Heart of Hearts Valentine

Hi everyone.  I made this card of my hubby using a Sue Wilson Heart of Hearts die from her Finishing Touches range, and I also used a die cut frame from a set by Claritystamp called Nested Doodle Frame-Its.

I started with the main heart die which cuts into the card and I made a stencil cutting it from an offcut of card.  I then found a piece of white card cut at approximately 4" square, and having found the centre I started with the stencil of the die upside down and roughly assessed whether I could fit it four times on the card going round from the centre, and I thought I would give it a try.  I ink blended with a blending brush and Candied Apple Distress Ink and it fitted perfectly by making sure I butted each time up to the last.  I was then left with the empty corners and I used the die with the bottom pointed section and fitted in some more hearts to to fill the card.  I then had the idea of using the stencil again to place a heart in the centre of the piece of card, using the same ink but just to give a soft impression.  This was not so successful and I then decided to use a Black Micron Pen to outline the hearts and then fill them in to make them stand out from the busy background.  I then added the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and added a black matted layer.  I had already cut a set of the frames and I chose this one which allowed room for the topper to fit within it and adhered it to the white 6" square card, and then added the topper too.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 715 - Anything Goes/All About Hearts.
Country View Challenges - Feb. 2023 - Be Sentimental.
Inkspirational Challenge - No. 283 Use Stencils.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Frame It.
Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge - No. 315 Valentine for a Guy.
Stencil Fun Challenge - February - Anything Goes with a Stencil/Hearts.

Floral Anniversary

Hi everybody.   I have been a bit negligent of the blog over the last week or so as I was preparing for a visit by our son from Australia, and naturally we have been enjoying his company.  It has been three years since we last saw him, and he also very generously bought us a new computer, which he got up and running over the weekend, and it's great and we are really enjoying using it.  He will be here until the beginning of March so there may be some gaps in my posting, but I will probably still get to visit you all.  I was looking through my drafts and found an anniversary card using some flowers from a Creative Expressions set called Bouquet.  It was inked for the first time here, and on checking through my posts I don't appear to have used it since, so I must remedy that soon. 

I started by stamping on to the white card itself using my Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and then heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then coloured using Distress Inks and a waterbrush in Dried Marigold and Ripe Persimmon, and Adirondack Sunshine Yellow for the flowers, and Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint DI's for the leaves.  I decided to add some small stencilled hearts using a set of heart stencils from The Range and applied the Broken China Distress Ink using a brush for a softer effect all around the image.  I finished by stamping the sentiment in the same black ink and heat embossed with the Clear EP.

Before I go I would like to say a big thank you to a new follower Donna whose blog you will find here, and I'm sure she would appreciate a visit.  Thank you for coming to visit my blog today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge - No. 77 Use Your Latest Stamps or Dies (although I have had this stamp for a while it was the first and only time it has been used).
We Love Stamping Challenge - February - Anything Stamped/Add a Stencil.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - February - Anything Stamped/Use the Sketch (no option).
Country View Challenges - February - Be Sentimental (use a sentiment and/or some inspiring words).
We Love to Create Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes.
NBUS Challenge - No. 47 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.