Made with Love Blog Hop

You don't even know how EXCITED I am today!  I get to blog hop with some of my favoritest gals EVER, the 2012 Gallery Idol gals!  Last July we hopped with a summer theme and we had so much fun, we knew we would do it again!  So what better occasion to hop than Valentine's Day?  No more wasting time chatting, let's get to the cards!  

This first card ticks all the boxes for me!  Die cuts, check.  Vellum, check.  Bright colors, check.  And that Hero Arts background stamp?  That was love at first sight!  Here's how it came together.  I stamped the spotty background twice (once in red, once in pink).  For the sentiment, I punched 4 squares from gray card stock and rounded opposite ends.  

Making sure each piece was facing the right way first (very important step here folks;), I die cut the letters and the heart.  I backed each reverse cut with a piece of vellum.  For the heart, I blended a bit of red ink over the vellum first.  The last step was to adhere each piece with a bit of foam tape and it was done and done!  I love that this card is Valentine-y but not too girly:)

For my second card, I pulled out 2 crafty tools I love to use: my trusty Post-It Label Roll tape  and my stack of Distress Inks.  {If you haven't tried label roll tape yet, you're missing out!}  I cut thin strips of the label roll tape with a craft knife and used the strips to mask the design over a heart that I hand cut from plain old copy paper.  {BTW, how do I not have heart dies?}  

 

Then very carefully using a scrap piece of paper to keep the ink in check,  I blended various colors of Distress Ink over each section.  After I pulled off the mask (love that part), I stamped the beautiful sentiment over it all.  For crisp stamped sentiments, I suggest using Versafine ink (great for detailed stamps, just don't use them with Copics).   I really love how vibrant the colors came out!  

Thanks so much for stopping in!  Before you go, I have one more treat!  Now you know we  couldn't hop without giving away prizes!  I have not one but two great prizes to give away!!!!  The first prize is the fabulous set Lots of Love from Avery Elle!  {The sentiment from my second card is from this great set!}

The second prize I have to offer is sponsored by Fresh Squeezed Stamps!  One lucky winner will receive their Punny Valentine stamp set!

I'll be picking the 2 winners at random from all the comments left on this post from today until next Thursday, February 21st at 11:59 pm EST.  I'll announce the winner on Monday, February 25th. 

Now off you go to the rest of the hop!  Remember that each gal has at least 2 prizes to give away!  And there's even a huge prize from the Ribbon Carousel that will be picked from all the comments along the way!  Next on the blog hop is the adorable and uber-talented Joscie!  Here's the full list, if you've lost your way:)

Taheerah
JJ ~ that's me:)
Joscie
Jennifer I.
 Amy
 Aga
Wida
 Jocelyn
 Miriam

Anita
Elena
Jen R.

Erin
Dana
Laurie
Tessa
Nina

BIG THANKS to everyone stopping in today!  And a huge THANK YOU to our generous sponsors!  The response has been incredibly overwhelming and all of us gals are just so excited and grateful! 

Mahalo and aloha,

jj

Showered with Love Card

Paper: Ultra Smooth Pure White, Fog Gray (Avery Elle), Vellum

Ink: Provincial Gray, Cherry (Fresh)

Stamps: Tiny Ink Spots (Hero Arts)

Tools: Square Punch (EK Success), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers)

Heartburst Card

Paper: Speckled (Avery Elle) 

Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Distress Inks

Stamps: Lots of Love (Avery Elle)