It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 14

Happy Valentine's Day! My card, were it to be a Valentine, would be deemed nontraditional. However, I won't save this card until next year's Valentine's Day, because to me, love isn't a one-day affair.

Instead of trivia, I'll tell you a story. Five or six years ago, when I was still working at the newspaper, I was talking to one of my adult sons on the telephone. Our conversation ended the way every telephone conversation ends between members of our family, whether its mom to son, dad to son, or mom to dad. "I love you," my son said. "I love you, too," I replied. My desk was in very close proximity to the editor's desk, and he'd overheard bits and pieces of many phone calls between me and my kids or me and my husband. On that particular day, he turned, looked at me rather quizzically, and asked, "Does every conversation between you and Marv or you and the boys end with 'I love you?'" I'd never real thought about it before he asked, but I told him that yes, that's the way we say good-bye, that somewhere along the way it had become a habit and one that I appreciated.

Life is unpredictable. I've lost my grandparents, my dad, and a number of friends. I've watched other friends lose children to tragedies. We just don't know what life has in store for us, but I do know that if the last thing I ever say or hear from those I care about are the words, "I love you," our little family idiosyncrasy will be a comforting gift - a blessing.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Chocolate cardstock; White Daisy, Blush, and Sweet Leaf textured cardstock; Chocolate and Blush ink pads; Love Is stamp set; Blush Bigger Brads; Antique copper photo clip.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 13

This card is evidence that the Love thing has exhausted itself in Kathi's Corner. I should have known better. When it comes to stamping, I usually do what I want when I want to do it, so committing myself to a Love-themed card every day for two weeks was a major undertaking. If you have a Cricut and the Stamped cartridge, you can accomplish this card in less than five minutes. I was going to add a little bling but cut my "love" so big, there wasn't anywhere to put it. I'll save the Sparkles for Day 14.

Sweet Trivia: It sounds like the conversation hearts I mentioned on Day 1 have been around a while. In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first Conversation Hearts — then called "Motto Hearts." According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14.

Also, more than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day. Did I post that one already? Oh well, we're talking chocolate, which merits a second mention.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy textured textured cardstock for card base; Cranberry and White Daisy cardstock; Cranberry ink pad; Adorable Backgrounds stamp set; Xyron.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 12

I don't believe I've ever used more than one, that alone three, Cuttlebug embossing folders to make a single card. Two of the three featured on this card are new - Distressed Stripes and Swiss Dots. Once again, I inked up the Heart Blocks folder with Hollyhock ink to give the Blush cardstock a little added dimension. Distressed Stripes is going to be a great folder to use to make masculine cards, and as I'm a lover of polka dots, I suspect I'll be pulling the Swiss Dots folder out of my box frequently. While you can't see it in the photo, the lightest pink piece is mounted to the card with 3M mounting tape and the sentiment a layer higher. Because the 3M tape is only 1/16th of an inch thick, the card has a lot of dimension without being "fat," even after adding the Circle Window Charm to the sentiment.

I am offering a favorite quote tonight by Robert Louis Stevenson. It's not romantic. I consider it a "larger" than romance and one that provokes thought: "So long as we love, we serve. So long as we are loved by others, I would almost say we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend."

I had a good day today, because I got up this morning and decided that was the way it was going to be. Abe Lincoln's words in my little "Just for Today" book worked their magic. Thanks for stopping. I hope your day was a good one, too.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Hollyhock, Blush, and Baby Pink cardstock; Hollyhock and Blush ink pads; All My Love stamp set; Cuttlebug/w Distressed Stripes, Swiss Dots, and Heart Blocks embossing folders; Cricut w/Mini Monograms cartridge; Circle Window Charms; Piercing Tool.

Hint: While I know I've posted it before, I'll post it again. Close to My Heart's white-core cardstock tends to crack when running it through the Cuttlebug. If you're going to sand your piece, the cracks are OK. If you don't want your paper to crack, try sandwiching your cardstock between two pieces of copy paper. It makes cranking the Cuttlebug handle a little harder, but most of the time, it will prevent your paper from cracking.

