Who knows when inspiration will strike, but recently it was a vase of flowers that inspired the color choices for my Valentine’s this year.
I picked out a brilliant bunch of magenta anemones at the Farmer’s Market and put them into a cobalt blue glass vase.
I’m afraid my skill with a camera is not up to the challenge of capturing this combination and making it look as rich and wonderful as what I’m seeing. Even as the flowers started to fade, they deepened to a darker shade that was lovely. I bought the same kind and color of flowers two weeks in a row.
Anyway, I started going through my paper and did a little shopping so I could put these two colors together.
I added brown paper tags and hearts, vintage buttons and some sweet little heart embellishments. Not shown are some off-white and cream-colored sheet music, textbook pages and other vintage ephemera from my stash that I used.
Although these cards are more focused on paper, I still use rubber stamping and I pulled out my Valentine stamps.
I knew I couldn’t really capture the color of the cobalt blue glass, but I added richness to the card designs with sparkly blue glitter tape and shiny gold paper and ink.
My friend Carson recently showed a technique for a “Braided Paper” background on her wonderful Pine & Plum blog, and I used that for a batch of Valentine’s.
Cut strips of paper in equal widths.
Put adhesive on a piece of paper (this will be covered by the paper strips – I used thinner copy paper rather than card stock). I like the Tombow Mono Adhesive tape roller.
Lay the first two strips to create a V on the paper. The ends of the strips can go off the edge and when they’re all glued down, just turn the paper over and trim off the extra.
Cover the paper. I did a long strip and cut it to size for several small cards.
Once all the base paper is covered and you trim the strips, you’ll have a beautiful piece of paper that looks similar to a braid.
Here are finished cards using this technique.
These small cards will go into little glassine envelopes I found at Paper Source and I’ll be sharing them with friends at work and in my choir. Heart stickers and washi tape decorate the outside.
I am making more cards, some this same small size (I used place cards) and some more standard size and all will be using similar collage designs and the same colors and embellishments.
Thank you for your visit.
dianne faw 
I love the rich colors you have chosen…just beautiful!…and I too love cobalt blue glass…have a number of pieces…Anything will glow when put with this color!
Hi Dianne. I wish I was creative and craft minded. Your ideas seem so beautiful and simple. Any ideas how to start and simple for a non craft minded person. You mentioned one time that you can walk 10,000 steps in a day. How is that possible? Even while wearing a pedatomer ( a step counter) I can usually come up with maybe close to 750.
Hi, thanks for your comments. To reach 10,000 steps I have to really put in an effort. Here is what I wrote to another reader:
It takes an effort to get my steps in. 3x per week I go to the gym at about 5:15 a.m. and walk on a treadmill (with an occasional short burst of jogging) for 20 to 25 minutes then do some strength training and stretching. I park my car around the corner and when I leave, I walk the other way, away from my car, then walk back and climb the stairs of a parking garage, and walk back down through the garage. 3 flights for the smaller, closer garage, 5 for the larger one that’s another block away. Two weekday mornings I usually take a 20 to 35 minute walk, leaving my house around 6:00 a.m. One evening I take a Jazzercise class after work and on Saturday I take a hike with my sister, usually over an hour. Sunday, another walk plus walking around the Farmer’s Market. At work I try and get some short walks (to the mail room or down to a nearby store) in or even around the halls and stairs in my building if the weather isn’t very welcoming. Sometimes I get in a quick walk after work while dinner is in the over of just 10 or 15 minutes.
But…some days, like today, I didn’t manage much at all, no walks, no gym and just over 3,000 steps.
It sounds as if you are more sedentary than I am.
As for creativity, well, there are lots and lots of projects on my blog, so you might take a look in the craft section and see if there is something that inspires you. I have been doing this for years and years and have loads of great supplies. There are also craft kits with all the supplies for one project that you can look for online or in stores. I don’t know what is in your area, but if you look online, you can find them. This might be a good way to go! Good luck.