1st School Valentine's Day Celebration

This is the first year that Rachel has really grasped the concept of Valentine's Day and she has taken to it with much enthusiasm (as she does with most aspects of life)! Everything from the Valentine mailbox she made at school to the "goodie package" that arrived in the mail today from Mamaw to the rose Daddy surprised her with this evening (she kept saying "I love your rose party, Daddy!") has made her little face glow! So when she found out that Mommy was making her Valentine cards that held her favorite Smarties for her classmates, she was beside herself. I was fortunate to come across an awesome tutorials for these little pockets while getting my daily dose of blogging on Julie Buhler's Paper Pleasing Ideas. Apparently, she has a little one that has just started preschool, as well, and made her own version of these pockets.

I definitely think the teacher needed a super special treat for Valentine's Day. We are so fortunate to have Jennifer Clardy aka Mrs. Clardy as Rachel's preschool teacher. I cannot say enough nice things about this lady. The patience and love she has for the kids in her class is beyond description. PTI now carries these exclusive heart shaped tins. When Nicole Heady designed these she certainly had the papercrafter in mind! To go along with these wonderful tins, I had the tutorial from one of my favorite papercrafters, Debbie Olson, on her blog Thinking Inking. Isn't it just wonderful when someone does all the nitty gritty measuring work for you! Thanks, Debbie! I was definitely pressed for time this week and you truely made my life easier! Once the tin was complete, I filled it up with Mrs. Clardy's favorite peanut M & M's- probably not the most color coordinated treat for the box but sometimes a favorite treat has to take presidence over artistic detail-lol.

This second heart tin, I made for Mrs. Sanchez, the class Aide. Her's will be filled with peanut M & Ms, also. Two gifts for two very deserving ladies! Tomorrow I will share with you the Valentine cards that I made for my family and that should wrap up this fun holiday. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for Smartie pockets:
Stamps: C.C. Designs- Love Ya Much, CHF- Polka Dot Backgrounder
Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Vellum CS, Whisper White,
Ink: Real Red, Andirondack Pitch Black
Supplies: Corner rounder, Oval punch, Scallop oval punch, SU lg oval punch, American Craft brads, Copic markers, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, red line tape

Recipe for Nuts About You tin:
Stamps: PTI Punny Valentine
Paper: Whisper White, Brocade Blue, PP- Rusty Pickle Chocolate Bunny
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Creamy Caramel
Supplies: May Arts ruffled & checked ribbons, SU Blue grosgrain ribbon (retired), Cinnamon Stickles, Stamping Dimensionals, heart scalloped punch, MM brad, tag punch & small tag punch, red line tape, Xyron

Recipe for Berry tin:
Stamps: PTI Punny Valentine, Beautiful Blooms
Paper: Whisper White, Pink Passion, PP- Valentine's pack from Target by Marcello for K & Co.
Ink: Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Real Red, Green Galore
Supplies: ribbon from stash, tag punch, small tag punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Sakura Quickie Glue pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, red line tape, Xyron

Will You Be My Tweetheart?

Anyone that has visited my blog, knows that I am a totally sucker for sweet little birds- just silly for them, actually. That is why when I saw these cute little ones from the new release of C.C. Designs, Love Ya Much, I knew they had to be mine! I was short on time for stamping tonight so I wanted a simple card. The main image was so cute, I didn't want a bunch of elements distracting from it either. That brings me to an astounding announcement- I used NO patterned paper on this card- a rarity for me. The card base is Pretty in Pink. I stamped Pretty Patterns Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms in Regal Rose. Let me take a minute to tell you about a new found favorite of mine- Backgrounders from CHF. They are absolutely awesome. Like SU, they can nicely cover a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card, and there are so... many to choose from AND if you purchase them with EZ mount they are less than $10.00. CHF, also, gives FREE shipping for orders over 35.00! Gotta love that! Now back to the card, the main image is stamped in Adirondack Pitch Black ink on Whisper White CS, then colored with Copic markers via a blender pen for a soft look to these little "love birds." I punched the image with an oval punch then matted it on a vellum scalloped oval. The edges of the scallops were outlined with a Sakura Quickie Glue pen then dusted with Dazzling Diamonds for some sparkle. The little dots are Glitter Dots by Jessie James. That's pretty much it. A simple card to start my Valentine's Day card stash. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for Tweetheart card:

Stamps: Love Ya Much (C.C.Designs), Pretty Pattern BG (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: Regal Rose, Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Paper Trimming Buddy,Oval punch, Scalloped Oval Punch- Marvy Uchida, Dazzling Diamonds, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Copic markers, Copic blender pen, Regal Rose ribbon, Glitter Dots- Jessie James