Less is More

During the recent "Clean and Simple Card Making" online class that I participated in, I ran across a link to the "Less is More" blog run by Chrissie and Mandi. They have some great ideas on their site and, much to my delight, I discovered that they have a weekly challenge! I just love taking part in card challenges. This week's challenge is "Cut it Out". The first thing that ran through my mind was that I used to say that a lot to my sister when we were kids. My next thought was that I am currently coming up with ideas for Valentine's Day cards and the first card I have completed fits perfectly into the clean and simple guidelines for the challenge. You can check out the card challenge at http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/ Here is my completed card:

After creasing and folding the card base, I trimmed a small portion of the bottom edge using my Purple Cows Freestyle Mouse. I used a 2 3/8" Stampin' Up scalloped circle punch to cut the opening in the card face. The heart that shows through was cut with the Die-namics "Hearts a Plenty" die. I layered 4 plain white hearts atop one another with tacky glue and finished the stack off with a heart cut from some small polka dot patterned paper. This creates a thick, chip-board like heart which adds lots of dimensional punch to the card. (A tip I picked up from participating in "Clean and Simple Card Making".) I added a 1/2" strip of the same small polka dot paper to accent the lower edge of the card. I punched 2 small butterflies from some white pearlized metallic cardstock using an EK Success punch and mounted them in the centre of the heart. I mounted the upper-most butterfly in a flexed position to convey the look of the flexed wings of a real butterfly. I applied a small Stampin' Up pearl as the butterfly's head. Some Martha Stewart baker's twine in red and white was wrapped around the card and tied to form a bow. I finished off the card with a cute sentiment from Inkadinkado. Until next time,