Love = Love

Good morning, friends!  I hope the beginning of our Labor Day weekend finds you well and getting ready to enjoy the last official weekend of summer.  And if you aren't in the USA, I hope you enjoy your weekend also.  We are entering my very favorite time of the year - autumn.  Unfortunately so many of the things I enjoy about fall aren't present here in Miami, Florida - no turning leaves, no fresh ripe apples, no smell of smoke in the crisp air from leaves burning.  So I'll have to make due with decorating my home and making crafty fall items.

This week at our Creative Corner, one of our brand new design team members, Holly Kean is our hostess.  The fun challenge she has for us is called Stamp Happy and she wants us to stamp on our designer paper.  I love the look and creativity of stamping on designer paper, but I never think to do it, so thanks to Holly for giving me a push in this direction!

This card is my very first piece ever made with a Wendy Vecchi/Studio 490 stamp.  I finally broke down and ordered a couple of sets.  I admire her work, but I'm not sure her style fits with my style very well.  I've been alternating between liking this card and being very lukewarm about it.  I'm still haven't made a final decision on that.  I purchased two sets - Love to Make Art and Nature's Art, and this card combines stamps from both sets.  What I really like is the text stamp (directly under the heart and also used it to make the second layer of the card) and the sentiments (I'm a big sentiment/quote fan).

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch

My DP started life as a book page.  I used a technique I saw on Tim Holtz's blog to lift some of the print off the page.

Here are two photos of the process.  I used a vintage book, about 50 years old. I don't know how this would work with a new book.  Basically you just lay the tape directly on the paper surface, burnish it a bit and then rip off.  In the bottom photo, you can see on the tape that about half the surface ripped off.  After that step, I stamped the leaf and the gingham stamps directly on the paper with Brushed Corduroy distress ink.  The two top panels were cut with PTI dies - one is the Spiral Notebook Page die and the other is the Button Card Collection die.  For the notepad, I also embossed it with the Tim Holtz notepad texture fade.  The heart was stamped and trimmed out.  Peeled Paint and Scattered Straw distress inks were used on the notepad and the heart and butterfly.  The hardware and lace are from my Etsy shop.  I stamped the sentiment on the butterfly "and in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take" a quote from an old Beatles' song probably written by John Lennon.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'd be interested to know what you think of this card/style.  Happy weekend everyone!

Challenges Entered:
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Ribbon or Lace