One more thing, I was asked in my last post about the Dove blending pen. Stop back for my Friday Favorites post, and I'll tell you why it's my favorite.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 11

My card for today was inspired by a beautiful card I saw here on Bonnie's fun The Lucky Clucker blog. I didn't have a suitable heart stamp or the pretty background paper and thus, had to "make do." Provocraft came to my rescue. To create the background, I inked up the negative side of my Textile Texture embossing folder with my Hollyhock ink pad and ran a piece of Blush cardstock through the Cuttlebug. I thought for certain that I was going to end up with a pink embossing folder, but it didn't happen. A quick wipe with a baby wipe, and the ink was gone. I cut my hearts with my Cricut using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. I ran the Hollyhock heart through the Cuttlebug, too, using the same embossing folder and then swiped my Hollyhock ink pad across it. I love the way the background turned out. Instead of a Valentine's Day stamp, I stamped "Best Wishes" on this one, thinking that I will be be able to use it for a wedding card.

Aptly, Valentine's Day weddings is the subject of today's trivia. The following are couples who tied the knot on February 14: The Captain and Tennille in 1974, Elton John and Renate Blauel in 1984, Talk show queen Leeza Gibbons and Stephen Meadows and Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid in 1991, Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and Deborah Koons and Roseann and former bodyguard Ben Thomas in 1994, and Prince/The Artist and Mayte Garcia in 1996.

While not famous, my youngest sister, Kim, married her husband, Tim, on Valentine's Day, too. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I don't recall what year it was. I think our boys were around eight and nine, so I'm guessing it's about 20 years for them. Of the couples I listed, I don't know who's still married, with the exception of Kim and Tim.

I don't know if I'm going to stamp tonight or not. An incident at work today ticked me off, which doesn't make for a creative Kathi. I'm a team player and had to deal with someone today who obviously isn't. "It's not my department," isn't in my vocabulary, and I was surprised and disappointed that it was in his. While I've been back in the work force for more than 10 years, I am still shocked at the change in attitude that occurred during the 18 years I stayed home to raise kids. It makes me wish I'd stayed home longer! Thanks for listening to my little rant. I'll probably go stamp now. It's my "real world" escape after all! Later . . .

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Blush, Hollyhock, and Black cardstock; Hollyhock and Black ink pads; Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages stamp set; White grosgrain ribbon; Black mini brads; Cuttlebug w/Textile Texture embossing folder; Cricut w/George and Basic Shapes cartridge; Corner rounder; Rectangle Nestabilities; 3M Mounting Tape.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 10

This card was made in response to a challenge on the consultant's artwork board on the CTMH website yesterday. To say that it's different is an understatement, and yet, there's something I like about it. I know I like the red, white, and black color combination, and the ribbon on the textured cardstock certainly says "touch me." Perhaps its appeal (to me, anyway) it is the fact that it's a little out of the norm.

Trivia: About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. It's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.

I'm curious what the third most popular card-sending holiday is . . . Mother's Day, maybe? It's almost got to be.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy textured cardstock, Holiday Red and Black cardstock, Black and Holiday Red ink pads, Holiday Red marker, Blooming Flourishes, Love You, and In My Heart stamp sets, Retired CTMH Cranberry and Black gingham ribbon, Miscellaneous ribbon from Michaels.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 9

My Love card for today is prettier in person, I'm afraid. It's actually Beate's sketch turned on it's side and reversed - if that makes a lick of sense! The sentiment is one I love, because it is so true. I've been laughing with the same guy for nearly 31 years.

When it comes to that guy, the following song lyrics from "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion tell the story: "You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't speak. You were my eyes when I couldn't see. You saw the best there was in me. Lifted me up when I couldn't reach. You gave me faith 'cuz you believed. I'm everything I am, because you loved me."

The rest of the lyrics can be found here. If I were to change any of the words, I'd change "loved" to "love." He still loves me . . . even during those times when I'm not very lovable.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Blush, and Baby Pink textured cardstock, Hollyhock cardstock, Hollyhock and Blush ink pads, Pure Love stamp set, Just Blooms White Daisy Variety Pack, Baby Pink Bigger Brads, Clear Sparkles, 3M Mounting Tape.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 8

Much of this card's detail is lost in the photograph. The sentiment reads, "I love you to the moon and back again to infinity and beyond forever and ever." Also, Stardust Stickles on the little flowers create a subtle shimmer. The sentiment is mounted with foam tape.

Trivia: The first American publisher of valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland. During the 1870s, her elaborate lace cards were purchased by the wealthy, as they cost a minimum of $5, and some sold for as much as $35. Mass production eventually brought prices down, and the affordable "penny valentine" became popular with the lower classes.

Wow, $5, even for the rich, would have been a lot of money back in the 1870s.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Black, and Baby Pink cardstock, Black ink pad, Papertrey Out on a Limb stamp set, Versa-Mark Ink, White embossing powder, Embossing gun, Stardust Stickles, Corner rounder, Scotch 3M Mounting Tape.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 7

Am I tired, lazy, or what? Actually, I'm kind of tired and feeling kind of lazy, but that isn't the reason I made this card. I made it because I was inspired by this card on the Lucky Clucker blog. Had I not struggled with the ribbon a bit, this would have been a two-minute card. Wait, I take that back. I also spent several minutes looking through my non-CTMH stamps searching for a stamp set that I finally came to realize I don't even own . . . Now, that's scary! Back to the ribbon, I really like the look of grosgrain ribbon but find it much hard to manipulate than other softer ribbons, particularly if it's wide like this ribbon is. If anyone has any tricks with regard to working with this stuff, I'd love to hear them. One more thing I determined while making this card is that I need some heavier cardstock that doesn't buckle when embossed. Other than that, you guessed it. I love this card's clean, uncluttered, and simple design.

As love is the subject of this post, I have to tell a little grandchildren story. The closer to three he gets, the more little Mathias tries to insist on having things his way. Last night, he did not want to go to bed, and he was mad to the point that he would not say his prayers or administer the usual hugs and kisses. Finally, I asked him, "Don't you like Grandma?" to which he responded with an adamant "No!" and a much gentler, "But I just wuv you." I told him I loved him, too, and few minutes after I left him to sulk by himself, I overheard him saying his prayers. There wasn't another peep out of him after that, and this morning, he was so full of hugs and kisses that I had a tough time getting away from him to go to work.

Today's quote is from writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky: "Only the heart knows how to find what is precious."

Materials & Tools: White Cardstock, Cranberry ink pad, Stampendous Holiday Words stamp set, Cuttlebug and Decorative Hearts embossing folders, Empressor guide and embossing tool, ribbon from Michael's.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 6

What's better than a card for Valentine's Day? Chocolate, of course! A great picture tutorial by Beate Johns for this Pull Treat can be found here on the SplitcoastStampers website. I suppose there should be some little tag on the top or instructions printed on the back that instructs the recipient to untie the ribbon and pull.

Trivia: According to someone who replied to the question on Funtrivia.com, the retail chocolate industry in the United States is worth a little over $13 billion per year. Valentine's Day chocolates contribute more than $1 billion to that total. On average, Americans eat a little over 11 1/2 pounds of chocolate every year. This is way behind the Swiss and Germans, who eat about 20 pounds a year. Per an article on Bankrate.com, this year, an estimated 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are expected to be sold for Valentine's Day in the United States, according to the National Confectioners Association. Finally, according to Corsinet.com, chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the world's almonds and 20 percent of the world's peanuts.

Do I like chocolate? Oh, yeah. I've been known to eat a bag of Hershey Nuggets in a single sitting. With that admission, I'm going to sign off. I could declare this Woeful Wednesday for the kind of mood I'm in . . . old lady PMS or something. Whatever it is, I'll get over it. Maybe I just need some chocolate . . .

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Cranberry, Blush, and Baby Pink cardstocks; Black, Cranberry, Blush, and Baby Pink ink pads; Cranberry, Blush, Baby Pink, Garden Green, and Olive markers; Best of Times and Sensational Seals stamp sets; Cranberry and Baby Pink grosgrain ribbon; Red Sparkles; Terrifically Tacky Tape; Paper cutter w/scoring blade; Scallop paper edger; circle punches; Stampin' Up Slot punch; Hershey Bar.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 5

Here's one more card using what I call the "Four Square" sketch. I like square cards even though they require extra postage. If you missed my post on postal requirements - way back when - click here.

Valentine's Day Trivia: In the Middle Ages, people believed that the first unmarried person of the opposite sex you met on the morning of St. Valentine's Day would become your spouse.

