Crabby Valentine?!

Can a crab be given as a Valentine? Well, sure! Especially since the stamp set Crab & Company has a sentiment that says "Shore do love you"... so why not?

These may not be typical Valentine's Day colors, but there is a reason for this madness... I knew I wanted to color this little guy Ruby Red. So I pulled out my handy Color Wheel and turned it to Ruby Red. Nothing leaped out at me there, so I continued turning the wheel looking at all the possibilities that include Ruby Red until one caught my eye... Perfect Plum! So that's where the base color came from. When I layed a piece of Ruby Red on top of the Perfect Plum, I knew that's what I wanted.

The crab is stamped with black StazOn ink onto Naturals White cardstock. Since Naturals White is not the best surface for watercoloring (it doesn't allow much movement of the color as it dries too fast), I chose a different approach than I normally use. On this one, I took my Watercolor Wonder Crayon (Ruby Red, of course) and used it like a crayon, scribbling some color onto the crab. I scribbled more color in the areas I wanted darker, and less in the areas I wanted to be highlights. Then, using an Aquapainter, it becomes like those Paint With Water books we all did as kids! I also scribbled in some Close to Cocoa and More Mustard for the sand. I layered the crab onto some Basic Black and Ruby Red cardstock, making the Ruby Red layer larger so I could stamp a frame using a couple of smaller stamps in the set.

The bottom of the card was made by taking a separate strip of Perfect Plum, wheeling it with the Sandy Shells wheel in Basic Black ink. Then I tore it along the top edge and dabbed some Perfect Plum ink along the edges with a Dauber. The sentiment fit perfectly inside the Small Oval punch, so I got to layer it with Ruby Red using the Large Oval punch. Then I inserted some Black brads using my Crop-a-Dile, and threaded some Black grosgrain through to finish it off. To hold the ribbon in place, I notched two half circles in the edge of the card using a 1/4" Circle punch.

And speaking of Valentines, I must mention that I will be having my Second Annual Valentine Workshop on February 5th from 7-9pm. Just like last year, we will be making a Valentine for our husbands (or significant others) using my supplies. The cost of this workshop is ABSOLUTELY FREE with no order required... but I won't turn away an order if you want to place one! :o) And you may want to, because February 1st marks the start of Stampin' Up!'s Sale-a-Bration!!! ...oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. This is enough for one post...