A Valentine One-Sheet-Wonder

As per usual, I have neglected the upcoming holiday – and then, boom, here it is.  Being single with grown children, Valentine’s Day really isn’t a big deal for me anymore – and other than the Valentine wreath on my front door, I don’t have much to do to celebrate the day.  But I DO have grown children who need a Valentine from mama and a couple of friends who need to know that they are loved…so what to do?

I needed to relax a bit – and so I started to do a one-sheet wonder, just to think about what I might do.  But as I was working on it, the thought occurred to me that the focal point of this one could be a heart…a shabby chic heart. Actually, I saw a challenge earlier today that reminded me that punched or die cut images can become stencils.  The Stampin’ Up! Heart Punch Pack has a regular heart punch as well as a scalloped background.  Perfect!

I made a quick stencil from the heart punch…and you will see the rest here:

I’ve done these designs before, and you can find my original blog entry here.  I love this way of stamping, as it is genuinely about using stamps in a different way.  I love that the designs are similar but that each is different based on color and the selection of stamps used.  And in my last One-Sheet-Wonder adventure here, I tried a different focal image that was a departure from florals.

But this one will be a departure based on a different focal image and the size of the card.  For my Valentine’s cards, I decided to create a slimline card.  Here are the cuts:

I used the new Stampin’ Up! Flowing Flowers from the January-June mini catalog.  This is a beautiful, DistInktive stamp which means that the images created have a photographic quality about them without adjustments from the crafter.  I love these stamps – and, of course, this set in particular.  (I would call this set an investment piece because it is so versatile!)

My background set comes from my beloved Stampin’ Up! Very Versailles set as well as the Forever Fern stamp set.  Both are favorites of mine.  I chose them because this project started out as a relaxation exercise for me.  I did not do it with the idea of blogging it…but then, it just needed to be included here.

As I do this design process more and more, I am seeing that there is almost a “formula” to it.  I am a geek.  I like formulas, which is probably why it provides me with a soothing artistic experience.  I will write those steps up in the future so that I can share it with my fellow geeks.

How do I choose my color schemes?  I generally follow a color challenge posted online as I genuinely love those things.  Sometimes I follow a color scheme that appeals to me for the effect that I am trying to achieve, as I did with the coastal design.  But I decided to use the current colors that I love most for this design:

Here are the steps that I followed:

Once the “canvas” was complete, I realized that I needed something that was more like a Valentine.  And that was when I created the heart stencil that I mentioned earlier.  The heart needed to be prominent.  But it should not overpower the other colors.

I played with a couple of methods.  I used a dauber – but the heart was too dark.  I had a similar problem with the Blending Brush.  But I noticed that there was a cool effect on the scrap piece of paper that I had used to pounce the Blending Brush after inking it but before I swirled it over the heart stencil. 

It was perfect!  So, the heart images are “pounced” in Stampin’ Up! Real Red with a Blending Brush.  I held the brush at the very end of the handle and let it bounce on the paper until the image was a soft red with lots of texture.  Done!

I cut the card fronts out and had 3 front panels from the single 8-1/2” x 11” panel. The remaining panel was used to decorate the inside of the card with a bit left over for another project.

I layered the card faces on the Polished Pink mats and then on to the card face.  One of the sentiments (“You are so loved”) comes from Stampin’ Up! Bamboo Beauty stamp set.  I cut it out using the Stitched Rectangle Die set (another investment piece) and mounted it on the card face using Adhesive Strips.

I added some Stampin’ Up! Brushed Metallic Adhesive-Backed Dots in gold to add some subtle bling.

The inside of the card was stamped with a sentiment also from the Stampin’ Up! Bamboo Beauty stamp set.  This sentiment is perfect for a friend.  The cards for my children come from the Stampin’ Up! Daisy Lane stamp set to remind them that the best moments of my life ARE spent with them!

The last touch was to pounce a couple of hearts on each envelope…and then my Valentines were complete!

I have entered this card in the Sisterhood of Crafters current challenge: Anything Feminine. I love these challenges as they inspire all of us to try things that we might have tried on our own. We’re always looking for new ideas – but groups that run these challenges and do all of that work inspire us and then they often will come to our blogs to comment on what we’ve done. (BTW, Debbie Mageed is a cardmaker whose blog I follow routinely! She does beautiful work.)

And the challenge that inspired the homemade stencil thought was from Just Us Girls and their Challenge #619. This is clearly one that inspired a solution to the problem of the Valentine theme for my shabby chic card!

But, of course, everything in February is about hearts and flowers – which means that this card met both requirements of Ellibelle’s Crafty Wednesday – February Challenge: Hearts or Flowers, too! So, you will see my card among the beautiful creations (read that “stiff competition”).

Thanks so much for looking at this project!  I hope that this design might find its way to your craft area and give you some wonderful inspiration for Valentines, Easter cards, birthday cards – or just a special note.

If you have any questions about this technique or the materials that I have used, please ask.  I am happy to discuss it and brainstorm with you!  I would also be delighted to serve as your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator if you need one.