TONS OF VALENTINES/BLOG CANDY!

Hey All! Hope your weekend has been wonderful and stress free! My post today is my contribution to Pat Adam's cause for the children at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Pat was given a very tall request by the administrator there. She asked if Pat could come up with 1,000 valentines for the kids to swap with each other and give to parents and staff. Yes, you read it correctly, 1,000. So I, along with a bunch of other stampers have committed to help with this huge request. So, today I will show you what I made to send. Stay tuned because I'm giving away some blog candy as well as several others if you choose to help with this worthy project.


I made a total of two dozen cards to send to Pat. I made several designs and several of each design. Here is my first one:



I love this sweet image. It is a Stampabilities House Mouse stamp and this one is called "Love Bunny". I thought this would make a perfect Valentine. I stamped the image in Archival jet black and colored it with colored pencils and OMS. The sentiment was computer generated using my favorite font, Curlz. Both the image and the sentiment are mounted with foam squares for dimension. I made 3 of these.

My second design is this one:



How cute is this frog? It is from All Night Media. I stamped the background hearts on a window card. I then used my Nesties to make the little red frame around the cut out. I colored the frog with colored pencils and OMS then cut him out and attached him so that it looked as if he was hanging out of the window. I used a heart punch to make the heart above his head which is attached on the inside of the card. When you open it up it simply says "Happy Valentine's Day" and the heart is above it. I thought this would make a better "boys" Valentine. I made 3 of these.

Here is my third design:



I love these little bugs. This image is from Stampendous. I colored them again with colored pencils and OMS. I used Angel Wings Shimmerz on their wings for the glittery effect. I used my Nesties to cut out the scalloped rectangles and mounted the image and the sentiment with foam squares. Again, the sentiment is computer generated. I made 6 of these.

My fourth design:




Another House Mouse stamp. This one is so adorable. Again, I used my colored pencils and OMS to color the image. I mounted it on a Nesties scalloped rectangle and then mounted that to the card with foam squares. Added a strip of the same color card stock and added the ribbon I got at Michael's. I thought this too was a perfect image for a Valentine's Day card. I made 2 of these.

My fifth design:



This almost has a 50's retro look doesn't it? The tree image is by Artful Inkables from their "Endless Limbs" set. I stamped it with Versamark ink, then embossed it with fine detail black ep. I then stuck on all of those puffy heart 3 dimensional stickers. Attached that to a double matte of pink and black card stock and added the black photo corners. I made 3 of these.

My sixth design:



This is somewhat whimsical. I have this mini envelope punch that I never use, and I thought how can I use a mini envelope on a card. I then came up with this idea. I wanted it to look like the hearts and butterflies came flying out when it was opened. I used the mini envelope punch and a heart punch for those things. I then stamped the flourishes after I had attached my envelope to the card. I stamped the butterflies with Colorbox red ink and then cut them out and attached them. I attached the Nesties scalloped circle with the sentiment with a foam square for depth. I then used my sparkly Gelly Roll pen to do a few highlights. I really do like how this one turned out. I made 2 of these.

My seventh and final design:



I used "Inchies" on this card. This is the first time I've ever used them. For those of you who don't know what they are, they are 1 inch X 1 inch squares made out of almost something like chip board. They are pre-cut. So, I stamped the "love" image on one and embossed it with red tinsel ep, attached one of those stamped and cut out butterflies to another, glued button hearts on 3 more of them and finally attached a small flower and glued a small red gem in the center of that. I then attached them to the red card stock and that to the printed paper and then that to more red card stock which was then attached to the card. This one screams Valentine's Day! LOL I made 5 of these.

Here are all 24 cards together:



I cut the heavy watercolor card stock to A2 size cards, and they all have coordinating colored envelopes.

So, there you have it! It was a lot of work, and at times my hands were cramping from all of the cutting, piecing, and coloring. However, every time I would start to whine, I would think of what those kids must go through on a daily basis, and I shut my mouth very quickly! LOL This was a labor of love and I hope my cards bring these kids some love and smiles. They so deserve that.

OK, now to the blog candy for this project. I'm asking that you make some Valentine's Day cards for these kids and help Pat out. If you do, I will enter you into a drawing for the blog candy below:



It includes:

A complete stamp set that has every season covered. It has 24 stamps in the set.
A Fiskars cylinder punch set with a set of images for making baby stuff (elephant, bear, duck, rabbit.)
A vertical wood mounted "Thank You" stamp.
2 spools of dog and cat ribbon.
2 heart punches.
1 dog paw punch.
3 mini leaf punches.
2 mini magnet frames.
1 Hershey's Cookies and Cream giant candy bar in a sleeve that I made.

Here's what you do: Simply leave a comment on this post (you don't have to send cards to Pat to enter, but it would be so nice if you do).

If you would like to help with this project, please send Pat an email letting here know that you want to help. You can get the details here: Pat Adam. You can send her an email at mrsmiley6@aol.com. I will then put your name into a drawing and I will pull a winner on February 8Th. Deadline for getting cards to Pat is February 7Th. So, please help if you can.

Hope that made sense. . .Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by. You are the best, and I so appreciate your comments. They truly mean so much to me. Especially coming from such a talented group as all of you. Take good care! I'll be seeing you on your blogs! Don't forget the pic of the week below.

Best,

Curt O'Brien

"God help me be the person my dogs think I am."