Inspired valentine

My favorite way to create a card (or anything, really) is just to sit down and play. I try combining different colors, layouts, stamps and embellishments until I have a finished product that I like. Most of the time that method works (although the length of time it takes to get to that finished product can vary quite a bit), but occasionally I get stuck, and nothing seems to come out right. And (of course!) when this does happen, it's usually at a time when I really need to make a card for a certain occasion.

I've been struggling with that a little bit the past week or so. I had to create a card design for a make-and-take at a Stampin' Up!^® workshop. The design needed to be fairly simple so no one would feel rushed or frustrated trying to make the card, but I didn't want it to be too plain, either. I had a couple of ideas, but nothing seemed quite right. So I decided to go looking for some inspiration.

I found it in the 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog from Stampin' Up! In the upper right corner on Page 8 of the catalog is a simple, but adorable, valentine. I love the layout, the hearts with different sizes and textures, and even the greeting in the Modern Label punch. But I don't have the stamp set and some of the other products used to make that card. Even if I did, I wouldn't want to copy that card exactly. Instead I used it as an inspiration for my own valentine:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card stock: Pink Pirouette, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Calypso Coral Classic Ink pad, Pink Pirouette marker
Accessories: Color Spritzer, corner rounder, 1/8" Calypso Coral organdy ribbon, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Full Heart punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Itty Bitty buttons, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

I used the Color Spritzer tool with the Pink Pirouette marker to create a subtle background texture, and then I rounded all the corners on the card. For the large heart, I embossed a piece of card stock with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and then punched out a heart. The other hearts are made with the Fashionable Hearts Embosslits die. I punched out the greeting with the Word Window punch, matted it with a Modern Label punch, and adhered it over a piece of ribbon I wrapped around the lower part of the card. For the last little detail, I tied a piece of baker's twine through a small heart-shaped button and glued it to the card next to the top pair of hearts.

This is actually the second version of my "inspired valentine." The first one is okay, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I'm glad I decided to try again with this color combination, because I'm really excited about how this one turned out.

I hope you find inspiration whenever and wherever you need it. Thanks for stopping by!