Happy Valentines Day!

i think i mentioned before that i pulled out the valentine projects i had made in previous years. they are some of my most favourites of anything i have made.

this year i "cheated" and bought the kids fun valentines for their classmates. Aidan had Lego puzzle valentines and Kiara had little Tinkerbell sticker boxes. they love to craft, but somehow homemade valentines are not one of their things to enjoy. which is odd, because they've made over 100 cards each winter to raise money for the Stollery Foundation. i know. it doesn't make sense.

despite our "cheating", they still have made a few unique cards and decorations. Kiara did make cards for her class in addition to the sticker boxes. they turned out very cute!




i also had the urge to do something with hearts and decor for our house. i had this 7Gypsies photo tray waiting in my craft room for something special....



as i made it, i got thinking that perhaps i can also swap out the various cards. i adhered everything strongly to the papers, but only used a bit of adhesive to glue them to the wooden frame.

i really wished i had some good photos of us to put in it. but it was fun to play with some of my supplies and make it all fit together.

the Echo Park Be Mine papers are incredible. i love that i was able to use the entire sheet for this project without hiding too many of the details.



i had these leaves left over from my February Urban Scrapbook DT kit. the wrinkled look didn't work with the rest of the layout. they worked well with these dictionary paper flowers though! i used a few colours of glimmer mist to get the papers this colour.



i used some alcohol inks to colour the birds and heart. oops! no close up of the heart between the birds. i also added a little pearl below the heart. the birds were originally a very pale pink.

my favourite glimmer mist right now is Snow Queen. it is a clear colour, with gold and silver glitter. it worked will with the kraft paper heart.

some Charcoal Chalkboard glimmer mist for the chipboard mini scroll heart.

the heart is a from a RiffRaff set i've had for several years. it has layers of stuff on it. some pearl white paint, then some pomegranate glimmer mist. then some rock candy crackle paint. them some more pomegranate glimmer. some brown inks. then some charcoal chalkboard glimmer. LOTS of paint and ink layers! it's difficult to plan out. i've used these products enough times now to have an idea of what look they will give something. not always the look i'm wanting, or what fits best. which is why i kept adding more layers! i figured my worst case scenario was that i would just paint it a solid colour with acrylic paint.

it was a stretch for me to combine pinks, purples and reds. maybe Kiara is rubbing off on me?!



this is from a very old Prima Acrylic Paintable. they came in 12x12 sheets, with 6x6 sections. they were designed to be used with alcohol inks. i did paint one, but the other 3 were blank and had gotten lost in my scrapbook tote. i just came across them a few weeks ago. it is difficult to see the detail in the photo, but there is some writing across the entire sheet. it works nicely with the Echo Park papers. when the light shines on it, a shadow is cast onto the paper behind it.

i also used one of the Pink Paislee artisan elements. those are so fun to use! some pomegranate glimmer mist was all it needed. it balances the flowers perfectly. it has an uneven coverage from the mist. i also added some red and brown inks. i love that it isn't totally solid in colour.

the little key and lock are Melissa Francis. i love them in this project. i added them as they came in the package. so pretty and dainty.



love love LOVE these little apothecary jars!

Making Memories had the most darling embellishments with their valentine line this year. lots of vintage and popular embellishments right now. {Jan made the most amazing little shadow box from the container that some of their embellishments were sold in.} my set came from a smaller package. my money is being spent on my Tim Holtz Alterations collection this year! ha!!



this is the most simple of the boxes. my favourite. the heart is made by Kaisercraft. i got 4 unique designs in the package. they are laser cut from thin wood. much more durable than the RiffRaff chipboard. it can handle a lot more inks and handling. i found the other chipboard heart bent more, and needed a lot more care. these newer hearts are more intricate in their details, and don't need to be handled as carefully. what's not to love about that?!!



okay, maybe this is my favourite part?! these little optical glasses are the greatest. {check out this project using them. amazing isn't it?!!}

i had not thought of using a rub-on with the glass. now i can't imagine it without it! it also casts a shadow onto the paper behind it.

i'll be keeping this decoration up for awhile. it's always good to keep reminders of love and adoration around! it will bring a bit of sunshine to our walls while we wait for the piles and piles of snow to melt.


in a few weeks i'll be surrounding myself with hearts and glitter and ink once again. my next double page layout class is coming up soon!! i think i still have a few spots open too. i'll share what i've learned about applying glitter, as well as a bit of a surprise glitter technique. my lips are sealed!


moving past hearts and valentines.....some of the new scrapbook products are arriving at the store. oh. my. goodness!! the Stella and Rose from My Mind's Eye is every bit as lovely as i had hoped it would be. i also picked up the Teresa Collins Notations album kit. it is the reason behind me now looking back to my digital photos from more than 3 years ago! i think it calls for a bit of storytelling....which means i'll need some photos to jog my memory. i am finally copying photos into one BIG hard drive. hopefully it will make finding them just a bit easier and quicker for me! it has been fun to look at photos of the kids from over 5 years ago. doesn't seem like that long ago, until i see their sizes!


i hope i am not the only one with this problem....i came across a photo of my best friend in high school and i. i'm pretty sure we were either in grade 12 or had just graduated. we were decorating an old pick-up truck for a parade. it involved cut branches to look like trees and a tent. i have no clue what it was for! i also came across photos of girls who were close friends of mine one summer....now i can't remember half their names! one of the girls i bumped into at Costco just before Christmas. i would never have recognized her. but she recognized me. i am going to take that as a compliment!