Valentine Party!

I made this fun page at Stamp Antonio Art's Artist Night Out last night. Each Wednesday evening the store allows people to gather there in their art room and work on projects. I packed like I was going to a weeklong scrapbook retreat, but you never know what you might need! This is the project that I ended up with last evening. I first took a blank white 12" x 12" smooth cardstock (I like to make my own designs for the backgrounds) and planned my layout. I placed paper doilies on the white card in strategic places and then spritzed the entire background through the doilies with some red glimmermist and Pralines n Cream Smooch Spritz (one of my favorites!). If I had packed removeable adhesive, I would have used it to keep the doilies in place--they tended to flutter a little so I didn't get sharp images but instead ended up with a "hint" of doily. That was ok, because you can see all the stuff I piled on top of the background. The most interesting part of this layout are the metallic foil red hearts. I have collected Valentine decorations through the years, and I pulled these from my stash. To let you know how old these are, the package had a price tag from Winn's! Those of you not from San Antonio have to know that this store went out of business like 20 years ago! I ran the red foil hearts through a Tim Holtz Valentine texture fade to give them some interest. After putting everything together on the page, I finally added some actual doily pieces for a finished look. I really liked how this page screams "Valentine" because the event it depicts shows a dinner party my friend Jeannette and her mom Lucille gave last Valentine's for some of my closest and dearest friends Susan, Sally, and Linda. I really love these ladies! I wanted that love to leap out from my page! When I got home last night I put some finishing touches that I felt the page needed--I sanded the too glossy manufactured Valentine in the center and the foil hearts, and I added some liquid applique in hot pink to the dog's hair bow. Happy Valentine's Day, my friends!