Fabulous Favorites

This prize drawing is now closed. Thank you to all that left comments and good luck!

Hey everyone! Papertrey Ink is celebrating it's 2 Year Anniversary and we'd like you to join the party. For 14 days, Nichole and the Papertrey girls will be counting down to the big day with some wonderful prizes, challenges and exciting news and product releases. Today we're kicking off the party by giving away free stamp sets. Each designer has chosen their favorite stamp set and YOU might be one of the lucky winners. For my favorite stamp set, I chose Piece of Cake. I was so excited when this stamp set came out. I was a customer back then and can remember fun and fresh this new stamp set was. It was very hard picking out a favorite stamp set, I have SO many. But I think Piece of Cake really wraps up what I love about Papertrey stamps. The designs are fresh, fun and unique....the images are separated out into layers for ease of stamping.....the themes are trendy but still classic enough to use for years and years to come.....the sentiments are like no others.......and the fonts are just as fun as the stamp images. What's NOT to love?

For my beautiful cake card, I stamped the cake images onto Kraft cardstock, using Fresh Snow ink for the frosting and pink craft paint for the cake layers. I topped the cake with some green flowers and a few kinds of glitter....Martha Stewart and some glass glitter from Star Lit Studio. The shimmer factor is amazing! I layered two pieces of cake using pop dots in between. The fun scroll image in the background is in the Piece of Cake set too, another wonderful supporting image. Pink sequins were added to the scroll loops. I used a Cuttlebug folder for the background cream color and a Spellbinders Label Die for the top layer.

I used the two stamps that are stamped separately to create the two colored sentiment. I love that about this set..different fonts in different sizes to really create a unique look and color combination. The pretty ribbon is Sweet Blush Swiss Dot, tied up with a square button. This card could easily be used for a birthday card but is generic enough in nature that you could add a wedding or congratulations sentiment. Or maybe someone just likes cake...like me.

Sooooo, whaddya think? Would like to have a shot at winning this beauty of a set? Wouldn't that just frost your cake? To enter the contest, leave a comment on MY blog, telling me what your favorite Papertrey set is and why. The contest ends at 12am EST on February 2nd and winners will be selected shortly after. Nichole will list the prize winners on her blog HERE and also in the new Anniversary Celebration forum at the Papertrey site. Good luck.....and EAT CAKE!!

And be sure to visit the other designers' blogs for even more prizes! Here are the links:

Niki Estes
Lisa Johnson
Lauren Meader
Nichole Heady
Geny Cassady
Dawn McVey
Becky Oehlers
Melissa Phillips
Heather Nichols
Debbie Olson
Betsy Veldman

Valentine Party Pony Tail Pretties

Well, the invitations have been mailed for the Valentine party. Josey and Jordan got theirs today...they love getting mail, who doesn't!? I did not let them see the final invitations because there are a few surprises. The biggest surprise is that the party WILL be a sleep over. The girls had *un-earned* themselves that privilege a few weeks ago, but ol' softy mama caved in at the last minute. The girls will be so excited. I am so excited......I now have slaves for the next week. Below are the party invitation insides. I ended up printing the information onto regular copy paper, adhering the top only to the inside of the invite.

Okay so on to another Valentine party project. What can you do with these little pony tail scrunchies? Well, you can't use them on my girls' hair. Their thick, red hair would eat these things alive! No sissy pony tails will do, they have to use the heavy duty ones. Well anyway, I picked these up at Dollar General the other day for a $1, knowing that I'd find some use for them.

My creative mind didn't fail me! I grabbed my JustRite Stampers Designer Borders and Centers set and got to work. I stamped the *It's a Party* sentiment onto cream cardstock. Then I stamped the loopty-do border onto pink cardstock. I punched them out with circle and scallop circle (SU!) punches, adhering both together with pop dots. I then punched a 1/16" hole in the tags and attached them to the pony tail scrunchies with jump rings (found at your local craft shop/scrapbook store).

