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Monday, January 10, 2011

Valentine Specimen Art {Shortcut Style}



Hello! How are you? I am still trying to recover from the holidays and have also been super-busy at work getting the year-end closed out. I actually had to work this past Saturday! YUCK!! And it was an even bigger bummer since that meant I couldn't road trip to Philly with the Heela and the girls for a family get-together. Booo! :(

However..... the only upside to working on Saturday and not being able to go to Philly was that I got a few hours on Saturday evening and Sunday morning to myself.

SA-WEEEET!

Now, don't get me wrong, I truly was disappointed that I couldn't go to the family party... but I have to admit it was so incredibly amazing kind of nice having the house ALL TO MYSELF for a few hours. No kids... no husband... ahhhhh.... heaven. *evil grin*

I mostly vegged out - got a massage, made cinnamon rolls for dinner, watched girly movies On Demand... :)

But I also decided to do a craft. Mind you, I didn't want it to be too time consuming - I've got relaxing to do!! But I figured I could squeeze in something quick and easy (thats what she said!). So, given that a new holiday is coming up, I decided to turn to my 'old faithful'.... some SPECIMEN ART!! :) I mean, c'mon, it wouldn't be me if I didn't pull out a version for Valentine's Day! :)


 
So I headed out to Michaels to see what I could find for Valentine's Day. I considered doing the foam shapes again since my snowflakes came out so good, but I felt like the glittery foam hearts just looked too cheezy and cheap. So I opted for some Martha Stewart stickers which had different designs and colors but had the consistency of the same shape which I like. They were only $1.99 for the pack and I used a 50% off coupon to score them for only $1! And once again, I raided my old scrapbooking stash for some colored card stock and used the same black frame from all my other specimen art.




A couple cuts of the paper to make some colorful mats, a little glue stick to hold the paper together, apply the stickers and VOILA!




As usual, I placed the paper on top of the glass so there would be no glare and so you could see the dimension of the stickers. These ones are barely 3D but they are raised just ever so slightly. Hard to see here, but they are kind of puffy (but barely).





I put it up on the mantle next to my trusty old red and black vase and red ceramic bird. I think the colors work great together!



Not bad for $1! What do you think? Another success??

Have you tried any specimen art? Please let me know if I've inspired you! I always love to see other people's takes on things!!



(In case you are a new follower, 
Here are links to my other forrays into specimen art if you're curious:


This post was featured - thank you!!



UndertheTableandDreaming














I also want to thank these bloggers for the "shout-outs"!


This project has been submitted to The CSI Project: Valentines Day Challenge
Visit thecsiproject.com


Linking up to these parties (also see Linky Tab above)
Until Wednesday Calls
Sew Chatty
Polish the Stars
Not Just a Housewife
These Creative Juices
Someday Crafts
The Thrifty Home
House of Hepworths
Between U & Me
What Allie's Making Now
Somewhat SImple
A Little Knick Knack
Momma's Kinda Crafty
Fast Daze
Simply Designing
Fingerprints on the Fridge
The Speckled Dog
Truly Lovely
While He Was Napping
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different... Act Normal
Craft Envy
Paper Issues
Under the Table and Dreaming
C.R.A.F.T.
Keeping it SImple








38 comments:

  1. looks beautiful! so fun and pretty for Valentine's Day. By the time I'm done taking down the decos from Christmas, the last thing I want to do is haul out a bunch more! This is a great project to have that little bit of fun without it being too complicated- love it!

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  2. I love those stickers. What a fun V-day project. So simple, but a real wow!

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  3. looking good of course! I am so trying this project this year! :)

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  4. I love this and I'm off to Hobbylobby tomorrow to see what I can find.

