Lovely Romance for Pals Paper Arts

I just got back from holding a wonderful weekend retreat with my friends in my stamp class down in Okanagan Falls! We had so much fun and I was astounded by the creativity I saw down there! Beautiful, amazing work! And when they found out that I had a secret love of steampunk art, they generously shared several amazing jewelry findings, pieces and gears that they had collected over the years. Even one of the ladies' sons, who likes to create steampunk jewelry, gave me some extra gears and watch faces! I was blown away! You'll be seeing them in some of my cards in the next little while! But last night I was pretty tired and didn't have the energy for a long post, so I wanted to quickly share a card I made at the retreat for Pals Paper Art's latest challenge, using the stamp set, Lovely Romance.

• Of course, this colour scheme is perfect for a Valentine's card and I was dying to use one of the little jewelry findings I received, so a Valentine's card is what I designed. The little cupid on the top was actually a burnished bronze colour, but since silver was a more appropriate colour with this scheme, I actually cover him with Versamark ink, dipped him in Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and, using tweezers to save my fingers from third degree burns, heat embossed him to get that silver look.
• The design series paper you see is the Sale-A-Bration set called Irrisistably Yours, which you can earn free with a $60 purchase. It is white, pre-embossed paper, heavier than normal DSP. You can add ink to colour the white portions and the embossing resists the ink, allowing you to simply wipe it clean. I used an ombre technique here, sponging Rose Red full strength at the top and blending it out to the bottom where I used some light Pink Pirouette for that effect. Some Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details complete the look on the paper.
• I used one of the older stamp sets from the Annual Catalogue, Lovely Romance, which has appropriate sentiments for Valentine's Day, but also the vintage look that is harmonious with the style of the cupid. I embossed the sentiment in silver and die cut it with the coordinating Chalk Talk Framelit.
• The Sweetheart Punch created the heart threesome there, reminding me of the triple heart emoticon that I've been seeing so much of lately!

What creativity did you get up to on the weekend? Please leave me a comment and tell me what you did. I will show you some pictures of the retreat, just as soon as I can figure out how to get them from my tablet to my pc!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

Lovely Romance Wood Stamp Set [130264]	Lovely Romance Clear Stamp Set [130267]	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper [135315]	Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper [138635]	Basic Gray 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121044]
Rose Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102544]	Pink Pirouette 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [111351]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126954]	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad [126956]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Heat Tool [129053]	Sweetheart Punch [133786]
Chalk Talk Framelits Die [129983]	Big Shot [113439]