Baby Love at L.A. DE VALK STYLE, Edgerton, MN

 

These t-shirts would be great for a gender reveal party or a baby shower. I recently made these and they are available at Drooger's Food Center in Edgerton, MN. If you are unable to come to the store you can email us at sales@ladevalkstyle.com if you would like to order them. They are not featured on ladevalkstyle.com at this time.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming. Watch out for FALLING PRICES!

You are invited to Like and Follow our facebook page. It's a good place to keep informed of what is happening at L.A. De Valk Style.

Leave a comment below if you know someone who loves a baby. 👶

The Store is OPEN

L.A. De Valk Style is now open for business. Since it is an online store we will be having a virtual Open House. Bring your own drinks and snacks.😉 Everyone is welcome to virtually visit any time day or night at ladevalkstyle.com.

This sweatshirt is one of my favorites. Who am I kidding? They're all my favorites. Take a look around the store. There is a coupon code available for the first order. Remember Black Friday and Cyber Monday are coming up which we all know is the most wonderful time of the year for shopping.

Since our products are made to order it will take about a week before they are shipped. We offer adult sizes S-5X and we are anticipating a new product line release in January 2018.

Don't forget to visit the website. 

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

L.A. DE VALK STYLE is Almost Ready!

I'm on the home stretch! I know my husband is anxiously awaiting the opening. Is anyone else?

This shirt I made for my husband about sums it up. Matthew 17:20, (Jesus speaking)  He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

It's a lot of work to move that mountain and I'm still working on it. Someone once said, "It takes 10 years to become an overnight success." I think I started the groundwork for this about four years ago. So I should be about half-way there. I hope.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

L.A. De Valk Style is Coming Soon

I am in the process of getting my online store ready for business. I have been diligently learning new skills to produce an awesome product line. I anticipate the final reveal will be in October.  I will update you each week on this blog. Leave a comment below if I have piqued your interest. 

CLUE #1

By the way, CLUE #1 is my design. 

(*Notice to the self-proclaimed craft & hobby police: I have purchased the Commercial License for thousands of fonts and graphics. I, L.A. De Valk, only sell what I have the legal right to sell.)   

Cupcake Wrapper Makes a Simple Dessert Exquisite

Today is my mother's 87th birthday. I am not an accomplished cook. I don't even like cooking. However, when I noticed the popularity of cupcake wrappers and toppers I was motivated to make a cupcake, actually 18 of them. Making them look beautiful was a lot of fun.

I used the template from Anna's Seasonal Soirees cricut cartridge to make the wrapper. In the middle of the hearts I have M-O-M written. The "O" is visible  in the picture. The topper was made from the inner hearts cut out of the wrapper. 

Served on fine china made this an extra special treat for the birthday lady. Happy Birthday Mom!

Let me know in the comments below if you ever make something ordinary special by dressing it up.

Handmade Floral Decor

It's a beautiful world!

I made this lovely piece of floral home décor using the Heartfelt Creations Classic Petunia Collection. I have decided that the flowers which I made from white paper resemble the Camellia Sasanqua flower because of the full stamen that were shaped from navy blue cardstock and sprinkled with prills.

I did upcycle the frame which I found at a rummage sale several years ago and the lace fabric used to enhance the pretty backing paper was taken from a curtain that was no longer being used. The trim and burlap were scraps from my stash. This beautiful project was extremely economical. It did require an investment of time, patience, and the appropriate tools.

Have you ever made something old beautiful? Let me know in the comments below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Biker Babes Birthday Card

This was a fun card to make. I am not an accomplished colorist yet, but I hope to improve with practice and education. If you are interested in improving your coloring/art techniques it would be to your advantage to look up Lachri Fine Arts on YouTube. She is a professional artist and you will learn a lot from her instruction.

I used Faber-Castell polychromos pencils to color these fun loving ladies and blended the colors with odorless mineral spirits. The stamp is by Art Impressions. 

The lady doing the peddling must be in great shape!

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Forever Flowers

These beautiful flowers all have one thing in common. I made them using the Heartfelt Creations  stamp and die sets. The white and pink flowers are made from vellum and colored on the back with copic markers. The red-orange flowers are made from white cardstock with color sponged on from stamp pads. Using this stamp and die set I can make a garden of forever flowers. These are ready to be used on future projects.

