HEARTS

It's time for a new Addicted to CAS challenge #191 Hearts - just in time for Valentine's Day. Thank you, Nancy! Here's an opportunity to show off your personal Valentine's Day cards, or just play with the challenge code word.

My card probably requires a bit of an explanation. Why would anyone choose a praying mantis image for a Valentine's Day card - especially since the females of the species bite off the heads of their mates after mating? Hardly an apt image for a "romantic" holiday! Well, anyone who has known me for any period of time knows, I have an affinity for these fascinating creatures. Some years ago, having never seen one in real life, I started seeing them on the doors of my home and place of business. It happened enough times to encourage me to do some research about praying mantis imagery and it's meaning in various folk cultures. I talked about it to everyone who would listen and started picking up little praying mantis objects d'art when I travelled and would see them - a handblown glass one in Moreno, an etching in Australia, a paper mache one in a garden shop at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, etc. etc. Before long friends started sending me photos and refrigerator magnets and hand-painted metal mantises from Africa. My friends on a special-interest online forum would send me notes that they were thinking of me because they had spotted a mantis on their porch or yard and they started calling me "Frantis". So this Valentine's Day card was sent to all of those special friends:

How could I resist purchasing a whole collection of wonderful bug rubber stamps from Katzelkraft ("Les Nounounes" #KTZ234) with this little creature in the collection? There are also all manner of whimsical bugs that will start making an appearance within my projects! This one was stamped with Momento "Tuxedo Black" ink and colored with Copic markers. The little hearts are from one of my favorite clear stamp collections - Avery Elle's #ST-18-07 "Loads of Wishes", stamped with PTI's "Hibiscus Burst" ink. The strip printed paper and small tag are also PTI items and the "Bugs & Kisses" stamp is from a Halloween collection.

The inside sentiment was generated from my brain and computer!

Now it's your turn to give it a go - let's see what you've got!

                                                Addicted to CAS: Challenge #191 - Hearts

Postscript: And what woman wouldn't want an enameled and bejeweled praying mantis from her husband on Valentines Day?!