Here's my finished Pony Tail Pretties:

I slipped them around drinking glasses (yes, the party girls get to use the *gooder* glasses). They fit easily because the pony tails are stretchy. When I fill the water glasses, the Pony Tail Pretties can easily be slipped down to the stem of the glass so they don't get wet. After dinner, these will be transferred to plastic cups. I have party rules, people. You don't take food out of the dining/kitchen area.....and you only use ONE cup. It may be Party Central around here but it's not McDonalds! The girls can write their names on their cups or the back of their Pony Tail Pretties to mark their cups.

Now. Let's talk the night of the party. About ohhhhhh, 9:00pm, I will be going stir crazy. There will be SIX giddy, giggly girls running around my house....gearing up for Guitar Hero and God knows what else. Eric will be locked in our bedroom with the remote, oblivous to it all....probably scratching. Soooooooo, I've made myself a little Pony Tail Pretty......that will go on my own little *drinking cup*. Here it is:

Oh yaaaa Baybee.....a little Mishy Mixer.....Party Pleazer.......a little LOOOOOOVe potion. Come to mama!!!

Snort!! Okay, I'm belly laughing over that one! Nooooooo sillies, I won't be having anything stronger than Diet Dr. Pepper the night of the party. Maybe I'll get wild and have some Diet Coke with Lime! The thought was good though and I couldn't resist. But I can hear it now from the parents.....*Um ya, I heard ya got snockered at the Valentine party*.

Ohhhhh boy, I can't wait for the party. It's gonna be a blast!

Peas be mine...

I need more Valentine cards, peeps! Here's one I created using a layout from a Creating Keepsakes magazine. This would be a great sketch to add to your collection. Karen Lockhart has these two new stamps out called Pea Pod of Hearts, and Peas Be Mine, along with her Be My Valentine sentiment. I love that the little peas are actually drawn as hearts. So cute!The main image was made with Spellbinders Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies. Base card and ribbon are from Papertrey's Raspberry Fizz collections. I only had a snippet of the background paper, so I couldn't find the manufacturer's name. Buttons are from Foofala found at Archivers. I colored the main image with Copic markers and then added Ranger Glossy Accents over the top, zoom in to see.

How are your Valentine's coming along? I've got a list a mile long of people I'd like to send Valentines too PLUS little teacher Valentine gifts. I have list a mile long of other stamping I need to do....and the Valentine party invitations went in the mail yesterday so I need to finalize the party details. So much to do so I better scoot along. Hope you're having a great day!!

Pleasingly purple..

Have you heard the word, purple is hot! I've seen lots of shades of purples and plums showing up everywhere. At first glance through my supplies, I thought I didn't have anything purple. I didn't have ONE sheet of patterned paper that was purple, let alone any fun embellishments. So a few weeks back, I made it a point to purchase some purple buttons from Archivers. Then my new Karen Lockhart stamps arrived. There was this beautiful stamp of a Pitcher of Lilacs, one of my favorite flowers. So I started digging through my stash some more and whaddya know, I had more purple supplies than I thought. I found my wonderful collection of Papertrey Plum Pudding ribbons, cardstock and Guidelines patterned paper (still my ONLY purple patterned paper)...my newly purchased purple button...another little stash of purple ribbon from various shopping sprees...some shiny purple sequin stickers(available at Eclectic Paperie) and my great array of Copic purple markers. I was all set!

The design elements just all fell into place. I started out by coloring the beautiful lilacs with various shades of Copic Sketch markers. Just dabble on the colors, they'll all blend together. I used a complimentary shade of yellow on the pitcher. Complimentary colors are colors that are opposites on the color wheel. If you add a splash of the opposite color, it really livens up your colored images. Trust me, just try it. :) I also added some white dots from my white gel pen to the flowers, zoom in to see a closer view. I then cut and embossed my image with a simple Spellbinder's Rectangle Die Template.

