"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019: Day 5 - Three cards by Leigh!

Howzit Creative Friends!

Welcome to the finale of LeighSBDesigns 2nd annual

The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party is HERE!

We have been celebrating Valentine's Day in style with my 5 day annual blog hop❤️ Today is the grand finale and I can't wait to see all the new projects to finish off the show, the sharing so far has been amazing, you guys ROCK😘  Don't forget that my Valentine Sale also ends tonight at midnight pacific!

If you're just joining us for the first time today its not too late to play!  This hop is all about DARK and TWISTY Valentines coz our holiday of love has some very dark and sinister origins!  You can read all about it in my Day 1 post!

This is a progressive hop which means it gets bigger as more dark Valentine projects appear in the blog hop linky party in my Day 1 post so stop by daily.  Click on each thumbnail in the linky and leave everyone lots of love as you go❤️  Today is the last day to get projects into the linky, it will close at 5 minutes to midnight pacific.  Then you have an extra 5 days to hop and comment to qualify for the prizes!

Everyone is invited to play!  You can either enter dark Valentine projects in the hop or just enjoy the show!  The hop rules are in my Day 1 post too so click on over and check it all out!

 

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019 is proudly sponsored by

 For today's finale I'm sharing 2 new cards you haven't seen plus the Heart Tree card I shared a few days before the hop began in case you haven't seen it yet😉 

Day 5
"Poe Love"
"Love is the Strongest Magic"
 cards by Leigh

First up here's a different look for a Poe themed card for you using Distressed Raven Nevermore, the Poe Love FREEBIE and Raggedy Heart Strings Background😋  Dark and twisty doesn't always have to be gloom and doom!  Here I'm giving Poe some love and used PINK in my creation, shock horror, but it's still grungy and I think the imagery and the "weird for Poe" colour palette works!

I used Nuance pigment powders to create the watercoloured Raggedy Heart Strings Background and watercolour painted the images.  I coloured all the bows and outlined the Raven and Poe text with a metallic gold gel pen then fussy cut them out before matting onto black cardstock and then I fussy cut everything again leaving a very narrow border.  The background was die cut out with a "torn edges" Crafter's Companion die, edged with Black Soot Distress ink then mounted onto a top fold card made from black cardstock.  I then adhered the images to the card with clear 3D tape.

This one is more magical than dark so I'm sharing just for fun to show the same Raggedy Heart Strings Background done in prettier colours and the "Love is the Strongest Magic" sentiment😋

I first shared this magical mixed media card on Feb 9.  It's got a haunting quality that I think still works for a dark Valentine.  I used 3 of my new designs from the 2019 Valentine Collection:  the Heart Tree, the “Love is the Strongest Magic” sentiment, one of the hanging hearts from Raggedy Heart Strings and I also dotted stars from the sentiment around in the sky too.

That's it for my Valentine shares for the hop, I hope you've enjoyed checking them out and will continue to follow us here at LeighSBDesigns and play in our events throughout the rest of the year❤️
  

 Designs from my new 2019 Valentine Collection as well as the 2018 collection are being featured this month and both collections are on sale for the duration of the hop!  The sale ends TONIGHT at midnight pacific!

Are you ready to embrace your dark side?

 Check out the fun video I made for last year's release and the 2018 hop art HERE to help get you in the mood.

Then pop on over to The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party HERE😋

Happy hopping, see you again soon, keep a look out for my WINNERS post❤️

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019: Day 4 - "Dark Sentiments" tag and card by Val!

Howzit Creative Friends!

Welcome to Day 4 of LeighSBDesigns 2nd annual

The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party is HERE!

We are celebrating Valentine's Day in style with my annual 5 day blog hop❤️  But this isn't your usual lovey dovey take on the holiday, we like to go DARK and TWISTY coz our holiday of love has some very dark and sinister origins!  You can read all about it in my Day 1 post!  Such fabulous creations have been shared so far....keep them coming, tomorrow is the finale😉 

This is a progressive hop which means it gets bigger as more dark Valentine projects appear in the blog hop linky party in my Day 1 post so stop by daily.  Click on each thumbnail in the linky and leave everyone lots of love as you go❤️  You have 5 days to enter projects and then an extra 5 days to hop and comment to qualify for the prizes!

Everyone is invited to play!  You can either enter dark Valentine projects in the hop or just hop and enjoy the show!  The hop rules are in my Day 1 post too so click on over and check it all out!

 

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019 is proudly sponsored by

Day 4
"Dark Sentiments" card 
and
"Love heals all wounds" tag
by Val

LeighSBDesigner Val has 2 gorgeous creations for you today!
 First up she made this dramatic card featuring 2 of my dark sentiments from the Dark Sentiment Set 2, fussy cut out hearts from Raggedy Hearts Strings and the Love text.