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  5. Adorable! What a quick and easy way to decorate for Valentine's Day! Thanks for linking up to my party. :)

    - Megan

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  6. Absolutely another success!! I always love your specimen art!!! :)

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  7. Love it! I was at the dollar store yesterday and bought a few valentines items :)
    Thanks for your visit!
    XO
    Kristin

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  8. This is really cute! Hard to believe that it's stickers! Would love for you to share this at my link party!

    http://kraftykat76.blogspot.com/2011/01/gettin-krafty-with-it-3.html

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  9. This turned out great! So simple but it makes an impact :) Love it!

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  10. So cute! And so simple! Love it!

    I host a weekly link party on Friday's I'd love for you to join!

    Ashley
    www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  11. What a cute idea! I am your latest follower.

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  12. Love it! And it is so simple :) When I saw the link I thought you had used a cricut or something, but anyone could do this! I am going to feature this on Thursday. Thanks for linking it up!

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  13. I love it, so cute! And love the 'thats what she said' quote, my partner and say this all the time, people think we're crzy!

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  14. Love it! What a great idea, very cute and inexpensive! Those are the kinda DIY crafts I love! :)

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  15. What a cool idea! I need to take more Christmas stuff down and think about Valetine's Day decor.

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  16. I am truly shocked at how little you spent on something so cute. What a great idea!!

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  17. Love, LOVE, it!

    I did something similar around Halloween. Definitely going to have to do this one!

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  18. This is so cute!! Definitely not bad for a dollar! Great idea!

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  19. This is great! I can't believe it only cost a dollar!
    I'd love for you to link up with my party: http://fastdaze.blogspot.com/2011/01/linky-fridaze-1.html

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  20. Stopping back by to invite you to link this up at Favorite Things Friday.

    http://thespeckleddog.blogspot.com/2011/01/favorite-things-friday-no-7.html

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  21. So so cute!

    Thanks for linking up!

    Ashley
    www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  22. I think this is so darling, and sooo affordable too! Thanks for the idea:) I featured you today, thanks for posting my button on this post:)
    http://justsewsassy.com/2011/01/14/feature-friday-cupids-picks/

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  23. this is a really great idea for holiday decorating and what rings in my ears is the price! love me some cheap crafts! i am your newest follower! really want to try this! thanks!
    http://divababies.blogspot.com/

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  24. Adorable! I saw a small canvas version earlier and thought of doing one of these. Love yours.

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  25. I love this! I am going to make one too!!

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  26. I actually just got back from exploring Joanns and found some felt heart stickers that I was thinking about using for this same purpose even before I saw your blog.
    I am thrilled to be your newest follower and even more happy to see that you work full-time and still find time for blogging and being crafty...sometimes I feel as though I am one of the few! LOL!

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  27. So cute! Saw you on Craft eNVy's link party and it's awesome - love the shortcut idea!

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  28. That is just adorable. I absolutely love (and collect) hearts...made out of anything! What a cute and simple idea for my favorite holiday.

    xox
    Nancy

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  29. WAY cute!!!

    - Michelle @ Bunch of Craft

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  30. cute idea glad we were highlighted together

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  31. This is so cute! I just posted one my BFF made for me on my blog over the weekend. Love yours!

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  32. So cute! It's perfect! Fab job!
    Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
    AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

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  33. This is so cute, Kyra! I love that you used several layers of paper. It frames it nicely. And I really like those stickers, but they're Martha, so of course I do:)

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  34. I featured this today. Can't wait to make mine this weekend!

    Thanks for linking up last week to Favorite Things Friday @ The Speckled Dog. Hope you'll come back this week!

    http://thespeckleddog.blogspot.com/2011/01/favorite-things-friday-no-8.html

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  35. One dollar? TOTAL success!!! ;) This art is lovely!

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  36. Hi Kyra,

    I just found your blog and had to tell you I love your Valentine's specimen art. Did you happen to catch Martha's show earlier this week where she used these stickers to make a charm bracelet? She stuck two of them together then punched a hole in it and attached it to the bracelet. It was so cute and I would have never thought to do that with stickers.

    Have a great day!

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