Kids love crafting, so why not teach them how to make some mixed-media art cards for Valentine's Day?
Mixed-media art cards for Valentine’s Day not only are easy to create, but an excellent way to keep the creative process rolling with young artists. They will love having the opportunity to use glue, glitter, scrapbook supplies, paint, and a variety of other mediums for one project!
Materials:
- Ruler
- Torn book pages
- Pink and red sheets of cardstock
- White craft paper
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Corner punches
- Heart shaped punches
- Valentine’s Day themed stickers
- Walnut ink
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrushes
- Small containers of water
- Valentine’s Day themed rubberstamps
- Valentine’s Day themed scrapbook supplies
- Red makers
- Black gel pen or ultra-fine sharpie
- Envelope template
Instructions:
- Fold the red piece of cardstock in half. Cut a piece of pink cardstock so it is one inch smaller than the front of the card, punch the corners and glue it to the center. Repeat this for the interior of the card, as well.
- Cut a piece of white craft paper so it is ½ inch smaller than the red piece of pink cardstock inside the card, punch the corners, and create a color wash using any color acrylic paint you desire. When the paint has dried, punch the corners and affix it to the center of the pink cardstock inside the card.
- Distress the edges of the torn book pages with the walnut ink, and affix one or two pieces to the front and the inside of the card.
- Punch out some red hearts and glue one to the corner of each piece of torn book pages you have affixed the card.
- Use the Valentine’s Day rubber stamps and the Valentine’s Day themed scrapbook supplies to further embellish the card.
- Write a greeting to the front and the inside of the card using either the red markers, or the black gel pen (or a combination of the two).
- Use the envelope template to trace out an envelope, cut it out, and glue it together. Choose a paper in a coordinating color. It does not have to be the same color as the card, you may wish to match it to one of the colors in the scrapbook supplies you have used to embellish the card with.
Variations:
- Use all dark colors for the card stock, and write everything using a white or pink gel pen.
- Attach the pieces of cardstock together using brads or eyelets.
- Use only rubberstamped images, and torn book pages for a simple card presentation.
- Use the heart punch directly on the card so there is heart shaped windows leading from the front of the card to its interior.
- Print out the card’s greetings using interesting and fancy fonts on your computer.
When working on these art cards with children, consider working on a small scale. Use a playing card or an ATC as your size guidelines, and print an ATC sized envelope template from the Internet. This will allow the ability to create a card for everyone in their classrooms without it taking a lot of time or using up the supplies too quickly. This will also help prevent the children from becoming bored with the project too quickly.
The copyright of the article Easy Valentine's Day Card Craft in Art Cards is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Easy Valentine's Day Card Craft in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