The sentiments are from Papertrey's Birthday Basics stamp set. I love that this set has main birthday sentiments and then supporting sentiments. A great set to have! I finished off my card with lots of purple splashes....the buttons, some shiny sequins, Plum Pudding ribbon, PTI Guidelines patterned paper and the green eyelet lace ribbon.

This card really defines what stamping is all about, using your supplies and creating something beautiful.....so get out your stash of goodies, dig deep if you have to.....and just start creating. You'll love all the *new* stuff you'll find. I'll bet a shiny new penny that you have products that have never seen the light of day or touched the surface of your stamping table. Gather it up girls and use it!

More Valentine Party Goodies

Edit: My Mind's Eye paper can be purchased at Eclectic Paperie...link is at the left. Also, if you're ever at a loss as to where to find a product, you can enter it into a search engine (like Google) and gobs of websites should be listed. Be sure to check your local scrapbook stores too, they'll love you for the business. :)

And the ages of the girls that will be at the party range from 10 to 13.

The Valentine's party that I'm hosting for my girls will be here before ya know it. Check out the link HERE for my first blog post that features the party invites and more. Jordan and I worked on party favors last week and here's our stash below. Doesn't it all look so FUN?!Here's the break down of goodies. Jordan and I were home alone one day and she was bouncing off the walls with energy...had ants in her pants....couldn't sit still....wanted to be entertained...if you have kids then you KNOW what I'm talking about. So I told her I needed some hearts for the Valentine's party. I gave her the Heart Prints stamp set, the large heart punch and some inks and cardstock. I showed her one sample heart of what I wanted and sent her to work. And boy, did she work! She stamped and punched, stamped and punched....ohhhhhhh until about 100 hearts later! I thought she would grow bored of the activity but nooooo, she kept on stamping and punching. I finally had to tell her that 100 or so hearts were enough! That kid's a stampin' machine, I tell ya! (old heart tin found at junk store, by the way)

So what are all those hearts for? I'm going to use them as *Love Coupons*. The party girls will receive coupons for activities.....like wearing colors that represent our party theme, having hearts on their clothes, bringing a certain item with them to the party, etc. They will also get coupons taken away for certain things....like not carrying their heart tins with them at all times during the party. At the end of the party, the party girl with the most *Love Coupons* will win a prize. Kinda like one of those dorky baby shower games, the girls will love it!

Above are the decorated heart tins that I've personalized for each party girl. This is what the *Love Coupons* will go into so the party girls can keep track of them. I used the small heart tins , some of the hearts Jordan stamped and punched, a pink sequin sticker and some Sweet Blush Swiss Dot ribbon. Very simple in design, but oh so cute! After the party, the party girls can take these home as a little party favor.

We're also doing a small gift exchange to get the party started. The mothers will love me for this one.....I'm providing the gift bags! Each bag will be personalized with the party girls' names, done in similar fashion to the party invitations I made. I used Heart Prints, Borders and Corners Hearts(for the heart outline) and some large circle and scalloped circle punches.

These name tags will adhere to the gift bags with pop dots. I purchased a bunch of aqua colored gift bags when a gift shop was going out of business. The fun ribbon is from May Arts. Now here's the fun part: each party girl will be asked to bring a stuffed animal ($5 or less to keep the expense down). The stuffed critter will go into a gift sack. The gift sacks won't have the name tags on them just yet. We'll do a *rob your neighbor* type gift exchange....where you draw the numbers, #1 picks first and you keep going til it's all done. Once the girls have their final gift, I'll add their name tags to the gift bags. The gift bags will be used to keep their prize goodies, heart tins with *Love Coupons*, candy favors, etc. Is this party gonna blow their skirts up or WHAT?? I can't wait.

