I Love U

The Lawnscaping blog is having a "Sparkle & Shine" challenge. I decided to use Lawn Fawn's "Peace Joy Love" stamp set to create a love-themed card. This set is actually a Christmas set, but I figured the "love" stamp would be perfect paired with the "I" and "U" from Lawn Fawn's Riley's ABCs.

I began by die cutting a tag from 140 lb. watercolor paper with one of the dies from the "Tags a Lot" set by Mama Elephant. I stamped my greeting on that in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, and trimmed some off the top of the tag, just so the greeting wouldn't look "lost." I punched 2 holes with a 1/16" hole punch. Then I smooshed Distress inks in Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, and Tattered Rose on my non-stick craft sheet, spritzed those with water, and laid the tag face down in the ink puddles. I pounced and swished it through the ink, occasionally drying it with my heat tool, until I got the depth and variety of color I wanted.

For the card front, I die cut a frame from white cardstock using 2 dies from the "Large Stitched Rectangle" set by Lawn Fawn. I also cut a piece of patterned paper (from my scrap stash) with the small rectangle die. I adhered the patterned paper rectangle on my card front, using the frame to get it positioned exactly. I also flicked some Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine mist on the frame, to give it some added interest.

I cut 2 pieces of crochet thread and tied each in a bow through the holes in the tag. After applying foam tape to the back of my tag, I peeled the release paper from one of the pieces and lightly adhered it to the center of my card. I laid my frame in place, and marked where I wanted the holes for the thread. I pierced the holes, and threaded the twine through. This is where it got tricky. I applied adhesive to the front of the card base, around the edges and around the patterned paper panel. I threaded the crochet thread through the holes in the frame, and adhered the frame to the card base, sandwiching the thread in between the layers. It took quite a bit of fiddling, since the frame kept getting stuck in the adhesive where I didn't want it, but I finally prevailed!

I stamped 2 birds from "Peace Joy Love" in Hero Arts Butter Bar ink on white cardstock. I outlined them and added eyes with a black pen, then cut them out. I went around the edges with a black brush tip marker, to camouflage the white paper. Then I added foam tape to the back of each, and adhered them so it looks like they are holding the tag up. I lifted the tag, peeled off the rest of the release papers, and stuck it in place. Finally, I used some Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue some sequins from Doodlebug Design & Pretty Pink Posh. And that finished this card, which I'll be sending in to Operation Write Home!

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge: "Anything Goes."