And I thought arranged marriages were risky.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Black cardstocks, Holiday Red ink pad, Adorable Backgrounds and My One & Only stamp sets, Ribbon from Michael's, Red mini brads, and Stampin' Up's Word Window punch.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 4

This card is not your typical Valentine, but I love the sentiment. There are quite a few people I could give it to - my mother, any of my siblings, my husband, either of my sons, several of my friends. I've learned from and leaned on quite a few people over the course of my lifetime, and I've loved having each and every one of these people in my life.

I went through a poetry writing phase during my early 30s. I believe most of it is relatively mournful and centered around my then fear of growing old. I'll have to dig it out and read through it one day. Since that time, I haven't had any poems in me. I wish I did. Perhaps the future holds another phase.

For tonight, I'll leave you with a favorite poem, "i carry your heart with me," by ee cummings. While his writing style (no capital letters and little punctuation) makes me a bit crazy, I admire his words.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

All this talk of love has me appreciating my family again. Putting up with their dirty laundry and bickering sessions is a small price to pay for all they give me.

Materials & Tools: Garden Green and Colonial White cardstocks, Floral Tapestry paper packet, My One & Only stamp set, Olive ink pad, Olive organdy ribbon, Cricut w/Mini Monograms cartridge, Piercing Tool, Stampin' Up Piercing Mat.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 3

My busy weekend has been all about love. First was the wedding of our nephew last evening. The wedding was a relatively intimate affair held at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND. Housed in a turn-of-the-century warehouse, the museum provided a unique background for the exquisite red rose and metallic gold decorations. While very detail was perfect, every morsel of food superb, what was most beautiful of all was watching this couple say the vows I believe will last a lifetime. Today, I attended a shower for my friend and co-worker who adopted a little girl from Guatemala. Daphne, who turned one on January 18, is a beautiful, delightful child. Sharing in Lesley and Mike's adoption process and watching Lesley become a mother was one of the greatest joys I've ever experienced.

If love can be explained, the following words, my quote for today, say it best:

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The detail that I have yet to mention about yesterday is the fact that we didn't arrive home until after 4 a.m. this morning. Although I've had between five and six hours of sleep, they obviously weren't during the right hours, so I'm dragging as I write this. My card is a simplified version of Beate's Weekend Challenge card made with some new embossing folders I picked up at Michael's yesterday (along with a few other little things that totalled up to an obscene amount of money!). My husband, of course, is watching the Super Bowl. I caught Jordan Sparks' awesome rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and will probably tune the remainder of the football game out. I'll listen to my new Il Divo CD instead and see if I can't catch a second wind and stamp a little more before turning in early.

Materials and Tools: White Daisy regular and textured cardstocks; Retired Warm Classic Background & Texture Paper; Cranberry ink pad; Decorative Hearts Cuttlebug Embossing Folders; Technique Tuesday Words We Love stamp set; ribbon from Michael's.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 2

Day 1 and Day 2 of my Countdown are showing up on the same day, because this hair-brained idea came to me only shortly before midnight last night.

About this card, let's us say the background kind of evolved . . . The buttons, that I'm not so sure about, were added because I thought I should add something.

Valentine's Day Fact: During the late 1800s, postage rates around the world dropped, and the obscene St. Valentine's Day card became popular, despite the Victorian era being otherwise very prudish. As the numbers of racy valentines grew, several countries banned the practice of exchanging Valentine's Days cards. During this period, Chicago's post office rejected more than 25,000 cards on the grounds that they were so indecent, they were not fit to be carried through the U.S. mail.

I've got to wonder what was considered "indecent" in the late 1800s . . .

Materials and Tools: Love You stamp set; Colonial White, Blush, and Hollyhock cardstocks; Baby Pink, Blush, and Hollyhock ink pads; buttons from Baby Pink and Hollyhock My Accents; Colonial White Waxy Flax; Glue Dots.

It's All About LOVE Countdown - Day 1

In commemoration of Valentine's Day, look for a new LOVE card every day through February 14th. I will also be adding a favorite love quote, song lyrics, Valentine's Day facts or trivia.

Trivia (or a sad fact): Fifteen percent of US women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day. Gee, why didn't I ever think of that? Not!!

Materials and Tools: White textured cardstock, Cranberry cardstock, Elegant Bouquet paper packet, Cranberry ink pad, Olive ink pad, CTMH Simple Blossoms stamp set, Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages stamp set, white mini brads, Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped Oval Nestabilities.

Tomorrow!