Viking valentine

Can you believe Valentine's Day is less than a month away? It always seems to sneak up on me after Christmas. Again this year, I'm making valentines to donate to local Meals on Wheels recipients. When I contacted the local organization last week to see how many cards they would need, I found out they still had some cards left from last year, so they only need fifty cards this year.

Fifty cards may sound like a lot, but last year I made over a hundred cards. And since I make multiples of each design, fifty cards really isn't too bad. Best of all, it means I have time to make the card designs a little more involved, like this punny card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Viking (Avery Elle)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White, Basic Black card stock; Wood Textures Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack (all Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); colored pencils - PC943, PC1065, PC901, PC924, PC927, PC946, PC1084 (Prismacolor)
Accessories: Viking dies (Avery Elle), Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), mini Action Wobble spring (Art Impressions), Gamsol kit (Taylored Expressions)

I love this little Viking, and I thought he would be perfect for some masculine Valentine's Day cards. I stamped the image -- and all the little hearts -- four times on white card stock, colored them with colored pencils, and used Gamsol to blend the coloring. (I would have done more, but I'm not the fastest color-er, and I didn't want to get overwhelmed.) Then I used the coordinating dies to cut out the images.

After trying out some different ideas for the background, I settled on a panel of wood texture DSP backed with a layer of black card stock. I wrapped jute twine around the front of a white card base and then and adhered the panel over the twine in the center of the card.

I adhered the Viking to a mini Action Wobble spring and then attached the spring to the wood texture DSP. Now he can do a little Viking jig! For a final touch I glued the die-cut hearts around the image to give the cards a little more Valentine's Day feel.

I'll be sharing more Meals on Wheels valentines over the coming weeks. And I need to get started on my monthly Christmas cards, too! Thanks for stopping by today!