Lots of hearts

I'm back to share the rest of my valentines. This year I was more interested in doing mixed-media projects than making "cute" cards, so that's what I did. (I love cute cards, but that's what I usually make for Meals on Wheels, which I didn't do this year.) Today's cards have stamping, texture, drawing, and definitely lots of hearts.

These are the first three mixed-media cards. They are 5" x 7" rather than the usual A2 size (for the U.S.), which I think is easier for me when it comes to mixed media. I used lots of supplies, and I even tried to keep a list this time, which is at the end of the post. The middle card in this group has clear glossy hearts. Here is another view:

It's hard to detail the steps for making these cards. I started by stamping the hearts on the tan panel and then just started applying different "stuff." I tried to just create and not overthink anything, but I'm a chronic overthinker, so I don't know how well I succeeded with that. Most of all, I just wanted to enjoy the process, which I did.

These are the last two cards in this style. For these two I covered the middle panel with clear gesso after I was done with the stamping. I wanted to try adding water to the Distress Crayon (the red and pink) instead of just smudging it with my finger. It didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but the nice thing was that I could just wipe it off the gesso'd surface. It did leave a hit of color, though, which is why the card on the left has a bit of a red tint to it. I tried using rub-on transfers on the right-hand card, but it was really hard to get them to stick, and I think that may have been because of the gesso. There's always something new to learn!

Before I go, I meant to include these cards in my last post, but I forgot. Oops!

I guess they are mixed media -- at least in terms of the textured backgrounds made with stencils. The two outside cards used foil with Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo. The middle card used a glitter texture paste. Die-cut hearts and sentiment strips make up the focal images. And that's it for this year's valentines!

As I mentioned, here are (most of) the supplies I used for the tan mixed-media cards:

Stamps: Love Notes (Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz), Well-Read (Altenew), Beautiful Soul (Taylored Expressions), Zen Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper: Tan mixed media paper and tan cards (Strathmore), black card stock (Taylored Expressions), Poppy Parade card stock (Stampin' Up!), white card stock (Neenah)

Ink: Toffee (Taylored Expressions), Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), Abandoned Coral and Worn Lipstick Distress Crayons (Ranger - Tim Holtz)

Accessories: Sketched Hearts dies (Taylored Expressions), gold Hero Paste (Hero Arts), transparent gloss texture paste (Ranger), clear gesso (Prima Art Basics), white Collage Backgrounds Hero Transfers (Hero Arts), Fluttering Hearts stencils (Honey Bee Stamps), clay hearts (HAI)

I'm going to try to get back to a more regular blog-posting schedule. Nothing set in stone, but I'm planning to do one post each weekend and at least one post during the week. That should help me catch up on the back log of cards I have to share and hopefully keep me on track. Thanks for stopping by!

Gel print valentines

Happy Valentine's Day (just a little late)! However you spent the day, I hope it was lovely and filled with kindness. I had hoped to share the valentines I made before the actual day, but here we are. File the ideas away for next year -- or modify them to make a card for a different occasion.

This was the first year in a long time I didn't make cards for our local Meals on Wheels organization. I had planned to, but I never heard back from my contact after reaching out to her three times during January. So instead I focused on my own cards and a festive project for work (and I still ended up rushing at the last minute).

Last year I made some inspirational hearts for my coworkers, and I decided to do that again this year, with a few tweaks. This year I used gel prints for my hearts and added phrases to the hearts instead of just a single word. The rest of the process was basically the same: make heart templates, trace on gel prints, cut out, adhere coordinating card stock on the back, add sentiment, finish with twine.

I chose twelve different sentiments and used each sentiment on five hearts. So there's some variation, but I didn't have to spend time trying to find sixty different phrases.

I put out containers of hearts in our office and break areas. I debated whether it was too similar to last year and thought maybe people wouldn't take them. There were still quite a few left at the end of the day on Friday (I left them out for next week), but I know some people enjoyed them.

After I had cut out all the hearts, I used various heart punches on the left-over parts of the gel prints so I didn't waste them. I used the larger punched hearts to make eight valentines with my all-time favorite layout for Valentine's Day cards.

There's something about those six hearts lined up that just speaks to me. I've used this layout with different textured papers, different colors, different prints, etc. Sometimes I worry that it's too simple, but that hasn't stopped me. I think I could make this card every year. I had planned to make something similar with the smaller hearts I punched out, but I ran out of time. I saved them, though, so maybe next year.

I needed a few more cards after this bunch, so I went looking through some pieces I'd saved to use "sometime" and found a few that worked perfectly for valentines.