Anyone with patience, perseverance and the right tools can learn to make these flowers. If you want to learn how to create them leave a comment below. If you like these flowers leave a comment below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Just Monkeying Around!

This is one of the fun and easy cards I made this week.

I used the Monkeying Around Paper from Heartfelt Creations to make this card. I did a bit of fussy cutting of the palm leaves and flowers from the papers and used those for adding dimension to the card by layering them. I layered the patterned paper and panel to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. Of course, I had to put some sparkle on the flowers with a bit glitter glue. The card base is a piece of dark brown cardstock from my personal stash.

The card below will make an adorable Get Well card for a child or a young at heart adult.

Scissors, glue and the Heartfelt Creations Paper are all that is needed to complete this card. I did use a piece of dark brown cardstock from my personal paper stash for the card base. It is a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. This is a great card project for a beginner card maker.

Do these monkeys make you smile? Let me know in the comments below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

A Handmade Corsage

This Sunrise Lily Corsage will be a beautiful accent to my mother's attire this Resurrection Sunday. The vellum flowers surrounded by lace and ribbon will put a smile on her face and on the faces of the people around her, because we all know a smile is contagious.

To make this corsage I first created the flowers using vellum paper. I heat embossed the stamped flower images and die cut them. You can find the stamps and dies at this link, Heartfelt Creations Sunrise Lily. You can also find flower shaping techniques on the same website. The video tutorials on the Heartfelt Creations website is where I learned to flower shape paper. It does take some practice but the results are amazing.

After my flowers were made I pulled pretty things from my stash and used a hot glue gun to assemble them all together. I used a small piece of chipboard as a base and layered and trimmed the pretty pieces. This corsage attaches to a garment with a pin. This was a fun way to use up some of the pretty scraps in my sewing and crafty stash.

God bless you all and have a Happy Resurrection Sunday!

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Encouragement Card featuring the Sunrise Lily Collection

"God's love is endless" is an appropriate sentiment for anyone going through a difficult situation. Encouragement cards are always received as a blessing because the recipient is reminded that someone cares.

The sunrise lily on the front of the card was stamped, heat embossed, colored, die cut and shaped on vellum. The flower stamp, die, and patterned papers I used are all from the Heartfelt Creations Sunrise Lily Collection. Glitter adds the sparkle and shine to the flowers inside the card and on the outside band. An Anna Griffin gatefold embossing folder created the card base. The inside sentiment is from an Anna Griffin stamp. It all came together beautifully and is handmade with love.

Do you like to give encouragement cards? Have you ever received an encouragement card? Let me know in the comments below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Sunrise Lily Birthday Card

I made this card using patterned paper and elements from the Sunrise Lily Collection by Heartfelt Creations. I stamped and die cut the flowers on white cardstock and sponged color on them with the GKD Faded Brick stamp pad and Memories Yellow stamp pad. I then shaped and assembled each flower and added some sparkle and shine with a copper colored glitter glue. I used GKD Fresh Asparagus and Grass Green stamp pads for the leaves and distressed the edges of the card and sentiment with a Ranger Vintage Photo stamp pad.

These colors are not what I usually use for a floral card, but I am pleased with the results. There are excellent tutorials on flower shaping on the Heartfelt Creations website.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

ALL ABOARD!

Train cards are the theme for this week. If you are or know a train enthusiast these are worth the effort. Not everyone likes flowers as much as I do, so when I make cards I like to have some varied themes on hand. I do confess that probably 90% of what I make does have flowers.

These were made using Debbi Moore Designs paper patterns and elements. This theme can be found on the Shabby Chic 2 usb. I did have to print and cut out the various elements that I chose to use and then put them together in a unique and pleasing way. I added burlap and buttons to the Z-fold card and the buttons on the stepper card are paper that I enhanced with Glossy Accents.

Do you know a train enthusiast? Have you ever made a train card? I'd love to know. Leave a comment below.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Winter Wonderland

The six inches of snow this week motivated me to complete this winter card that I had started sometime last year.

