2 Challenges = 1 Tutorial

Challenge #1:

The initial idea for this first card came from a post by Yolanda on this weekend's OWH blog hop/skip promoting the new OWH Hero Arts stamps.

OWH is seeking some last minute Valentine's before the December 31 deadline. And, Yolanda's second card got me thinking about an idea for a Valentine's Day card.

I must confess, however, the card took on a little life of it's own. I originally planned to do a masculine card, but ended up with a card that would be perfect for one of our heroes to send to a daughter.

Paper is from DCWV's Sweet Matstack with Glitter.
The stamp is from Snag 'Em Stamps by imagenisce.

Challenge #2:

This second card was inspired by the OWH post to create your own background paper. This was my first attempt at using one of the larger stamps. Heat embossing with metallic powder seemed like the perfect way to make the snowflakes sparkle. (Yes, I know white or silver snowflakes might make more sense, but my gold embossing powder was working the best.)

Interestingly enough, most everyone who shared a card for this challenge had a far more involved design than this one. Since I loved the way the stamped image came out, I decided to let it speak for itself -- simply popping it with a contrasting background color and accenting it with a bow.

Unfortunately, I finished this design too late to send to OWH this season. So, a few close friends and work colleagues will be its only recipients this holiday season. But, I'm thinking it might make it my OWH shipment next year.

Snowflake background was stamped with a DesignBlock from Hero Arts.

Tutorial:

So, have you spotted what these two cards have in common?

Yep, it's the bow. OWH's own Dixie posted a wonderful no-fail-ribbon-tutorial on a fabulous embellishment technique.  Wish I would've know about this ribbon technique earlier in the holiday season -- and very happy to know about it now!