LOVE

Two days ago my husband asked me (or "axed" me, as my son says - lol) if I make only 4" x 6" cards, because it seems that I've been posting cards only that size. So here is a 5" x 7" card for you. Enjoy making it!

See pictures below for the directions and material you will need.

Maroon cardstock to form card.

Light pink textured cardstock

3D sticker letters (I bought these embellished already), 2"x 2" maroon squares, and 1 1/8"x  1 1/8" light pink squares.

Sentiment phrase,  dark pink bow, pink pearl.

1-inch heart die-cuts from glitter paper for detail inside.

Adhere all the material above to the card.

Easy and fun to make? I think so too.

Vanias Reed         

A Valentine for Your Spouse

Sometimes we get trapped in the ideas the media offers about love, romance and marriage. Love is more than just a feeling, it is a decision to put the other person above ourselves. Romance is NOT an emotion, but how we nurture the relationship we have with our spouse. What about marriage? Marriage is so much more than a beautiful wedding.  What do we need to have a happy marriage? Money? Buy expensive presents to make our spouses happy as commercials on TV want us to believe? I don't think so. That's just another trap. We need to DECIDE to love our spouses even when we don't like their actions much. We need to nurture the bond we started building on the day we said I do using small gestures that will reassure our spouses of our love for them.
So here is a simple idea to romance your marriage beginning on this Valentine's Day. I hope you enjoy it, and come up with some ideas of your own. It is a coupon book, one of the gifts I gave my husband that he liked the most.

You will need plain white paper, a computer, a printer, red cardstock paper, a stapler, red and white twine, eyelets and eyelet settler, and lots of good ideas to make your coupon book personal. Below you will see some coupons I made, but they are just ideas. You can use them, but remember to come up with some of your own because no one knows your spouse better than you.

 REMEMBER! THE CHILDREN WON'T BE ALLOWED ON ANY OF THE EVENTS. THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE!

The red carsdtock is for the book cover.

Punch small holes on the covers, staple them and the coupons.

Settle the eyelets.

I used a glitter pen to decorate the printed hearts, but gemstones or stickers can be used too.

Hide the staple and the eyelets with a cute bow made out of twine.

These coupons can be used throughout the year because they don't have an expiration date. I hope they will inspire you to keep the romance in your marriage.

Vanias Reed       

Music & Valentine's Day III

You probably figured out that I love music. I firmly believe that music and art come straight from the heart of God. Just take a look at His creation, and listen to the birds. Pure art and music. Therefore the card I'm posting today has music too. Enjoy.

 Here is the material you will need and the directions to make this card:

Black, white and red cardstock paper, music sheet.

Self-healing cutting board, ruler, corner cutter, glue dots, craft knife and card scorer.

3 different size die-cut hearts

White 3/8 inch ribbon

Form a 41/4 x 51/2 - inch card from black cardstock

Cut a 37/8 x 51/8 - inch piece from white cardstock and a 2 1/2 x 5 1/8 - inch music paper. Cut a 2 x 5 1/8 - inch strip from black cardstock. Accordion fold it one time on long sides. Adhere music paper to white paper and black strip.

Glue ribbon and bow to the biggest heart then paste it to black strip. Adhere the other two hearts as show. Adhere small white letters to the black strip as shown.

Detail inside.

When the card is ready you have the phrase "forever love".  Have fun making this one, and surprise the person you love. 

Vanias Reed             

Sepia

We all have different preferences, don't we? I like dogs, you might like cats. My husband is from Michigan, therefore he prefers Miracle Whip to Mayo. There are people who enjoy all the hearts and butterflies on cards, and there are those who don't. Some like red, others prefer blue. The list is endless because the Almighty God is so creative and made us all different with different taste. With that said, here is a card that some of you will find too different, and some will love. 

To make this card you will need:

Black, vanilla and dark beige cardstock paper. Notice that I already die cut the dark beige one.

A die-cutting machine and oval cutting + embossing die.

Stamp, brown stamp ink, and dark brown embellishment pearls.

Red bow, yellow pearl, black fine point pen for details. You can use a light beige bow too, it will look very good.

Stamp, brown stamp ink and more pearls for the detail inside.

Now you have a card that can be used for Valentine's Day, an Anniversary, Get Well... Remember the choice is yours. It is your preference.

 

Vanias Reed    

A Pink Valentine

Today the instructions for the card we are making won't be in so many pictures, but in more written details. 

Here is the card:

You will need:

Dark pink and white cardstock

White paper lace

White paper

Pink glitter cardstock

White 1/2in (1/2 cm) lace ribbon 

2 different sizes of heart shape  punchers

1 oval puncher 

Or a die cutting machine

Stamp or sticker for sentiment

Embossing machine and polka dot embossing folder

1. Form a 4 x 6-inch card (10cm x 15cm) with the dark pink cardstock

2. Emboss it

3. Cut the lace ribbon  a little longer than the card. Stick it to the front of the card, and the ends inside.

4. Cut a white piece of paper 0.2inches (about 0.4cm) smaller than the card. Glue it inside the card.

5. Die-cut a 1 3/4 x 1 inch (3.5 cm x 2.5cm) classic heart from the front of the card and the white paper, creating a window.

6. Die-cut a 1 1/4 x 1/8inch (3.3cm x 2.3cm)  heart from white lace paper, and a 1/3 x 1/2inch (1.5cm x 1cm) heart from pink glitter cardstock. Layer and adhere to inside of the card through the window on the front.

 That is your inside detail, but it shows on the front of the card too. 

 7. Die-cut an oval decorated or scalloped oval piece of the white cardstock. Attach it to the ribbon lace using foam dots.

8. Add a sentiment to the oval cardstock.

What really helps you to make a project? More pictures and less written directions or more written directions and less pictures? Please let me know. :)

Vanias Reed       

Music & Valentine's Day II

Music brings joy to life, doesn't it? I cannot picture my life without music. That's why I  decided to make another Valentine's Day card using a paper with music.

 Take a look and make one too. :)

You will need black cardstock paper to make a 4" x 6" (10cm x 15cm) card, white paper, the paper with music, red ribbons (I used two different size and shades of ribbons), a corner cutter, a stamp and embellishment.

This is how the corners of the black paper should look like.

Tape the white paper and the one with music together.  Notice that only the corners of the paper with music were rounded.

Stamp the sentiment phrase and glue the embellishments. Glue the red ribbon with a bow right where the two pieces of paper meet.

Don't forget to round the edges of the white paper before you paste it on the inside.

You are ready to give someone special a cute Valentine. Good job!

Vanias Reed          

Music & Valentine's Day

 Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so let's make some more cards for the special people in our lives.

 Here is what you will need and the steps to make this 4" x 6" (10cm x 15cm) card.

Use a pair of scissors to distress the paper.

The sides of the beige cardstock paper should look like this.

Tape the red ribbon ends on the back of the beige paper before pasting it to the card

Add the twine, the hearts punched out of a music paper, and the sentiment phrase.

Stamp a detail inside

A "musical" card for your loved one.

Vanias Reed