Stained Glass Valentine

I love using Vellum.
Many years ago when I first discovered stamping as a hobby, I even took a class in a stamp store in Virginia Beach about ways to use vellum. I just love the feel of the paper, the almost magic translucence of it and it's ability to elevate any project you use it with.
(Ya gotta know I'm pretty into it if that class was enough to draw me off the beach for an afternoon! Ha!)

So last month, I was reminded about this wonderful paper when I saw a card using the stained glass technique somewhere online. I thought it would be a great technique to make a sweet valentine card and I designed this for my January card classes.

This project started with a card base of Pretty in Pink cardstock. The top layer is Very Vanilla and using the swirl stamp from Elements of Style (a MUST have stamp set!), I covered it with that image using Pretty in Pink ink.

Next, I used the new Framelits Hearts Dies to cut a heart shape hole in the stamped cardstock. I chose the size that matched the stamp I planned to use with the vellum from the Take it to Heart stamp set.
Once the heart was cut by running it through my Big Shot, I then used the new Edgelits Adorning Accents Dies to cut the elegant edge under the heart across the cardstock piece. I then set that all aside to work on the vellum piece.

First, I stamped the bird in the heart image on the front of the vellum cardstock using Black Staz-On ink. (note: I prefer using Vellum CARDSTOCK instead of Vellum PAPER. The cardstock has a better heft to it and still provides a nice translucence for your project.)
Once the image was stamped on the front, I turned it over and used my Stampin' Write Markers to color in the image on the back side. This side ends up looking kind of messy and garish, but when you turn it back over, the colors are all nicely in place and look soft and muted. So pretty!

So, to put it all together, I added a bit of SNAIL adhesive to the upper corners of the front of the vellum piece and adhered it in the heart shaped window that I'd cut out of the Very Vanilla cardstock. Using my Paper Snips, I trimmed off the vellum that stuck out from the bottom of the Vanilla cardstock.
I then added a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock to the back of these pieces so the colors would show on a neutral background. Otherwise, they'd be backed by pink and that would change the look of the colored in vellum.
Next, I adhered these pieces to the folded Pretty in Pink card front, allowing for a nice 1/8" border on the top and sides. This made it really easy to use my new Adorning Accents Embossing Folders and add an embossed line across the pink cardstock that matched the cut edge on the vanilla. (Just make sure you open up the card when you run it through the Big Shot so it's only one layer going through at a time.)

The last step was to add the embellished greeting. I stamped the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes on a scrap of Very Vanilla and punched it out with the Modern Label Punch. I threaded some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine through a heart shaped Bitty Button and tied a little bow before adding it to the greeting with a Mini Glue Dot. The whole greeting was added to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals and the card was done!

The stampers at my classes loved learning the stained glass technique along with all the new Big Shot Dies and Folders!
You can easily own all those new toys along with all the stamps and supplies that I used on this card by shopping in my Online Stampin' Store. And don't forget that right now, during Sale-A-Bration, each $50 order you place earns you a FREE product from Stampin' Up!

Have a great day everyone - go stamp something!
~~Robin

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