The card in the left is the only one that uses gel prints (see Crazy Quilt Scrap Papers for more details). I think the backgrounds for the other two were from a play session when I first got some Distress Oxide inks. But any colorful background -- patterned paper, gel print, ink blending -- would work. I just added die-cut hearts, a sentiment strip, a few black heart embellishments, and a doodled border.

I have a few more valentines to share in my next post, so stay tuned! Thanks for stopping by!

Cherry on top

I'm back with the final two valentines I made this year. I decided to share these cards last because they're not traditional valentines and would also make fabulous birthday cards.

I used the Coloring Layering Cupcake stamp set and coordinating die from Hero Arts. The set includes two stamps for each part of the cupcake -- the paper, the bit of cake in the middle, the frosting, and the cherry -- to create a fun, realistic image.

I used a stamp positioner to do the stamping for the cupcakes so I could align all the pieces as closely as possible. I also used the coordinating die to create a template. 

I didn't want the backgrounds to be too busy, so for the first card I used a piece of striped patterned paper matted with a layer of dark brown card stock. For the second card I embossed the card front with a polka dot embossing folder.

I kept the embellishments simple and added several red enamel dots to play off the idea of a cherry. I thought the second card needed one final detail, so I tied some red and white baker's twine around the bottom of the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mixed media valentines

For most of the valentines I sent out this year, I made mixed-media cards. To make my cards I started with a number of the prints I created in my last gel printing session as well as several foiled panels. 

These two cards are my favorites from the gel print cards. The panels for both cards, as well as those for the rest of today's cards, were made with stencils from The Crafter's Workshop. (I purchased them in a bundle, however, so unfortunately I don't know the names of the individual stencils.) I cut these panels with the Postage Stamps Nested Frame Cuts dies (Hero Arts). I added the bits of text with the Collage Background Hero Transfers (Hero Arts). To add some sparkle, I used my finger to rub Gold Hero Paste on a few places on each card and then splattered a bit of Gold Glimmer Metallic Ink (both from Hero Arts).

These two cards use many of the same products and the same basic process as the previous cards. There was one extra step: I added texture by spreading some of the Gold Hero Paste randomly through the Script Stencil (Hero Arts). It's hard to see in the photo, but it's a fun detail. 

For these two cards, I added accents with the Sketched Hearts dies (Taylored Expressions). I used gold card stock for the hearts on the pink card and black card stock on the orange/yellow card.

I kept the postage theme for these cards but switched to the dies from Master Layouts 11 from Gina K Designs. I die cut two panels of "stamps," used a pen to doodle borders, and added the letters L-O-V-E to the stamps.

The rest of the cards in today's post were foiled using Transfer Gel Duo and Deco Foil from Therm O Web. For these first two cards I accented the foiled card fronts with musical notes transfers, twine, and a few washi tape postage stamps on the left-hand card.

I had a hard time trying to figure out how to use these two foiled card fronts. I didn't want to cover up too much of the image, but I didn't want to leave it "plain," either. For the pink card I decided to use the coordinating ink to sponge around the edges of the panel and in the center of the rose. I finished the card with some ribbon and a few pearls. For the gray card I added a few floral die cuts, a sentiment strip, and enamel dots.

These two cards are probably the least "valentine-y," but they're still cute! For the card I the left, I love the rainbow foil on the black card stock. I kept the rest of the card simple with a few silver hearts and sequins. The silver foil and yellow card stock of the right-hand card reminded me of a bumblebee, so I added a die-cut bee and punny sentiment strip in the middle of the card front over a circle of vellum. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspirational hearts

This year for Valentine's Day, I wanted to create a little something to share with the teachers and staff where I work. I didn't want to make more cards, though, and I wanted the gift to have some meaning. I decided on a collection of colorful hearts with inspirational words. Here are a few of my favorites:

To make the hearts I actually used the paper from cleaning off my brayer while gel printing. (Those scratch papers always look so pretty; I love finding a use for them.) I drew a few folk-style hearts on chipboard and cut them out to use as templates. I traced and cut out the colorful hearts, glued them onto coordinating card stock (a great way to use scraps!), and then trimmed off the extra card stock.

I used a variety of pens and paint markers to doodle a border on each heart then punched a hole with my Crop-A-Dile and added a loop of twine. I made a list of inspirational words and used a small alphabet stamp set to spell out the words on strips of white card stock. (Some of the words I stamped two or three times.) I trimmed the white card stock close to the letters and glued a word on each heart.

