Dec 27 2007
U and I
I always like making Valentine’s Cards that are a little more masculine in nature. After all…my hubby is NOT going to appreciate a lot of pink and flowers …he just wants to know that I love him. 
While playing around with this Heart to Heart stamp set by Lizzie Anne Designs I decided to try out a darker, more vintage look…perhaps a more “scrappy style” if you will. I love the results…some stamping on acetate, a little paint, stitching…I’m hoping he likes it!
Today is also Thursday and time for another Ways to Use it Challenge. This week, the challenge is a rerun. With the busy days during the holidays I thought it would be a good time for one and today….the challenge is to use Stazon! I love Stazon ink…perfect for so many surfaces. As in this card design, I mostly use mine on acetate but also love using it on glass. Stazon ink is also great for stamping and then watercoloring as it doesn’t bleed. If you’re just starting out…my favorite Stazon inks are Black and White Opaque…soooo flexible. Try them! You’ll love them. If you’d like to play along…make sure you check out the challenge at WT146.
U & I
This design is pretty simple…a 5.25″ square card design layered with the beautiful Perhaps Basic Grey paper. You know how much I love those 6×6 paper pads! The U heart I was stamped in black Stazon Ink from Tsukinkeo onto a transparency. I love transparencies…they are fabulous to stamp on and you can brush ink or paint behind them just where it is needed…sort of a layer but one that barely covers up what is beneath. Over the heart…I hand wrote “and” on a little strip of paper and then sponged the edges with Distress Ink. After crumpling the strip…I attached it over the heart with my Crop-a-dile and some eyelets. I then attached the transparency to my design by stitching the edges to the card and also added a little stitching to the top of the card. I decided to have a little fun with the bottom of the design as well…I pulled out my Just Words stamp set and stamped coordinating words along the bottom of the patterned paper. Between each word, to add definition, I added a tiny silver heart brad by Making Memories. A Prima flower, a button and some ribbon finish off the design.
Wishing you a wonderful day! Hope you have time to join us for the challenge!
Cornish Heritage Farms Design Team Coordinator
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Wow, that is amazing! Just beautiful!
This is gorgeous, Julia! I love how you made it a touch ‘masculine’. Most of us are female stampers… and I think we forget that the recipients of our Valentines cards are often male. I’ll be back later to see how you made this. I LOVE it!
Beautiful, I combinations on this card.
Karen W
Cool, cool card, Julia. Great idea other than girlie pinks, etc.
Keep on girl!
Beautiful project! So you stamped the Staz-On on the smooth side of the acetate and brushed the acrylic paint on the rougher side? Or is this acetate smooth on both sides? I have some transparencies for ink-jet printers which double as acetate, and that’s how they work - smooth on one side, a bit of tooth on the other side where the printing goes so it doesn’t rub off. Did you use this sort of acetate, or some special crafting acetate sheets? Acetate sort of flummoxes me, but I’d really like to use it more, and being able to print on the transparencies and use them in projects is very cool since I’m an Adobe Photoshop junkie. Thanks for any info you can provide! (If you do use a special sort of acetate for crafting, could you please give a brand name and your source? Merci!)
How cool, Love the way you used the transparency, I never thought of painting behind it, Great look!
What a beautiful card! I love the “scrappy” look to it. As for the challenge - it would be a challenge for me NOT to use StazOn, I reach for it nearly every time I stamp.
Beautiful card. Thanks for sharing.
JoAnn B.
This is gorgeous!! I’m thinking DH is going to LOVE it!!
This is just gorgeous J! I LOVEEEEEEE the paint, paper, colors, fantastic!!
This is wonderful, Julia! I love the style!
Gorgeous!!!
I love it! Great colors and design — definitely a perfect husband card!
Love that swish of paint, Julia! COOL!
Wonderful card, J! I’ll say the same thing…love your stitching, your distressing!! Love your style!