Val also made this beautiful tag with my Gothic Rose and "Love heals all wounds" dark sentiment from the Dark Sentiment Set 2.

Val used the following supplies to create these beauties:
 Tonic Photo Frame Die

Fired Brick Distress Oxide ink

Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

 Spectrum Noir Colourista Pens:  Rose Red, Orchid and Forrest Green

Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink
Die frame - Tonic
Black Promarker

Water spritzer

Red Sharpie Pen

Silk Red Bow

Black ribbon

Smooth white card

Black cardstock
  

 Designs from my new 2019 Valentine Collection as well as the 2018 collection are being featured this month and both collections are on sale for the duration of the hop so I hope you'll see some must haves to play with😉  I also have a "My Dark Valentine" sentiment FREEBIE for you too, grab it HERE!

Are you ready to embrace your dark side?

 Check out the fun video I made for last year's release and the 2018 hop art HERE to help get you in the mood.

Then pop on over to The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party HERE😋

Happy hopping, see you again tomorrow❤️

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019: Day 3 - Two Valentine cards by Leigh!

Happy Valentine's Day Creative Friends!

Welcome to Day 3 of LeighSBDesigns' 2nd annual

The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party is HERE!
 
We are celebrating Valentine's Day in style with my annual 5 day blog hop❤️  But this isn't your usual lovey dovey take on the holiday, we like to go DARK and TWISTY coz our holiday of love has some very dark and sinister origins!  You can read all about it in my Day 1 post!  I'm loving all the creativity shared so far, thanks for joining in the fun and leaving everyone lots of love already❤️

This is a progressive hop which means it gets bigger as more dark Valentine projects appear in the blog hop linky party in my Day 1 post so stop by daily.  Click on each thumbnail in the linky and leave everyone lots of love as you go❤️  You have 5 days to enter projects and then an extra 5 days to hop and comment to qualify for the prizes!

Everyone is invited to play!  You can either enter dark Valentine projects in the hop or just hop and enjoy the show!  The hop rules are in my Day 1 post too so click on over and check it all out!

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019 is proudly sponsored by

Day 3
"Love is the Strongest Magic"
"Be My Valentine"
cards by Leigh

 Happy Valentine's Day to you all❤️
Today I'm sharing 2 cards...the one I made for the hop plus the card I made for my hubby😉

My card for the hop is inspired by Beauty and the Beast🌹
With the use of rose imagery and a moody colour palette I've portrayed their tale that's as old as time and full of romance and magic🌹  I'm pleased with how it turned out and hope you like it too😉

To represent the glass jar the rose is kept in I used clear acetate for the front of my card and I kept the decoration restricted to just the left hand side as the dramatic interior of the card completes the story.

I decorated the acetate front with my Copic coloured and fussy cut Gothic Rose.

 The card front is also embellished with Recollections paper roses and die cut leaf flourishes by Cherry Lynn.

The inside is decorated with my new Raggedy Heart Strings Background which I coloured with Distress Oxide inks,  Nuance powder and silver gel pen.  The thorn swirl die cut is by Crafter's Companion and I mounted it onto another Nuance watercolour panel done in pale pinks which I then grunged up with clear Rocky Candy Distress Crackle Paint and black Antiquing Gel.  My "Love is the Strongest Magic" sentiment is cut out with a Docrafts leaf die and coloured with Copics to match my Gothic Rose. 

 

 

This is the Valentine card I gave my hubby today😉   I used my new Raggedy Heart Strings and Raggedy Heart Strings Background plus square and rectangle "torn paper dies" by Crafter's Companion to cut the panels.  The background panel is coloured with Distress Oxides and the focal image watercoloured with Nuance pigment powders and gold gel pen.  Both panels were edged with Black Soot Distress Ink and mounted on black cardstock edged with Galaxy Gold Brilliance Ink and then mounted onto a red folded card.

 

Designs from my new 2019 Valentine Collection as well as the 2018 collection are being featured this month and both collections are on sale for the duration of the hop so I hope you'll see some must haves to play with😉  I also have a "My Dark Valentine" sentiment FREEBIE for you too, grab it HERE!
 

Are you ready to embrace your dark side?

 Check out the fun video I made for last year's release and the 2018 hop art HERE to help get you in the mood.

Then pop on over to The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party HERE😋

Happy hopping, see you again tomorrow❤️

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019: Day 2 - "Love explores the Shadows within our Hearts" card by Val!

Howzit Creative Friends!

