Oh my darling Valentine

I was very much surprised when I visited Westpoint, Exeter for the Craft4Crafters show that many of the exhibitors were displaying ideas for Christmas cards.  Indeed many of these designs I had seen back in September when the same exhibitors attended a similar event.  

I failed to get any inspiration for the forthcoming event "Valentine's Day" so when I got home I had a rummage through my crafty stash looking for inspiration and this is what I came up with.  I have no idea as to whether this is Chinese or Japanese writing but I love the simplicity of the card.  I used a stencil and glitter gel called Sparkling medium from Imagination Crafts.  I also used a new product from Pinflair called temporary stick Stencil Glue which worked a treat in holding my stencil in place.  No need for any masking tape!

 Further exploration and I found a lovely heart shaped die from Tattered Lace which cut so beautifully.  I put some red vellum behind and a piece of ribbon with the words "with love" finished the card off.

My final card was also made using a stencil and more sparkling medium in a lovely Periwinkle colour.  The background image is cardstock from Imagination Crafts.   It has a very nice coating so any spills of sparkling medium easily wipe off.

It is hard to see but the card topper has been stuck onto clear acetate and this has been adhered to the back of the card but first I put the card through my embossing machine to give it an interesting background.  Then I used a die with the words "Just For You".

Finally I made a Valentine card with my new stamps from a company I discovered at the Craft 4 Crafters Event called Little Claire.  This is a stamp set called Scottie dogs.  

Not bad for a weekend's work!