe for me was a great choice after all the unexpected changes last year that left me with new worlds to emerge. This is the year to believe in myself, believe in my future, believe in others, believe in love, believe in relationships, believe in family and friends, believe in possibilities, believe in truth, believe in health, believe in all things, believe in God and believe in prayer.

And to help me make the most of my word this year I signed up for Ali's One Little Word workshop at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I am excited to see where Believe takes me in 2011. What's your one little word for 2011?