Valentine coupons - {free printable!}

Holy cow, I am so worn out. I'm still  struggling to fight off the tail end of this horrid cold, plus we had company over the weekend and celebrated my little girl's 6th bday. I don't think I've made a card or crafted anything in at least 2 weeks!! But since you've all been so patient with me, I'm going to share another one of my  Week In Love  projects with you today.

I love coupons. ♥ Saving money and getting freebies always make me smile, but my favorite kinds of coupons are the handmade ones - you know, the ones good for a free foot rub or a day to myself. :) Anyways, one of the things that I'll be giving my kiddos and hubby during our weeklong celebration is a little coupon book. I had so much fun designing these printables for them that I thought I'd share them with you, too!

Included in the download is an unwatermarked version of the above coupons and instructions for printing them, as well as how you can make them into little books, like this:

You can pick up your valentine coupons right here (link does not expire). I hope you enjoy them, and I hope your loved ones enjoy them as well!

Thanks for stopping by!

My scrapbooking method

Hi everyone! I am popping in real quick to let you know that I'm guest posting over here at  Keeping Life Creative. Pam asked me to share my scrapbooking method and how I manage to stay caught up, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

Even if you're not a scrapbooker, Pam's blog has something for everyone. From couponing to scrapbooking, flea market finds to everyday life, her blog is one of my favorite reads (and not just because she's my SIL, lol) So go check it out!!

Mini fabric hearts

John and I celebrate our anniversary on February 7th each year. Since Valentine's Day is on the 14th, I decided a few years back to celebrate  A Week In Love  with my husband. It's been a fun tradition of ours now - we do a little something special each day for one another. Nothing big or fancy, but it's nice having little daily reminders of how much we love each other. :)

With the advent of Pinterest this year, I've had a slew of new ideas, lol! (if you care to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me right here.) This was one that I found awhile ago:

source

I fell in love with those little fabric hearts, so I dug through my fabric scraps and pulled out some red and white pieces and made a whole bunch.

For now they reside in a couple glass vases on our bookshelf, but I plan to pin little messages to some of them and leave them scattered around for my husband to find one day during the week. :)

This year we'll be including the kids in our celebration, and it's been fun thinking up cute little things for them. I have some tutorials and printables in the works that I'll be sharing in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Tea party invitations

Good grief... last week was a doozy! Sunday night (the 15th) my son got sick, and by Tuesday the entire household was laid up with an awful cold. I don't remember the last time we were all so sick. Needless to say, nothing was accomplished and I am only just now starting to feel human enough to tackle my massive to do list. Blech.

Thankfully, I managed to get my daughter's birthday party invites finished last Monday before the germs overtook me. Her party will be this Saturday and I'm {so} glad that we'll all be healthy for it!

Embossed cardstock: Stampin' Up!; Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie; Ribbon: Offray; Punches: Stampin' Up!; Fonts: Amelie (cursive), Occidental (type).

We decided to throw a "tea" party for Lina and her little friends (even though none of us drink tea) and she is very excited. I've been collecting teacups and matching saucers from thrift stores for awhile, and after the "tea" portion of the party I'm going to wash and wrap them up to give the girls as party favors. I always loved having real dishes and glasses and things as toys when I was little, so I think they'll like that. :)

I'm not sure if I'll have a Project Life layout to share this week... seriously, we were all so sick and did nothing but stay home in bed. I took a couple pictures (of the growing pile of tissues and the stack of oils and meds we were taking, haha) but it won't make much of a layout. I think I'll just put in a little insert next week about why a week is missing.

This week is going to be busy - I'm turning the big 3-0 on Thursday and my baby girl is turning 6 on Saturday... we have company coming in from out of town, a party to throw, and a massively filthy house to clean before all of that. Whew! Wish me luck... I may not survive it all, lol!

My first {SMASHBOOK} page

Back when I first started scrapbooking there weren't cool tools and embellies... just cheezy dies cuts and ugly colored cardstock, lol. I didn't like those, but I did like to collect receipts, tags, notes from friends, magazine clippings, comics and pictures. I pasted them using plain elmer's glue into a huge old kraft-paper scrapbook that is still one of my favorite things to look at. Ahhh, good memeories. :)

A lot has changed since then. The scrapbook revolution took place and suddenly it was CUTE! Cool! {Fun!} to make scrapbooks, and almost overnight everything was different. While I embraced the changes and gladly said goodbye to the die cuts and cardstock mentioned earlier, I found myself drawn into the new trends and I pretty much lost my early "style".

Enter {SMASHBOOK}.

I know that some people don't get what all the hype is about, but seriously? This is how I started, so I {love} this style! I haven't made a traditional layout in about a year (since I decided to try a digital scrapbook last year) so it has been an adjustment trying to remember my roots, but it has been fun. Here is my first page:

While I don't plan to include photos in this, it will be very similar to my scrapbook from high school - odds and ends that catch my eye or that are special to me for whatever random reason - but with a twist. I plan to use this mostly as an idea book; a place to turn to for inspiration when my mojo takes a vacation. So I'll include some more artistic aspects as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how it evolves. :)

I don't have set plans to work on this on a regular basis, but I'll be sharing pages if and when the mood strikes and I put something together. So stay tuned for more! :) Oh, and btw... it would take me way too long to list out individual supplies used on my smash pages, but I'm happy to let you know what I use if there is a need. So if you're dying to know about a stamp or paper scrap or chipboard piece or whatever, just leave a comment and I'll let you know where it's from. :)

Vintage sewing card

I have a good friend with a birthday coming up. She loves to sew, so as I was flipping through my Lost&Found Sunshine paper pack and saw this paper I knew I needed to use it.

Paper: My Mind's Eye and vintage dictionary. Pearls, vintage lace trim.

It was refreshing for me to make a simple, no coloring (or even stamping, *gasp!*) card. I've been hoarding this lace trim for ages, so it feels good to use it up as well. :)

Have a great day - it's almost Friday, yay! :)

Project Life 2012 - Week 2... and a FREEBIE!!

Time to share my Week 2 page spread from my Project Life album! Last week was fairly uneventful so I didn't include a weekly synopsis card - just little snippets throughout the layout.

Here are a couple bigger pictures of each side:

It's not pictured here, but I added an insert of the page that my daughter and husband colored together. I think it's fun to see a picture of them coloring and then the actual page. :)

Now, did anyone notice this little journaling card?

That's right, it's another one of my custom journaling cards! Simple and sweet and easy for journaling. I designed 3 different ones: a fully-lined card and two partially-lined cards. You can flip the partially-lined cards to make the blank spot on the top or bottom or right or left.

On my card I added a bit of patterned paper, but you could also stamp or sketch or even put a sliver of a photo. I have a feeling I'll use these a lot. :) You can download the .pdf files for these cards right here. (link does not expire) And in case you missed them, you can check out my other 2 journaling card freebies HERE and HERE.

Have a great day!

SCRSC71 - Sketch Challenge

Hello hello! So did y'all love the new release from last week? Such fun new images! :) This week's Sparkle Creations challenge is a sketch challenge. You can check out a closeup of the sketch on the SCRS blog if you like.

 

I like clean, symmetrical lines so this was a fun sketch for me and not hard at all, haha. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too!

Paper: We R Memory Keepers; Stamps: Sparkle Creations; Ribbon: Offray. Memento ink, copics, nesties, gem brads, Ranger stickles, vellum, StazOn ink (for sentiment), adhesive foam.

I paired Valentine Oliver with the sentiment that comes with Backpack Oliver to make a card for my son's teacher. I like the bright non-traditional Valentine colors - so perfect for an elementary teacher, don't you think? :)

Be sure you stop by the SCRS blog to see all the samples from the DT and read the details on what you can win for participating. This week, the following designers have samples to share with you:

Alice Wertz
Amber Hight 
Danielle Lounds
Debbie Carriere - January Guest Designer
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd <--- that's me!

We are also going back to using Inlinkz for our challenges, so if you're ready to play along be sure to link it up to the challenge post on the SCRS Blog.

Happy stamping!

Love grows.

The "Branch Out" stamp set by Stampin' Up! is one of my favorite non-coloring stamp sets because it is so versatile. Ever since I got it I have been wanting to make a Valentine's card with it by using hearts as leaves on the tree, but this is the first year that I actually DID! :) So here is my sweet and simply card using that technique:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! (french script background stamp, Branch Out, confetti); Paper: Echo Park; Ink: Stampin' Up!; Ribbon: Offray.

I'm so proud of myself: for the 3rd week in a row I have posts scheduled each day! :) So hopefully you'll stop by again. See ya!

SCRS January Release Day!!

Hey friends!! Today is the final day of sneak peeks for Sparkle Creations, and it is also Release Day! All the new stamps are available in the SCRS store now. Today we are showing off the darling new stamp Tea Set Rin! (which includes that sweet sentiment)

Paper: My Mind's Eye; Stamps: Sparkle Creations (image and sentiment); Border punch: Stampin' Up!. Memento ink, copics, clear spica pen, pearls, adhesive foam.

Be sure to visit the rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Tea Set Rin. Sparkle will be giving away this new stamp to one lucky person. For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designers' blogs (listed below). Then head over to the SCRS Blog and comment on the Rin post. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment. The lucky winner will be announced on Sunday on the SCRS blog!

Alice Wertz
Danielle Lounds
Debbie Carriere  - January Guest Designer
Kerri Michaud
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd  <---you are here
Simonne Clay
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

 

SCRS January Sneak Peeks Day 1!!

Hey peeps!! Today is the first day of sneak peeks for Sparkle Creations - yay!! I must confess that I am missing Christmas already... I only JUST took my tree and decorations down this week, lol. Anyways, Valentine's will be here soon and i am enjoying playing with some new crafty goodies... like this adorable new stamp from SCRS! Introducing Nurse Lucy:

Paper: My Mind's Eye; Stamp: Sparkle Creations; Ribbon: upcycled from a Carter's baby blanket packaging; Flowers: floral supply; Border punch: EK Success. Memento ink, copics, stitching, adhesive foam, smooch accent ink, white flocking, pearls.

Isn't she darling?! My SIL is a nurse and I'm always on the lookout for cute nurse stamps when making her cards, so I'm excited about this one. :) She also comes with the sentiment "get better soon" but I left it off of my card.

Alright, now be sure to visit all the rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Nurse Lucy. Sparkle will be giving away this new stamp (with the sentiment) to one lucky person. For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designers' blogs (listed below). Then head over to the SCRS Blog and comment on the Lucy post. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment. The lucky winner will be announced on Sunday on the SCRS blog!

Alice Wertz
Amber Hight
Debbie Carriere  - January Guest Designer
Kim Yu
Margie Cortina
Savannah O'Gwynn
Shaela Odd  <---you are here
Simonne Clay
Stephanie Kraft  

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

Project Life 2012 - Week 1

Woohoo! I've finished my first layout for Project Life this year. It feels good. :) I have an insert this week to include a few extra pictures, so here is a picture of my 2 page spread with the insert in normally...

...and then flipped over.

And here are some closeups:

 

This is the front and back of the insert:

The first thing I've realized is that I need to figure out how to take decent pictures of these layouts... the glare and miscolorization from these page protectors is horrible!! Anyone out there do Project Life? Tips? Suggestions?

Days of the week journaling cards FREEBIE!!

I was hoping to have my Project Life title page to share with y'all, but I need to get a photo of me and John to put in there first. So instead, I'm going to share another style of the journaling cards I made!

I really like these ones. And since I couldn't decide on which color to make them, I made a set of each day in each different color. If I decide down the road that I want different colors (gray, purple, pink, etc.) I'll make some of those and have them available for download as well. :) For now, you can get a full set of these days of the week journaling cards right here. (link does not expire)

I'm working on my first week's spread today and so far I am {loving} this style of scrapbooking! We'll see how I feel in 51 weeks, lol.

Have a great day!

Sending you love

Per one of my unofficial goals, I am trying to cut out more of my images to use on cards since I really like that look. (Which, I confess, is mostly because of Amy. Is anyone else in awe of her cutting skills?!) While I don't enjoy the tedium of cutting out some of my more detailed stamps (like Sparkle Creations and Kraftin Kimmie ones), Greeting Farm stamps are usually nice and easy to cut. :)

I liked the simple layout of Wilfreda's card for the Friday Spyday challenge so I decided to play along and make another Valentine's card. :)

Paper: Echo Park; Stamp: The Greeting Farm; Scallop border punch: Stampin' Up!. Memento ink, copics, nesties, smooch accent ink.

WS-Stella is one of my favorites. She works so great for Valentine cards - right up there with WS-Bree (which is discontinued - boooo!!).

Today marks the very last day of my second trimester... only 3 more months and this baby will be here, yay!! Hopefully it passes quickly - I want to get started on my baby announcements, lol.

A cozy Valentine's card

I've had this image colored for awhile, and I was planning to use it with some non-traditional Christmas paper I have (think pink snowflakes, haha) but I never got around to it. So when I pulled out my Valentine paper and realized it matched, I decided to make another Vday card, hehe.

Paper: My Mind's Eye; Stamp: The Greeting Farm; Border punch: Fiskars; Ribbon: Stampin' Up!; Hat pin: bead supplies. Memento ink, copics, Ranger stickles, adhesive foam.

TGIF peeps - is anyone else celebrating the end of the week?! It's been a doozy for me, so I'm glad to have the weekend here so I can relax a bit. :) Have a great day everyone!