Valentine Nativity

Tonight's Simon release is all about love! I do LOTS of love cards, but very few valentines, so I challenged myself to turn this sweet stamp set into a Christmas card instead! Yes, I'm still working on my Christmas cards :). They may or may not get sent, but I refuse to worry about it.

I started by using Gina's awesome Glitz Gel, because Michelle Lupton again generously invited me to participate in her Challenge Me a Christmas Card challenge, and I picked embossing paste or gel. HOWEVER, I AM AN IDIOT and I wrote the date wrong in my blog calendar and so I'm a week late. Please pray she forgives me! She's a peach!

Anyway, I used a part of an old credit card (I cut them into strips and tape them to the top of my Glitz Gel containers to use with intricate stencils) to apply the paste through this sweet, double heart stencil. The reason I cut the cards into strips is to be able to get right up to the edge of that open heart in the center - this stencil is designed to include that, but it's easy to omit it and leave it as empty space with a skinny little low tech free applicator like a strip of credit card.

Then I took the sweet images from this Christmas set and arranged them inside the heart after coloring them with Copics. I used the teeny sentiment from this set and popped it up with foam tape to finish it off. This sweet valentine set is by my friend Cathy, and does come with matching dies.

The images in Cathy's set are so clean and fun I had to make a CAS anniversary card. I used a neon pink Copic and black to show off the teeny linked heart border and clean sentiments. It would make fun wedding cards too I think.

I love sets that can make the leap to multiple holidays. And I love Cathy.

Stay tuned below for a recipe from my friend Bev!

CZ Design Stamps And Dies I STILL DO... [ SSS ] Joy Clair CHRISTMAS NATIVITY Clear... [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Stencil ALL MY HEART... [ SSS ] Therm O Web Gina K Designs GOLD Glitz... [ SSS ] Copic 12 Bold BASIC SKETCH MARKER SET... [ SSS ] Blackout Waterproof Detail Ink [ INK ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

My friend Bev posted a recipe this week that's right up my alley. There's NOTHING better than butternut squash and toasted buttery sage leaves. My modifications are as follows for dairy free: Miyoko's vegan butter (tastes JUST like European butter and no gums, etc.) and Treeline Scallion Cashew Cheese.

The original recipe is here.

Loveyameanitbye.