Winner!

How was everyone's Valentine's Day? Ours was great. This was my daughter's first one while in school and she was so excited! Between the goodies we gave her and what she got from school and ballet class, she made out like a bandit! She also got a pink rose from her Papa. So sweet! I put together a little area with their goodies and some decorations that I made.

Now onto the nitty gritty...I want to say congratulations to Kelly_Deal for winning my Gecko Galz giveaway during the Purple Valentine Blog Hop! It was a great hop, with a ton of talented people participating! Thank you to everyone who stopped by! Be sure to come by next month for another giveaway!

Valentine for Gecko Galz

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! Gecko Galz is featuring another Valentine Card that I made today, so please go check it out and the sale that goes with it!

 Supplies:

Cardstock - Stash
Script Stamp - Stampin' Up
Vintage Image - Gecko Galz
Bingo Card - Gecko Galz
Doily - Wilton
Pink Ric Rac - Wright's
Red Crochet Lace - Recollections
White lace - Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink - Distress Ink Black Soot
Twine - Really Reasonable Ribbon
Felt Hearts - Stash
Gold Cherub - Stash
White corners - Stash
Rhinestones - Martha Stewart
Scor-Tape
Aleene's Tacky Glue

Instructions:

First I stamped my script onto the card with black ink.  Let dry.  Apply 1/8 inch Scor-Tape around card and adhere ric rac and corners. Add jewels to corners.  Lightly ink doily and images.  Adhere doily, then add twine. Figure out placement of images and add crochet laces then images.  Adhere hearts then cherub.

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Love Birds Card

Click here for the Purple Valentine Blog Hop post!

Click here for the Pinterest Party post!

Here is a 4th sample for this month's products at Gecko Galz.  I received the flowers in a swap from Kim over at artJOYstuff, and I just had to use them.  They are a bit unconventional in color for a Valentine, but that is why I loved them.

Supplies:

Papers - Gecko Galz
Pearls - Nicole
Heart Doily - Wilton
Flowers - Prima via artJOYstuff
Crochet Lace - Really Reasonable Ribbon
Birds - Gecko Galz
Banner image - Graphics Fairy
Ink - Distress Ink Brushed Corduroy
Pens - Stampin' Up
Glossy Accents

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Pinterest Valentine Projects

Click here to check out my post for the Purple Valentine Blog Hop!

Glitter Tart Designs is hosting a Linky Party called I Saw It On Pinterest & Did It. Every month you post your Pinterest inspired projects, making sure to link to the original creator as well, then link it to the Glitter Tart Designs blog. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but I just didn't have the following for it.

My projects this month are all about Valentine's Day. I love decorating for any holiday, and Pinterest is such a great place for inspiration and know-how.

First is a yarn wrapped wreath, made to have an argyle look. The original source for this was Etsy, but another person made a tutorial, located on the Mine for the Making Blog.

I pick up wreaths at the thrift store to dissemble and make new. Wreaths can get very expensive here in Hawaii, so this is one way I try to be frugal. Wrapping a straw wreath is different than smooth foam ones, with its uneven texture, so the wrapping took longer. Once that was done, I traced some hearts onto felt, cut them out, glued them onto the wreath then wrapped the yarn in a criss cross pattern.

I wish I had done more hearts, and wish that the craft store hadn't been out of grey yarn because the wreath on Pinterest is so cute in grey! I may make another one, smaller, using foam disposable plates as the wreath, then covering with yarn, as seen on this You Tube video.

I also made a burlap banner that spells out LOVE.  I received a ton of burlap for Christmas from a wonderful family member, though she thought I was crazy! This is just one of the many things you can do with burlap! Here is the original pin that I found: Valentine Heart Banner

There doesn't seem to be a real source for it.  I just saw the picture and was inspired.  I found many others on Pinterest, but this was the original one that sparked my interest!

Here is my version of the Burlap Heart Banner.  I cut out the triangles first, then stamped with red paint, using foam stamps from Making Memories and Pebbles, Inc. I used to own a ton of foam stamps, they were the trend about 8 years ago.  But I sold most of them and only keeping my beloved Making Memories themed ones (Christmas and Valentine's Day), and my basic letters from Pebbles, Inc.

Next, I used Scor-Tape to adhere the lace. I don't know if that was the best move, but I didn't feel like dealing with any messy liquid or hot glue.  Once that was done, I decided to tie small pieces of twine between each triangle instead of one long piece.  I don't have my sewing machine up so this was easiest.  Then I added some long pieces to the end pennants and hang up! Easy and quick!