The papers I used are all from the Heartfelt Creations Snow Kissed Collection. It is a 6 inch square card embellished with snowflakes that I stamped and layered. Glitter glue was used to add sparkle on the snowflakes and the house and Nuvo Glimmer Paste made the snow dimensional.

I am hopeful that this is the last snow fall of the season. The only spring flowers I have right now are the paper ones I that I have created.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Masculine Cardmaking Technique

Since I cannot show you what I am working on right now for Heartfelt Creations because it is not time for the product release yet, today I am going to share a simple and effective way to make masculine cards that the men in your life will appreciate.

Here is the big wow! POP TOPS! Simply color the pop top with your favorite Sharpie marker then pull your ribbon through. This gives the illusion of a belt and buckle, rather than a ribbon and bow used on a femine cards. Another tip is to choose paper colors such as medium to dark blues, greens, and browns and patterned papers that are plaids, stripes, houndstooth, and geometrics.

Here are some cards I have made with this technique:

I used an Anna Griffin stamp on this card.

I used Gina K. Designs patterned

paper and stamp to create this card.

This stamp is from a discontinued Stampin' Up set.

I inked the white cardstock for the card base.

Gina K. Designs stamps are used on this card.

I made the patterned paper by stamping the

birds on the blue background paper.

Now go to your craftroom and make some cards for "him."

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

The Classic Rose

I completed this card today. I really liked how it came out, but I am partial to purple.

I used the Heartfelt Creations Blushing Rose Paper Collection and the Classic Rose Stamps and die set to create this beauty. I used the Ranger Vintage Photo ink to give a distressed appearance to the paper. Then I embellished with some flat back pearls, a pretty bow and some Studio G Glitter Glue. I hope you like it as much as I do.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

I'm a Semi-Finalist!

I survived round one of the Heartfelt Creations Design Team Call. Soon I will be preparing for the next round. The final winners will not be announced until April 26, 2017. Your vote for me is very much appreciated. The Heartfelt Creations Semi Finalists are announced HERE where there is also a link to vote.

This is Abigail. She likes to play with craft supplies too. I don't like sharing them with her though. LOL

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

The Oh So Pretty Heartfelt Hydrangea

This card came out so beautifully that it has earned the honor of being the screensaver on my cell phone.

I used the Heartfelt Creations Berry Café paper, stamps and dies to make this card. The trellis is from an Anna Griffin die. A lovely lady named Emma Lou does a wonderful job of teaching the techniques to make these beautiful flowers. I sponged the pink on each flower before it was assembled. It does take a lot of time and attention to detail to make these, but they are so worth it!

In case you are inclined to try flower shaping hydrangeas, the link to the Heartfelt Creations  tutorial is Flower shaping 101: How to shape gorgeous hydrangeas for cards, papercrafts and scrapbooks

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, it's almost Valentine's Day. I just had two valentines to make this year. I thought you might like to see them.

This one is for my 86 year old mother. She likes all things pink and she also likes jigsaw puzzles. I designed the card in Cricut Design Space software and cut it on my Cricut Explore. The beautiful rose and rosebud were made from my Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies. It was hard to part with that rose because it is my favorite. Actually, they are all my favorites, but I especially liked this one.

The card below is for my husband John. It was a design available in Cricut Design Space. I changed it from a cut file to a write file, so the Cricut drew the design on the black cardstock with a gold pen. I really like how it came out.

The glimmer, shimmer and shine on my cards do not come through as beautiful in pictures as they appear in my hand. I have discovered most people like to receive a handmade card.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

Round One!

My round one submission is in for Heartfelt Creations Design Team. It was hard to choose just three representations of my creative work because I have so many and they vary in style. These are the three I chose:

When I find out how I did I will post it. If anyone is interested in specific instructions on any of these three projects let me know in the comments below. 

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE

My Motivation to Blog

Welcome to my first blog post. I am excited to begin this new adventure. My main motivation is that an incredible company has a Design Team call out and in order to qualify to apply I need an active blog. I love making beautiful cards and home décor pieces and I would like to be able to do it more often. Heartfelt Creations "art from the heart" in Goshen, IN is the company searching for talented crafters. I hope they find me, so you will be seeing some pictures of beautiful creations using their supplies.

IMAGINE, CREATE, INSPIRE