Grungy Valentine

Hello crafty friends!  You didn't really think I was going to give a pink and flowery Valentine's card to my husband, did you?  I am feeling much more comfortable with grungy hat on again,and I know my husband will like this card much better than my Vintage Valentine.

I forgot that I had ordered a hearts embossing diffuser, and I wanted to  put it to use. This is how I went about making this double embossed card.  I used Tim's Steampunk Texture Fade first. Using the included heart as a mask, I sprayed Distress inks (UPDATE: that should be spray stains.)  I built up the background using Distress inks, Lindy's sprays, Ranger embossing Puffs, Burnt Copper Leaves, and some of my hand compounded embossing powders.

I took this shot to show that this is one card, embossed with two separate folders, not layers of card. I used the outer diffuser to emboss Tim's BullsEye Texture Fade for the heart. I made a stencil out of heavy scrap card, so I could lay down a variety of Distress paints and inks, and embossing powders listed above. You can see this really turned out to be a mess, but I just kept adding paint and ink and sprays until I was happy with the look.  In the process, much of the embossing got "filled in".

The chain around the heart and the springy looking things are from my stash, and I altered them with alcohol inks and embossing powders.  The gear is a gift from my super talented and always fun bloggy friend  Niki of Pawsitively Creative Crafts.  Be sure to stop by her blog--her work is fabulous, and she always brightens your day with her fun posts. I added some Distress paint and Embossing Puffs, and that center is a fussy cut bullseye from the BullsEye Texture Fade.  It is embossed on mechanical repair tape. Do you see those two little copper blobs in the corner?  That's a couple of large particles from the Burnt Copper Leaves. I'm not getting paid to say this, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Burnt Copper Leaves!  I swear it even smells like burning leaves when you melt it! You can sprinkle it on sparsely and get that gritty texture or add a good amount to get a beautiful metallic enamel look, like you see in the corner of my top panel.

You can see a little purplish haze here from the Lindy's Moon Shadow Mist. This is my first time using it, and I can see loads of possibilities...I'll have to play with that one a little more. "Together" is an Alpha Parts with Cracked Pistachio Distress paint. The crackled hearts are cut from red and brown card stock using Tim's Heartfelt die, and crackled with DecoArt Crackle Glaze. I used DecoArt Patina Green Antiquing Cream on the red, and Barn Door Distress Paint on the brown to enhance the cracks. The two smaller die cut cogs tucked behind the hearts are also gifts from Niki, and the larger wooden one is from my stash. I painted and heat embossed them to give them their rusty and metallic look. Another grunged up springy thing holds my hearts together. Thank you, Niki, you're a treasure, and your gears and cogs were just what I needed to pull my card together!

Ooops, my foam tape adhesive is showing! (I had to use two layers to get the sentiment to clear the chain.)  This is taken somewhat looking down, so the tape shows, but I kept this shot because the light at this angle really allows the true colors and the texture to show well. Ignore the foam! The last shot looks down, too, but the shadow hides it.

I would like to enter my Valentine into the following inspiring challenges:

-SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenges-February-Anything Goes-Steampunk/Industrial

Emerald Creek Dares Blogger Scramble-Anything Goes

-Mixed Media Place Creative Gym # 16 New Beginnings I tried out some of my new crafting goodies--diffuser and sprays.

-A Vintage Journey February Challenge Industrial

-Country View Challenges-February-MakeYour Own Background

-Frilly And Funkie Love is in the Air!( I hope it is vintage enough!)

-Southern Ridge Trading Co. Anything Love

Cards 4 Guyz Challenge #106 Valentine or Love

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday One Layer (Really it does have a base, too, but I saw one of the inspiration peices did, also, so I thought it was OK.)

Scrapy Land Challenge # 35 Anything Goes I used a Sizzix Heartfelt die.

UPDATE: Yippee!

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your lovely comments.  I read and appreciate each and every one of them!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily