Valentines!

 Valentines cards are so much fun to make.  Perhaps it's because the colors and theme are so well defined, that I find it so easy to just play and come up with designs.  (Too many choice tend to put me in a spin.)

So here is a card I made using the new Happy Hearts embossing folder:

To do this, add an extra sheet or two of card stock to Tab One on your Big Shot, to make the impression deeper.  After embossing on whisper white card stock, use a brayer and your Pretty in Pink ink pad to GENTLY roll the ink over the card face. Do not press. With such light pressure, you may have to re-ink and go over the card a few times.  It is a good idea to check first to see if your card, after being embossed is lying flat.  You can bend it back & forth genetly to try and get it as flat as possible.  This will avoid getting smears of ink inside and in between the hearts.  However, if you get one or two, that is where the ribbon or larger hearts will go!

Here's how to get a cute double-heart embellishment on this inside, using only a heart punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack:

First, stamp your sentiment on the inside liner of your card.  I'm using Whisper White here. Next, punch a heart in the corner, pushing the punch up as far as it will go.

 Layer the Whisper White card onto the next color, which in my case is Pretty in Pink. 

Your next step is to punch another heart through the double layer, offsetting the punch a little down and to the side, shown here. 

Snail-tape your liner into your card.  Here's what it looks like when you're done: 

Quilted Cards

One of the most fun things to do is to make a quilt--especially when it only takes a few minutes, and you don't have to worry about a total inability to make straight, even stitches....

All you need is a few left over scraps of designer paper, preferably with very small patterns, a  nice embossing folder, your cardstock, a glue-stick, and the usual snail tape and cutting tools of your choice.

Here, I am using a very common star pattern; but laid out in two different ways, it gives two very different looks. I have chosen from my stash of retired dsp's, and color stacks. I am working with Wild Wasabi for the green, Early Esspresso for the brown. The dsp's contain both white and vanilla, as well as Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and So Safron.  I chose to use Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, and Crumb Cake as well as the first two I mentioned.

When making a quilt, choose tones that go together, and pull your solid colors out of the design patterns that you are using.  Don't be afraid to use plenty of colors!  Depending on the back-ground colors you use, your quilt card will look cozy, vibrant, peaceful, or playful.  Have fun and experiment with the arrangement of the pieces.

When you have the arrangement you like, I recommend using a glue stick to paste the pieces onto your back-ground square.  Because this paste won't dry instantly, you will have a little time to push and slide your pieces a little, to make them fit against each-other just right.  To make sure everything stays put, however, I like to put a very thin layer of the paste down on the backing, and then put a little more on each piece as I lay it down.

Once everything is where it should be, select an embossing folder with a detailed pattern, and emboss the entire quilt together.  Because you already have two layers of paper here, you may not need to use any tabs with your folder (usually they take tab #1 on the Big Shot.)

To finish this card, I added a lacy edge using a border punch, and then backed the quilt with Crumb Cake over and Early Espresso card base.  The two different ribbons each make a totally different impact on the card; one quietly complements the card, the other giving a burst of color and cheer.