This one is for my husband

Now that valentine's is over for another year, I thought I'd share the card I made for my husband.

"You've caught my heart"

The background and front panel have the usual Tim Holtz' distress inks, stamps and Perfect Pearls.

"Charms and lace"

My good friend Lee (craftyloops) has been encouraging me to experiment with jewellery, and here I've been playing with some beads attached to jump rings via head pins, together with a couple of charms and a tiny die-cut heart inked to match the background. The gorgeous lace is some more of the stash from Kathy. Thank you both!

"Birdcage"

The birdcage and Elegant post diecuts were cut from dark card and dabbed with alcohol ink to give an aged metallic effect. Another diecut heart was inked & stamped before layering over a pair of stamped wings.

"Elegant post"

The birdcage was hung from the post with a chain of jumprings.

Ingredients:

Distress inks: Brushed Corduroy, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet

Adirondack alcohol ink: gold mixative

Tim Holtz clear scrylic stamp sets: Regal Flourish, Urban Grunge, Nature's Elements

Perfect Pearls: gold

Cardstock: white, black

Sizzix Bigz Tim Holtz birdcage die

Spellbinders Elegant Posts die

Spellbinders Nestabilities: Hearts

beads, jump rings, gold-coloured head pins

lace: various

Entered for the following challenge:
Joanna Sheen Challenge - Love is in the Air
Gingersnap Creations - Faux Technique (faux metal)

The one with the tickets

I really like Tim Holtz' new Love Struck die, and especially the cupid with the bow and arrow. I've used it to make a few valentines type cards lately, but everytime my mil sees one she says
"it's lovely now, but I prefer the one with the tickets". This is the one with the tickets!

"The one with the tickets"

The background is inked with distress inks and overstamped with a script stamp, then matted & layered onto hammered gold cardstock and a large red card blank.

"Tickets"

The tickets and sentiment are from Hunkydory and are fixed in place with dimensional glue.

"Cupid"

The lace is coloured with distress ink and ruffled along the bottom of the card. I like to think of it as a lacy, flowery meadow for cupid to run about in :-). The cupid, arrow & heart were cut from white and hammered gold cardstocks. The white card was coloured with distress inks (darker ink was used for shadowing), then mounted onto the gold for extra depth.

"Side view showing dimension"

I'll show you a couple of the other cards I've made with this die next week and you can decide for yourself which you prefer.

Entered for the following challenges:
One Stop Craft Challenge - for the one I love
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - the one I love
Joanna Sheen - Love is in the air
Crafty Catz - Pink and white
By the Cute and Girly - Love is in the air

Love is in the Air

I typed that title, and the song started playing in my head. Guess I'll be stuck with it for hours now :-) "Love is in the air, Every time I look around, Love is in the Air,...". It's the first of February today, so it's time for a Valentine's card:

"Love is in the air"

If you're wondering why there are two hearts, Tom doesn't like the one with the sword in, hence I've made it removable so I can still give him the card! The background is all done with distress inks, Tim Holtz stamps, gold perfect pearls and then overstamped with black archival ink. The tag is from Tim Holtz' Seasonal paper stash, with the "love" stamp heat embossed in cosmic shimmer gold, and the tag matted onto some gold card before fixing to the background.

"angled view"

The diecuts are Spellbinders "Fallen Angel". The hearts are cut from gold card and patterned papers. The sword & wings from gold card only.

P.S. If you're wondering how little chicky is getting on, he's four days old now and getting chirpier by the day. Tom has added some more photos to his blog.

Entered for the following challenges:
Joanna Sheen - Love is in the air (how spooky is that - same title!)
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
The House that Stamps Built - heat embossing
Pennys Paper-Crafty Challenge - Love is in the air
Truly Scrumptious Challenge - Love and Hearts
Anything Goes Challenge - To the One I Love
Craft Room Challenge - Valentines

Anniversary cards - a Balloon, a Pop-up Heart, Two Swans and lots of Love!

I got a bit carried away on our last wedding aniversary. Couldn't decide which card I liked best and ended up giving my husband not one, but three cards! I just love the image on the front of this card, yet another free one from the Graphics Fairy.

"Anniversary card number 1 - front"

The flowers are from organza cut with Tim Holtz' Tattered Florals die and then singed around the edges with a heat tool before layering together with brads. You need to use the cheap organza, not the real silk fabric, or you don't get the right affect. I use a pokey tool or embossing tool to hold the fabric down onto a heatproof mat while I heat the edges. Work quickly and bring the heat in from the outside in, or you'll just end up with a lump of molten plastic! Probably best to keep the windows open too - you never know what nasty fumes you'll get from heating plastics.

"Anniversary card 1 - inside pop-up heart"

My husband must get bored saying how nice my latest card is, so I try to give him a "Wow" on the inside of the cards when I can. I was in a "love you so much it hurts" mood when I made this one :). The die cuts are Spellbinders "Fallen Angel" set.

"Anniversary card 2 - True Love"

Swans mate for life. I was lucky enough to meet my soul-mate and we have been married for over twenty years now. I just love this Kanban topper and the way the swans' necks form a heart.

"Anniversary Card 3 - Love"

The basic design for the third card was a blatant rip-off of a card featured in an article in "Craft Stamper" magazine, but whilst their card was carefully stamped & embossed, mine used up a sheet of red & gold heart-themed peel-offs, and I had some unusual embellishments for the tag inside the card:

"Anniversary card 3 - tag"

Yes, you see correctly - there's a tea caddy spoon attached to the key! I thought it was a nice variation on the "love spoon".

"Anniversary card 3 - inside"

The unusual part of this card is the integral box of chocolates with a heart-shaped aperture covered in acetate to stop the chocs falling out (as you can see, most of the choccies have been eaten :)).

Hope you all have a good weekend x