Anything Goes: Whimsical Wednesday Challenge!

Happy Wednesday, my sweet friends! I hope your week has been beautiful. :o)

This week's Whimsical Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes! Any style, any theme... link up any type of card, layout, or project that you want to create. :o) Before I share my card with you, there is some Whimsical news!

Whimsical Designs is having a Design Team Call for the upcoming term. Anyone interested in becoming a designer should click on the contact button at the Whimsical Designs Blog and e-mail Stephanie for more information. :o)

My card for this week's challenge is all about love and hearts... two of my favorite things!

"Be Mine"

A close-up to see the Flower Soft I used for the bouquet and the cute polka dot paper beneath the heart border. (You probably need to enlarge it anyway. Oops.)

My card is inspired by the incredible love my boyfriend gives me every single day of the year. That sweet girl is surrounded by little blessings, just as he constantly reminds me how loved I am via little (and big) gestures. The hearts she's holding very much symbolize how we hold each other's hearts... and how our hearts are guided to and by our Lord. He is love and my sweetheart and I share that divine love He has poured into our hearts. (The yellow one is like a burst of sunshiny love.) Recently another very scary event occurred within my family... and it took all the love and trust in God I could muster up to get through. As always, love never fails. :o) He is healthier than ever now. I just need to steady my nerves that are a wee bit shot after two traumatic situations within a few short weeks. God took care of us and this sweet card is all about celebrating love in the little things. :o)

The papers are some of my absolute favorites from Kaisercraft. The colors and patterns are both whimsical and elegant at the same time. :o) The adorable digi stamp I used is another image from The Paper Shelter, which I seemingly cannot get enough of. This one is Be My Valentine and I could hardly wait to color her with my Copics. (And she's currently on sale for Valentine's Day!) After covering the design on the top part of her dress, the straps, her belt, and shoes with Star Dust, I used my Atyou Spica Lilac glitter pen to dot a shadow of sparkles around her. Love makes us sparkle and shine, after all. :o) I sponged a shimmery tiny carpet for her, but it doesn't show up well on camera. Instead of coloring the flowers, I used a layer of ivory and lavender Flower Soft. After sparklifying the tissue paper holding them, I tied it with Grape Fizz Trendy Twine. I wanted to layer this in love, so I added that beautiful lacy heart border and topped it with some lace.

A few more tiny inspirations: While a lot of us often do multi-layer mats, I view this card to be like a picture frame. The itty bitty pearls hugging the scallop trim? They each represent a different special memory of a shared moment between me and my sweetheart. (Despite being girly, this may still go to him... he most loves when I use the products that make my heart sing. And that means sparkly, girly, and flourishy. He is a treasure!) The swirled heart embellishment nestled within the pearls of memories dictates how we are secure in love. I also love that it coordinates with the flourishy paper. :o)The dotted paper I cut to layer beneath the heart border punch are like little droplets of love sprinkled throughout our lives. They're everywhere, even when we initially don't notice them. :o)

Tying everything together is the wonderful Whimsical Designs "Be Mine" sentiment, from the incredible With Love stamp set. I surrounded it with precious Primas and centered them with pearls to heighten the sappy love factor. :o) Here's a peek at the entire set.. it's easy to see why I love and use it so often! :o)

I hope you'll join us this week by linking up your Anything Goes project to the Whimsical Wednesday challenge post, where you'll also find information about this week's prize. I look forward to seeing your creations! Thank you for visiting and I wish you a day bursting with love and sparkles. :o)

Challenges entered:
 * Celebrate the Occasion~ Any Occasion (must use polka dots)
 * Docerela Creations (my super sweet friend)~ Valentine's Theme
 * Little Scrap Pieces~ Anything Goes!

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridge: Elegant Edges
 * Spellbinders Nestabilities: Labels Four
 * Sentiment stamp: Whimsical Designs~ With Love
 * Image stamp: The Paper Shelter~ Be My Valentine
 * Coloring medium: Copics
 * Paper: DCWV, Kaisercraft
 * Border Punch: Martha Stewart Lace Heart Edge Punch
 * Lace ribbon: American Crafts
 * Twine: Trendy Twine (Grape Fizz)
 * Pearls: Recollections
 * Flowers: Prima
 * Miscellaneous: Flower Soft; Heart embellishment (Dress it Up~ Love Potion); Stickles