Vintage Valentine

Happy Tuesday!  It's bright and sunny but very cold here today.  We were blessed with beautiful weather on Saturday (no jackets! short sleeves!) but today we're back to bundling up in coats and hats.  

Over the weekend I stopped in at my local scrapbooking and stamping store.  Sometimes I drop in just to get inspiration, sometimes to pick up something I need and sometimes just to relax and enjoy a little kid-free quiet time.  The owner is very knowledgeable and friendly, and this weekend she pointed me toward some of the cutest 12x12, two-sided Valentine-style paper I've ever seen!  As soon as I saw it, I knew I would be making vintage Valentine's Day cards with it.  Vintage usually isn't my style, but this paper just begs to be distressed!

This week's Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge at Splitcoast Stampers is a sketch challenge (view the challenge sketch HERE to play along).   I chose to flip the sketch on its side and use one of the images from this delightful patterned paper in place of stamping  The challenge with CAS is to use very minimal stamping, images and embellishments while still making a beautiful card, and I've found vintage CAS to be even harder.  I had to restrain myself to keep from adding elements to this card!

(I apologize for the poor picture quality.  I use natural light so I really need to photograph at just the right time of day to get a good picture, but I was running behind and missed the best light.)

I started by cutting the image and distressing it. Next I cut a mat from the reverse side of the paper, distressed it and adhered the image to the mat.  I die cut a border from natural white card stock and distressed that, too.  I attached the border to the larger panel and added three brads, then attached the entire piece to a dark brown card stock base, which was cut slightly smaller than A2 size for a better fit.  

There are several other Valentine images on the 12x12 patterned paper and I can't wait to make cards using the other images.  I liked this paper so much that I hurried back to the store to buy a few more sheets before it's sold out!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you stay warm and cozy!

Products Used:

Paper: Collection: Lovely "Greetings" Two-Sided Paper (Authentique); 

Classic Crest Natural White 80 lb. card stock (Neenah); dark brown card stock (unknown)

Ink: Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger) 

Tools and Accessories: Borderabilities Jumbo Scalloped Petite Borders (Spellbinders); brads (Recollections)