Tiny Valentine Cards Set

Hello Followers!  I've created a set of four tiny valentine cards, each measuring 3x3. Perfect for valentine classmate cards, for co-workers and neighbors. I made them simple and easy to replicate. The sentiments on A {Little} Love stamp set are suitable for so many cartridges that I had, so it made things very easy for me to put together. Also helpful is the fact that these cards are so small that I was able to use scraps. Bonus!

Details:

Butterfly card: Cricut Lite Live Simply (cut @ 2)

Cupcake card: Cricut Lite Sweet Shoppe (cut at 2)

Pig card: Cricut Lite Playtime (cut at 2)

Pear card: Cricut Preserves (cut at 2)

Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Worn Lipstick (used on the piglet's ears)

Liquid Pearls (used on piglet's nose)

All cardstock was used from my scraps stash

A Jillian Vance Design A {Little} Love stamps set

Hope you enjoyed!

I'm A Sucker For Cards {Leftover Christmas Cards}

I hate throwing out Christmas cards. I love opening up the mailbox and seeing a handwritten envelope, then to open it up to a beautiful Christmas card with family/friends pictures, notes, etc. I have an attachment to them, I have never been able to discard them.  Last year I discovered a brilliant idea from Michelle of Me and My Scraps.  She created a handmade book which contained all her Christmas cards through the years.  To check out her post, click on the link above. This year I stumbled upon a similar idea from the brilliant girls over at Eighteen25 and they included two beautiful free printable covers to print out to make your own Christmas books.  With free covers, I knew this would be an easy task that I could get accomplished quite quickly instead of creating my own and procrastinating. I love their free printables! Click on the link above the check out their post and to download your free covers.  My mom loved the book so much that she gave me her cards so that I could make hers into a booklet too. The pictures below are from the book I created for my mom:

I personalized the cover myself by adding A Jillian Vance Design stamps - Swirly Monograms Stamp Set - I used the numbers and embossed the year onto the cover using Martha Stewart Embossing Powder.

(Instructions and Supply List):
1) Took Tim Holtz Grungeboard Book Covers for the front and back of the book;
2) Used Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Firebrick and painted the front cover;
3) Added Maya Road Red Satin pleated ribbon;
4) Used Glossy Accents to adhere everything;
5) Added Ranger Stickles in Xmas Red;
6) Inserted Satin Teal Ribbon in between the grungeboard and the page cover so that I can tie the book shut;
7) Inked up the page cover with chalk ink, to give the page a more defined look.
8) Took pattern paper from DCVW Tis' The Season Stack and traced around the covers. Did this 3 times for the inside of the front cover and for both sides of the back cover. I inked them up with chalk ink as well.
9) Added Satin Teal Ribbon in between the grungeboard and the back page cover so that the book can be tied shut by a bow.
10) Personalized front cover by embossing the year using A Jillian Vance Design Stamps and Martha Stewart Embossing Powder.
11) Added Diamond Wrap from one of my favourite craft supply stores!

Hershey Hugs and Kisses Milk Carton Treat Box

I used the most adorable milk carton treat box to fill with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses. Using my Cricut Imagine Christmas Wishes cartridge, I filled the box with pink instead of the christmas-y paper it originated with. To make the box even more fun, I punched a 1.5' hole in the centre and used plastic to create a peeking hole that showed what was inside.
I love saving the plastic casing from my cricut cartridges. As you can see below, it looks perfect and new still!
Even better are the Jillian Vance valentine stamp sets that I got to use for this project. Her Valentine sets are probably some of my favourite to date. I used Sending My Love and chose "Sending Valentine Wishes filled with Hugs, sealed with Kisses".  How cute is that??? There are many sentiments on this set that can be used for so many purposes, like my treat box!

A side view of the milk carton box. Surprisingly, this box can hold quite a few handfuls of hershey chocolates!

Supplies:
Cricut Simply Charmed cartridge
Cricut Imagine Christmas Wish
A Jillian Vance Design - Sending My Love stamp set
Divine Twine Peppermint Twine
Imaginisce i-Rock and Heart Rock Gems
Red Tulle
Terrifically Tacky Tape
Recycled Plastic
Hershey Hugs and Kisses

If you would like to follow A Jillian Vance Design Team blog, click here.

Episode #8 Cricut Imagine Shrinky Dink Charms with Teresa Collins Baby Boutique

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far! Last week on my blog and A Jillian Vance Design Team Blog, I posted an altered baby journal notebook featuring the Cricut Imagine Teresa Collins Baby Boutique cartridge. To check out my post and the planner, click here. To look at my post for this journal on the AJVD blog, click here.

I did a short video tutorial on how I made the charms for my journal. Watch below! Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel and to follow the AJV Blog...where there is tons of almost daily inspiration.

Valentine Grunge Blog Hop and BLOG CANDY!

Hi Everyone and welcome to the Valentines Grunge Blog Hop! If you came here from Ruby's blog, you are in the right place. If you want to play along, start here!

For my grunge project, I took both newly released Valentine stamp sets by A Jillian Vance Design and mixed and matched them. They go perfectly together! I had so much fun playing around with my stamps.