Welcome to Day 2 of LeighSBDesigns 2nd annual

The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party is HERE!
 
We are celebrating Valentine's Day in style with my annual 5 day blog hop and we're off to a fabulous start already❤️  But this isn't your usual lovey dovey take on the holiday, we like to go DARK and TWISTY coz our holiday of love has some very dark and sinister origins!  You can read all about it in my Day 1 post!

This is a progressive hop which means it gets bigger as more dark Valentine projects appear in the blog hop linky party in my Day 1 post so stop by daily.  Click on each thumbnail in the linky and leave everyone lots of love as you go❤️  You have 5 days to enter projects and then an extra 5 days to hop and comment to qualify for the prizes!

Everyone is invited to play!  You can either enter dark Valentine projects in the hop or just hop and enjoy the show!  The hop rules are in my Day 1 post too so click on over and check it all out!

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019 is proudly sponsored by

 You'll see fabulous dark Valentine inspiration here daily featuring designs from my new 2019 Valentine Collection as well as the 2018 collection too!  Both collections are on sale for the duration of the hop so I hope you'll see some must haves to play with😉  I also have a "My Dark Valentine" sentiment FREEBIE for you too, grab it HERE!

Day 2
"Love explores the Shadows within our Hearts"
card by Val

LeighSBDesigner Val created this stunning card with my new designs, the Heart Tree and hearts fussy cut from the Raggedy Heart Strings, and finished it with a dark sentiment from Dark Sentiment Set 2.

Val used the following supplies to create this beauty:

Distress Oxides:  Sapphire, Broken China and Black Soot

Lipstick Red Promarker

Clear Sparkle Overlay Pen

Smooth white cardstock
Black cardstock

Are you ready to embrace your dark side?

 Check out the fun video I made for last year's release and the 2018 hop art HERE to help get you in the mood.

Then pop on over to The "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop linky party HERE😋

Happy hopping, see you again tomorrow❤️

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019: Day 1 - "Tree of Raggedy Hearts" card by Leigh!

Howzit Creative Friends!

Welcome to LeighSBDesigns 2nd annual

We are celebrating Valentine's Day in style with my annual 5 day blog hop❤️

But this isn't your usual lovey dovey take on the holiday, we like to go DARK and TWISTY coz our holiday of love has some very dark and sinister origins, check it out....

It is surmised that it has its roots in ancient Rome where pagans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia from Feb 13 to the 15th.  This involved lots of nudity, men sacrificing some poor animals and then, shock horror, whipping young women with the hides who willing lined up for this craziness coz they believed it would make them fertile!  Lupercalia also included a lottery where the men drew women's names from a jar and they'd hook up for the remained of the festival or longer if it turned out the men actually liked their random selections!  Yikes!!! 

The ancient Romans are no doubt responsible for the name of our modern holiday as Emperor Claudius II executed two men during the 3rd century A.D.  Both were named Valentine, both were killed on Feb 14 and the Catholic Church honoured their martyrdom by creating St. Valentine's Day.

In the 5th century A.D. Pope Gelasius I then merged St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the traditional pagan rituals.  Christians put their clothes back on and the festival became more of a theatrical performance but it didn't stop the party from still being a drunken celebration of fertility and love....some things will never change, LOL!

Around the same time the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day which means "lover of women" so add that to the muddled melting pot too.

Chaucer and Shakespeare added their 2c and the old rituals slowly became more romantic in nature as it grew in popularity throughout Britain and Europe.  Handmade cards first appeared in the Middle Ages and in 1913 Hallmark Cards was born and February slowly transformed into the romanticized commercialism we now know today.

We now have a wealth of gothic romance novels and movies about vampires and the like to fuel our dark imaginations which brings us to my annual celebration😉

The 5 day hop is now underway and ends on Feb 16th at 5 minutes to midnight pacific.  Everyone is invited to enter projects or just hop and enjoy the show so spread the news far and wide, the info on how to play and the hop rules are below so keep on reading!

This is a progressive hop which means it gets bigger as more dark Valentine projects appear in the blog hop linky party below so stop by daily.  Click on each thumbnail in the linky and leave everyone lots of love as you go❤️  You have 5 days to enter projects and then an extra 5 days to hop and comment to qualify for the prizes!

"My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop 2019 is proudly sponsored by

 You'll see fabulous dark Valentine inspiration here daily featuring designs from my new 2019 Valentine Collection as well as the 2018 collection too!  Both collections are on sale for the duration of the hop so I hope you'll see some must haves to play with😉  I also have a "My Dark Valentine" sentiment FREEBIE for you too, grab it HERE!

