Hand Stamped Sentiment Card Challenge, Sweet Valentine!

Hi all!  I have some exciting news to share with you....I am so delighted to announce that I've been invited to be a designer for the Hand Stamped Sentiments Design Team!! Woot woot!!   They're a fabulous group of Stampin'Up! gals that have a card challenge blog and I am so excited to be a part of the team!

So, today marks my very first card contribution as part of the DT.  The theme this week is to create a project using a black and red color palette, so I thought I'd create a little heart bag using the Petal Cone die.  And, I knew from the start that I wanted to use the Love Letter DSP, which I haven't used in a while!  It's one of my faves though.  Wanna see the full project?

The Petal Cone die (Item 121810, $32.95) makes a perfect little heart bag!  Just the right size for a special little gift {wink wink!}  A little hint for all the hubbies and significant others out there - heehee!  GREAT things come in small packages...{am I right, ladies!}. I used the yummy Glimmer Paper for my heart and just a teenie bit for the Dotted Scallop Ribbon trim.  Then of course, I had to do some embellies - I went with the Antique Brad and also used the banner from the Petal Cone die for my "faux ribbon."  Isn't that so fun?  It really is a great die cut!  Here's a closer look at the die - you'll see it's pretty versatile!:

I love that the Glimmer paper coordinates with the Glimmer Brads - such a fun touch of bling to this vintage-y Valentines pouch, don't you think?  Another fun punch I haven't used in a long while is the Spiral Border punch, which I think is a great pairing with the newsprint pages from the First Edition DSP.  I gave the overall project that aged look by inking up the edges with the Soft Suede craft spot.  The cute sentiment is from the Something to Celebrate stamp set {Occasions Mini Level 2 Hostess set}. To finish it off, I did the handles in the Very Vanilla seam binding.  What do you think?  Hope you like it!!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Petal Cone Sweet Valentine}

*Stamp Set: Something to Celebrate

*Cardstock: Love Letter DSP, First Edition DSP, Glimmer Paper, Very Vanilla

*Inks: Real Red Classic Ink, Soft Suede Craft Spot

*Accessories: Antique Brads, Full Heart punch, Petal Cone die, Spiral Border punch, Dotted Scalloped Border punch, Glimmer Brads, Seam Binding

Wanna play along with us?  We'd love to see your take on this week's challenge!  Hop on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments site to check out all the DT projects and find out the deets for the challenge.  Thanks so much for visiting.  If you'd like to leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you! ;)  Bye for now.