Flourishes Timeless Tuesday--FTTC153: Head Over Heels

[If you're looking for my Tuesday Morning Sketch post, click here.]

Hi Friends, and Happy Tuesday to you! Don't you just love a good challenge? I know I do, and this week's Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, FTTC153, is a great one.

Cindy has asked us to create a center stair step card, and like the tri-fold card a few weeks ago, this was something I'd never done before. I've always been a little intimidated by all those complicated looking folds and cuts. I even skipped a challenge once just because I would have had to make a center step card. Well, being the Guest Designer for FTTC this month, I didn't have the luxury to skip the challenge this time, and I'm so glad, because it's a fantastic card base to work with, and way easier than I ever imagined. If you've never made one, just visit the SCS center step card tutorial. I promise you, it's easy peasy, and really impressive to your non-cardmaking friends. :D And, if you enter it in the Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC153) this week, you even have a chance to boost your stamp inventory with a Flourishes gift certificate!

Here's mine all decked out:

Isn't that just the coolest card? I love all the angles and openings. I used the TCP Tuesday 193 color challenge palette of pale pink, melon, and brown and the Lace Heart stamp from Flourishes to turn it into a Valentine card, which fits the Paper Pretties Monday Challenge PPMC23, also.

I started with a melon card base, then covered the side panels with pale pink cs, then brown cs, then a striped dp that matched the TCP Tuesday 193 colors. The edges of the striped paper are sponged with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. For a little interest, I put three clear gems on each side, also.

The bottom panel is just a strip of pink and white glitter cs, sponged along the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink that is trimmed with a length of brown cotton lace. It didn't seem sturdy enough to me when opening the card, so there is a matching strip of the pink and white cs mounted on brown cs on the reverse side. 

For the main, center panel of the card, I zigzagged the brown dp to a pale pink cs, then glued a glittered chipboard flourish to the lower left corner. (Whoo Hoo! Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge 189 is to use glitter on your card-I'm in!) I heat embossed the Lace Heart design with chocolate embossing powder onto pale pink cs, cut it out with a Spellbinders Classic Heart die, sponged Victorian Velvet Distress Ink on the edges while it was still in the die, sponged Walnut Stain Distress Ink just on the edges of the heart, then filled the little center heart with Glossy Accents. After that dried, I covered it with a thin coat of Glam Pink Stickles.

The Lace Heart is lifted up with two layers of crimped scrap cs (rather than pop dots) onto a brown scalloped heart that I edged with a gold opaque marker. That was then popped up with foam dots over the chipboard flourish.

I tied a bow through the jump ring of a metal charm, placing the charm slightly over the edge of the heart and used pop dots under the corner of the charm to hold it in place. I've never seen anyone hot glue the knots of bows in tutorials, but I usually try to put a little bit on the back of mine to keep it from untying and to hold it in place on the card, then I secured the ends of the twine on the back of the cs with more hot glue. Finally, I attached the entire panel to the card base.

For the inside, I cut a Fleur de Lis Rectangle out of brown cs and put Liquid Pearl dots along the edges, then cut a rectangle of pale pink cs, which I stamped with the Elizabeth Barrett Browning verse from the same Lace Heart stamp set. There is a teeny little heart on the "H" and I filled that with Crystal Stickles.

When I started this card, I thought it might work as a masculine card with the striped side panels and heavy brown lace, but I guess with all that pink...not so much. :) I do like that it's feminine without being frilly, though. 

Okay. Now it's time for you to "step up" with your own center step card. You can find all the details and link your card to the challenge at the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 153 blog post. And, be sure to feast your eyes on the beautiful, inspiring creations by the rest of the Timeless Tuesday Design Team. This is a seriously talented team of ladies:

Beate

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Silke

Tammy

I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hope you have a marvy week!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Lace Heart (Flourishes)
Paper: Garden Party (DCWV); Love Nest (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento
Dies: Classic Hearts, Classic Scalloped Hearts, Fleur de Lis Rectangles, Classic Rectangles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Embossing Powder (Zing); lace (Fancy Pants Design); Glitter Flourish chipboard (Making Memories); Embossed Charm-Love (Making Memories); gold opaque marker; mini round gems (Recollections); Glossy Accents; Stickles; Liquid Pearls; sewing thread; twine; foam dots
Size: 5.5" square

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