A Non-Valentiney Valentine

I'm getting a little tired of red, white and pink.  Every class and workshop I am doing these days involves at least one Valentine's card and, while I like real red, whisper white and pretty in pink, I need a change.  So...I decided to try something a little different.  Here is my non-Valentiney Valentine's card:

Valentine's Card using Always Elegant and Artistic Etchings stamp sets.

Close up of sentiment

Inside of card

First, a little background...this past Thursday my Sale-A-Bration order arrived.  In it there were LOTS of new goodies, including the Always Elegant set (which I got for FREE!!) and Lap of Luxury DSP.  I opened up the DSP and fell in love with the colour combo.  Yes, I know, it still has pink in it, but the concord crush and basic gray offset the pink enough to make it almost unnoticeable.  I decided to try to create a Valentine's card that could also double as a wedding or even anniversary card.  I rather like the way it turned out.  Here is a quick rundown of what I did...
 Stamp the flourish image for Always Elegant in concord crush on very vanilla cardstock.  Stamp key and flourish from Artistic Etching set in basic gray, creating a collage of images.  Sponge the whole thing in pretty in pink and then the edges in concord crush.  Adhere collage image to a piece of striped pattern DSP that has been sponged with concord crush.  Wrap a piece of basic gray satin ribbon (retired) around and secure on the back with glue dots.  Adhere DSP to basic gray card base.  Punch a photo corner in concord crush patterned DSP.  Layer it under another photo corner that has been punched out of the whole left by a curly label punch.  Adhere in upper left corner using dimensionals.  For sentiment, stamp flourish from Always Elegant again in concord crush on very vanilla CS.  Punch a full heart, ensuring the flourish image is centred.  Stamp the sentiment in Versamark and heat emboss using silver EP.  Sponge the edges of heart in concord crush and adhere to a scalloped heart of hearts die cut in brushed silver.  Adhere sentiment to card using dimensionals.  Add three rhinestone basic jewels in the lower right corner of the cardfront and one to the photo corner in the upper left corner.
The inside is pretty simple and self-explanatory...I kept it fairly plain to allow lots of room to write a mushy love note! 
Stay tuned this week for more Valentines...of the traditional sort!