Chanelling Jennifer McGuire for Valentine's Day

Good afternoon...and {sorry} - back with another Valentine, and also added some cards to the Cards by Friends tab...so I hope you'll enjoy some pretty cards along with me. Aren't I so lucky to have such talented and generous blog buddies? Oh yes I AM!

Recently saw a video by Jennifer McGuire called Negative Space Coloring. I liked the techniques she demonstrated, plus also liked the dies and stamps she used, so you know what came next! Now, I needed something for DH for Valentine's Day, and I had a cutesy little Elly colored & die cut, but ---honestly --- it really wasn't "Him". So decided after my Simon Says Stamps order arrived pretty fast, tried out Jennifer's technique one evening. Remember that I didn't go back and review the video, just sort of winged it with what I could remember of what she did. Got a couple things I didn't do exactly right, but you know what? I still liked the final results! YAY for ME!

- MB Postage Square die die cut, Altenew Botanical Garden stamp inked with Versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold. Stamped again onto Eclipse masking tape, cut out, applied to the embossed image on the die.

- DI Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door & Scattered straw applied with the sponging tool. Jennifer says start in the middle (I forgot that!started at the bottom with Candied Apple, lots of coverage). Started blending the Spiced Marmalade as the next layer...and decided that the Barn Door would be too much red, so just continued with the Marmalade to the edge of the c/s. Oh yes, left the c/s inside the die so I could get the white edge. Then used some of the Scattered Straw at the very top edge and corners, to lighten up the Marmalade just a bit. Looking good, so burnished this with a paper towel. My only problem in doing this was that the tiny leaves at the bottom of the bloom mask wanted to lift, and I did manage to get some ink on one of the leaves.

After lots of burnishing, added some of the white pearl Perfect Pearls (remember the Faux Metal technique?)...burnished the pearls in very well, and did it ever add a nice shine.

- PTI Quick Stitch Sentiments for the Love script.

- a scant black mat, then adhered to a scant gold mirror mat. glued this to the embossed card front.

- XO embossing folder with a red pattern that was in the stack pulled to do V Day cards, thought the shade looked well with the Distress colors. The embossing looks sanded, but I didn't sand it...the paper effect did that.

- MB Heart Chain border die cut from a snippet of gold mirror paper. Trimmed off some of this border, stuck a heart in 2 corners, and Ta Da....it's done.