Friend

I was playing around with a CTMH stamp set I had sitting around for almost a year, but never used, and made this card. it's just one layer, plus the flower.  I doublestamped the sentiment on purpose, with the hopes it would give a drop shadow effect.

CTMH stamps don't work well with a lot of dye inks other than their own, but they are very good with Tim Holtz distress inks.

Challenges:
Kreative Stempelfreunde - old-fashioned
Heart Song Inspirations - brad (in flower)
Incy Wincy - flower
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - photo inspiration
Touch Twin - colors

Traditional Valentine

To me, this is the basic traditional valentine.

Two kinds of punches, fussy cutting, folding and a little stamping, embossing and beautiful paper - it really isn't as simple as it looks.

Challenges:
Crafts 4 Eternity - CAS
Lily Pad - patterned paper
Polka Doodle - template (scalloped edge around the heart)
Simply Create Too - Love is in the air
Stempelsonne - Valentine

Valentine treat boxes

A girlfriend of mine who works for Hallmark came over today.  I always tease her that my cards are better than hers.  She brought with her a bunch of leftover envelopes, and we made bag-alopes.

This are made from pink envelopes.  We embossed them with an embossing folder my mother gave me years back, and ran red ink over them.  a heart punch was used to make little tags, and we closed them by folding over the top, punching two holes, and running ribbon through.  These were practically free to make, as we didn't pay for the envelopes, and the tags were punched from scraps (after making so many valentines, I have a few red scraps!)

Challenges:
Fairy Fun Fridays - anything but a card
Mami Doodles - for a loved one
Poodles Parlor - valentine
Stamping for the Weekend - embossing
Crafty Creations - valentine for a kid/not a card

Wiggly eyed cats

The best thing about stamping with friends is the ideas they suggest.  My girlfriend suggested the wiggle eyes and the ball of yarn on this card.

I spent ten minutes after I glued the eyes on just shaking the card to make the eyes move.  I've half a mind to make an animation!

Challenges:
Charisma Cardz - Pretty in Pink
Craft Us Crazy - love + animals
Hanna and Friends - pink and gray
Fab n Funky - eyes
Little Darlings - polka dots

EDIT:

Yes, I love Paint Shop Pro.

Year of the Dragon

I love dragons, so I had to do at least one Year of the Dragon card.

The metallic gold part is from a box of chocolates.  Everything else is from the pile on my desk.

Challenges:

Clear It Out - scraps

Cards and Things - sketch

CCEE Stampers - Lunar New Year

Rainbow Lady - Year of the dragon

Bling it on - new beginnings

Cat valentine

This card features two things that I've had for a ridiculously long time but never used.  the first is this adorable stamp from My Paper Moon.  It was just so cute, I had to have it, but for some reason, I have never inked it before now.  The second is this little cat-shaped tag.  I don't even remember where I got the tags, but it seemed horribly important to have them at the time.

  My little "friends" stamp just barely fits!  It's not strongly valentine-ish; I suppose I could use it at other times of the year.

Challenges:
Cupcake Craft - all you need is love
Nettie G - pastels/spring colors
PanPastel UK - two of something
The Paper Players - CAS with a tag
The Squirrel and the Fox - critters

Shabby sympathy card

I was tasked to create a sympathy card for the ladies in my bowling league to sign - one of our members lost her sister.  Since I had the Shabby Vintage paper handy, I decided to use it for a background.

The Certainly Celery cardstock picks up the Peeled Paint color in the background.  the paper in the center rectangle is the reverse side of the larger background piece.  The stamp is an old TAC stamp - I always like to use butterflies on sympathy cards, or dragonflies if it is for a man - they are so symbolic of death as rebirth, a very uplifting thought when one loses someone special.

Challenges:
Dream Valley Challenges - animal
Fashionable Stamping - butterflies
2 Sisters - embossing
So Artful - colors
Twisted Sketches - sketch (and this is the first time I've used the blue in this paper stack)