It’s still February….

Yes, I’ve been in the throes of unpacking these last 2.5 weeks. The new house is really coming together quite nicely. We are still getting our other house emptied of boxes of non-everyday stuff, so every time I think I have things relatively unpacked, hubby brings in ten more boxes for me to organize the contents… sigh. My craft room is looking pretty darn good considering that we’ve only been here for 2.5 weeks, but I’m sure I have a couple of boxes o’stuff that I don’t remember lurking about somewhere. However, the crafty essentials are all set up, and I was able to make a valentine for my sweet, hard-working hubby after the kiddos went to sleep.

My New Year’s Resolution was to make 20 cards with products I had purchased but not used before buying anything new in 2017… well, the no-spend isn’t going exactly as I had planned (whoops), but I am making a concerted effort to make as many cards as possible with sets that have previously lain untouched. My PTI cards from earlier this month definitely fit that criterion; hubby’s valentine was the same. I focused on a set that I purchased before Christmas by Neat and Tangled: Lumberjack Love. I have always teased my burly, plaid-wearing, strong-as-an-ox, woodworker hubby about looking like a lumberjack, so this set was absolutely perfect for his valentine.

I started by die cutting and stamping the majority of the pieces in the Lumberjack Love stamp set and coordinating dies onto some watercolor paper using Archival black ink. I then watercolored all of the images with my Zig markers and wet paintbrush, being sure to give the cutie patootie little lumberjack some beautiful auburn hair, just like my hubby. 🙂

Because this was going to be hand-delivered, I decided that I wanted to make a shaker card. Not the most masculine of cards, but the detail lover in my hubby enjoys the construction of the shakers as much as he does the card itself. I die cut the scalloped heart on a panel of gray card stock, intending to use the negative space. I then die cut the same scalloped heart, but also cut the solid heart from the center to create a frame using some red foil card stock to really make the heart pop and inlaid it within the gray panel. I backed the whole shaker with some pretty red gingham patterned paper (I love to purchase and hoard patterned paper. I know I’m not alone in this, and it makes the disease easier to face.) that I bought ages ago and never used. I have now used 1/4 of a sheet and feel so much better. Ha!

I stamped my punny sentiment (I’m trying to get better with those, I really am) on the bottom of my gray heart panel, arranged my little lumberjack scene, and hastily placed it on his bedside table so that he could see it when he woke in four hours. (I work late into the night sometimes…. I love the quiet house.) I think it’s safe to say he liked it, because I woke to a snapchat, facebook, and instagram post about it, as well as some pretty flowers that I know weren’t there the night before. 🙂

Well, that’s all for me today. I’m going to be scrambling over the next several days trying to get my craft room finished so that I have plenty of time for the new Daily Color challenge coming in March. The PTI anniversary is also happening next month, and I always enjoy playing along with the challenges, so be prepared for another mile-long post with my challenge entries!! Can’t wait! Have a stupendous weekend, my friends!