It was a Valentine Extravaganza last night as I helped two moms make class valentines for their kids to take to their school valentine parties this week!  We’ve been doing this for a few years now.  I make some sample ideas, they see which ones their kids like, and then we get together and make them, sometimes with one of the girl’s help because Elsie has been stamping and scrapbooking since she was in preschool!  Really!  She taught a class on stamping in preschool!

The Magical Day Stamp Set in the Occasions Catalog proved to be perfect for Carl as he had just done some Shakespeare in school!  I tried various combinations of designs as you will see.  I used the new Stampin’ Blends markers to color in the knight.  That was a little time-consuming for making 30 valentines, but it had to be done and I knew the moms would want to try out the Stampin’ Blends markers. (They loved them!)

Using a different greeting (“Awesome”) from the Marquee Messages, which the mom liked, but her son liked the greeting that came in the Magical Day Stamp Set.

This version I thought using punches was going to be quicker and easier that cutting or die-cutting squares. That’s something you have to consider when you are making a quantity of cards.  What can you mass-produce fairly easily?

In the end we made a card with the “Magical” greeting, the knight layered on a  piece of Silver Glimmer Paper punched with the Starburst Punch and that all layered over a Black Glimmer Paper (retired) strip flagged at the ends like this silver one.  And we stamped the little stars in the stamp set around on the card front in Versamark ink, which was better than using the Bermuda Bay ink.

Wyatt is a soccer player so I dug out a retired stamp set called I Love Soccer.  I bought this set in case I ever make scrapbook pages for my two boys who played soccer!  Luckily I met Wyatt who likes soccer valentines!  The grass is stamped from the Sheltering Tree Stamp Set. I stamped it in both Old Olive and Crumb Cake to look like some dirt mixed in. In the final version of the card (and late at night!) we decided it would be quicker to just stamp the “Woohoo” in Real Red ink right on the card instead of stamping and cutting out.  It looked fine!

All these cards were just one-sided (no fold) and the kids will sign them on the back.  Since this one is mounted on Basic Black, we added a Whisper White layer and stamped with some more soccer stamps.

Last but not least, Elsie likes cats, so this was her card she chose!

The cat is from the retired stamp set Pun Fun. I got a lot of use out of that stamp set back in the day! The cat is stamped in Memento Black ink and colored in with the Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends.  The cat is punched out with the 2″ Circle Punch and then layered on the Starburst Punch piece in Real Red.  The little hearts are from Heart Happiness (love that stamp set!) and the word “Love” is from Watercolor Words (another great set!).  Pretty quick and easy valentine to make for a cat-lover! If you are looking for a cat stamp set, the current one in the Annual Catalog is this adorable one, the Pretty Kitty Stamp Set.  If you need a dog, order this stamp set, Bella & Friends.  This stamp set was designed by one of the Demonstrators who reached $1 million in sales, Angie Juda.

This was another potential sample using the Cat Punch.  Her eyes are stamped from the Halloween set, Spooky Cat (retired).  The “friend” is die cut with the Lovely Words Thinlits Dies.  It comes attached to an oval, but to get only the word, just snip the ends to separate.

And this was another sample I played around with.  I stamped the Whisper White in Melon Mambo with the beautiful flowery stamp in the Wood Words Stamp Set.  Then I used the Cat Punch to punch out the cat. Next, adhere the Whisper White layer to the Melon Mambo card base. Pop the cat up on Stampin’ Dimensionals and adhere it in the empty space.  This is called the Eclipse Technique and you can do it more elaborately with the Large Letters and Large Numbers dies, but it is very easy with just a punch!  She may give this card to one of her teachers.

For more ideas for class valentines for kids, check out my blog post from last year to see the valentines I designed for the kids!

So there you have lots of valentines ideas for kids!  I sure wish I’d know about Stampin’ Up! back when my kids were in elementary school.  I hope the schools don’t give up the tradition of handing out valentines. I think it is one where they can all participate and enjoy receiving their little cards and treats!  It’s even more fun if you can stamp some valentines, perhaps with your child’s help, and have a Valentine Extravaganza making their class valentines!