This card started with my Grandmother who sent me a card featuring an ocean scene that had been embellished with quilling. Knowing my hope to sell my cards at craft shows and the local farmer's market once my daughter moves into a group home, she wrote "...I'll bet you could do something like this very profitably!" With visions of curly-cue hearts, I began my research and found The Art of Quilling website to be very helpful. Following this Atlantic Hearts Sketch, I made a valentine for my darling husband.
Lets just say there was a bit of a learning curve... The quilling strips you can buy in craft stores are a fairly lightweight, pliable paper, but I had cardstock so that's what I used to make my own. My initial thought had been to quill the hearts and use a stamped sentiment. Then inspiration kicked in and I decided to make some X's and O's. Now Close to My Heart's paper has a white core which can itself be a design element, but that is for another card someday. I wanted pink edges. I probably don't have to tell you that inking the edge of a 1/8 inch wide strip of paper is not easy. I solved this issue by inking the edge of the sheet of paper and then slicing off a 1/8 inch strip, repeating until I had all the strips I needed. The only things to remember when doing this are to apply the glue to the white edged side of your shape and, if you care about what direction your curls go, keep that in mind when rolling your paper. You may notice that my O's curl in opposite directions.
This being February, it goes without saying that one of the Heart 2 Heart challenges for the month is "Falling in Love," so I will be entering this card in that challenge as well. I used a sentiment from the retired "Mad About You" stamp set inside but wrote a way too personal message for y'all to see before I photographed the card, so you will just have to take my word for it. I also used a zip strip and some Hollyhock cardstock to embellish the inside. Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, Hansi
Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper: For Always (retired), White Daisy, Black and Hollyhock (retired) cardstock
Ink: Hollyhock, Black (inside)
Stamp: Mad About You (inside)