I made about 55 hearts, divided them into two containers and put one in the main office and one in the staff break room. I was nervous that no one would take one and it would end up being a silly idea, but most of them were gone by the end of the day, and there was only one left by Friday. Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

2024 Meals on Wheels valentines

Happy Valentine's Day! The last couple of weeks I've been so focused on trying to get projects finished for the holiday that I haven't kept up with my blog posts (obviously). I'm finally getting everything posted this week, starting tonight with the valentines I made this year for Meals on Wheels. I created a total of seventy-five cards, many of them made with bits and pieces from card kits. There are quite a few pictures, so I'll keep the text short.

Here are all the cards together, followed by close-up photos of the different card designs:

The next group of photos are from the first card kit. The flower pot cards were one of the intended card designs. The next three photos are card designs I made using parts of the kit (patterned paper, some embellishments, circle layers) along with my own die cuts and other elements. 

Below are cards made with the second card kit. The first cards -- pop-up box and tags -- were the designs from the kit. The cards in the third photo were ones I made with the leftover patterned paper from the kit.

The rest of the cards were all made from "scratch." The card fronts of the first two cards were actually panels I made for desk calendars. The stamped hearts were too low and didn't leave enough room for the calendar page, so I remade the panels for the calendars and saved these to use as valentines.

The next cards designs are simple layouts with colored focal images. I made five cards of each design, using the same color palette for all the coloring so I didn't have to spend time choosing which markers to use.

I finished off with nine cards made with patterned paper and die-cut hearts. I used 12" x 12" paper, which I cut into nine 3" x 4" panels. I chose four colors of card stock for the card bases and die-cut hearts and used coordinating ribbon to finish off each card.

I hope these cards offer you a bit of inspiration for next year's valentines or give you ideas that you can modify for other occasions.

Thanks for stopping by -- and stayed tuned for a couple more Valentine's Day posts!

Inspired valentines

After making all my valentines for Meals on Wheels, sometimes it's hard to decide what I want to create for my own valentines. But this year I knew exactly what I wanted to do:

I was inspired by an artist named Andrea Nelson. Her website and shop is A Dream or a Day Art, and her Instagram account is @andreanelsonart. On Instagram, she shares all kinds of ideas for fun, non-intimidating, and often kid-friendly art projects. This bold heart-themed idea jumped out at me a few weeks ago.

For this project, I used three empty toilet paper tubes cut in half to make six short tubes. Then I bent each short tube into a heart shape. I chose six colors of acrylic paint and put some of each color onto a flat surface (e.g., paper plate, piece of cardboard, etc.). Using one tube for each color, I dipped the heart-shaped end into the paint and then pressed it onto a piece of heavy black card stock sized for a card front. I overlapped the hearts and didn't worry if the paint dripped onto the paper -- I even added some extra paint splatter when I was done with the hearts.

Halfway through I decided to adjust my color pallet. The dark green and magenta were difficult to see against the black, so I switched to light pink and light blue. I used the same paint tubes; since the previous paint left on the tubes was dry, the colors didn't mix.

Once the panels were dry, I adhered each one to a light colored card base, and using foam tape I added a valentine-themed sentiment strip near the bottom of the card. The final touch was three little gems.

I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with love and friendship. Thanks for stopping by!

2023 Meals on Wheels valentines

Earlier this week I dropped off my box of valentines for my local Meals on Wheels organization. I made a total of 102 cards in thirteen designs. Here is the whole batch:

And here are close-up photos of the different designs:

For these cards I used some pretty patterned paper with watercolor-style flowers. I wanted to enhance the paper instead of covering it up, so I decided to embellish the flowers. I punched small flowers and glued them onto the painted blue flowers; I added gold paint in the centers of the purple and large pink flowers; and I used a black marker with sparkle to color the inside of the small pink flowers.

These two designs also use large layers of patterned paper, although this time as more of a background. For the paint card I stamped and colored the focal image and sentiment. And for the heart card, I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white card stock and added, appropriately, several small textured die-cut hearts.

In my book, Valentine's Day always calls for puns, and the cactus card was one of those designs. It's also definitely non-traditional, so I added a tiny white heart to the large cactus to make it seem more valentine-y. The milk bottle card looks a little more traditional, but it also could be used for a variety of love, friendship, or thinking of you occasions.

For these two designs I stamped a background stamp in the same color as the card base. Then I added the focal images on a die-cut or stamped white layer just above the middle of the card. I added some cute little envelope embellishments on the snail mail card, and the lightbulb card was another "punny" design. (The sentiment on that card is from a stamp with multiple phrases all related to lights or lightbulbs. The sentiments get cut apart with a die, so each card I made in that design has a different sentiment.)

