That's Amore for Valentines

As some of you may know, my 98 year old mom passed away in a residential nursing home in June of 2020 and although she didn't die of COVID19 she did die because of COVID19.  

I know that sounds weird, however when older folks like my mom who are used to having visitors and going for walks and participating in activities are isolated in their rooms and kept apart from their friends and loved ones during a pandemic it breaks their spirit, causes depression and some just simply die as a result of it.  

My mom was such a person.  Her dream was to live to be 100 and I really believed she would do it.  Her goal was to be the oldest surviving member of her family.  She talked about it all the time.  And although she was classed as a frail elderly person, she was a strong fighter and a determined woman who usually could make her way back from the brink no matter what.  She was like the Ever Ready Bunny and because of that she was my hero in so many ways.  Unfortunately because of COVID she gave up.  

So mom this Valentine's day post is in your tribute and for all the love you shared with our family.  You had so much fun and enjoyment making cards for your grand and great grand kids for Valentines and other occasions, so I know you'd be delighted to hear Heather and I made some Valentines cards for the nursing home residents where you lived, and we dropped them off last weekend.  While  we were there, we waved and blew kisses at the window to three of your very special friends - Pat, Lucille and Doreen.  

Here's Some of the Cards I Made:

For my cards I used an old Stampin' Up designer series paper called "That's Amore" which I cut using the Love It Chop It formula. This dsp was pretty muted but I liked how the mix and match worked. My card stock was a mixture of retired and current stock (Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party, Beautiful Brocade and Sweet Sugarplum).  

Over a three day period I enjoyed creating 46 cards including the ten I gave to  the nursing home.  

I don't know how you like to make cards but when I have a lot to do I like doing  an assembly line instead of working on one-at-a-time. I gather all my supplies such as stamps, card stock, dsp, ink, dies, punches and whatever additional embellishments or accessories I'll be using, and then I get to work.  I also like to have an idea of how many I need to make and a design. 

This is what the top of my desk looked like as I started assembling my cards. 

I cut and scored my card stock first, then mixed and matched the 5 1/4" x 4 designer paper mats (Love It Chop It).  I used all my scraps for adding layers to the front and the insides of the cards as design elements.  

I brought out a variety of retired Stampin' Up! stamps such as Bloomin' Love, My Little Valentine, Hearts A Flutter and Lift Me Up and I chose the Valentine sentiments and images I wanted and mounted them on acrylic blocks. 

I stamped all the sentiments in Cherry Cobbler ink on Very Vanilla and Pool Party card stocks. I also die cut and stamped hearts using the retired Hearts A Flutter dies and stamp set and used a retired medium sized heart to punch hearts from the That's Amore DSP.   

The inside panels were also pre-cut from Very Vanilla card stock and were all  stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink with a sentiment from Bloomin' Hearts. I used left over 3/4" x 5 or 3/4" x 4 strips of DSP to decorate the bottom or sides of these panels. 

For my main images on most of the cards, I  used the Kangaroo & Company and Darling Donkeys  animal images as well as the tiny envelopes and sentiments for embellishments.  The heart from my Dog Builder punch came in handy for punching out the tiny red, pool party and dsp hearts. I used a 3/4" circle punch for the Feb 14th sentiment and the retired Gift Bow Builder Punch and one of the stamps from that bundle for the little sentiments from Kangaroo and Company.

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At the end of the day, almost every card was different because I was able to mix and match all the elements. Not only was it a fun experience making cards for the nursing home and friends and family, but it was a relaxing one. Time certainly flies when you're stamping and creating.  If  you're looking for something to occupy your time or a new hobby, keep stamping in mind it's fun and relaxing.  

The large red and pink hearts came from the "That's Amore" designer series paper pack (retired). There were two sheets with pink and red lacy heart images, that I cut out at the joints. These 3" hearts made a nice focal point for the cards and acted as a base for the rest of the design elements.

I used Stampin' Blends to colour the mama and baby kangaroos and the little heart clusters.  The Kangaroos, the heart envelope and the heart clusters are all components of the Kangaroo & Company stamp and die set which is currently in Stampin' Up!s  January to June Mini  Catalogue.

For the ten cards I made for the nursing home I used a sentiment from the retired stamp set Lift Me Up that says "Just a Note to Lift Your Spirits".  I thought that was very appropriate and meaningful for these elderly folks during COVID times.   

