Love U Forever Valentine's Day Card

We're getting even closer to Valentine's Day, so we have one more Valentine craft for you to make. Lorraine Masonheimer, our expert paper craft guest blogger, has created another original card for you to make for that special someone. This time we have a zombie theme.

Supplies:

INKPAD:   ColorBox Chalk Charcoal

STAMPS:   Stampabilities Be My Valentine CR1117, Splatter Stamp PSO 875

DIE-CUT:   Jim Holtz Lost Zombie die 661590, 3 ½” circle die

EMBOSSING FOLDER:  Paper Studio A2 Script

OTHER:  Watercolor paper, 12” x 12” cream cardstock, 8 ½” x 11” deep red, and yellow cardstock, black with white dot paper, Tombow Waterbased  Markers (098, 912, 879, 947), Zig Clean Color Brush Marker (Deep Red), small watercolor brush, water, Gelly Roll Sparkle Pen, Glossy Accents Clear Dimensional Medium, rope trim, glue, scissors, x-acto blade, Big Shot die cutting machine, and embossing machine.

Step One:  Card Base

Cut the 12” x 12” cream cardstock to an 11” x 5 ½” sheet.  Score at 5 ½” and fold in half. Cut red textured paper to 5 ½” x 5”.  Trim the dot paper to 5½” x 5”.

Step Two:  Diagonal Cuts

Color side up, measure the dot & red paper placing a small mark at 3 ¼” on the top left side (a), a small mark at 1” from the bottom left corner (b) and 3” on the top right side (c) as shown. 

Take the dot paper, place a ruler from a to b and cut.  Place a ruler from b to c and cut. 

Cut the red paper one full white dot smaller than the dot paper.  Glue the Polka dot paper to the front of the cream card and the red paper to the polka dot paper.  Set aside.

Step Three:  Die Cuts

Place a 4 ¼” x 6” sheet of white watercolor paper onto the Lost Zombie die and run through the Big Shot Die machine. Remove the cut zombie and set aside.  If desired, draw the zombie and cut by hand.

Place a 4” x 4” sheet of golden yellow paper onto the circle die and run through the Big Shot.  Place the circle into the script embossing folder and run through the embossing machine.  If desired, trace a 4” circle and cut by hand.

Step Four:  Color, Blend & Cut

Using the scrap watercolor paper, draw a long stylized heart.  Cut out the heart.  

Apply color to the zombie using slash marks leaving some white areas untouched.  Working quickly with a wet brush, move the color around leaving dark and light areas to create a watercolor effect.  Use green (098) for the skin, brown (947 & dots of 879) for the pants, and a reddish tan (912) for the shirt. 

To add interest, cover the entire zombie with a charcoal inked splatter stamp.  You can also load an old toothbrush with gray ink and splatter the image or use an ink pen.  Let dry.

Apply the Zig Deep Red marker to the heart and move the color around with a wet brush.  Let dry. Add some sparkle to the heart using the Gelly Roll star pen. 
 

Step Five:  Trim, Sparkle, Stamp & Assemble

Stamp “be my valentine” using charcoal ink onto the cream card and assemble the card as shown.  Glue two pieces of rope trim to the zombie’s waistline.  To add depth, shine and interest to the card, embellish the heart with clear dimensional medium and let dry. 

Step Six:  Stamp, Cut & Glue (Inside)

Type and glue the sentiment “Love u Forever” onto the inside of the card as shown.  Select the font of your choice, Chiller, 48 points cut to a 4” x 4” square is used in this example.  Use scraps to add interest to the envelope flap.

Check out the directions for Lorraine's "Thrilling Valentine" and her Poe Valentine.