Wholehearted

Every once in a while, I (Lauren) get an idea SO CRAZY I have to drop everything and attempt it immediately. This is one of those. The amazing thing is... it actually came out very much like the picture that was in my head. (I will leave it to you to decide if that's a good thing or not, lol.) I also think I may have set the all-time record for most Eyelet Outlet Brads used in one post. Because there are 45 brads, from 29 different style sets on these two panels which are each just a tiny smidge over A2. I've given the complete list with links below, but really, the best part about an idea like this is that you can make it work with pretty much ANY combination of brads you love!

Many of my crazy ideas just *appear* out of nowhere, but in this case, I had actually seen two different inspiration pieces recently. This heart shaped graphic and a very cool two-halved LOVE card. I saw them at different times and definitely didn't connect them immediately, but at some point they kind of joined up in my head and that's when I started working. I gathered up lots of little sticker sentiments I thought could work in a Valentine context, and pulled out a bunch of brad styles. Generally, I do a "dry fit" layout first, but in this case, I kind of just had to wing it. I found it easier to start at the bottom of each half and fit each brad on individually, as if working on a jigsaw puzzle; scattering the sentiment stickers here and there by size, theme and color as I went along. Here's a shot of my worktable when I was about half done. Minimalists: look away now!

You can see I have quite a few leftovers, but this was one of those times that it was good to have a large pool of different sizes and colors to draw from, because as I got to an edge, I sometimes had a very oddly shaped blank spot that needed... something. And honestly, I couldn't probably have guessed what that would be when I started out. The brads that made the final version of the left side are: the sun from our Sun and Clouds set, a pair of Colorful Sunglasses, Mini Ladybug, the champagne flutes and silver-colored engagement ring from the Wedding Brads set, a few Mini Bright Stitched Flowers, a Funky Bee Brad and some Mini Bees, a Peace Sign, the white cup from our Coffee Brads, a Donut, Bee Happy from the Spring Bubble Brads, Palm Tree, Flamingo, a Sandcastle Brad, a couple of Hearts and a Yoga Cat. 

On the right-side card, the brads are: one red and one green Margarita from the Cocktail Brad set (which also includes red and white wine), Love You from our Saying Bubble Brads set, a handsome green Gnome, a Mini Emotion Brad, Mini Bright Stitched Flower, a couple of Hearts, Hello Sunshine from the Spring Bubble Brads, a Brown Teddy Bear and a pink one from the Colorful Teddy Bears set, a silver Eiffel Tower, Mini Ladybug, a couple of stacks of Book Brads, a yellow Light Bulb, a green ball of yarn and the needles from our Knitting Brads, a Cute Deer, a red velvet Cupcake, and a yellow Duck Brad.

When the two heart halves were complete, I affixed them to A2-sized backgrounds using the reverse patterned paper selection, to which I had carefully lined up strips of brand new Heart Washi Tape, XO Gold Foil Tape and a fun Skinny Washi pattern. But again... you could use pretty much any combination you like, and there are some really awesome NEW tapes in the store; they're conveniently placed at the top of the tape section with an asterisk, so they're easy to find! 

Wishing everybody a very Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow! ♥♥♥

Lauren Bergold 

is absurdly proud every time she 

breaks her own "Most Brad Styles" record!