Oh, oh, you have to hear about the girls' stuffed animals they chose. They're the little dogs shown above. We found them at WalMart for $5 bucks each. You can wear them as a hand puppet and then you make the puppy *sing* to the tune of Close to You by the Carpenters. They are SOOO cute....and will probably be SOOO annoying by the time the party ends. But we couldn't resist! Okay, that's it for now. I'll update you more with party photos and more goodies soon!

Yellow watering can with flowers..

Edit: If you've noticed, I don't have my email on my blog page....I know that I simply wouldn't keep up with the emails in a timely manner, so I don't post it. I'm just too busy creating, working and doing family stuff....and I don't want you to think I'm blowing you off by not answering your emails. But if you'd like to contact me, you can leave a message in my comments section with questions or your email address. I do read your comments and try to edit each post, at the top of the post, to answer questions if I catch them. Note: If you ask me to email you, I do need one tiny thing....your email address. :)

To answer the question about preparing my images for coloring: I stamp my images with Palette Black Noir Hybrid ink onto Papertrey Stamper's Select White cardstock. I can color immediately with my Copic Sketch markers. I don't heat set, I just start coloring. Hope that helps.

When we have a nice day here and there(not today by the way, it's nasty cold here), it makes me long for Spring. I sit on my porch and look at my flower beds and think about what new flowers I might plant this year, hoping for a glimpse of a new sprig of green. It will be a few more months before my flowers even begin to pop up so I guess some springy cards will have to do.

Today I'm working with Karen Lockhart's Sunflowers stamp. Typically I would color the flowers in a sunflower theme for this image, but I wanted my main image to match my patterned paper......so blue flowers it is.
I colored the flowers with Copic Sketch markers and used a piece of coordinating patterned paper to paper piece the watering can. The stamps along the bottom of my image and on the circle embellishment are from Papertrey's Around & About Sentiments. I love how they coordinate with everything.

I finished up my card by cutting my main image out with Spellbinder's Rectangle and Scalloped Rectangle Die Templates. I just love the vibrant colors on this card, a very cheerful color scheme indeed. Hope you're having a great day.....I've been scoping the blogs for new CHA products, visiting The Pioneer Woman blog (man, is she funny!)....and keeping warm, it's quite a dreary day. I've also been coloring up lots of NEW Lockhart images, so stay tuned.

Note: Some of you have asked for Valentine ideas for teachers. You can click on the Labels sidebar on the left for Valentines and it will show you my past Valentine posts....and I'll be working on this year's Valentine projects soon so hopefully I'll have some new posts to show you. Have a great day everyone!

Just a note gift set

Edited to add: Tricia asked what other types of gifts I keep in my gift stash basket. Most of the items are stamped gifts such as notepads, notecards, etc. I recently did some lip gloss sacks....just whatever I find that would make cute, inexpensive gifts. If you check the bottom of my blog posts, you'll find that I've added labels for each post. You can easily click on those links and all of my related blog posts will show up. I have a label that is for *GIFTS*, so click on that from time to time to see all my gift ideas grouped together. Thanks for visiting today!

Edit #2. Dottie asked if the large glassine bags would fit 4 regular cards with envelopes. Definitely YES! If you wanted a more see through version that would fit even more cards, you could use Papertrey's clear card boxes shown HERE.

You guys know that I love to make little notecards by now. I decided to start making up some little gift packs of notecards to have in my gift stash. This way, when I need a little gift I can reach into my gift basket and have some items ready....instead of scrambling for a gift at the last minute. I plan to use these for teacher gifts, thank you gifts and just for those times when I want to give someone a little something special.

