Valentines Day

So this year for Valentine's Day I learned how to make these really cute treats for my daughter to take to school. My friend Mary showed me how to make them. I didn't take any pictures of them but I was told it's an origami fold. Basically it's a paper cup but instead of doing the last step in the process I left the last side up to form a background to hold the candy in a little more securely.

I did manage to at least photograph the little basket I made for my daughter's teacher. I learned this quick and easy technique at Regionals. The basket is really easy to make. You just take any size square, for this project I used a 6x6 square, then you score it into thirds one way and thirds the other. So for this square I scored at 2 and 4 inches on one side vertically and 2 and 4 inches horizontally. Then you fold on all score lines and then open the square up and on the bottom and top you cut the lines into the center lines. Then you fold those pieces into the center some so they create an angle on either end. You add a little bit of adhesive to hold it down and then you create your handle however you like.

For this box I mixed a variety of products as well. Some are retired though but they worked well with this project so I thought I'd use them.

Papers used are Melon Mambo card stock. The paper for the hearts and handle came from the 2009 Mini Occasions book. I used our Heart to Heart punch to create the 3 sizes of hearts. The handle was made using the new Scallop Trim Border punch, this punch is one of the free Sale-a-bration incentives for your $50 purchase. I put a brad in the center of the basket on either side to hold the handle down. I filled it with several little mini chocolates. My daughter's teacher loved it.

Now for my next project I made a card for my husband for Valentine's Day/Anniversary. Our anniversary is the 18th so I made him this card to tell him just how much I love him.

So for this card I used several different stamp sets. I used the I (Heart) Hearts set, Teeny Tiny Wishes and Sweetheart Stamp sets.I used Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Versamark inks. I also used Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and Real Red card stocks. We have these great heart treat cups as well as our standard circle treat cups that tie in perfectly with our circle and heart punches.

I used the faux suede technique here for the chocolate chip stamped on very vanilla section. Recently I was looking through Stampin' Up!'s demonstrator only website for ideas and I came across a video for creating pull tabs to release the candy out of the card without actually ruining the piece. It was a great idea so I incorporated it with this card and filled the cup up with some heart shaped red hots that I came across on my trip home from regionals when we stopped off at Crackerbarrel for dinner. I also spritzed this card with a little shimmer mist to give it a hint of sparkle.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and enjoyed it with a special loved one, even if it was a child or parent. We actually spent ours with my husbands family for Chinese New Year/V-Day celebration.

Tune in next time. I'll post my samples using our Eggscellent Eggs kit that I'm working on for our next demonstrator meeting this coming Saturday.