Scrapbookers | stampzeni

This is my first blog post – just in time for Valentine’s Day! If you can pull yourself away from shoveling the amazing amount of snow we’ve been getting (here in Michigan and lots of other places across the country), this romantic little card holder is fun and simple to make, using paints, stamps, beautiful papers, lace, ribbon, and metal embellishments. The inside is filled with simply stamped note cards. It’s rather elegant, I think, and useful too. If you don’t care for the Valentine’s theme, you can use the same design for almost any occasion….

And, it would make a great gift!

It all starts with a plain wooden container from Michaels. I applied gesso, then painted the inside and outside with burgundy colored acrylic paint and dry brushed Lumiere’s Sunset Gold acrylic paint on the handles to get that antiqued look. I stamped the sides with a Hero Arts flourish stamp using embossing ink, and heat set with gold embossing powder, then adhered a wine and black brocade patterned scrapbook paper with adhesive. I also gold embossed the “love letter” stamp (by Impression Obsession). Then I aged the entire container with Black Soot Distress ink (by Ranger), trimmed with black lace, and wrapped the handles with gold thread and a burgundy ribbon.

Finishing the front was fun…I love chipboard and crackle paint – it always adds a great touch. I painted a Bazzill chipboard heart with Rangers’ Tarnished Brass Distress crackle paint, then over painted with a bit of the Lumiere gold, and distressed (when dry) with the black distress ink to highlight the cracks. Then I added a metal key from 7 Gypsies, a keyhole by Bead Landing, and wrapped it with black wire.

The cards inside were simple. I used Stampington and Company stamps (the large heart and sentiments) and Lynne Perrella Valentine images by Paper Artsy. Then I tied my notecards with coordinated silk ribbon (I love doing that) and set them off with a wisp of sparkly netting.

I hope you enjoyed my post and that it has inspired you to come in from the snow and create art!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I invite you to visit my website at stampzeni.com, and follow me on Twitter (@stampzeni)