Supplies:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut and Fired Brick
Tim Holtz Tickets
Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
Tim Holtz Stickers
Sheer Organza Ivory Ribbon
Recollections Flower
A Jillian Vance Design Sending My Love
A Jillian Vance Design A Little Love
Momento Ink

Thank you for visiting my blog, I love new followers! Before you keep hoping, please read below for a chance to win some yummy blog candy.

Your next stop is Jennifer!

Blog Lineup:

Jillian http://princessandthepaper.blogspot.com/ 

Ruby http://handcraftedsimplybyus.blogspot.com/ 

Nadia http://www.nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/ 

Jennifer http://scrappingundertheinfluence.blogspot.com/ 

Bunny http://bunnyrunswithscissors.blogspot.com/ 

Elisa http://www.perpetualstew.blogspot.com/ 

Rhonda http://snapwhiz.blogspot.com/ 

DT Blog http://ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com/

And now for some BLOG CANDY.

Here is how to win some blog candy

There will be two prizes given out...

1st way to win some Blog Candy....

** Enter Challenge, leave a comment on this post, subscribe & become a follower  to http://ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com/.

You will have until Saturday January 21st @ midnight

to Link your project, and you can WIN Stamp Sets

 "A {little} love" , "Sending my love" & Pear Pins.

A {little} Love By A Jillian Vance

Pear Pins by A Jillian Vance Designs

Sending My Love by A Jillian Vance Desings

InLinkz.com

2nd way to win some Blog Candy .......

*  You must comment on every blog in this hop and subscribe & become a  follower to http://ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com. You will have until Saturday, January 21st  @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNER'S!

and you can WIN Stamp set "A {little} love" 

InLinkz.com

ALL WINNERS WILL BE POSTED ON 

SUNDAY JANUARY 22ND

Baby Girl Planner & Journal with Cricut Imagine Shrinky Dinks Charm

With our Baby Girl on the way, I needed a journal where I could keep track of the baby's firsts, appointments, feeding/sleeping schedule...and lots of other important details, including random thoughts and journaling. The design team over at A Jillian Vance Design is spotlighting the "Totally Titles" stamp set and the challenge was to create an altered notebook. I loved this challenge because this stamp set has over 30 words to mix and match and this was also my first time creating an altered notebook. Be sure to check back soon, I will post a video on my experience using the Cricut Imagine to make Shrinky Dinks Charms.

Supplies:
Notebook
Cricut Imagine Baby Boutique
ATG
Glossy Accents
Chalk Ink
Ribbon
Lace
Pearls
Imaginisce i-Rock
Foam Tape
Shrinky Dinks Bright White Paper
A Jillian Vance Design Totally Titles - on sale this week for $12.00

Thanks for looking and if you dont already, be sure to follow A Jillian Vance Design on Facebook. Only 10 more followers needed until they give away 2 Valentine's Day stamp sets. You can also follow the design team blog by clicking here.

There's SNOW place like home! Card and Gift!

Is everyone staying toasty at home? My sister is on her way to Hawaii for one week since it's so cold here in Canada and when she comes back, I wanted to surprise her with a sweet, warm thought.  I put my Just Snowflakes and Snowflake Sentiment stamp sets to use by making her a welcome home card and a quick "warm up" gift! If you love the stamps that I used, they are currently on sale for $12.00 so be sure to scoop them up before the sale is over! Click here!

I used chalk ink to ink up my Just Snowflake stamps to create a soft, snowy look and to also make my own pattern paper.

For a gift, I made her a hot chocolate package and made this pretty tag to match.

Supplies:

Cricut Kate's ABCs

Chalk Ink

Trendy Twine

Blue Button

Snow Applique Pen

Cone Bags

Stampin Up Grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip

A Jillian Vance Design Just Snowflakes & Snowflakes Sentiments

Hope you all enjoyed this post and remember, gifts aren't just for Christmas time, maybe someone you know would be cheered up in this dreary weather with a simple card and hot cocoa gift :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hello to my loyal followers! Today I'm bringing you a manly birthday card made with my dad in mind. I used two cricut machines for this one: Expression and Imagine. 

Supplies:

Cricut Lite Love You A Latte

Cricut Imagine Vintage Papers

Scraps from my stash

A Jillian Vance Design - Celebrate Men stamp set  - I was able to customize the "Happy Birthday" by adding "dad"! This set has many different options to customize the sentiment - I love that option!

Vintage Twine

Brown Button

Gelly Pen for faux stitching

Thanks for looking!

New Stamp Products and Sales

I'd like to share with you all some new stamp products that I am super excited about.

AJVD has come out with Exclusive Custom Dies by Spellbinders, designed by Jillian!  The best part is that  each of Jillian's {die}signs have co-ordinating stamp sets that fit perfectly within the dies. The fonts are gorgeous! To check out this yummy crafty goodness, click here!  Soon you will start to see many of my projects featuring these dies and stamps.
In fact, you may not have known this, but plenty of Jillian's stamp sets co-ordinate with Spellbinders Dies. Click here to view them all.

Also, AJVD has a new feature called "Spotlight". Each week, certain stamp sets that are featured by the designers will be on sale for $12.00!!! I love that price!

To keep up to date on new products, giveaways, sales, etc., follow AJVD on Facebook.