Sara Jane's Studio

Amour

I think this card would make a great Valentine for that special man in your life.  It's interesting but not girly, and the image of the Eiffel Tower and the word "amour" (which, of course, is "love" in French) are perfect  to convey your Valentine sentiment.

 
This design was made using the Artistic Etchings stamp set, and the Mostly Vintage Stencil.  The cardstock colors are Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Whisper White.

I started by sponging the image from the stencil with Crumb Cake ink towards the right side of the white cardstock.  Then I added, randomly, the images from Artistic Etchings with the same color.  Some were "stamped off" - meaning I inked the stamp, stamped it once on a piece of scrap, and then stamped it on my card without re-inking.  The second image is fainter, and gives you another design tool.

I stamped the circular image in Early Espresso ink on the upper left corner of the Early Espresso mat used for the Eiffel tower image.  The Eiffel tower itself was stamped in Soft Suede.  The edges of both stamped images were distressed with the Cutter Kit.  (Yes, you can do it in other ways, but the distressing tool makes it SOOO much easier!)

The ribbon is the new 1/8" taffeta, which I ended buyin in every single color!  "Amour" was stamped using Early Espresso ink, just above the ribbons.

Don't you agree, it's the perfect card for the perfect guy?

Blue Valentine

This is the Valentine that I gave to my best friend this year.

 
The design is shown in the Holiday Mini from 2010, and spotlights the Filled with Love stamp set.  It is on a 4" square base of textured Baja Breeze cardstock.  The red is Riding Hood Red.  I used the largest and the smallest heat punches to cut out two of the hearts; they were mounted on the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. 

And since I did not have any blue brads of the right hue, I added three small drops of Versamark Reinker directly to the card (under "Be My Valentine", covered with embossing powder, and then heat embossed.  It was a good substitute in a pinch!

ChalkBoard Calendar and Memo Station

Where, or where does the time go?!?  Here it is already February, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  I love making Valenine's and can't wait to get to them - but for now, I wanted to share a ChalkBoard Calendar and Memo Station that I just put together.

I've beem wanting to do this for a while.  I bought a metal base from Strano Designs - it's a generous 18" square, they call it their Swag Inspiration Board - and they can be gotten on sale for $9.95.  They will hold magnets, and you can use a dry erase marker on them.  You could also use a piece of galvanized metal from one of the big box home improvement stores, or you might find something at a big box craft store. 

 

I added one of Stampin' Up!'s Decor Elements that has a chalkboard finish, so I can change the calendar dates for each month.The chalkboard base is the medium-sized Curly Sign, which is 12" square.  I applied it very easily according to the instructions that come with each applique.  (For a short tutorial, click here to see the application of a large element to a glass jar.)  On top of it, I direcly applied the large Decor Elements Calendar.  Now, you can see that my application was a little cock-eyed....The most challenging thing about this project was trying to get this on straight!!  You really have to be cautious, because you only get once chance for application - once a piece of the applique touches a surface, it is pretty much committed.  I'm still trying to decide if I can live with this, or if I need to remove it and start again.  :) 

 

I'm going to make the months from the Full Calendar stamp set - I've only done February, with the rest soon to come.  It's basic stamping, with a strip of magnet tape on the back to hold it to the board.   Of course I am planning on making a little box to keep all of the months in it - I'll share it when it's done!

 
Here's my new calendar and note station in it's place- which right now is a window.

I'm going to have to find a new location as soon as the nice weather hits!!