It's almost "LOVE" Month and I'm up today at
Pink Paislee Blog with two sugary sweet cards :)
Secret Crush brings you into a world of cupids, arrows and of course, hearts
…perfect for those extra special Valentine Cards that you have in mind to make this year.
I love seeing that the tradition of ‘giving’ Valentines is making a come-back, greatly
due to the hobby that we call cardmaking.
I have a couple of cards to share that will hopefully give you a few ideas for creating
your own cards of amour! I wanted grand, stately cards that would really showcase
Secret Crush to its fullest, so I went with a 5″x6.5″ blank white card for both.
"I Amour You" Card
I love layers, layers and more layers! The market supplies us with all sorts of fun dies that make it more interesting and fun to layer. For this card I started with a print of Polka Dance paper as the backdrop and then layered with two nested banners cut from the front and back of Endless Love.
To the top banner, I flecked on just a bit of Primrose Color Shine Spritz by Heidi Swapp.
Keep that bottle handy! See the little X stitching at the top of the Artisan doily?
I dyed a piece of white thread Primrose before stitching! I spritzed a small amount into
a disposable cup and then dipped the thread into it before threading my needle.
I also used it to stitch an X at the bottom of the card as well. And speaking of the doily from the Artisan Circles, I cut just what I needed and added it to the top of the banner,
saving the other half for another project!
After centering the cute card from the Paper Goods collection,
I added a row of hearts that I fussy cut from the Heartbeat paper.
A straight stitch gave a little texture to the pink arrow and a trio of
shiny heart buttons from my stash added some extra pop!
Part of my theory on design is that “what goes up, must come down”…and that has
nothing to do with gravity hehehe! Because I stitched the X at the top, then it’s a must
that I incorporate it somewhere else on the card, which in this case is
at the bottom of the beautiful Artisan embellishment. Voila!
"Love You, Truly" Card
Ah yes, this card had me singing… “I love you truly, truly dear…life with its sorrow, life with its tears…” If you’ve watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” then you’re familiar with the tune crooned by the duet, Bert and Ernie (why do those names sound familiar?)
I’m super picky about dots, so yes, I cut the Polka Dance paper so that the dots would
be centered as the backdrop for this next card :) After selecting the bright red I LOVE YOU Photogram, I cut a mat from the back of the First Kiss paper and layered the two
pieces together with foam dots. Before attaching it to the background paper,
I machine stitched the cute “u rock” photo tab to the top.
Doesn’t the large die-cut heart make a statement. To it I added the Portfolio Puffy Alpha Stickers,
which I zig-zagged across with my sewing machine…easy peasy!
Next, some more fussy-cutting came into play as I selected several clusters of the
hand-drawn blooms from the Polka Dance paper. Before attaching them, I colored
in the leaves with a watercolor pencil…just to give a little pop of extra color. I also lightly spritzed the flower clusters with a dusting of Color Shine Tinsel Spritz by Heidi Swapp.
Wanting to create even more dimension, I popped a large Artisan flower to the center of
the bouquet and then sprinkled a few of the smaller flowers from the Butterfly Wings packet
around as well. A little piece of the gray doily (First Kiss paper) peeks out from it all
and lends a nice border effect. Carrying through with the pop of red from the top of the card,
a small piece of a red ticket stub was also added. And finally, a scalloped edging from the
Artisan borders is stitched onto the bottom… I love the way the sewing machine
just glided right over it with no fuss at all!
Shop for Secret Crush online at:
Have a fabulous Wednesday!