I also found some card inspiration on Pinterest, inspiring me to use my bright and happy paper pad from Doodlebug, called Lovebirds.  Here is the inspiration card from Two Peas in a Bucket:

Here are my cards that were inspired from this:

The Be Mine and Love cards were also inspired by cards I found online, but now, for the life of me, I can't find them again!  Don't you hate when that happens!

Anyway, that is all for now.  I have more "ideas" I want to explore but this week is pretty busy.  Too many holidays in 1 week! Be sure to check out Glitter Tart's blog to see more Pinterest projects!

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

The Purple Valentine Blog Hop

Welcome to my post for the Purple Valentine Blog Hop, hosted by Dean's Designs! I am excited to participate in this hop, giving me the opportunity to meet new crafters and bloggers! Be sure to visit Tracie's blog, Dean's Designs, to see who else has linked up for this hop!  There is a lot of great artwork out there so check it out!

I have a giveaway today, a $25 gift certificate to Gecko Galz, a wonderful and inexpensive place for vintage images. I was supposed to have a giveaway back in December, but the holidays got in the way so my oopsie is your gain!

All you have to do to enter the drawing is to become a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post. On February 15th, I will randomly pick a winner from the comments and announce it in another post. Please be sure to have your email and/or blog linked to your name so that I can visit and notify you if you win.

Here is what I created to share for this hop, a sweet little Valentine to hang up, which is also one of my February samples for the Gecko Galz Design Team. I used some of the new February products from Gecko Galz as well as a few others. I am really into the heart doilies this year, see this post from last month for another example. They are fun to use as is, paint, glitter, cut up. Anything goes. This one I left plain, but to save the intricate inner parts of the doily, I cut them out before attaching the heart paper (from Gecko Galz). I stamped onto my background paper with a script stamp. It wasn't perfect, but shabby chic doesn't have to be, so I wasn't too stressed! I have a hollow table so stamping can be difficult.

The little flower was made from 2 flowers off of a hydrangea bush, using a green flower to wrap the pinched ones. I wrapped it with floral wire before adding the green one, then just glued the wrapper on. I put glitter glue on to jazz it up, and tied a bow around it. Looks like a little boutonniere.

Then I just layered on my other elements!

Supplies:

Heart Doily - Wilton
Background Paper - Gecko Galz
Little Girl image - Gecko Galz
Frame Image - Gecko Galz
Clock Image - Gecko Galz
Glitter Glue - Studio G
Butterfly Wing - Gecko Galz
Purple Lace - Fabric Mart Hawaii, unknown manufacturer.
Butterfly ribbon - Really Reasonable Ribbon
Script Stamp - Hero Arts
Ink - Distress Ink Brushed Corduroy
Flowers - from stash
Pearls - stash
Purple ribbon - Michael's
E-6000 Glue
Scor-Tape

Hope you enjoyed your visit! Leave a comment in order to enter the drawing! Winner will be drawn on February 15th!  Good Luck! Also check out the Gecko Galz Paper Crafting Group on Yahoo! There are fun challenges you can enter and plenty of chances to win more free products!

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Loads of Love

Lately I have been all shabby chic, all the time.  But I wanted to get back to basics, make a clean and simple Valentine card.  I pulled out my Loads of Love stamps from Stampin' Up, which I bought 2nd hand from a former consultant.  I have always wanted this set but it was down on my wish list so I never got to it.  I thought it would be great to bring this set back by using it in a more trendy way than before.

I used a white card, stamped the truck in black, stamped the hearts in red, stamped some extra hearts to cut out, used some glitter glue on one heart, then tied some twine around it.  Voila! I love the simplicity of this card.  I can't wait to play with this set some more, finding new ways to make it current.  Are there any old stamp sets you would like to revive?

Supplies:

White cardstock - stash
Black Ink - Distress Ink Black Soot
Red Ink - Distress Ink Fired Brick
Glitter Glue - Studio G
Black and White twine - from stash

Linking up to these challenges:

The Pink Elephant - Hearts TPE184
Paper Issues Fawning Over You
Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Go Red/Hearts

Enjoy!

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Kissing Booth Valentine Card

Here is a little Valentine I made using some images from Leanne's blog, Fripperies and Butterflies. I fell in love with the Kissing Booth Sign as well as the adorable couple. I am trying to use more layers in my cards, while still keeping it simple.

