Some of you are going to think that I've forgotten how to stamp my own backgrounds! That isn't the case--I promise; I'll try to post a stamp-y card tomorrow night.
Tonight I wanted to share my favorite card from this weekend: I used some new Cosmo Cricket Valentine papers that I received on Friday--the Chemistry line--paired with a Just Rite Stampers center from the Harmony II set; it made a perfect Valentines flower-center.
This paper reminds me of chocolate covered cherries, my husband's favorite--mmmmm! I did a bit of cutting, punching, sanding, and sewing on the background, then chose one of the Chemistry button covers and a coordinating chipboard button to cover for my focal image.
For the flower center I experimented with a few things before remembering the Hugs and Kisses center from Harmony II, but it was the best solution. I stamped it in a Clearsnap red chalk ink--slightly wetter than my Versamagic inks. Also, I had to condition this stamp center before I could get it to stamp "just rite." (Okay, bad pun!) About conditioning, Sharon Johnson, a.k.a No Time to Stamp, has a helpful article on SplitCoastStampers about stamp conditioning--well worth your time to read, and will probably reduce your frustration levels at some point! I didn't have everything that Sharon mentioned, but I did have the square sanding blocks and good stamp cleaner.
For the stem, I chose a Sizzix Flower and Vines #2 die because I liked the clean swirl and knew that it would cut some thick chipboard. I coated the chipboard in Cinnamon Stickles, which I also dotted on flower centers on the patterned paper. I used Stardust Stickles to frame the Hugs and Kisses sentiment, then tied a length of PaperTrey Dark Chocolate Satin at the base of my sentiment. Finally, the little button and tab were added for balance and interest in an otherwise empty corner. This was a really fun card to make; thanks for letting me share it with you!
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P.S. I think I am once again caught up in adding links to my Crafty Blogs to Browse page. If you requested a link and I happened to miss yours, please let me know. Thanks!
