An Unconventional Valentine's Day Card

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2012 - a dramatically different color scheme

When you think of Valentine's Day, you think of pink and red hearts, right? Yeah, me too, but this year I wanted to do something a little different for my seniors. Our Valentine's Day projects for the past two years, as seen below, have included the mandatory red and pink hearts. This time I wanted to give an unexpected twist to our craft project. While this year's card sports the obligatory hearts and flowers my ladies know and love, the color scheme is anything but conventional. Inspired by a beautiful piece of specialty paper in shades of turquoise and purple , I designed a card that really played up those colors. I will admit that, at first, I wasn't too thrilled with the way this card was turning out but the more I worked on it, the more it grew on me and now I'm very pleased with the final outcome.

Our very first project from 2010

2011's hanging ornament

The colors are not the only things different about this card. You can't really tell from the photo but this is not a foldover card, it's an insertion card. What I mean is that there is only a front and a back to this card, like a postcard. It doesn't open up. You have to turn it around to see what is written on the other side. This will be a bit of a departure for these ladies accustomed to the more conventional type of card.

For this project I had my DrawPlus graphic software and my eCraft electronic cutter working overtime. The heart is crafted of four different layers stacked upon one another. Each of these layers had to be designed and cut separately. It took quite a few attempts to get the lighter blue trellis-like layer to cut correctly, after which I had to manually poke out all the little holes in between the mesh. Once the heart was completed, cutting the rest of the card elements was a piece of cake. The tiny tag was just the perfect size for a kiss print rubber stamp that I've had for the longest time. I deliberately left off any overt references to Valentine's Day because I wanted this project to convey the universal aspect of love over the celebration of one calendar day. This card could just as easily be used to congratulate a newly engaged couple or be sent as a quick hello to a cherished grandchild. Although I admit that the swirls and flowers lend a very feminine air, the color scheme would suit a young man. I'm sure the ladies will love it.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Valentine Volunteerism

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Last week in my personal blog, I mentioned that I would be volunteering to teach crafts at a senior citizens center. (Click here to read that post.) This is the card I've created as my first project with the seniors. Because I will be dealing with people who have dexterity and visual limitations, I have to limit the amount of detail work they have to do to complete my projects. For this card I have cut out and prepared all the pieces into a kit so all they will have to do is assemble the finished card. This should go pretty quickly. Here are the instructions if you would like to try your hand at creating this card. Good luck.

Valentine Love Card
This bold black card creates a striking and unconventional backdrop for the traditional reds and pinks of Valentine’s Day. This project uses a 6.5” X 5” card and matching envelope but any similarly sized card can be used. The proportions of the decorative elements can be varied to fit the size of the base card. Heart shaped paper doily is purchased. Large heart is cut by hand to fit inside the edges of the doily. Plain oval, scalloped oval and tiny hearts are cut with a die punch. White paper pieces are cut by hand.

Materials List:
1. One black base card and envelope
2. One heart shaped paper doily – 3 ¾ ” x 4”
3. One large red patterned heart in a size to fit the doily – 3 ¼” x 3 ½”
4. One white oval with stamped sentiment – 3” x 2 ¼”
5. One red patterned scalloped oval sized to fit white oval – 3 ¼” x 2 ½”
6. 4” x 5” piece of paper for inside of card.
7. Nine tiny die punched hearts in assorted red and pink patterns
8. White paper strip – 5” x ¼”
9. Glue stick
10. Coloring Pencils or other coloring medium (markers, crayons, etc.)
11. Black marker
12. Tweezers
13. Foam Tape (also called dimensional tape)

Construction: Card
1. Using black marker, carefully edge the large heart and the white oval.
2. Using glue stick, glue red patterned heart in the center of the paper doily. Glue the completed heart on the left side of the card front.
3. Color the sentiment in the white oval then glue it in the center of the scalloped oval.
4. Take two pieces of foam tape and tape them to the back of the ovals. Remove the protective paper from the tape and adhere the ovals in the lower right corner of the card front slightly overlapping the bottom edge of the heart. Because the tape is thick, it raises the ovals off the surface of the card creating dimension.
5. Place the 4 x 5 piece of white paper inside the card to determine placement. Once determined, run glue stick around the edges and glue into place.

Construction: Envelope
1. On the front of the envelope, glue white paper strip about one inch from the left edge.
2. On either side of the strip, alternate seven of the tiny hearts, spacing them evenly and angling them slightly away from the strip. A tweezer can be very helpful in handling these small items.
3. (Not visible in photo) Turn the envelope around. On the center of the lower edge of the envelope flap, place the remaining two hearts, slightly overlapping and angling them for interest.

Ta-daaah! Your card is done!


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva