Love and Friendship

I wish this were my story, but when I heard what my friend Mary was doing..... I knew I needed to be a part of it and that it would lend itself very nicely to the subject of love and friendship. Let me share....

My friend Mary stated that she (and hopefully some others) are going to make 400 valentines for the elderly who are a part of Meals on Wheels in Sioux Falls, SD. She had a couple of dates set in January for others to come and make valentines; however the dates are during the week when I work, so I am going to make on my own time to donate to the total.

Let me step out a few valentines I made using a couple of my StencilGirl Stencils.

I used a file folder for the substrate. I like the weight of the paper. It is easy to cut but stiffer than a piece of paper. The card was supposed to be a 4" x 6", however, my file folder is about 11 1/2" long, so I simply cut it in half. My cards will be 4" x 5.75". Then I gesso'd the fronts. I like to use a credit card to skim on a very thin layer of gesso. Here are mine below. If you look closely, you may notice that the edges of the cards may not have gesso on them.... and that is ok! Helps create some variation without having to work at it. 

I then decided to use a stencil with some deli paper to use as collage on these cards. I picked the Speckles and Spots stencil.

I used the Dylusion's spray ink through my stencil.

Let the sheet dry. 

I then ripped a small portion to glue onto my card along with a piece of washi tape, a few ink scribbles and a little white paint. I had also used a spray of yellow dylusion's ink on the background.

With my back ground looking pretty good I landed on this stencil by Traci Bautista (Love Collage) as my stencil. I find this one so versatile!

Rolled through with my Payne's Grey......

And why stop there? I decided I needed to make a few more to donate to the cause. I took a slightly different approach with the next few and used my StencilGirl stencils to help with the back grounds and made a heart shaped stamp out of fun foam.

I didn't mind that the outside edges of the stamp touched my valentine- I felt it lent itself to the charm. Check out my other backgrounds on valentines......

I loved the pop of white on the orange and pink back grounds. 

Wondering which stencils I used to create my back grounds? Here is my list: Soulful Scribbles Dots Dash , Web Stencil, Loopy Ladders, Stencil Club May 2015 Mary Beth's Private Collection 

Hope this stirs some inspiration for you to create some of your own valentines to share with friends.

Thank you!

xo. kristin (alteredstatesstudio)