Showing the Love

Hello Friends!
It's been such a long time since I last posted I wasn't sure I would even remember how to blog!  Turns out it's just like riding a bike:)  For months I've felt so uninspired to make cards that I really haven't had anything "blogworthy" to share.  And the longer I stayed away from blogland the worse it seemed to get!  I guess part of it is feeling like I don't have any "new songs to sing"...

Soooooo, those feelings coupled with the forced exile to my craft room because of this ridiculous winter we've been having is causing me to take a look at all this card making stuff I hoard have in a new way:

I mean did I seriously think I would ever make enough cards to use up these 139 red buttons??? The sad thing is I have enough left over to make another pillow!  I was able to use my Cricut to die cut the heart template and the felt "love" was cut using a Stampin' Up die.  The embroidery floss I used to stitch the buttons was given to me and I scored the burlap pillow cover on clearance for $5.99 at Michael's.    

And before you pass judgement after checking out my next project keep in mind that I work at a winery:)

I used the same heart template from the button heart pillow and traced it on a piece of 12" x 12" Stampin' Up smoky slate cs.  I actually had my hubby cut the corks in half so they wouldn't stick out as much and so I wouldn't need as many.  Using my trusty glue gun I started outside first and worked my way in.  The tops were painted with some bright red Delta acrylic paint my dh actually had in his stash!  I used the same "love" die from above cutting it from Stampin' Up real red cs.  Frame came from Michael's (using a 50% off coupon of course!) and the ribbon I used to hang it is Stampin' Up's fun smoky slate chevron ribbon.  And speaking of ribbon that's another area in my crafty life that's cause for dismay - I counted 50 spools just on my ribbon holder!  Because of increases in postage I rarely include ribbons on my cards anymore:(

And last but not least I do actually have a couple of cards to share! The first one is a Valentine:

I had to combine products from a lot of different companies to make this work!  Letters were die cut from Cricut Storybook cart.  Ampersand is Mama Elephant.  The stamped "kisses" is a masked Hero Arts stamp from the set "Sending You Love".  Hearts were die cut using a WPlus 9 die.  And that adorable piggy is from a retired Stampin' Up set "Button Buddies".

Other Supplies Used:  My Mind's Eye pp, Stampin' Up pretty in pink, real red, smoky slate and black cs, pink button and googly eyes from my stash

And here's a fun wintertime birthday card for a coworker who is obsessed with owning pink camo:

This snowman image from Hero Arts is one of my faves as it's so easy to paper piece.  I found the pink camo in one of my hubby's hunting catalogs:)  The funny sign the snowman's holding is from a masked off Dolly Mama's stamp.  

Other Supplies Used:  Stampin' Up Hardwood stamp, melon mambo and soft suede cs, Papertrey ink birthday sentiment, Mama Elephant stitched and scalloped rectangle dies, pom pom from my stash

It feels really good to be putting all this stuff that's been languishing in my craft room to good use.  Going forward I'm not going to restrict my creativity to just cards- I'm excited to see where it takes me:)  Thanks for stopping by and for all your constructive comments!