Making Valentine’s Day cards is so much fun. You can go sweet and playful or elegant and serious or anything in between. Today, I’m doing something that is closer to the elegant and serious but is very bright and colorful, which makes them rather sweet in my opinion. Stay tuned for some cute and sweet cards coming soon.

The cards are A2 sized, which is 4.25″ by 5.5″ and I made them out of Neenah solar white 110lb cardstock. I am using several layers on the card, so the heavy weight will hold up under all the layers.

The inspiration for the cards came from the Doodlebug Design’s ephemera pack called, “Love Notes.” This pack has some very sweet and some very cute images with colors that are bright and beautiful. The die cut shapes in this pack will be the focal point of my cards today.

The cards have several layers which make them eye catching and interesting. For the background, I used 80lb cardstock and Valentine’s Day themed embossing folders. One with hearts and one with lots of fanciful images. On top of the background, I added a strip of 80lb cardstock that was not as wide as the background but was as long -like a bookmark, but a little wider. The first card features a strip that is 2.75″ x 5.5″. I offset it to the left a bit.

The second card has one that is 2 1/8″ x 5.5″. I centered it on the card.

I added texture to the cardstock “bookmark” using a piece of potato sack. It is not easy to see in the photos, but you can see it in the video below. This is like using a stencil to emboss cardstock. If you’ve ever seen that done, you’ll know you need the flexible rubber mat that comes with your die cutting machine. It’s easier to see than to read about, so please watch the video below to see it in action.

Once all the embossing was finished, it was time to do some die cutting. For the first card, I die cut the words “For You” from some red cardstock. For the second card, I used the negative of the word, “love”. Don’t forget to keep all the pieces of the die cut, including the little pieces. You’ll glue those pieces into the negative space later using the word die cut to align them. The next step is to simply adhere the background to the cardbase and the front strip to the background using some scor tape – a strong double sided adhesive tape. Now, you’ll glue in the pieces from the “love” die cut so the negative space looks more like the word love.

Finally, add some embellishment to the card by adding borders of metalllic washi tape on both sides of the front panel strips. Use Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to add some sparkle to the flowers and hearts. I also used some Scrapbook.com pops of color and some Nuvo Crystal Drops for the centers of the flowers in the colors rose gold and sugared almond. For the heart images, I went over those with some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Morning Dew.

Please enjoy the video to see how the cards were made.

Affiliate Links
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Adhesive
Tombow Mono Liquid Adhesive: https://amzn.to/37DhjRI
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Roll – 1/4 Inch x 81 Feet: https://shrsl.com/3atfh

Dies / Die Cut Shapes / Die Cutting Machine
Spellbinders Word Dies (“For You”) Sweet Sayings Notecard Sentiments Etched Dies from Sweet Serenade Notecards Collection by Becca Feeken https://shrsl.com/38kmq
Doodlebug Designs, Inc. Love Notes Die Cut Shapes: (out of print, but still available here)- https://www.craftdirect.com/love-notes-odds-ends-doodlebug-design.html

Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine: https://shrsl.com/3atf4
Sizzix Celebration Words Script: https://amzn.to/3fljPPv

Embellishments
Scrapbook.com Pops of Color in Rose Gold: https://shrsl.com/36xoz
Nuvo Crystal Drops in Morning Dew (Clear): https://shrsl.com/3c985
Crystal Nuvo Drops in Sugared Almond: No longer available – try something in yellow
Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen: https://shrsl.com/2kljf or https://amzn.to/2Htkssm
Metallic Washi Tap in Mutliple Colors-30 rolls: https://amzn.to/3FmF51J
Crystal Nuvo Drops: I used sugared almond which is not longer available.

Embossing
Cricut Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Smitten & Cross My Heart: unavailable use any Valentine’s day Themed folder you have

I used a potato sack to add texture to the front panel strip on both cards.

Markers, Pens, Writing
Glitter Gel Pens: https://amzn.to/33wacuo

Paper/Cardstock
Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 110lb Cardstock (for the card base): https://amzn.to/3ljFvfv
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb cardstock: https://amzn.to/3kQtBdn
Peppermint – Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad – A2 – 4.25 x 5.5 – 40 Sheets: https://shrsl.com/3c96v

Tools
Fiskars Sure Cut 9″ Paper Trimmer: https://amzn.to/2WzlUhq
EK Success Craft Tweezers (reverse): https://amzn.to/3tFzPBS