"ROMANTIQUE" VALENTINE POCKET LETTER

The inspiration and base for this one is Graphic 45's "Mon Amour" paper line.   Does it look like you are seeing this through a window?  That was fun.

I cut the central figure out and "popped" her onto the outside of the pocket.  For more texture I used; Liquid Pearls down the (your) left border, Wink of Luna on all of the leaves with Stickles on top of that and then outlined most of the rest of that piece, a couple of crocheted flowers, a banner from my stash, some pearly swirls on the right (your) corners and a sweet lacy dragonfly at  her  sash.

A close up;

The back;  the perfect theme to dig into my flower/leaf stash for pocket fillers.  Several of these are vintage millinery pieces.  The tea bag wrapper is from Chocolate Rabbit Graphics on Etsy.

Note:  Chocolate Rabbit Graphics has been a favourite of mine for quite some time.  Her prices are competitive, superior quality and she is quick to respond to a request.  Check her out, I suspect you will soon see her developing goodies specifically for Pocket Letters.

VALENTINE PILLOW CASES

A new tradition I started at Christmas, holiday pillow cases for the grands.  I haven't sewn in years so I am not quite sure how this came about.  And I really dislike doing the same thing multiple times.  But I had decided this would be my goal for this year.  I have already stretched that goal to the next two years, I will do half of them for each holiday switching back and forth from one holiday to the next with the rotation opposite next year!  I do love picking the fabrics :)

The pattern is all about pinning to minimize the actual sewing.  The directions are a bit of a tease for a non-sewer but I just keep them handy!  The polka dot fabric is the body of the pillow case.

SWEET SENTIMENTS VALENTINE BOX

I covered  a small 3x4 oval paper mache box with papers from the Graphic 45 line "Sweet Sentiments" for my "partner" in a Valentine Swap hosted by JoAnne of Vintage Dragonfly.  We have such fun!

The images from G45 stand on their own, it's hard to cover any bit of them up!  I edged the top with Perfect Pearls, created a bouquet with some of the tiniest blooms in my stash, tied it with a bow and added a banner from My Artistic Adventures Etsy.  I adore banners!  I find them finicky to do from scratch so having a sheet of banners to choose from is my idea of perfection, a couple of little folds at each end to make them pop up and voila!  Heather has also now done alpha sheets sized to use on her banners - heaven!

The top and bottom are edged with a row of white Dresden trim which I inked to match the paper.  I used my favourite Platinum Stickles to add some more sparkle.  When I want my projects to have a vintage look (and I almost always do) I lightly trace all of the edges with glitter, typically Platinum Stickles which sparkles but is more neutral.

and packed with Valentine goodies!

"TRUST YOUR HEART" - ART JOURNAL PAGE

When I saw Heather's Primitive Heart Pockets at her My Artistic Adventures Etsy shop, I knew I was going to was use it on an art journal page.  I have neglected my journal for so long ..this is a good start.  I love crafting holiday projects so this is an easy extension for me.  Even the most simple interactive feature on a page holds my interest.  Here I have used a folded hinge on the single red heart so that in order to read what is written on the front of the pocket you have to lift it away.  Some little bit of a memento will go into the pocket.  The hidden text are  quotes  from the book "Peter Pan" by JM Barrie;

So come with me, where dreams are born and time is never planned.

Just think of lovely things and your heart will fly on wings.

You know that place between asleep and awake  

That place where you can still remember dreaming.

That's where I will always love you.

That is where I'll be waiting.

Spritz, stamp, stencil, outline, cut and glue, write - done!

PAPERDOLL VALENTINE TAG (JULIE NUTTING/PRIMA)

Paperdoll playtime!  I love the Julie Nutting stamps, imagine how much fun we would have had as children creating these.

I have stamped the image on a variety of (mostly) Martha Stewart Valentine papers, cut them out and pushed the pieces around to find the mix I liked.  I prefer to use a light pattern for the face and arms otherwise I am tempted to draw in a face..not always with great results LOL  I used bits and pieces from my Valentine stash to create the background and embellishments.  I have built this tag on a 3.5 x 8.5 inch background.

Check out Julie Nutting on YouTube!

Note:  I am entering Natalie and Amy Challenges "Love Is All Around"

MY ARTISTIC ADVENTURES "ANYTHING GOES" CHALLENGE (Feb 2/14)

Valentine's!  I can't get enough red/pink/vintage/glitter splendor!  Heather makes it so easy to keep the ideas coming with the versatility of her images. She is busy building her inventory at My Artistic Adventures Etsy adding banners, bases, alphas, colour variations, everything you need in your own inventory to create your own artistic adventure.  Heather also produces videos to demonstrate how you can recreate her fabby projects and these are linked in her Etsy shop along with her images or find her at  My Artistic Adventures YouTube .   Heather is making it as easy as possible for the creativity to flow!

Join us in the twice monthly  MY ARTISTIC ADVENTURES CHALLENGES , make them part of your own adventure!

I adore chenille figures :)  For me they add just the right nostalgic touch to a projects or perfect little gifty bits for the grands..even girlfriends.   I used Heather's Shabby Valentine Cupid Tags  for both the head of my figure and the medallion on my "Key to My Heart" Valentine Candy Basket.  Pink bumpy chenille stems, hearts and key from my stash and a bit of white feather for wings.

The candy basket started life as a 3" peat pot which I first painted with white gesso.  The gesso makes a nice finish inside and is easier to cover on the outside.  Next step should be to create your handle and attach before you cover the pot with crepe paper.  I used a red chenille stem with pink ribbon twisted around it.  I laid down a strip of DST (double sided tape) around both the top and bottom of the pot and created gathers in the pink crepe paper as I went.  A row of gathered red tulle trim around the top really made the colours pop.  I added a sweet and sparkly pink trim along the bottom.  Then more sweetness in the ruffle edged ribbon bows.  I cut out the smaller version of the tag to use as the medallion, popping it onto a plain white scalloped circle punch.  Glitter, glitter, glitter!  My favourite..Platinum Stickles and a bit of Ruby Slipper and Fuchsia!  Hope I have inspired you to create a sweet and easy basket of sweets of your own.

Note:  I have entered challenges at; ABC Challenges "E is for Embellishment",  Natalie and Amy's Challenge "Love is All Around", Really Reasonable Ribbon "Anything but A Card", Rhedd's Creative Spirit

CUPID AWAKE - VICTORIAN PAPER CONE MEDALLION

I have done several paper cone medallions using vintage sheet music and been crazy in love with the results, same here!  Inspired by a project from Lisa Pace in her book "Delight in the Seasons", I turned to using modern patterned papers (A Ladies Diary from Graphic 45) for this.

The silvery blue glittered balls in each scalloped cone (punched squares) came from my vintage holiday stash, gold glittered plastic is how they started life.  I have topped each of those with a vintage blue mercury glass corsage pin. I used a large oval die cut (Spellbinders Nestabilities I think, which I got in a package of "stuff" at a local thrift store) to cut the image. I trimmed that a bit and then hand drew a slightly larger oval pattern to create the chipboard base for the back and the top.  Hope the slight imperfections add to the vintage look LOL  A row of Copper Liquid Pears around both the image and the mat creates some additional dimension.  Prima leaves and a silky rose finish the medallion.  I will either adhere a saw tooth hanger to the back or use ribbons to hang this...depends on where it ends up and if I do the companion image :)

The "rose" I separated from some "oh to swoon over" luxe trim I recently bought in 3 different colour ways, you will see this again!

The image is a Victorian photogravure from 1897 done by M.B. Parkinson.  The companion to this one is "Cupid Asleep" which I also have.  There is a lot of information about these online if you are interested in having a look.

I am entering this in the following challenges:  The Ribbon Girl, Anything Goes Challenge, Make It Monday, Cuttlebug Mania, All You Need Is Love

VINTAGE CHOCOLATE BOX (REFURBISHED)

Refurbished....gives me a good feeling.  This sweet but oh so shabby vintage chocolate box was tucked into my stash several years ago.  The top was peeled half off and cracked across one side so I started by removing it completely and tracing a new backing from thin chipboard.  Distress Ink in Festive Berry gave life to many of the nibbles and nicks all around.  I adhered a line of red gathered tulle trim  to the box before attaching the top and it's new backing.  I created more interest on the border using both Christmas Red and Platinum Stickles and a bit of Opal Liquid Pearls.  I am happy to give what was a simple little box a few more years to be enjoyed.

VALENTINE THEMED PAPER RIBBON WREATH

Not tired of these yet and yes likely I will do one for each holiday LOL  To add a bit of "shabby chic" I distressed each of the paper strips in my new "Distress It All" (love this little machine!), a cocoa coloured chalk finish ink on the paper edges and then on the tops of the ribbons and trim.   I used;  an 8.5 inch styrofoam wreath,  Martha Stewart's "Enchanted Woodland" patterned papers, a vintage ribbon rose, pale pink Valentine picks, fabric leaves, paper doily, punched scalloped heart, gold foil greeting, white Belgian lace, wired ribbon and edged all the ends with Platinum Stickles.

Also entered into the following challenges;  #174 Make It Monday, #87 Really Reasonable Ribbon Ramblings, Two Creative Chicks    Please do go and check out the challenges, there is lots of time for you to join in!