I started out by stamping some simple circle embellishments, using the new Just Rite Times Roman lowercase alphabet, and border stamp. I placed the alphabet letters and the border onto the small wooden stamper to create one complete stamp. I cut and embossed the circles with Spellbinder's Circle Nestabilities, then mounted them onto Spellbinder's Pinking Dies in Papertrey Ripe Avocado cardstock.
For the actual notecards, I used quater sheets of cardstock to create a 2 layer notecard with no folds. On the top layer of PTI Vintage Cream, I added a 1" x 3" strip of patterned paper from the Making Memories Noteworthy collection (an older collection, found at Archivers). I took a fine tip marker and drew some lines next to the patterned paper.
I then adhered my circle embellishments over the top of the patterned paper, leaving a little of the circle hanging over the top. Simply turn the paper over and trim off the excess with scissors.

Here's my finished notecards below. Very simple, with just enough space to write a quick note. I love the detail that the Spellbinders dies offer. You could also personalize these cards by switching up the Just Rite stamps that you use. You could add a monogram, a full name, etc.

I also created a matching notebook, using the same supplies as I did for my notecards(notebook from my stash, source not available). I added a strip of Papertrey Ripe Avocado stitched ribbon and a tied button. I'm in to simple packaging these days, so I opted for a Papertrey Large Glassine Bag. The notebook will be tucked inside for a very simple presentation.

The top of the bag is folded over and secured with an embellished clothespin, available at discount stores, Walmart, etc.

I love the idea of these little gift bags full of stamped goodies. All of the supplies were readily available from my stash and overall make for a very inexpensive gift. I cant' wait to have more of these in my gift stash.

What's black and white and cute as can be?

The little skunk from Papertrey's Forest Friends stamp set, that's what! Isn't it just adorable? I read in some of my reader comments that many of you got the set but didn't know what to make with it. I have some fun designs for you!

I love the sentiments that are in this set, especially the *little stinker* one. I tell my girls, *You little stinker!* all the time. So it was easy to create this sentiment using the new Fresh Alphabet stamp set along with the sentiments from the Forest Friends set.

This next card uses sentiments that are perfect for a thank you card. I paired the images up with sentiments from Around & About Sentiments.

I love the little flowers that come with the Forest Friends set too. I love adding them in with the little skunk. Reminds me of that cartoon with Pepe Lepu...remember how he loved to smell the flowers? I also added glitter to the white stripes on all of my skunk images. It adds such a fun shimmer to the cards.

All of my cards today were themed around a black and white color scheme, Papertrey black and white gingham ribbon, Ripe Avocado inks and cardstock, Aqua Mist ribbons and cardstock and October Afternoon patterned papers. And notice how I stamped some of the skunk images on white cardstock and some on Kraft cardstock. I love both looks. Hope you enjoy!

Strip Stamping

Today I’m doing a little Strip Stamping. (No sillies, it is not what you think). I’m stamping up some fun embellishments to add to card creations. It’s fun to try new ideas on your cards and I’ve got just the ticket for you using some fun sets like Papertrey's Around & About Sentiments, Forest Friends and Heart Prints. The idea is to make up these little stamped strips in advance, and then use them on your projects later. As always, it’s easy peasy.
To begin, cut your cardstock to the width you want your card to be. Today I'm using 4.25" wide cardstock for all of my projects. You can keep the edges straight or add some fun scallops like I've done below with my Fiskars scalloped edge punch. Decorative scissors would work well too.

Then, it's time to stamp. Pine's (Heather Nichols) Around & About Sentiments stamp set is a perfect choice because there are a mix of long images and sentiments to choose from. I like to use this long clear block with grid lines to line up my stamp.

Continue stamping on more images and/or sentiments like I've done below.

I added a final Valentine sentiment from Heart Prints set. Then it's time to trim my stamped strip. I picked up this smaller Fiskars trimmer and am loving the size of it for these smaller items I need to trim. They can be found at Walmart, Target and possibly Michael's or your local scrapbook store for less than $15.00.

You can then fancy up your stamped strips by inking the edges with ink. Today I'm using the new Fresh Snow ink. Go ahead and add it to your list now.....it's THAT good! The coverage is excellent. And if Pine suggests it, you KNOW it's THAT good. You can use a sponge if you like but I prefer to ink my edges straight from the ink pad.

