Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hey everybody...it's Sunday night and Valentine's Day is tomorrow...
I know it's just a Hallmark thing...but it still is a wonderful day to give special love to those God has given us in our lives.  I am not much for some holidays, but this time I really wanted to make a special card for my husband. I got the idea in the middle of the night and couldn't wait to get started on it. It was exciting to me because it was the first real idea I had since I had gone into my slump after Christmas.

And then before I could get started on making the card, I saw a tutorial on Simon Says for making metallic looking embellishments by embossing on cut out shapes. I LOVED IT!!! I couldn't wait to try that too...so I put the two ideas together and here's the card:
Okay, so for the background I did the "kissing technique" from Hero Arts for the challenge for February. I know, it's really hard to see, but even for the little bit it shows, it makes a pretty background. The white "Receipt" sheet is from my stash. I wrote out the saying "a lifetime spent with you" I printed on my computer and then copied it on to the paper.
The bottom is done using two colors of cardstock and punched with Martha Stewart "Double Circles. The word "Priceless" was printed on the computer.

I have two new techniques this time: Kissing technique and the heart embellishment.
KISSING TECHNIQUE: Ink up (with a slow drying ink) a "shadow stamp" (a stamp that has a lot of ink area. Solid blocks, a solid fruit, animal, etc.) Not a stamp with thin lines...this will not work for the background.
THEN use a thin lined stamp (a flower, words..this works really well...etc.) and apply it on top of the shadow stamp. If you do not ink the top stamp, then it will take away ink and that image will show your cardstock color...OR you can ink the top stamp and it will put ON COLOR on the top of your stamp. So, choice of colors are important.
This is a fun technique and can be very impressive, but it needs some practice. In my card I used the wrong background and that's why it doesn't show up too well. I am new to this and didn't really understand how this technique works, even though I watched the video Hero Arts has on their site.

EMBOSSED HEART: There are a million ways to make embossed embellishments, and they are all beautiful. I LOVE this technique. PLEASE GO WATCH THE VIDEO ON SIMON SAYS BLOG to see this technique in action. The thing that's different with this one is the use of PEARL EX or PERFECT PEARLS as the paint on the embossed piece. It is just beautiful.
Mine is different in that I used a heart cut out of a music CD cover that had beautiful shades of red and black on it. Then I used clear embossing powder rather than black UTEE (I still have not found it to buy) After four coats of clear embossing, I wet my Pearl Ex with a TINY bit of water and "PAINTED" on the heart. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! I then put on the wire and beads. 

Hero Arts Stamps used: Musical Collage and Fabulous Flourish

Okay, so that's it for today.
Thanks for coming by.
Blessings,
e




1 comment:

  1. Happy Belated Valentines' Day to you Elena! Love your card, especially how that heart turned out, it's stunning! I am off to take a look at that tutorial! Thank you.

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