An Elegant Valentine

I tend to make more whimsical cards than elegant or formal so I decided to give it a try. Not that I have never done them but it seems I have gotten away from them. I wanted to try out the new Distress crackle paint so I bought Fired Brick figuring it was a "valentines" color. I cut out a chipboard heart and covered it with paint and left it to dry. I was watching it...waiting for it to crackle...but you know the drying paint cliche. Anyhoo, I came back a while later to find it done curled up on me! I used really thin chipboard and it didn't hold up well to this technique. When I flattened the heart and then rubbed it with Distress Black Soot to bring out the cracks I pulled off some of the paint. Well, it just looks more distressed now! The background paper is Lasting Impressions. It's a light pink with a white floral pattern on it. I sponged some Distress Ink in Tea Dye all over and then I stamped flourishes from Autumn Leaves Flourishes II on it in Distress Ink Fired Brick to match the heart. I had this great paper with Casanova party invites on it from Rusty Pickle from last year and I never used it. I cut one out and layer it on dark brown cardstock. I layered it onto the background and added a brown ribbon. It really is a pretty chocolate brown but I just don't have the right lighting. Have to get me one of those studio set up's. I wrapped some lace ribbon around both corners. It was white but I coffee dyed it. You know, some left over coffee in the pot...throw in some ribbon, voila! Instant age! I really love the stick pins everyone is using so I decided to add my own homemade one. It's kinda lame...I really need to go bead shopping, but I just used what I had around. I thought it still needed something and found these great embellishments I have been hoarding for at least a year! They are Design Details from Nunn Designs. All of the pieces are separate, branches, flowers, etc, and you add the brads to connect them and attach them. I added adhesive pearls to it also to mimic the pearl on the stick pin. I have posted close ups below of the heart and the invite. I think it came out pretty good...but I will keep working on it. I am really liking the Distress paint so I will try that out again on some other elements.

After crackling I rubbed in Distress ink in Black soot to make the cracks stand out.

Here is the Rusty Pickle dp close up.

Looking for Treasure

I love using Matey's Map and Ahoy Matey from SU! I loved the card posted by stampintoo so I made a similar one. Her charms are so cute. I distressed the paper edges with scissors and my fingernail, crumpled a bit, and then inked it up real good with Distress Inks in Walnut Stain and Tea Dye. The image is watercolored with a waterbrush and dye markers. I stamped the ship twice on another piece of paper, watercolored, cut out both images and put them together with foam tape and popped them up again on the background. I used patterned paper from Rusty Pickle's Cap n' Jack line and distressed and curled the edges. I wrapped some hemp around it before I mounted it to the card. I had inky fingers and paper shavings all over...I love messy projects! I really like this scene and with two boys and pirates being so popular right now I'm sure I will be making many more!