Kangaroo and Company is a 20 image stamp set and has a coordinating 11 piece die set.  It's certainly a versatility and fun set that can be used for almost any occasion.  I love that the die for the mama kangaroo cuts the pouch opening so you can insert a variety of the images like the flower or heart bundles.  Besides the kangaroos I stamped the envelope, some of the sentiments and the bundle of hearts for my Valentines Day cards.  Love it!  

Darling Donkeys is a Sale-A-Bration 21 stamp set and is available for FREE with a $60.00 purchase from any of Stampin' Ups Current Catalogues until the end of February or while supplies last.  I can't get enough of these cute little donkeys.  So much fun! 

Thanks for dropping by today and taking a look at my Valentine's Day cards.  I hope you liked them.  If you could leave a comment that would be wonderful.  

HAPPY STAMPING!

PENNY TOKENS STAMPIN' SPOT

Penny Hanuszak, Independent Stampin Up Demonstrator 

HOSTESS CODE FOR FEBRUARY: 

Creative Circle Design Team January Blog Hop - Love Is In the Air

Hi stampers and welcome to the first Creative Circle Design Team blog hop for 2018.  Our hops are held on the first Thursday of each month, and there's always a new and creative theme. 

Here is My Project:
This month's theme is Love Is In The Air and it since I have a February wedding coming up, the timing was perfect for creating a wedding/gift card holder.

Here is the front view of my wedding card.  I've decorated it with images from the Lift Me Up stamp set.  

This is the back view of the card.  When you pull the tab at the top a gift card holder slides out.  The pocket is made with Stampin' Ups! Mini Treat Bag die cut.

The inside of the card is unique because it has an acetate divider page which separates the back and front of the card. 

Supplies:
Stamp Set: Beautiful Bouquet and Lift Me Up
Ink: Smokey Slate, Momento Tuxedo Black
Card Stock: Whisper White, Smokey Slate and Basic Gray
Other Papers:  Silver Glimmer paper, DCWV Elegant Holiday Paper
Accessories: Big Shot, Paper Trimmer, Dimensionals, Tom Bow Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Basic Pearls, Lots of Labels Thinlets, Up and Away Thinlets, Mini Treat Bag Thinlets, Stitched Shapes Framelit Dies.

Details:
I have not included the details in this post  for the front of the card.  You can find them by clicking here, to see an earlier post I did for the Watercooler Wednesday Blog Hop.

I did however add a gift card holder to this card using the Mini Treat Bag  and Lots of Labels Thinlet Dies.  The gift bag was cut from Whisper White card stock, assembled and glued to the back of the card with sticky strip adhesive.  I added a 3 3/8" x 4 3/4" piece of Silver Glimmer Paper, topped with a 3 1/4" x 4 5/8" piece of Designer Series Paper to the front of the bag.  

I inked up the medium sized hot air balloon from Lift Me Up in Smokey Slate and then stamped off twice on a scrap of paper before stamping the image on a piece of Whisper White card stock. Next I stamped over top of the balloon with the sentiment "Wishing You a Day of Love and Happy Memories" from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set in Tuxedo Black ink. I cut out the sentiment with the largest circle in the Stitched Shapes thinlet die set. I stamped the heart from the Lift Me Up stamp set in Smokey Slate and cut it out with the matching die and added it to the bottom left side of the heart. I also added some small clouds and a hot air balloon cut from silver glimmer paper to finish off the detail on the gift card bag.

Lift Me Up Stamp set coordinates with the Up and Away Thinlet Dies.  Order #142896

 

Stitched Bouquet Stamp Set #143666

For the gift card holder I cut out the largest label from the Lots of Labels Thinlet set in Whisper White.  I cut a 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" piece of Whisper White and a piece of the Designer Series of paper and attached them over top of the label only leaving the tap part showing.  I cut a 2" x 3 1/4" piece of designer paper and glued it to the bottom of the designer paper side to hold the gift card.  As an after thought I also cut the top of the label again in Silver Glimmer Paper and glued it to the back of the label top.  

Thanks again for dropping by and I hope my card inspired you to try this acetate peak a boo card.  It's a really fun technique and is unbelievably quick and easy to assemble.  Make sure you check out the other blog designers at the CCDT home page or click on the links below.  Lots of inspiration is in store for you. 

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Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot