Box Shaker Romantic Card

Hi there, how are you doing during this cold winter (for us on the north hemisphere), or not so hot summer (south hemisphere)? Today we are getting some really low temperature here in Florida. 48 degrees -actual temperature - but it feels like 41. Or for those who use Celsius, 9 degrees - feels like 5. So we are staying inside, having some hot cocoa, watching a movie... no, wait. That's my son. I am working, cleaning the house - hahahaha. But I have my breaks too (smile). During one of my breaks, I decided to have some fun, so... I MADE A CARD, of course. (smiling again). Here is what I made.

  I saw that sentiment phrase - or something similar - on the internet the other day which gave me the idea for this card.

Supplies used
Paper: White, glitter red,  and red cardstock, transparency film
Tools: cutting/embossing machine, hearts embossing folder, large heart punch, little hearts dies (Avery Elle More Stories set), label die (Die-namics Framed Greetings Die), computer and printer, red gel pen
Embellishments: bakers red and white twine, glitter (red and clear), glittered hearts, label with sentiment phrase

Sometimes I don't have the stamp with the exact sentiment I want. Does that happen to you? What do you do? Change the sentiment? I just use my computer, write and print what I want on cardstock and voilá...

Thank you so much for stopping by. Stay warm, or cool, and have a very blessed weekend.

 Vanias Reed 

 

Not Any Valentine's Day Card

One of the things I love about my husband is that he does not wait for Valentine's Day to show his love for me. Sometimes he leaves a note on the kitchen counter, before going to work, to tell me how much he appreciates everything I do for our family. Other times he will bring me a little something like my favorite candy bar or a single rose. And sometimes he'll just do things at home like washing the dishes, or making the bed, etc. He makes me feel special all the time and not only one day a year. But we still celebrate Valentine's Day, and we still exchange cards. So here is the card I made for him this year. The original idea belongs to a Craftsy instructor. I just put my own spin on it. 

Supplies I used
Paper: White cardstock, clear velum, and blue -patterned with some white - scrapbook paper
Tools: cutting/embossing machine, little fox and moon dies (Avery Elle), stitched hillside border (Lawn Fawn), computer and printer, watercolor markers, white glitter gel marker, colored grey pencil
Stamps: Little fox, stars, and moon (Avery Elle), pine tree (Stampabilities), snowy hillside
Ink pads: Black, forest green, and white
Embellishments: heart shaped gemstones, speech bubble with sentiment phrase "I love you to the moon and back"

So, even if you don't celebrate Valentine's Day, this is a card you can give to that special someone in your life at any time. 

Thank you for stopping by. May God bless you and yours with His abundant love.

Vanías Reed    

Thank You Note + Easy Distress Technique

How was your Christmas celebration? How about your New Year? Did you make any resolutions? If you made any, how's it going? We don't do new year's resolutions in our family, but one thing we do is send thank you notes to those who blessed us with gifts during the Holiday season, even if we can only send them in January. Not only is it appropriate to do so, but I'm sure the person who receives a nice, handmade (or not) thank you note smiles as they realize how appreciated their gifts were. It is always a good idea to take time to make someone's day special by letting them know they are appreciated. I got the idea for the card I made here,
and put my own spin on it.  

Material needed for this card
Tools: cutting board, stamping pad, 3D self-adhesive foam
Paper: white, brown and cream cardstock, patterned scrapbook paper
Stamp: thanks
Ink: espresso
Embellishments: "gift boxes", 1/8" (3mm) brown ribbon and bow

Distress technique: rub the edges and corners of cream color cardstock piece, and patterned paper with stamp pad - the same one you're going to use to stamp the sentiment phrase.

Measurements- Card: 4" x 5.5
                                 Bigger box: 2 1/8" x 3/4"
                                 Medium box: 1 5/8"x 3/4"
                                 Small box: 1" x 3/4"
This card is not difficult to make. I made 6 of them in an "assembling line". It was fun to do it, and it didn't take long. You can actually make a card similar to this for any occasion.

Thank you for stopping by, and have a very blessed 2016.

Vanías Reed   

Merry CHRISTmas.

I love to celebrate my Savior's birth. Some people have told me that there is no proof that Jesus was not born on December 25th. They are right. But I was just thinking about my son's birthday that was on a Friday this year. We couldn't celebrate his birthday on a week day for several reasons, so we decided to have a small celebration on Saturday. 

That's what Dec. 25 is - the CELEBRATION of Jesus' birth. He came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He gave His life for us, He defeated death for us. Why not pick a date to celebrate Him? So let's decorate our homes, let's spend time - not necessarily money - on special gifts for the special people in our lives. Most of all, let's thank God for sending His ONLY SON to pay the debt we could not pay, to die the death we could not die… to give us the eternal life we cannot earn. Let’s celebrate Jesus, the WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, PRINCE OF PEACE, LORD OF ALL, IMMANUEL – that is GOD WITH US!!! Because the manger did bring God to mankind, and the cross brought mankind to God. 

Thank you for checking out my ideas, designs, creations. Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope I have been of inspiration to those who like crafts. I hope you have a very merry CHRISTmas, and a blessed 2016

Vanías Reed

Noel - Christmas Card

Have you ever asked yourself why we use the word Noel in so many Christmas songs, and during the Christmas season? I am originally from Brazil and my first language is Portuguese. In Portuguese we say Feliz Natal when we want to wish someone a Merry Christmas. The word Natal means birth. So literally translated, we say Happy Birth. Why is that? Well, the word Natal comes from the Latin word natalis, which translated to English is NOEL. Since Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, it is natural for people to refer to the celebration as the “nativity” or THE “birth.” The card I'm posting today has the word Noel, in celebration of the most important birth in the world's history - the Son of God's birth. The birth of the One who humbled himself, left all his heavenly glory, to die on the cross for you and for me. So Happy Noel!

Supplies and techniques
Paper: White, dark brown, maroon, and glittered silver cardstock, mint green with polka-dots scrapbook paper
Tools: Paper cutter, electronic cutting machine, alphabet design, precision scissors, 3D foam adhesive
Embellishments: Fussy cut 'wrapped presents', Noel sentiment phrase

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a very blessed Christmas.

Vanías Reed  

Shaker Box CHRISTmas card

Today my husband is helping me to address cards and envelopes. He wrote a personal message on 24 cards, and helped me with the dishes too. Is that an awesome husband or what? We love to make our cards as personal as possible, and having my husband hand write a message to each of our close relatives and friends makes each card even more special. So today I'm posting one of his favorites, which is a shaker box card. Here it is.

 Supplies used for this card
Paper: Dark red, white, black and silver glitter cardstock, transparency
Tools: cutting/embossing machine, rectangle stitched large and medium dies, snowflakes and swirls embossing folder, electronic cutting machine, nativity scene design (you can use a punch or a die), 3D foam self adhesive, silver glitter gel pen
Stamp: merry Christmas
Embellishments: fussy cut sentiment phrase, clear gemstones, medium size glitter (to shake in the box)

We love nativity scene cards because, after all, CHRISTmas is Christ's birthday celebration, isn't it?

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have an amazing celebration with your family and friends, always keeping Jesus as the reason to celebrate.

Vanías Reed    

Ornament Christmas Cards + 2 New Tips

In my last post I mentioned what my amazing husband got me for Christmas/wedding anniversary. Today I'm posting a project I made using my Cricut. It was interesting because my sister came over to see my machine. In order to show her how it works I decided to cut something simple like a Christmas ornament. Then she said, "oh no, I don't want you to waste paper just to show me how the machine works."  I just smiled and told her not to worry. So here are the two cards I made using both the diecuts and the paper from which I cut them.

For the first card I used 
Tools: Cricut Explore Air, scoring board, stylus scoring tool (for the dots imitating a chain holding the ornaments), Sizzix embossing machine, swirl snowflakes embossing folder (Darice),
Paper: White, brown, and the same mint green cardstock
Stamp: merry Christmas
Ink: black
Embellishments: ornament diecuts, red ribbon, pearls and clear gemstones in different sizes. 

For this card I used:
Tools: Cricut Explore Air, Cricut Design Space, 3D glue dots
Paper: Brown and mint green cardstock, brown patterned scrapbook paper
Stamp: Christmas Blessings (Stampabilitties)
Ink: Espresso brown
Embellishments: red 1/8"wide ribbon  

You can use an ornament punch instead of a cutting machine. In this link, a lady teaches how to make a card similar to my second one, using a punch.  
When it comes to save and recycle, I get excited. This time, instead of throwing away the piece of paper from which I cut the ornaments, I decided to use it on another card.How about you? How do you recycle while creating and crafting?

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful CHRISTmas!