Homemade Valentine Cards + Girls Stamping Night + Babies

Because I am a rubber stamper, I haven't purchased a card for years.  I have a file box with tabbed dividers for all different occasions, and I keep it stocked with cards that I've stamped.  Stamping cards is one of my favorite crafty things to do. 

Valentine's day is such a favorite time for card makers.  There is really no other occasion that calls for card giving quite like it, unless you count Christmas.  I do not make homemade Christmas cards, so early February is the time of year that I make the most cards.  Valentine's Day just seems to call for a more personal card, so a card made with my own hands is my favorite to give.

Here are some pictures of the Valentine's I made this year. 

Girls Stamping Night...
The high school girls in my older kids' Bible study also like to stamp cards. Every once in a while they come over on a Saturday night for a girls stamping night. They bring snacks and we get out all my tools and supplies. We bridge the age difference over cardstock, brads and punches. They love to get in touch with their artsy side, and I have another excuse to use all the supplies I have accumulated over 20 years of stamping. It's a great time.  They made a couple of cards and a couple of candy pouches.  Here's one of the cards:



Babies...
The last time we had girls stamping night, two of the girls brought their babies from their child development class. Let me tell you...oh my, how times have changed. I carried around a bag of flour for child development when I was in high school. These girls had their 8 pound, electronic dolls that they carried in real infant car seats. The girls wore electronic scanning bracelets so that the babies "recognized" them. They had to tend to them for feedings with a bottle, holding, and diaper changes. The babies woke them up at all hours of the night and even had different types of audible cries (including an all out scream!). They had to be held with their heads supported or they would start crying. It was a hoot seeing them try to stamp while holding babies on their laps--just like a real mother who tries to merge taking care of her child with her other activities. Taking care of these life-like dolls is really giving the girls a good picture of what motherhood is like. They only had the babies for the weekend, and I'm pretty sure they were going to feel a sense of relief to not be responsible for their "baby" any longer.



 


































Since their Bible study leader also had her sweet baby in tow, we all had baby fever.  My daughter got out her collectible doll and we took a picture of all the gals and their babies.  (The real baby is the one on the left, being held by one of the high school girls.)