Love is in the Air

It's the time of the year when the shops are full of hearts and flowers - no matter what sort of shop it is, from shoes to ironmongery there will be an "Ideal Valentines Gift" sticker somewhere....
And there will be loads of people saying "...all a load of marketing nonsense, its just about merchandising...." You've heard it all before.
Now I think that's partially correct - but it's also about taking the time out of the ordinary day to day life to step back and think about the people who mean the most to you - and letting them know how you feel.  It doesn't have to be about expensive gifts and over-priced meals out (though obviously OH, if you read this - those things would be fab...... at any time of the year!....).  It's the simple things that mean a lot - and often that's just making a special gesture - like giving a bag of Strawberry Truffles, knowing that as you don't like Strawberry Truffles he won't have to share...

I must admit, I do have a good giggle and-a-shake-of-the-head in disbelief over all those weird Valentines Cards - you know the ones; "To my Daughter/Auntie/Neighbour/Goldfish/Dog on Valentines Day",  But on the other hand it does make me think about how rarely we all take the time out to let our loved ones know that they are....loved.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions - but I did make a little promise to myself that this year I would try to be more on-the-ball with birthday cards, and also to send the odd "Just Because" card for no other reason than to surprise someone.  Obviously, being me, I have so far failed in this endeabour - but I will try harder.........

Anyway
Here is my card for our lovely Gez's "Love is in the Air" challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers this week (took a long while to get to this, didn't it hahaha....)

Materials and Tools

White smooth card blank, edges inked with a creamy peachy ink

Papers: Fancy Pants Country Boutique 12x12

Bazzill Red card, silver versamagic ink pad

Red Satin Ribbon (Creative Treasures)

Dangling Heart charm, Silver thread, clear round gem

Large hearts are cut with a Marianne Die

Tiny hearts are the waste from a MS border punch

"valentine" and kisses cut with Craft Robo

Cuttlebug Tiny Hearts embossing folder

I used  several layers of each heart shape, the left hand large heart was embossed then inked through the embossed pattern with silver ink
For the the 2nd heart I traced round the die, then cut the shape out with scissors inside the line to make a mat - this was glued to the reverse of the die cut shape before removing it from the die as there is no plain shape in the pack and I didn't want just a "holey" version.  I cut a further three die cuts with the bits removed, stuck them all together and then adhered this piece to the base heart.
I'm really happy at how this really shows off the detail of the die

Thanks for popping by today, I hope you'll be spreading the love by joining in with us at the Daring Cardmakers this week!