Tracey of  My Creative Place and DT member at Make It Monday chose this as her Pick of the Week (POTW) !!!  Thank you Tracey!

VALENTINE NUT CUP - MINE

Lots of time still to craft for Valentines Day.  A slightly different version of my first nut cup.  Two frilly frou frou girly now, need to think out a couple of sweet but boyish versions.

A bit of red tinsel this time for the basket handle, felt heart & key, mini roses each wrapped in tulle, red crepe paper ruffled around the basket, white Dresden trim and Heathers collage sheet Romantic Focals.

VALENTINE "LOVE" NUT CUP

Nut cups!  This has been on my crafting bucket list for ages.  Those of us "of a certain age" will remember these at the table for any important event.  Usually filled with jelly beans or other small treats, it was a disappointment to find peanuts in there!  Mom always brought home the special ones for me,  I thought they were oh so fancy.

The acrylic handled basket this is built on was a gift from my crafty friend Marilyn aka Busy Martha!  The large patterned heart, the text box and my sweet little cupid are images from Heather of "My Artistic Adventures".  Check out Heather's Etsy shop she has been busy!

The basket handle actually has a clown on it so I have built my embellishment to sandwich that out of sight. A couple of red sparkled chipboard hearts are stuck back to back along with the patterned heart and some teeny buds and roses.  Red and pink crepe paper are ruffled around the bottom, topped with some red Dresden trim, a bit of white ribbon and a teeny sparkly heart.  I printed the collage sheet out 2x on one letter sized sheet of paper to get the right size, plenty of left overs for more nut cups!

VALENTINE ORIGAMI BOX 2

I do adore crafting holiday projects!  Like no other holiday throughout the year, Valentine's Day inspires me to "more" - more glitter, more ribbon, more flowers, more frou frou of all manner.  Though this particular project is rather restrained considering.(I am thinking over a Valentine's theme in my pink and red guestroom..will let you know how that goes :)  You can find the video link for Christina Griffith's origami box here.

The base papers are again from an older Making Memories line featuring pinks, reds and craft tones.  A MS punch for the craft hearts, vintage packet of red piping, vintage millinery posies, roses, red seam binding, ribbon, lace and Felt Fusion (Queen & Co) from my stash were used here.

VALENTINE ORIGAMI BOX

An entry at Make It Monday last week lead me to discover Christina Griffiths and the "Origami Box" .. .thank you Margaret!  I can't stop making the boxes..

My first one had to be Valentines!  The bottom is made from one sheet of 12x12 pp, the top and inside bits part of another.  I have used Making Memories "Lovestruck", it's an older pattern that I particularly like.

The box is quite sturdy, great for a special gift or decor item.  Do check out Christina's video which I have linked up for you below.

Here is Christina Griffith's video showing you how to make the base, you can find the next video for the top from here.

 PS  I am entering this project in the challenges at The Shabby Tea Room, Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings and Make It Monday.

MY ARTISTIC GOALS FOR 2014 (NOT RESOLUTIONS!)

Life has really changed for me in the last year, I struggled with leaving my career for health reasons and I have had to make my health the first priority.   It took me awhile but I have accepted that this new life is what it is and it is time to move on gracefully.  

Accepting Heather's offer to be a member of  her design team (My Artistic Adventures Challenges) fits well into the rather vague ideas  I have had in the last while.  I am going to start the year by trying to; get back into creating in an organized way, reconnecting with other creative souls, making use of the incredible stash I have collected over the years and get back to creating Christmas throughout the year. 

One of the best pieces of advice I have read is to create more than one piece at at time by using the leftovers of the project you have just completed.  Like most of you I am sure, I save all the bits and bobs ...for years and often don't get back to them.

I used two copies of the Hugs and Pooches collage sheet to create my Valentine Spoolie so I had a fair amount of material to work with.  I found the pink stripped tag, card stock and patterned paper in my scrap box.  I purposefully looked for small pieces of trim and ribbon to use.  The last piece of music background I punched into small hearts which I will use on the back and inside of the pieces and the envelope.

I have often given the advice "start as you mean to continue"...taking my own advice.

HEARTSTRINGS GARLAND

On my "must do" list for some time has been to take one of Nancy Maxwell Jame's  courses.  Yahoo!  What a great experience it has been.  Even though I haven't been home long enough to even start all of the projects, sharing and getting to know some different crafter's has been inspiring and all done in the warm, encouraging and comforting environment of a PaperWhimsey forum.

Hearts cut from the quilted border of a hanging long past it's prime (Toni, you know I take care of all the quilted pieces you have done for me!), backed with some sweet red and white dotted fabrics, bits of vintage doily and vintage white buttons layered on top and then strung together with lots of shimmery red organza ribbon!     This one is going to stay up all year long!