Go a step further and add some fun sequins or sticky pearls like I've used here. I found these at Archivers. You could also use brads, small buttons, eyelets or small snippets of ribbon or lace.

When you're all done, you'll have a nice little stash of stamped strips ready to go.....like my first photo at the top of this post. When you're ready to create some cards, you'll have some nice additions to add. Below are some of my creations.

This first card uses the fun deer and sentiment from Forest Friends. Paper is by October Afternoon along with PTI Kraft, Dark Chocolate CS and ribbon with some stitching.

Here's the close up of the stamped strips below.

And here's a fun little skunky card that uses images and sentiments from Forest Friends. It was easy to turn my card into a Valentine card just by adding my stamped strip. Paper is from the new Raspberry Fizz collection. Ribbon is Raspberry Fizz Swiss Dot.

Here's a closeup of some of the stamped strips I created for Valentine's cards.

And how about using the strips for little gift sacks instead of cards? Here, I used a small Glassine Bag to create a Valentine treat holder. These would be perfect for teacher treats. I used more images from the Forest Friends stamp set along for the tag. I cut the tag with Spellbinder's Circle and Pinked Edge Circle Die Templates. A big heart eyelet from Stampin' Up! finishes off the tag. Ribbon is Pure Poppy Swiss Dot.

For the stamped strip portion, I used more sentiments and images from Around & About, along with a few stamped and punched hearts from Heart Prints. Some clear sequin stickers finish off the stamped strip. On the inside, I tucked in 3 little mini bags of M & M's.

So there you have it! Just a few fun ideas to mix up your stamping a little bit. If you've created your Valentine Inspiration Station like I showed HERE, it would be fun to create some stamped strips using up those supplies. Then when you go to create your Valentine cards, half the work will be done. Also try adding some of the stamped strips to the inside of your cards. Or you could create longer strips that stretch across an entire scrapbook page layout. Or how about Valentine book marks or across the bottom of tags to add to gifts. The possibilities are endless. I hope you try them out!

Where I Shop...

Hi everyone, just a short post today to answer some questions. I'll be back here at 11pm Central Time for a Papertrey Newsletter Post. Be sure to check back in. I've been working in my stamp room too, so more goodies are on the way!

I get asked a lot as to where I shop for my stamping supplies, so here goes. I have a sidebar on the left hand side of my blog that says *Where I Shop!* I've listed some of my favorites websites there and if you click on the links, you can go directly to the websites.

I wanted to give a shout out to my personal friends Cami, Joy and Marianne. They have recently opened a website called Our Craft Lounge, which carries their whole new line of stamps. I hear that 28 new stamp sets are being released at the end of this month so they are busy girls! Below are a few snap shots of their card displays and products....found at Archivers! How exciting is that?!! Our Craft Lounge will have a booth at CHA also, so be sure to stop by and see them if you're attending. Congratulations girls!

As for other supplies......I try to shop locally at Scrapbooks, Etc in Topeka, Kansas when I'm in town. So many of the brick and mortar stores are closing, we really need to support these shop owners. If you're ever in Topeka, give Debbie and Pam a visit, they're awesome ladies!!

As for my design team products, I've listed the links on the left too.......great products from Papertrey Ink, Karen Lockhart, Just Rite Stampers, Spellbinders, Copic and more. From the store links, you can also visit company blogs.

I have some friends that have great web stores also. Joy and Daisy are at Eclectic Paperie, and there's a ton of goodies at their website. I find lots of paper there including the My Mind's Eye that someone asked about and many other fun embellishments. Cindy Lyles operates Star Lit Studio and has a wonderful boutique-like collection of goodies including her favorite Tim Holtz products, some of the beautiful ribbons that someone asked about on my clothespins, beautiful glass glitter and the ever elusive October Afternoon patterned paper. Ellen Hutson carries the entire line of Karen Lockhart stamps, Spellbinder's Dies and more. Anna Wight operates Sweet Miss Daisy's store, where you can find lots of Crafty Secrets products. Be sure to check out her line of stamps through Whipper Snapper also. Her designs are so whimsical and fun!

