It's February 14th and Valentine's Day. Little did I know I'd be celebrating in Casablanca, Morocco this year! It's our last night here; we'll be heading back to Chicago tomorrow morning. I made sure to have all the valentines made before we left. All the grandchildren got books this year in addition to their cards. And all five cards were made with the same design, the same stamps and dies. The only variation was the individual stamp chosen and the patterned papers—all from my stash.

The first three have cute little critters from Simon Says "Cuddly Critters," attached with mini-Wobbly's. If you touch the critter, it wobbles back and forth. I've seen people photograph them as they wobble, but I was too lazy to get out the tripod, and couldn't get a sharp photo without it. The heart was die cut with MFT's "Stitched Hearts."

Both little girls got very similar valentines, no wobblys—I've learned the hard way they'd be pulled right off! 

Here's what the inside of the cards look like—colored in with Copics as were the critters.

I also made valentines for Matt and Betsy, and Sarah and Adam, but in the rush to get ready to leave, I sealed them in envelopes before I took a photograph of them! I do have Tracy's to share. It might be one of my all-time favorite cards. I love the stamp (Simon Says "Center Cut Heart," and I love the color combination (PTI's Soft Stone and Pure Poppy).

The stamp is an unusual one. The center heart pops out. You can stamp it and add it back in or leave it open for a sentiment. I embossed the larger part of the stamp in white on the Soft Stone cardstock, and embossed the center heart in black. I colored just the tiny center heart with a red Copic marker. 

All that was left to do was mount it on a Pure Poppy card. I love the graphic design of this stamp, and have several more ideas for using it.

Hope you've had a Happy Heart's Day!

Masculine cards are often the hardest to come up with, and get well cards seem especially challenging. A good friend fell a few weeks ago, and had to have major surgery to one of his legs. The recovery is going to be long and hard. I remembered I had an older Memory Box stamp (from the days when you could only purchase wooden stamps) that I thought might work.

I found a scrap of patterned paper that I fussy cut to paper piece the chair. Then I discovered that one of my newest stamp sets from Papertrey Ink, "Ways to Say: Get Well" had the absolutely perfect sentiment included. How lucky can you get?

All that was left to do was to color the cup with a Copic marker. 

Awhile ago, a good friend loaned me her "Butterfly Hope" stamp set by Papertrey Ink. While I had it, and stamped a variety of butterflies and put them aside for a time when I needed a quick card. That time came last month when my friend's daughter was in the hospital prior to her heart transplant.

I also had a stash of die cut "Horizontal Stripe Cover Plate" dies from a previous project. This one cut from Smoky Shadow was a nice contrast with the orange, yellow and black butterflies. 

The sentiments in "The Skinny" fit perfectly between the die cut strips and are so versatile. Just a few black pearls from my long stockpiled Amuse pearls finished it off. I don't know what I'll do when I get to the end of those pearls! I have multiple sets in black and in red, and they are often just what I need.