Are you ready to embrace your dark side?

 Check out the fun video I made for last year's release and the 2018 hop art HERE to help get you in the mood😋

Day 1
"Tree of Raggedy Hearts"
card by Leigh

To kick off the hop I'm sharing an ornate gothic card featuring one of my newest designs called Tree of Raggedy Hearts.

I coloured the Raggedy Hearts with Copics and the watercolour background is done with grey Nuance pigment powder and Black Soot Distress Ink.  The card base is a Crafter's Companion intricate Tag die cut twice from black cardstock with metallic gold and silver rub-on creme applied.  I used the die interior edge as a stencil to cut the Tree of Raggedy Hearts panel and then embellished my card with red ribbon, black metal roses and a cut up Cherry Lynn leaf flourish die.  I love how it turned out😉

How to Play!
*No sign-up required!
 *Enter your dark Valentine inspired projects in the Blog Hop linky party below - permalinks only please which means use the actual URL where your project is located and not just your blog home page.
*The Blog Hop linky closes at 5 minutes to midnight pacific on Feb 16th.
*Please include the "My Dark Valentine" blog hop badge, the details of the hop and a link to this post in all your posts!
*Enter 1 project on 1 day or play the entire 5 days...totally up to you!
*New and old projects welcome - re-share old projects in new posts!
*All art is welcome and you may use rubber and digi stamps from any company!
*Social media link-ups are welcome - make sure your post is public and you include the hop details in your photo description!
Use hashtag: #LeighSBDesignsMyDarkValentineBlogHop2019
*Have fun, enjoy the art on show and leave lots of love as you hop along!
 *Everyone has a total of 10 days to hop and comment!  5 days to enter and then an extra 5 days to visit everyone and comment!
*Please follow the above rules in order to play and qualify for the prizes!

Blog Hop Etiquette!
 Blog hops are about sharing your art and also enjoying the art shared by the other hop players.  Everyone appreciates receiving comments on their projects so please do hop and leave lots of love!  Don't just link up and then vanish, play fair, be respectful of your fellow artists and leave kind comments!

Enter your dark Valentine hop creations in this Blog Hop linky😋

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy hopping, see you again tomorrow❤️

Happy Creating!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

You Stole My Heart - card by Val!

Howzit Creative Friends!
For today’s Valentine inspiration I'm sharing a wonderful romantic card made by LeighSBDesigner Val using Raggedy Heart Strings Background from my new 2019 Valentine Collection and "You Stole my Heart" from the 2018 Dark Sentiment Set 1❤️

See you tomorrow for Day 1 of the "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop😉

Supplies used:

Distress Oxide Inks:  Pickled Raspberry and Broken China

Stitched scallop oval die - M&C Boutique 

Prince and Princess - Crafter's Companion Happily Ever After die set

Tonic frame die

Promarkes:  Satin, Arctic Blue, Buttercup, Black and Ice Grey 

Red embossing pen

Clear embossing powder

Clear Sparkle Pen

Smooth white cardstock

Black cardstock

Pop dots

The 2019 Valentine Collection!

Shop the newbies at LeighSBDesigns Etsy Boutique, they’re available at special intro prices until Feb 16!  You can get them individually or if you love them all then snap up the BUNDLE😉

Heart Tree is a realistic drawing of a bare tree with branches forming the shape of a heart.  This tree is perfect for your Valentine projects but will also work all year long for any theme and any season!  

Raggedy Heart Strings is a drawing of 4 grungy hearts with drippy points dandling from bow tied strings.  So many possibilities....are they bleeding hearts, weeping hearts or distressed pretty hearts?  Totally up to you! 

You can never have too many background designs for your projects so here's a wonderful collage called Raggedy Heart Strings Background for you to play with too!

"Love is the Strongest Magic" is a fun sentiment and Raggedy Stars Flourish set. 

You get both as 2 separate designs for endless magical creativity!

The last one in the collection is the Tree of Raggedy Hearts!

 This one is a scene of a realistic drawing of a tree branch with 4 raggedy hearts dangling from it.

The meaning behind this scene can be whatever you want it to be....are they true love hearts just waiting to be picked or abandoned, broken and lonely hearts?  You decide!

 Get the Valentine Collection 2019 Bundle if you ❤️ them all😉

 

See all my Valentine themed designs HERE!

Check out my 2018 Valentine Collection release video to get in the mood for the "My Dark Valentine" Blog Hop and for tons of inspiration you can see last year's blog hop entries HERE😋

Thanks for stopping by to see today's project
See you tomorrow for the start of the "My Dark Valentine" blog hop!
Happy Creating!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN