Blogger's Challenge - Valentine's Day!

Hey there all my stampin' friends! Today on my blog is officially Emma day!
Our Blogger's Challenge theme this week is appropriately enough, Valentine's Day, and I'm showing you the card I made for her this year. We will be celebrating early because this Sunday, she and her skating team will be skating in a competition in Hershey, PA. So today, I'm taking her to see the new movie "Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief". She and her bff, Bethany made orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts and clay bead necklaces to wear to the show - to say they are superfans of the book series is an understatement! I'll try and get some pictures and share them with you later on.

Now, for her card. You may see an unfamiliar image as my focal point - it's actually from a very long retired stamp set called From the Heart. I just {heart} this little girl image and since my girl is growing up so fast, I thought I'd better use it while she will still appreciate it!

I used Barely Banana for my card base and stamped it all over with the polka dot heart from the I {heart} Hearts stamp set in the same color. The sweet little paper ruffles were made with the Tea Party Designer Series Paper. I used part of a technique that my good friend Jan McClurg taught us at the Phoenix Regional last month. I cut a strip of paper 1 1/4" x 12" and punched all along one edge with the Eyelet Border punch. Then I ran it through my Crimper several times to scrunch it all up. To make the ruffles here, I ran a piece of Sticky Strip along the card front and just pleated it across the adhesive until I got to the end. I trimmed the excess off with my Paper Snips. I used another piece of Sticky Strip for the top layer and then added the piece of Chocolate Chip Double Stitched ribbon to cover the edges and make it look finished.

The focal image was stamped in Black Staz On ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and colored in with Stampin' Write Markers. It was then layered on both Pretty in Pink and Barely Banana. All the layers were sponged lightly with Close to Cocoa ink as was the card base and paper ruffles. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up over the ruffles.

My greeting comes from the stamp set Three Little Words - which you can get Free during Sale-A-Bration! I stamped it in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla. It's punched out with the Small Oval punch and layered on a piece of Pretty in Pink punched out with the Large Oval punch. It's sponged as well and attached with another dimensional.

Now here is where I would say that I hope she likes her card, but I know she will like it because someone (me) left it laying out on my studio counter and she already saw it! Oh well, she said she'd be surprised when she opens it! Love that girl!

I love it especially when she spends time with me in the studio. I was working on my card for Saturday's Stamping 411 Sketch and she came in to stamp with me. She used the Sale-A-Bration stamp set Good Neighbors to make this lovely creation!

She hand drew the sun, grass and flowers; mounted it on the Chocolate Chip card backer and added the ribbon hanger herself - so cute! I think Grandma is going to be the recipient of this particular piece of art! And we know she will love it!

I'm glad you stopped by today to visit and I hope you like the card! Be sure to stop by the other Blogger's Challenge players blogs and see their creations as well. You'll be in the Valentine's spirit in no time! Have a great day and come back tomorrow to see the card I was working on for Stamping 411!
~~Robin