Chocolate Valentines

I’d been debating what color(s) to use for Valentine’s cards this year…traditional reds,whites, pinks, or some years I’ve added black and gold into the mix. But I also love neutrals…creams and browns especially deep rich chocolatey browns. So I finally decided and went with the neutrals / browns. I mean Valentine’s Day is one of the chocolatiest days of the year right?!
Of course just as soon as I made up my mind, I kept seeing all these really gorgeous deep red and burgundy papers…I love paper almost as much as chocolate!
I’ve also been playing some more with graphics and digital stuff. I downloaded a great French postcard from Stampington & Co through signing up for one of their newsletters, and “negativized” it in my PrintShop program ( several other graphics programs have similar options). Then I aged it, colored the background, added a vintage heart which I changed the color to match my theme, a fleur-de-lis,  some scrollwork, and the word “LOVE” .

I printed this out on white cardstock, trimmed and mounted on brown cardstock to use as the focal for my cards.  I used various combinations of cream and brown papers to make a few cards, running metallic brown paper through my Cuttlebug, using a Textile folder. This is what the pattern looks like:

I then used the papers for the cards:

Cuttlebug embossed paper, adhesive rhinestone strip, scraps of paper charm borders accented with individual adhesive rhinestones.

Brown diamond pattern paper, Cuttlebug embossed paper, pearl and rhinestone adhesive strips and individual adhesive rhinestones.

Cuttlebug embossed paper corners,pearl and rhinestone adhesive strips, individual adhesive rhinestones.

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We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

to say that somehow, I reached 500 Followers !

To all of the people who have recently started following The Answer Is Chocolate , THANK YOU. And likewise, to all of you who have been along for ride, THANK YOU!

Now I'm off to think of some fun way to celebrate this! Stay tuned!

CSN Upcoming Review!

I was tickled chocolate when CSN Stores contacted me to give me an opportunity to do a review.  If you are unfamiliar with CSN, they are one of the top online retailers consisting of 250 online stores. Without leaving home, you can shop for everything from Swing Sets (or trampolines, inflatable bouncers, etc.) for your backyard ( Spring is coming...some day!) to housewares, indoor and outdoor home decor, cookware...pretty much anything. Or you can get something for indoors:

Look at this fun fitness trampoline:

Helps burn off all that chocolate!

I have been fortunate enough to win giveaways from CSN on different blogs and have always been very pleased with the product quality, ease of order and speed of delivery.

I can't wait to do a review of ......well I'll tell you, it will involve chocolate! So stay tuned :)

Monthly Link Party Friday 1/21

Hi there all you Chocoholics. Just a reminder that Friday January 21 will be the first Monthly Open House link party  of 2011 here at The Answer Is Chocolate! I hope that you'll all come and link up the fun things you've been working on so far this year. I know I've seen TONS of amazing Valentine's ideas out there as well gorgeous home decorating, organizing, and just awesome projects. So I hope you'll come. No need to RSVP, just show up!

Monster Love

The first batch of Valentines I made for the St. Jude Card Drive was very girly and I wanted to make sure I had some “guy” cards. I figured boys love monsters ( mine did when he was younger) so why not show them some Monster Love?

I didn’t have any monster stamps so I found a graphic in my PrintShop program. He was cute but I wanted to “Valentine him up” so the poor guy got enhanced with some lovely red lips ( the better to smooch you with my dear) and even though we know his heart is in there, I added one that everyone could see.

I wanted some more dimension so I went over the heart with red Stickles, and over the eyes with black.
Also created the sentiment in PrintShop.

For more information on how you can submit cards for this click here:

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This Week’s BFF: Suzy’s Artsy Craftsy Sitcom

Welcome to this week’s Blog Feature Friday at The Answer Is Chocolate! This week I’d like to introduce you to Suzy from Suzy’s Artsy Craftsy Sitcom.

If you haven’t visited Suzy, let me warn you. Do not drink water or other liquids while doing so unless you like a messy keyboard, especially if you go on a Wednesday when she does her weekly “Guest Star” feature with her ever present green room guest and assistant Tom Selleck. Yes, that Tom Selleck. The mustache himself. You are just going to have to go over there in order to understand.

In addition to being a super hilarious writer ( I was one of her victims I mean Guest Stars) she is also a talented crafter. One of my fav projects of hers is this quilled monogram ( I so don’t have the patience for quilling and I am envious of anyone who does!):

Or Faux Metal Wall Art:

Or these gorgeous Ukrainian eggs ( not just for Easter…they can be up all year round)

If like me, you think "whoa these are beautiful....COULD NEVER DO" they're avail in her Etsy shop :)


But wait…there’s more! In addition to great projects and tutorials, and her weekly Wednesday Guest Star feature, Suzy also has a weekly link party every Thus where you can promote your blog! It’s a fun way to meet new bloggers and get your own blog out there. She put Tom to work and he came up with this graphic that helps Suzy ( and us) keep it all straight:.

So…what are you waiting for?

Cards for St. Jude’s

See that heart on my sidebar? No? OK this one:

If you click the link on my sidebar, you’ll go to a blog that’s new to me this week called Winter Wonderland, run by a lovely blogger named Winter. I found Winter while visiting Jocelyn over at Inside BruCrew Life who for once was not tempting me with decadent chocolate goodies but instead a super cute card which I found out was for this great purpose. And that brings us back to Winter
She’s collecting Valentine’s cards for children at St. Jude’s Hospital and Medical Center in Memphis. I can’t think of a better reason to make cards can you? Especially with a new toy to play with? Hello! Go visit Winter for all the details and specifics if you would like to participate as well.
I started with these four and will make some more but wanted to get the word out about this to all you cardmakers.

Cards are 4.5x5.5, white cardstock with heart patterned and green polka dot papers, misc. embellishments from stash and I got to use another one of the mini-folders that came with my Cuttlebug!

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