More Hybrid Valentines

Well, as you know, I have three little grandsons and I can't send one a Valentine without sending the other two one as well! So I made two more "hybrid" Valentines, hybrid meaning __________??  (Pop quiz from yesterday.)

Here are my three adorable little guys:


Parker, aged 2,

Kesten, aged 19 months,












and Wyatt, aged 7 months

(Sigh!)  As a Grandma, I'm so blessed!  I've seen Parker and Wyatt fairly recently, but Kesten lives quite a bit further north and we're planning on visiting near the end of March when the weather will have warmed a bit and the roads will be better (hopefully).

Here are the other two hybrid Valentines.

The moose is for Kesten, up north.  My daughter, Kris, is creating a book of original paintings of Northern Animals for Kesten, and there is a moose in it, so I thought this realistic image of a bull moose would be recognized.

The whale is for Wyatt because he and his family live on the coast of BC and he has a lot of whale toys.  As well his house is full of nautical paraphernalia, so this is appropriate for him!

Both valentines are hybrids because I created the sentiments using My Digital Studio.  I wanted something more personal than the stamps I have and something that would tie the images to Valentine's Day.

•  I used the Hardwood background stamp for the first time and I am really pleased with the clear, crisp woodgrain.  I have it mounted on some Crushed Curry cardstock and placed on a base of Soft Suede cardstock.
• The 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon is the perfect choice for this texture-rich card.  I love the masculine feel it gives to the Valentine.
• The moose is such a great image from the set Walk in the Wild, which, if I remember correctly was one of the first sets I bought from the Annual Catalogue.  I used one of the Window Frames Collection Framelits to die cut the panel and the same sized framelit to cut another from Early Espresso.  I cut that in half from side to side and mounted it a little offset from the panel to make a very narrow matte.
• The hybrid sentiment was printed on Whisper White card stock and matted with Early Espresso cardstock as well.

• I used a sea-going colour palette of Night of Navy, Real Red and Crushed Curry for this card for Wyatt.  The Crushed Curry Polka Dot paper is from the Regals Designer Series Paper Stacks.  
• The images are from the Hello, Sailor stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalogue.  The whale panel is die cut using one of the Circles Collection Framelits and the Night of Navy backing it was punched with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch.  This makes a narrower matte than you would get with the next largest Circle framelit.
• I created a matte for the sentiment panel right on My Digital Studio so I didn't have to make one from cardstock.  The sentiment panel was printed on Whisper White cardstock. and trimmed.
• The Ahoy stamp is also from Hello, Sailor, and was die cut with one of the new Word Bubbles Framelits.

One more thing I did was send each family some chocolate - Ghirardelli Chocolate, Dark and Mint Squares and I created some cute holders for them that I CASED from Mary Fish.  They are totally cute and really easy to do with the new punches.  The two inch width that we are restricted to with these punches turns out to be perfect for the Ghirardelli squares.

So that's a wrap on Valentine's Day.  I hope you found something over the last few weeks that you could do for your loved ones!

See you again tomorrow with a new As You See It Challenge.

To purchase any of the products listed below used to make this project, simply click on the links which will take you directly to my On-Line Stampin' Up!  Store, where you can view the products and make a purchase if you like.  You can have it delivered right to your door!

• Walk In The Wild Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Walk In The Wild Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Hello, Sailor [wood]
• Hello, Sailor [clear]
• Hardwood [wood]
• Hardwood [clear]
• Regals Designer Series Paper Stack
• Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Early Espresso 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Night Of Navy 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad
• Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad
• Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
• Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
• 1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon
• Circles Collection Framelits Dies
• Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• Word Bubbles Framelits Dies
• MDS Download

Hybrid African Valentine!!

I bet that title got your attention!  I'm not talking about hybrid species here, I'm talking about hybrid Valentines, which in the papercrafting world, means a card that is a combination of regular papercrafting and computer generated elements.  In this case the computer part was generated on My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up!'s digital papercrafting program.  The African part comes up because of the image I used from the Zoo Review stamp set.  What do you think?

I don't use MDS (My Digital Studio) a whole lot because I prefer the process and the result of creating cards with stamps and inks and real embellishments, but it really comes in handy in a case like today's card.

I wanted to use the Zoo Review lion image for my grandson's valentine card, but had no sentiment that would do it justice, so I went to MDS to create a flag with the custom sentiment you read here.  The result was perfect for my card.

• I started with a card base of Crushed Curry because I was looking for a "lion" yellow, but something bright enough to give an African look as well.  
• The Regal Collection Designer Series Paper Stack has this tiny chevron design in Crushed Curry, which I think really adds to the African ambience.
• The image was stamped twice, once in Crushed Curry and exactly over the top of it, Crumb Cake, just to get closer to the real colour and to give the image a definition that the plain yellow couldn't give. How did I get the images to match exactly?  Stamp-a-ma-jig!

• The Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon in Early Espresso makes another African-looking element to the card.
• The MDS banner was printed on my own ink-jet printer so the colours aren't exactly true, but they are close.  If you have Stampin' Up! print your projects you will get the exact colour matches.  You should give My Digital Studio a try. Did you know that you can get a 30 day MDS Free Trial version?
   

To purchase any of the products listed below used to make this project, simply click on the links which will take you directly to my On-Line Stampin' Up!  Store, where you can view the products and make a purchase if you like.  You can have it delivered right to your door!

• Zoo Review
• Zoo Review - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Regals Designer Series Paper Stack
• Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Early Espresso 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• MDS 2+ Download
• Early Espresso 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
• Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
• Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
• Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

We Remember...

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day in Canada.  It's a day to take the time to remember.  To remember the courage of a past generation, fighting for the rights we all take for granted so often.  A Canadian soldier in WWI wrote these words:

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~ John McCrae (1872-1918)

My card today honours those who gave their lives in two World Wars and in many conflicts since.  It includes my own father, who was wounded in France and carried the scars until he died a few years ago.

This is a hybrid card, using some elements created on My Digital Studio 2, including the cross and the sentiment.  I used the Pleasant Poppies background stamp, inked in StazOn Jet Black and embossed with clear embossing powder, then watercoloured using an Aqua Painter and Cherry Cobbler and Sahara Sand ink.

When I saw several beautiful photos on Facebook today of the poppies in Flanders Fields, I was inspired to create this card.  Of course, I can't do the real poppies justice, but I think the card gives the right feel of honour and respect.

Dynamic Duos challenge this week is a subtle combination of Sahara Sand and Cherry Cobbler, the perfect colours for this card.

 

I used Crosses of Hope and Words of Courage Stamp Brush sets for the MDS2 parts of the card, but added an Antique brad and some metallic brads to both.  I hand-cut several poppies as well and added them for the look of 3D poppies, blowing in the wind.

 

 

I hope you like the card, and I hope you pay tribute this weekend to some aging heroes and to the concepts of courage and sacrifice.  Don't let their deaths be in vain.

 

 



 

 

Stamps: Pleasant Poppies (w126480; c129499); Crosses of Hope (129595); Words of Courage (130858)

Paper: Sahara Sand (121043), Cherry Cobbler (119685) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock

Ink: Classic Stampin' Pads in Cherry Cobbler (126966) and Sahara Sand (126976); StazOn Jet Black (101406)

Accessories: Antique Brads (117273); Metallic Brads (119741); Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (109130)

Tools: Aqua Painter (103954); Heat Tool (129053); Lacey Brocade Embossing Folder (127819)

Pleasant Poppies Stamp

 Crosses of Hope Stamp Brush set