Wow, after typing all that I realize that I have a lot of true friends that I've met through the paper crafting industry. It's amazing how far we've all come and I'm so happy to have met each and every one of them. Please visit their websites and shops....the customer service is excellent and you all have seen and heard about the quality of their products right here on my blog. Happy Stampin'......and shopping.....everyone!!

2009 Valentine Inspiration Station

Hello my Little Lovey Dovey's. It's time for my 2009 Valentine Inspiration Station. Can you feeeeeel the love? Here we go! In case you don't know what an Inspiration Station is....it's a collection of themed crafting supplies that I gather up in one spot. It's all out in plain view, easily accessible and oh so inspiring. Here we go!

Starting off, I've gathered up some ribbon....Papertrey spools in delightful colors, clothespins with delicious finds all tucked into a tin measuring cup and a new package of Making Memories vintage-like ribbon.
Stamps......check out some of the new Karen Lockhart cuties, those heart peas are cute huh? And of course some Papertrey sets like Heart Prints and Sentiments that coordinate with the two heart punches.

Look at these! I found stacks of these at my latest antique store venture in Paxico, Kansas. I should have bought them ALL! They're vintage tin molds for jellos, cakes,etc. I have ideas for these brewing but I can't tell you....it's a secret.....and I don't have it all planned yet. I found the little set of tin measuring spoons at the local Salvation Army for .69 cents. I'm using them as scoops for buttons and embellishments. The black and white goodies are epoxy tags from Making Memories, my latest find at Archivers.

More fun stuff like Martha Stewart glitter in pinks and reds, Stampin' Up! large heart eyelets, some pink sequin heart stickers....all goes into a tin drinking up.

And buttons.....oh yes, love the buttons. I also found some Prima flower sequin embellishments at my local scrapbook store. I've been finding cute salt and pepper shakes to store little stuff in. These square glass ones with metal screw on lids came from an antique store in Osage City, Kansas. There's hundreds of salt and pepper shakers out there, you just have to be picky and find *just* the right ones. I like ones that are clear, see through and that have metal lids. And there's my cute baby food chopper jar with the pink metal lid. It's one of my favorite finds ever from a thrift store in Hillsboro, Kansas.

Patterned papers from My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey and Papertrey and more....my new rule for patterned paper is to only purchase one sheet of each (two if really that good) and use it up. There will be more next year, trust me. Don't be a hoarder!

Now. All of these goodies have to have a place, they can't just be sitting out collecting dust. I used to put my stuff on a shelf but I've now grown fond of old wooden drawers. This particular one has removable dividers, it probably came out of some old desk. I neatly tuck all my supplies in there and it sits on my craft table. It inspires me every time I look at it.

Here's the front of the drawer, looks like an oak finish...and it has a metal label holder and a neat handle........perfect to hold my measuring spoons that I dolled up with Papertrey Sweet Blush ribbon and a polka dot epoxy tag from Making Memories. It's fun to make a Valentine Inspiration Station.....so get to it girls......and be sure to post a link!

I was going through some Valentine photos and found my teacher gifts from last year. They're covered Hershey nuggets, tucked into clear sacks with a little tag added to the top. Fun! Can't wait to work on this year's goodies.

And here were Jordan's Valentines for her classmates. A wrapped Hershey nugget along with store bought (*gasp*) Valentines.

I hope you enjoyed my post today and that I inspire you to create some fun Valentine cards and treats. I'm in full Valentine mode so stay tuned for more!! I just love you guys!

Bonus: You've all wanted to know what that new font is that I'm using (like on my blog topper). It's called Pharmacy and it's my new FAVORITE font. You'll be seeing it's lot more.