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First Happy Valentines Day and I hope that you have a special day as you are special….I do not like to be a "Negative Nellie" but I have HAD IT with the SNOW!!! We receive 18+ inches and it is days like this that I ask myself…what do I love animals so much!?!?!?

I feel like I am a young mom with little ones at home…with the door revolving with wet clothes….the dryer running non stop but the reality it is…it is just me John and I and…5 dogs…1 pig…3 horses….and one miniature donkey (that does not like me one bit)! 

With John doing great – this weather is not the best (so he needs to be extra careful) so I am on my own with the animals and when I "bundled up" to go to the barn in the morning….the snow was sooooo deep and drifting was so high….the Jack Russells looked at me like…."Mom – we need help"!!!

The horses would love to go out but the snow is just too deep  -  hopefully over the weekend we can plow some paths in the fields to let them out of the barn to stretch their legs….but until then they are at the Ritz Carlton and I am their house keeper!

Let's get to the card today – today is John's Mom & Dad's 61st Anniversary! Isn't that just wonderful….when I stop to think about it…I am in awe!!! What a true testament of love and dedication! Happy Anniversary Gram and Pap!

Do you ever look at the ideas that are in the catalog? ( page 114 in the Annual Catalog) Well….this is where my inspiration came from for today's card! Let's go!

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  • The card is a 5 X 5 card in Smokey Slate. I cut the front of the card with the Floral Framelits (these are ON SALE – so basicall the front ot the card has a big floral cut out hole!

  • One thing that seemed very weird to me was…I kept Stampin' and Stampin' with the various of sizes of stamps all on the same piece of very vanilla!  (3 in total) The Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is a MUST…a MUST as you are stamping all on the same piece of Very Vanilla!!!!

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  • Look at the below picture and you can see how I used the Mono Liquid Glue to adhere it to the front of the front! It is easier to put the glue on the back side of the card and then place the stamped image….remember – use a LITTLE BIT of this glue….to me this is the best adhesive for this project as you can wiggle the image around to get it "just right"

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  • It looks rather ugly….."right" – (you can see that I use my paper to the MAX – I started with this side….made a boo-boo….but the best thing is…..a quick "flip over" and WOWZERS – good to go!!!!)

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  • Now we cannot let this card go out like this!!! Easy – I cut a piece of Smokey Slate at 5" X 5" and adhered it to the back of this and PRESTO – one beautiful card!

When you look at this card you can see that there are 4 stamped images (all from the same set….woot-woot!!!!)…..the first 3 were all stamped on the same piece of Very Vanilla and then the 4th one was stamped on a piece of very vanilla scraps and then cut out with the Floral Framelits!

The colors I used were Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Smokey Slate.

  • To the last stamped image…I pulled out the Very Viintage Buttons and linen thread and using a Mini glue dot – BAM – done!

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  • Because it is Valentine Day and it is such a special anniversary…..I needed to put a heart somewhere….thank goodness for the small heart punch!
  • The sentiment came from the Hostess Set called, Express Yourself…..one great stamp set! I simply stamped that on a scrap piece of paper and then cut the ends….quick and easy!

  • The pearls here and they are the perfect accent to make this a special card for this wonderful milestone anniversary! These just "make" the card go to the next level! (again, this card is much prettier in person"

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  • I did make my own "custom" envelope ( so easy to do) with the help of the Envelope Punch Board and then the liner that worked perfectly was from the Sweather Weather Designer Series Paper fromt he Holiday Catalog…

I encourage you to be inspired by ideas that are in the catalogs…they are always great ideas of inspiration for me and I knew that I wanted to make John's parents a beautiful card for their special day!

Let's hope that this calendar keeps rolling and we can have "Spring" here soon….the carzy thing is that we are to be in the 50s next week – crazy!!!!!!

Have a wonderful Valentines and do something special with the one you love or do something special for yourself….as you are worth it!!!!

Be safe if you are in a bad weather area and until tomorrow!!!!!