Hello and welcome February! Where did you come from?! January just rushed past in a bit of a whirlwind for me to be honest, at times I didn't even know what day of the week it was!
It's Erica on the blog today by the way, hey hey hello! I'm bringing in romance with a really soft, feminine card. Valentine's Day is coming up, rather rapidly too and it's never a bad idea to prepare ahead.
This card is super simple and quick too, win-win right? Not to worry, it's also got a personal feel to it with the sentiment and cut out word 'love' adding a romantic look to it. If you are a Gal-entine's Day kind of girl, you can swap out the word 'love' for 'friend'.
To begin with, I cut out a square of water colour card stock. The next step was to pick out distress ink colours and I choose Spun Sugar for my pink flowers and Bundled Sage for the leaves. I placed the card stock in my Mini MISTI and placed the stamp, the lovely Splendid Roses, where I wanted it. To avoid mixing the inks too much, I used a small piece of card stock to wipe off any excess ink in places where I didn't want it to go. It took a few tries so thank goodness for the MISTI!
Once I thought I had enough ink on my panel, I used a small paint brush and some water to gently blend the colours from the lines. I wanted a really soft look so it didn't take much water. This technique can take a bit of practice before you get the results you want, but just hang in there. It's fun to practice and it's important to remember that it might look really rubbish during the process. Don't give up, just keep at it!
When I liked what I saw, I set the piece aside to dry and started working on my card base and the frame for the front. I cut out a stitched rectangle frame using Lawn Fawn dies in a whitewashed pink card stock. The word 'love' was cut out in the same card stock. Matching cardstock is another recent obsession. As is layering cut out words, to make them pop a little more. For the 'shadow' bit I cut out another 'love' piece and glued these two together.
After I had put it all together I grabbed some sequins from the Rainbow Sherbet. Now, I say "some" but really, I kinda went nuts with them and added loads! Oh well, it's for a romantic occasion, so sue me... (not really though, I need my money to spend on crafty stuff! 😜)
I don't make a lot of square cards nowadays but maybe I should try and break that habit. This turned out ok, didn't it? This will be my only contribution before Valentine's Day itself, but if you need inspiration, the design team here at Kennedy Grace Creations never fail to deliver so pop back and check out what the team come up with. We also have some new designers joining us so keep an eye out and make them feel as welcome as you have me.
Big hugs from Erica
Love and Laughter,
This is so beautifully done Erica!
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