Valentine with Dogwood Branch

"Even a cat is a lion in her own lair."

                                                                                -------------Indian proverb

Hi, Friends.......

I am here with a pretty valentine to share.  I was in the mood to use some lace and ribbon and saw this MFP Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge of "Use more than one border punch".   I only own one border punch, so I used it on two borders of my vellum.  Hope that qualifies!  :) 
                      






 I stamped the pretty dogwood image from Mark's Finest Paper - Works of Art set in Memento - London Fog and pulled out my Spectrum Noir markers to color.  Fun!!  I don't use these nearly often enough to justify the price I paid for them...even though I got them 50% off.  :)   

I wanted a soft look for my image and using my markers was just the thing....especially when I strayed a bit.  Oops...  So Janis can't stay in the lines????  No problema!  I just made it look a little more "arty" than I had planned by shading the outsides of the lines with some of the markers, too.  :)   Now that looks soft!!


I really love how the coloring turned out.  My magic weapon was the ink blender.  After I finished coloring the flowers, I made a circular pale spot with the blender pen in the middle of each "petal". (Technically these are called bracts on dogwood.....biology major, here!  Ha.)  I love the effect!!  I did the same thing with the leaves.  Automatic highlighting!!!  Hey, I can do this!!!  Wow!
[SN# used---Flowers:  PP3, PP5, BP2.  Leaves: CG3, LG5, Stems:  GB7.]

I die cut a lacy heart from Cheery Lyn Designs - Two of Hearts set.  This is the larger of the two dies.  I cut it from Add a Little Dazzle craft metal.  I wanted silver, so I used the reverse of one of my other colors.  :)  Pretty, isn't it?  

I am playing just for fun over at this week's Add a Little Dazzle challenge...not for a prize....because I was the lucky winner last week!!!!  I can't tell you how excited I am!!!  My prize will be some more craft metal.  Oh, yesssssssssss!!!  So fun!!  This card is also a thank you to Monica for her generous prizes and lovely products!!!  THANKS!!!!

Do you like that scrap of vintage lace I used???  It was a thrift store find.  Yay!!  It was just the right length for what I needed.  I only trimmed a tiny smidgen off.  Love that!!  The vellum and the DCWV purple cardstock under the vellum were both scraps, too.  Hooray!!!

Other supplies I used were some pretty lilac ribbon with a silver thread running through it and some K&Co.background paper with Distress ink - Victorian Velvet inking.  I hope you enjoyed my card!!!

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Ding, Ding, Ding..........New Follower Introduction Time!!!
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I have a brand-new follower to introduce today!
A big welcome to the adorable Di of Pixie's Crafty Workshop!!!  Di is from across the pond in the UK and runs the sweetest challenges where you get to use your scraps and snippets.  She makes some very beautiful cards, too, that you won't want to miss.  I hope each of you will join us over at her Pixie Snippets Playground!!!  Di, thank you so much for becoming a follower!!  As promised, here is a ginormous new follower smile just for you!!!!

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) 

Thanks so much to each of you for stopping by today.  I appreciate it so much.  I will be announcing a combined First Blogoversary/ Birthday giveaway very soon, so don't touch that dial!!!!  :)

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  MFP Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge #247 - Use More than One Border Punch 
2.  Verve - February Inspiration Challenge - Vivacious Valentine 
3.  Dreamweaver Stencils - Frilly and Fabulous 
4.  Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 162 - Use snippets  
5.  DL.Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #149 - Valentine's Day or Thank You

Just for fun:
6.  Add a Little Dazzle - Dazzling Diva Challenge #61 - Inspirational Photo or Anything Goes