Valentine: Love Bug

Stampin' Up® Real Red cardstock cut to half sheet and folded in half

White cardstock 3" square

Stazon® jet black ink pad

Stampin' Up® Real Red classic ink pad

Stampin' Up® Stampin' Pastels

Stampin' Up® Stampin' Scrub/Mist

Stampin' Up® Olive You stamp set

Adhesive (glue stick, white glue)

Small google eyes

This is a super simple, super cute, Valentine or love note. With some simple and inexpensive items you can create this card and brighten the day of someone you love no matter what their age is.

First is to get a red card. You can purchase some ready to embellish cards at your local craft or department store. You may even be able to find some on clearance that were meant for Christmas but didn't sell. If no all you need is some red cardstock or even construction paper will do. I worked with and 8 ½" x 11" sheet of red cardstock and cut it in half the short way. I then folded the half sheet in half to create the card. Invitation size envelopes that fit this type of card are readily available in your office supply store or the office supply aisle of your local department store. I've even seen them in the general merchandise aisle of the supermarket.

Next is to get your image. I used the Olive You stamp set from Stampin' Up®. I chose the Love Bug stamp and stamped it in the middle of a 3" square of white cardstock. I didn't do anything special to center it but you can always measure and mark your center or use a Stamp-A-Majig if you are a stickler for placement. Of course the next step will negate that careful placement a bit. To create texture I ripped the edges off all four sides. The trick here is to hold the paper with the image facing you and starting at the upper right corner rip toward you in small increments. Rip all the way to the other side. Now turn the paper one quarter turn and repeat. Do this on all four sides and you will end up with you image in the center and the exposed tooth of the paper's torn edge as an uneven border.

To color your bug you can use any medium you like. Colored pencils, watercolors, crayons, markers...what ever gives you the look you like the best. I used Stampin' Up® Stampin' Pastels which are chalk and very forgiving. If you go out of the lines you can erase. You can also use a kneaded eraser to blend the colors or soften them. You can create a dark marker look with them by using a blender pen. I found the color combination mattered once I put it on the red paper. It helped to color some swatches and hold them up to the card before I colored to see what I liked. In hindsight I think I would add spots or stripes to the bug shell.

Glue your white piece to the red card and finally glue the google eyes in place directly over the stamped image of the eyes. Be sure to let it dry thoroughly or your eyes will slide around or fall off. I used a glue stick to attach the white to the red and regular white glue for the eyes.