February Loves

Ahhh, the love month. What could be better than an entire day devoted to hearts, chocolate and sweet nothings? Each month brings a new beginning, a new chapter. How lucky we are to have a fresh start each and every day. Makes my heart all warm and toasty inside...

 What makes your heart skip a beat? What simple little love do you indulge in? Is it a someone? A something? A taste? A smell? Breathing in all each day has to bring us can sometimes be difficult, but so so necessary to sustain happiness. Joy is abundant.

 I love pretty romantic Valentine paper. Every January after all the Christmas things have been placed away, I swoon over all the pinks, reds and hearts that make their way to shops for us to enjoy for such a short time. I am always utterly amazed at how pretty paper can be. This year my favorite is the Echo Park "Be Mine" collection. Hot pink, vintage cream, black, soft pinks and grays all mixed together with a Paris theme - be still my swelling heart! The "Be Mine" collection simply exudes romance.

The possibilities are endless of the pretties you can create. I opted to decorate some little heart boxes and embellish them with paper flowers, another love of mine. Using the Tim Holtz "Tattered Florals" die I cut out several flowers, inked and lightly distressed them. I stacked them atop each other and used a toothpick and pencil to curl the edges. Just adore making paper flowers - a total addiction.

Can't wait to fill these up with some sweets for some very special people. Hope they will cherish these little treasures as much as I cherish them.

Ever spend a day doing something you love and basking in glow of it? That was me last week. I love the look of tea stained tags, fabric, lace, papers. The aroma that fills the house after a few hours of hand dyeing all sorts of things with tea is delicious.

Oh the thrill of opening the oven after 20 minutes on a low setting to see that worn, caramel looking color wash over what was once very plain parcel tags! So yummy...

I think I spent almost 3 hours tea dyeing all sorts of things and then another hour or two creating some little pretties for my Etsy shop. I have not been the best at adding items, but that is changing. You will find these there...

And these too. I love tags, don't you? the perfect compliment to any package is a sweet little handmade tag. Almost makes the packaging better than the gift itself. The little house and scalloped circle were made using the "Love Lives Here" dies from PaperTrey Ink. These dies have stamps to match and they were inspired by one of my favorite designers, Melissa Phillips. Aren't they sweet? Again, endless possibilities.

That's all for today my friends. Seek out your passions today and May your little hearts be filled with gladness, hope, faith and most of all LOVE.

XOXO, Nik