Supplies:

Kraft Cardstock - stash
Love Bingo Card - Gecko Galz
Music Heart - Gecko Galz
Kids Image - Fripperies and Butterflies Blog
Kissing Booth Sign - Fripperies and Butterflies Blog
Ruler sticker - Jenni Bowlin
Crochet lace and red ruffle ribbon - Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink - Distress Ink Brushed Corduroy
Scor-Tape
Scalloped note paper - Making Memories

I am linking this to the following challenges:

Fripperies and Butterflies Valentine Challenge
Sugar Creek #46 - Lots of Layers
DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge #102 - Red or Pink
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Enjoy!

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Art With Heart

A few days ago I visited a blog, Pixie Hill, one of my favorites, and found she was donating Valentine's Day cards for kids who are sick.  I loved the idea, so I visited the site, Inspiration Through Art, and thought this would be a great place to send all the ones I make as well as those that my daughter makes.  We always get those foam kits for her to use, she loves them.  We spent Saturday morning putting them together, which was quite a few.  Here are some pics of our morning, and yes, she is wearing Christmas pajamas!

My Valentine's were part of a kit, complete with adhesive, from American Crafts, because they spoke to my librarian heart. I just couldn't resist buying them.  There were simple to make, nice and colorful, so I thought they would be perfect for this cause as well.  I have others in mind as well, if I can get to them.  I have so many projects going on in my brain, it is hard to get them all finished!

They also need stamps, so if you aren't creative, send them some stamps to cover the cost of shipping.

Let me know if you participate in this worthy cause!

Happy Scrappy Savings!

Jess

Valentine's Day Cards at Gecko Galz

Today, at Gecko Galz, you will find a unique Valentine that I made as a member of their design team, along with the instructions on how to make it and a special product offer from the owner, Leanne.

This Valentine inspiration will continue every day between now and Valentine's Day. Be sure to check back daily as each day there will be a different Valentine created by another design team member along with a new product special. You can also see any Valentine's that have already been featured.

I have the Gecko Galz badge on my sidebar with a link to the site for your convenience. For today's post, the link to the Gecko Galz site is HERE.

Also, the viewers are being asked to vote for their favorite card at the end of this promotion. The Design Team member with the winning card will get $25 in Gecko Galz products!  So be sure to check out all of the cards and to vote for your favorite!

Here is the card that I made for Valentine's Day.  Check out the Gecko Galz site for details on how to create it and the supplies that were used!

Happy Scrappy Savings!
Jess

Black and Gold Heart - Gecko Galz Sample #2

I went ahead and did another sample for the Gecko Galz Design Team.  The owner gives us such wonderful images to use it is a shame to only create one item!

Also, this piece is for a February swap I am doing with my Circle of Friends group.  We do something every month and the theme for February is to decorate a heart.

Supplies:

Image of Dance Couple from Gecko Galz Love Me Do collection
Music Image for Rosette from Gecko Galz Musical Interlude Collection
Doily - Wilton
Black Paint - DecoArt
Black Glitter Paint - DecoArt
Gold Berry Branches - Ben Franklin Crafts
Buttons - misc from stash
Black Lace - Wright's
Font for text - Parishish from FontSpace.com
Ink - Distress Ink in Black Soot
Gold Glitter Glue - Studio G
Dresden Foil from Alphastamps
Cardboard Heart cut by hand.

So, I decided to use some of the random bits of cardboard that are laying around and traced a heart onto it using the doily as my template.  I painted the template and the heart black.  I edged the heart with glitter glue to help hide the corrugated edge of the board. Then I spread a really thick amount of Aleene's Tacky Glue all over and placed the button mosiac into place.  These are shank buttons that I had to snip to get somewhat flat for gluing. While that dried, for 2 days from the amount of glue I used, I made a rosette out of a music image from Gecko Galz, and used my E6000 to glue it to a circle.  I usually have trouble getting the rosettes to stay glued but that stuff is awesome for keeping them in place! It dries fast too.  Then I used more of the glue to put on the button, after carefully adhering the Dresden Foil around the edge with Scor-Tape.  I then fussy cut out the couple, added some glitter paint to their outfits, printed out the words and adhered both with more of Aleene's.  Once all of that was dry, I flipped the piece over and glued the hanging lace and the branches using more E6000.  This can either hang or set in a stand.  I love it because it is so none traditional for Valentine's Day, and I have never worked with anything Art Deco.  This was a good stretch for my creativeness.

Now, I just need to make 5 more for my swap!! I hope there are enough buttons!  Good thing is that I have until February 28th to get it into the mail.  Check back later for another sample, which is also the January swap piece for Circle of Friends!

Happy Scrappy Savings!
Jess