Time for another Valentine! Love and hearts and branches and butterflies and tree rings go together, right? Well, maybe tree rings aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. But, here’s what I was thinking. They are circles, and circles have no beginning, and no end. Tree rings have these never-ending circles, like wedding rings representing eternal love, so here they are in my heart.

Tree Ring Love in a Heart

I began by inking the Tree Ring background stamp with Powder Pink and Sweet Sugarplum ink. Then, I pressed a piece of Thick Whisper White cardstock on top of it. This insured a nice, clear print. I let it dry for two seconds. I love that the Stampin’ Up! inks dry almost instantly, so you don’t have to worry about smearing. I used the die from the Lots to Love Box die set for cutting my heart of Tree Rings. 

I tucked the heart in a branch (Petals & More die set) made of Thick Whisper White cardstock, and attached dimensionals to the back, which held them together. 

In the meantime, I decided on a Thick Whispers White card base, layered with striped, Melon Mambo Designer Series Paper, topped with more Thick Whisper White. I used thick on the top layer, so the stripes wouldn’t show through.

For the sentiment, I wanted to say, “Love, from the heart.” The word, “love” is in the Sunshine Wishes die set. I had this die set handy, because I used the word, “sunshine” on yesterday’s project. You could also crop the word “love” from the Lovely Words die set.

“From the Heart” is in the Petal Palette stamp set, which I stamped  in Sweet Sugarplum ink. It was cut with the fabulous, label die in the Petals & More set. The ends give a nice, finished look, and it’s the perfect size for so many sentiments.

Do you see the little, Sweet Sugarplum butterfly? I was surprised to find it in the Hold on to Hope stamp set. And, it even has its own die in the Cross of Hope die set. You’ll be seeing more of this newly discovered butterfly in my projects. It’s so cute!

The last detail was to sprinkle a little more love with white, heart sequins. I found a good method for applying sequins, at least it works for me. I moisten my finger tip to pick up a sequin, apply a pin dot of glue where I want it to go, and place the sequin on the dot of glue. 

I can’t forget to tell you how I came up with this color combination. It’s this week’s Fab Friday challenge. Such pretty colors! Thank you, designers, for the inspiration.

Would you like to make your own Valentines to send this year? Click on my “shop” button for all of the supplies you’ll need.