Valentines Already?!

Well, I've been told that Christmas is over, and I need to move on and take down all the decorations.  Hmmm.  (grumpy face)  I'm not ready to take all the festive decorations down just yet.  But I can share a card I made today using some new products that will be available on January 4th.  Can't believe another year has pretty much come and gone and it's time to get myself a new calendar.  Really?  2024?  How can that be here already?  Since it is time, I got out some new items that caught my attention to see what I could do with them.  I used the new Adoring Hearts stamp set on page 18 of the new January - April 2024 Mini Catalog.  I liked the images, and the font used for the sentiments was really fun and sort of funky.  I added a Sale-a-bration item to the card to make it special.  Then added an embellishment that is a carryover from the Winter Mini Catalog to pull this card idea together.  Ready to give this one a try?  Let's get started.

I love red roses for Valentine's Day - not that I ever get them mind you!  There's just something so sweet and traditional about them.  Can you pick out all the new products used here?  Just about everything!

The card starts with a base of Basic White that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 2 1/8" and 4 1/4".  This makes a back-fold card base.  The layer after that is Calypso Coral that is 5 1/4" x 4".  Don't attach together yet.

The DSP is a wonderful Sale-a-bration freebie called Most Adored.  It's a 12" x 12" paper pack that has gold foil designs on one side and pink and red designs on the other side.  Looked perfect for Valentine's Day to me.  There are two pieces of the red plaid design cut.  One is 5 1/4" x 1 1/2" for an accent piece inside the card and one at 5" x 3 3/4" for the front.  (I cut both pieces at the 5 1/4" length and then just trimmed off 1/4" from the front layer.)  The larger piece of DSP was attached to the Calypso Coral layer with adhesive.

A length of Silver and White Sheer Ribbon was wrapped around the two layers and tied into a small bow on the right side.  At this point, I used two strips of Tear & Tape to attach the layers to the fold-back part of the card base.  Make sure your adhesive is only where it attaches on the fold-back area, so it doesn't seal the card closed by accident.

Next the focal piece of Basic White cardstock was die-cut using the Everyday Detail Dies.  You can find these on page 28 of the New Mini Catalog.  I love the clean, bold lines of these new dies!  Very striking and fun to play with, don't you think?  The rose bouquet from the Adoring Hearts set was stamped angled at the top to give me space in the bottom corner for the sentiment.  The roses were stamped with Basic Gray ink.  The sentiment is stamped in Real Red ink.

Coloring the roses, I used Stampin' Blends - Real Red Light and Dark, Shaded Spruce Light and Dark, and Pecan Pie for the stem.

The layer is attached over the ribbon towards the left side of the card front using Dimensionals to give it some definition.  

The sentiment inside the card is also from the Adoring Hearts set.  It's stamped with Real Red ink.

The last bits to finish the card sort of surprised me.  After trying a bunch of different embellishments, I added three of the 2022-2024 In Color Pearls.  The Sweet Sorbet pearls looked really nice with the reds and Calypso Coral layer too.  Who would have guessed?  

I think this card will be perfect for my hubby, not too frilly with clean lines.  I need to pack it away until then, so he won't see it sitting out on my worktable.  Then, the big trick will be to see if I remember it come Valentine's Day and can find it!  

That's all I've got for you today.  Hope you had a very blessed Christmas celebrating the birth Jesus.  We had a few sickies with colds that were keeping their distance.  Other than the fact that I forgot to get out the grandsons' stocking stuffers and I still have them, everything was relaxing and fun.  

If you haven't received your new mini catalog yet, please let me know so another can be sent.  Any questions about ordering and Sale-a-bration, please get in touch with me.  I'd me very happy to help you with anything.  Wishing you a creative new year!  

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon