caitlin elizabeth photography :): diy

i'm still not absolutely certain that i should post this (it's kindof going to ruin some folks' valentine's day surprise... but in the spirit of sharing all things CRAFTY with ya'll, i'm willing to forego knocking my friends' socks off with how freaking adorable their mail will be come v-day morning)

this post will help you avoid the stereotypical barbie/disney princess/toy story/spongebob square pants valentines that so many of us gave out to our elementary aged classmates oh-so-long ago. mamas and daddys: this is a fun way to spend an evening with the kids :) it's just messy enough for them to think they're having fun and not so messy that you'll have to take off of work the next day to clean!

i had to make a trip to michael's to start off this project (although most of these things i already had in my craft box)

these cards + envelopes were on sale for $1/10 pack

i already had the colored paper/pigment/scissors/embossing tool/embossing powder, but these precious valentine stamps were only $1 each!

this is my handy dandy embossing tool aka the crafting version of power tools - slash in reality it's just a mini hair dryer for melting the embossing powder, but power tools are way better

the pigment and embossing powder i have used before for other projects and will definitely continue using in the future (not just for diy valentine projects)

now for the fun stuff :) i measured out pieces of colored paper to be slightly smaller than the face of the cards (you'll see what i mean in a minute)

and then cut them out, wrote something cute on them, and glued them to the front of my blank cards

i then took my stamp, dipped it on the pigment pad and placed it where i wanted the stamp on the inside of my card. before it had time to dry i covered the wet pigment with embossing powder