This will be the first year since my daughter got married that I will not be going to visit her by myself this winter. Every year I have always taken a winter break and either flew by myself to Florida, or drove myself to Illinois or Indiana, depending on where she lived at that time. I always got so nervous before the trip, during the trip, and usually the whole week I'm with her, I worried about driving home by myself. I finally decided now that I'm sixty, I will stay home and save myself all the anxiety. I also felt that since my oldest grandchild is now in school, she would not like it if she had to go to school instead of staying home and playing with Grandma like her two younger brothers can.
When I did visit, I always brought them a Valentine and lots of inexpensive treats and toys in a gift bag. This year, since postage is getting quite costly, and my daughter doesn't want the kids to have too many treats, I decided to just send Valentine cards with a restaurant gift card in each card.
Because I have two grandsons and one granddaughter, I decided that instead of the usual pink and red colors/cards for Valentine's Day, that I would use normal stamps and colors but add a little Valentine touch to each card.
My first card I made for my grandson Atticus. I thought he'd like the koala bear image. All the stamps I used for all three cards are old and retired, but if I can remember the names, I'll let you know. This koala bear stamp is from Gina K. Designs. I don't think she's even in business anymore. You can also google koala bear images on line and print them out. The background was created with Stampin' Up! "Bamboo" background stamp. I painstakingly colored the stamp with Stampin' Up! water based markers, huffed on the rubber, and stamped it on white card stock. I love the way it turned out and it made me wonder why I didn't use this background stamp more often.
The koala's were stamped on a separate sheet of card stock, colored in, cut out, and then popped up on dimensionals.
The sentiment is from the same set. I thought it was perfect for Valentine's Day. I cut the sentiment out using an MFT banner die, then I adhered it with a pink heart brad...my only pink on this boy card. I think the little heart made the card more appropriate for Valentine's Day.
On the inside, I stamped a Valentine's Day sentiment.
My next Valentine card is for my granddaughter Alethea, so I let this one be pink. The image is not an image solely meant for Valentine's Day, but can be used for any occasion. It's from My Favorite Things and is called "Cool Beans". I chose it because I thought it would work very well for Valentine's Day and that my granddaughter would love it.
I stamped the image directly onto the white card stock. Then I stamped a sentiment from the same set onto a pink heart that I cut out with an MFT die. The little hearts were made from a heart paper punch, then glued randomly onto the white card stock. I put a little yellow glitter on the girl's flower hair bow.
On the inside, I stamped a true Valentine sentiment and some red hearts.
For baby Elisha's card I chose this sweet penguin image from "Sweet and Sassy Stamps". I loved the sentiment, especially for a winter holiday.
I stamped both the main image and the sentiment directly onto the white card stock. Then I punched a few snowflakes out of glitter paper using a Cuttlebug die and randomly glued them to the card.
On the inside, I stamped two sentiments: one was from the same stamp set as the penguin and the other is a traditional Valentine stamp.
I hope I've given you some ideas of how to create your own Valentines without buying special stamps for the holiday.
Have a Great Day! Amy
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