Not a Christmas Card!

Aloha, all!

     You might think that making a greeting card with the Designer Series Paper set, Jolly Holiday, would mean that I'd be making a Christmas Card.  NOT!  Nope, as I've mentioned before, there is absolutely nothing about this holiday paper set that screams, "Christmas," as would a snowflake or a Christmas tree. Not only that, this paper set is in the "Big Book," Stampin' Up!'s 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog, so it's just as current as any other product in the catalog.

     So why not make good use of the supply that I still have lying around (from Christmas time, of course) to make a Valentine Card?  Why not, indeed, and here is the first Valentine Card I've made using this paper set.  I dare say that I'll be making a few more over the next week or so, and I'll certainly share them here.

     The Stamp for this card is the a la carte Stamp, Be My Valentine, featured in Stampin' Up!'s 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  That means it's just one stamp – you don't have to buy a full set of stamps, and you may not want to buy too many Valentine stamps this late in the season.  On the other hand, stamp sets in the Occasions Mini Catalog are liable not to be around past the end of the catalog, so now WOULD be the time to purchase the great sets in this year's mini.

     The colors that I used for this card are Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, and Crumb Cake (formerly known as "Kraft").  You may have noticed that over the past few months, I've been using a white background for photographing my cards.  But today was such a beautiful day here in East Hawaii that I just had to show off some of our palms and flowers in the background.  I really do have a great view from my Craft Room!

     The layout for this card is pretty straight forward.  But I just looked through my 2010 Card Layout eBook (see above right for information about it and ordering your very own copy) and didn't find one that was just like this one.  I knew from the start that I wanted that lovely heart to be the center of a square and I just worked from there.  So here's the layout that I used. 

     As I said, it's a pretty simple layout and it would be so easy for you to use!  I hope that you'll take some time to be creative and use this if you'd like.  But, whatever you do creatively, have fun with it!