For the card on the left I cut four coordinating pieces of 6" x 6" patterned paper into nine 2" x 2" squares. I adhered one square of each pattern to the card base at different angles and added a large heart with a stitched border in the middle of the card. To make the mushroom design, I first determined what size heart I wanted and then cut them out of white card stock. I placed one of the hearts on my work surface and placed my largest clear block on top of it. I arranged all of the mushroom stamps on the block and then I was able to stamp each heart just one time instead of having to stamp each mushroom individually. You also could do this technique with a stamp positioner, but my acrylic block was easier to grab. :)

These two are the most feminine designs of the bunch because of all the pink (although I did try to keep them from being too frilly). On the typewriter card, I paper pieced the heart on the stamped image. And it's hard to tell, but the light pink behind the typewriter is a piece of patterned paper with a text print. On the mod floral card, the pieces that look tan are actually a gold card stock. I struggled with whether I should add embellishments on those cards, but ultimately I liked the clean layout with the deckled edge.

The last card designs are two more puns. To make the records I used four different circle punches: 1/8", 1/4", 3/4" and 2". And the sentiment on the bumblebee card is another one from a sentiment-strip stamp, so each card has a different bee-related sentiment.

I've really enjoyed making valentines for Meals on Wheels over the past several years. (To see previous designs, search "Meals on Wheels" or click on the "Valentine's Day" category.) I hope each card brings a little joy to the recipient.

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentines for any time

This year after I finished all of my cute, punny, flowery valentines for Meals on Wheels, I wanted to do something a little nontraditional for my own valentines. Then one day while I was on Instagram, I saw a few posts featuring cut-paper collage artwork, and that gave me the inspiration I needed. So I pulled out the gel prints I didn’t use for making calendars, as well as the scratch paper from cleaning off my brayer while gel printing and some paper I painted to make a postcard last summer, and got to work. I did use hearts and some love-themed sentiments, but they're really cards that you could use any time.

Side note: Lately I've been doing my blog posts partly on the computer and partly on my phone or tablet. I've been taking pictures with my phone, and while they seem okay on the phone, they don't look great when I'm on the computer. I wish I were a great photographer, but I haven't had the time to focus on composing and editing photos. So I apologize for the less-than-stellar photos. Now, back to the valentines.

These card bases, which are about 5" x 7", are from two packs of pre-cut and -scored card bases that I've had forever. Since I was making non-traditional valentines, I decided to go with non-traditional colors, too.

For the punched hearts, I used my brayer clean-off paper. Basically it's the scratch paper I roll my brayer on when I want to switch paint colors while gel printing. I'll have to come up with a snazzier name for it. I glued six hearts onto each card base, and in the center of each heart I added a word that I stamped on white card stock and trimmed by hand. I doodled a border around each card abse and added accents around some of the hearts. (On the yellow card, I also added splatters of metallic watercolor paint before I glued on the hearts.)

Here is a peek inside the cards:

I stamped a quote from Helen Keller for the sentiment and added a mini punched heart for a touch of color.

Here are a couple more large (5"x 7") cards. I discovered that I really liked the larger format for this collage-style artwork. I am less of a fan of all the extra space inside the card, however, because I often don't have that much to write.

These hearts are punched from painted paper I originally made to create a postcard in honor of Eric Carle for a project last summer. For the card on the left, the background is a gel print, and I added three short sentiments on strips of white card stock. For the card on the right, I used a layout similar to the previous cards, but adjusted the spacing between the hearts so I could stamp and emboss a sentiment on the card base. I added more doodling on that card, too.

These two cards are smaller, I think about 4" x 5". (They were also from a pack of pre-cut card bases. I'm really trying to use some of these supplies that have been just sitting around.) Both of these backgrounds were gel prints. The left card has a painted-paper heart and embossed sentiment, and the right card has a brayer-sheet heart and a stamped sentiment cut into strips.

This batch of eight cards was probably my favorite. I used several "reject" gel prints to hand cut all the squares (approximately 2" x 2") and hearts, and it's so interesting how a print that doesn't look great as a whole sheet looks so much better when you have just a little piece of it.

I knew I wanted to use the sentiment "Do small things with great love," but I didn't have one in my stash that was the right style. So I got out an old set of small alphabet stamps and stamped them out myself. Then I cut out the individual words and glued one word over each heart. I wanted to bring in a little more white, so I used a white paint pen to draw a border around each square.

These cards inspired me to make another batch of gel prints, and I'm working on turning those into cards. Hopefully I'll be back to share some of those cards soon. I've also added a new "gel printing" category under the "Labels" section of my blog, so you can just click on that if you ever want to see gel press ideas. Thanks for stopping by!