Something is "a flutter" all right!

 Look at this!  An honest to goodness fancy Valentine!  I was inspired by a beautiful card I received from fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Barbara Dykhouse as a swap at the Stampin' Up! leadership conference this month .  Barbara's card was very similar to this card and I thought it would be cute to combine the little banners and "clothesline" layout with the chalkboard technique which I featured at my monthly stamp club meeting. One of my favorite things about being a Stampin' Up consultant is sharing creative  ideas with talented individuals at Stampin' Up! events.  Thanks, Barbara for the inspiration!

Using the Hearts A Flutter stamp set and the coordinating framelits it was very easy to make the little clothesline banner.  I love it when Stampin' Up! makes matching framelits...even better when they bundle items together for a discounted price!     I am not fond of "fussy" cutting around small images so the framelits were a very welcome sight on page 11 of  the 2013 Spring Mini catalogue.

Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (DSP) for the pennant shapes was the perfect choice...so cute and colorful! I love this DSP, don't you?  The price is right since it's an item which can be earned for free with a $50 purchase during the big Stampin' Up! promotion called Saleabration (SAB) which started last week.  The cardstock colors for the base were Basic Black, Tangerine Tango and Pool Party.

Next step, I stamped the lacy heart image in black ink and the chevron heart image in Island Indigo ink before cutting them out with the coordinated framelit shapes.  The smaller chevron heart image is adhered to the lacy heart with a stampin' dimension (aka "pop dot") to make it stand out a little bit. 

The "clothesline" is done by stringing a short length of white Baker's Twine across the top of the black cardstock....I stuck down one end of the twine on the back of the card before I started and waited until I had all the banners in place before adhering the other side because that allowed me to adjust the placement easily if I had too much space on the banner.

And now for the "chalkboard" effect....there is a great tutorial at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com (go to the website then select  on how to do a chalkboard technique.  Be sure to check it out if you want more info but essentially I just used black cardstock for the base and stamped with white craft ink (Versamark would work just as well)  for the sentiment using white embossing powder.  After heating the embossing powder, I used a blender pen and a white watercolor crayon to add a little depth around the sentiment then took a sponge dauber (a sponge would work easily too) and smeared some white craft ink around the sentiment and on other parts of the black background to make it look like an old fashioned chalkboard which had been erased but not cleaned.  Easy but fun look....my kind of technique! 

The sentiment used for the greeting was the Be My Valentine image from the stamp set Delightful Dozen  The valentine sentiment is one of 12 images in that set and it covers occasions from Mother's Day to Halloween and everything in between.


When you order the Heart's A Flutter combo bundle, you get the framelits and  coordinating stamp set and save about 15%.:  wood mount  stamp version131098 for $42.95
                                                  clear mount stamp131097  $36.95
IF PURCHASED INDIVIDUALLY:
Stamp sets priced individually Hearts a Flutter Wood Mount  129249 $25.95/ clear mount 129252 $$18.95
Hearts a Flutter Framelits dies alone $24.95  #130159


Delightful Dozen stamp set : Wood mount 122650 for $32.95
                                            Clear Mount122652 $24.95

Just the Delightful Dozen set and the Hearts a Flutter set would add up to enough to earn you a free package of Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper during SAB...how sweet is that?

If you don't have a copy of the SAB brochure, it's available online at my webstore http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net or click on the link in the sidebar above.  If you already have an established relationship with  a Stampin' Up! demonstrator please contact him or her to request a brochure.  If you don't currently have a Stampin' Up! consultant please contact me by email at inkerzaway@aol.com and I will be happy to get you a copy of the brochure.  Please put SAB brochure in the subject line so I don't miss it. 

Hope you have enjoyed a look at one of the projects my local stampers were  making this month!  I would love to hear what you think about it so please leave a comment and share!