Tutorial Tuesday! My Fabric Valentine

Happy Tuesday all!
The tutorial today is a really simple one
I know I have said that before and they end up taking two days to complete (remember those boys pants.. Ha!) But for real.. this time it is quick and easy.. and everybody LOVES a handmade Valentine!!
I used stuff I had laying around the house.
You will need some sort of the following:
~A heavy weight fabric like canvas, denim or corduroy
~Scraps that make you think Valentines
~sewing machine
~heavy fusible webbing like Steam a seam or Heat N bond
~Fabric paints
~Stamps (optional)
~ribbons, buttons or other cute notions (also optional)
~Iron
~scissors

 I think that should do it. I have other ditties in the picture that I didn't end up using.. no biggie. I just ran around my house for 10 minutes looking for stuff I could use up and this is what I found

I had a ton of larger index cards laying around so I used those for my template.
I first traced the size of the index card onto my canvas piece and cut out two of the same sized rectangles.

I then used the same index card and cut it in half. From one of the halves I cut a nice little hear to use as a template for my reverse applique that I plan to add to the front of the valentine.
Remember how to do a reverse applique? If not.. no worries. Go to one of my earlier tutorials and read how ;)

You can toss both of these pieces or hang onto them for future projects but from here on out you don't need the templates anymore.
Grab a few pieces of your scrap fabrics for our next step.
You want to arrange them so when sewn together, the heart template fits on top. There is no need for these to be perfect in any way... just big enough to fit the heart is all!

Trace the heart onto the back side of the fabric and then cut it out...

Place the heart face down on the back side of the card front and pin securely into place.
Make sure you have planned out how you want the card to open. You will be quite upset if you have figured out you make the card to open backwards... I was ;)

Now you follow the same steps as the reverse applique. Sew all the way around the heart and then cut the front fabric away revealing the design. Remember to leave 1/4" of the fabric all the way around on the front. It will frey a little and give it a great look.

After the heart is revealed you want to cut a piece of the fusible webbing the exact same size as the canvas pieces ..

Place the webbing on the back side of the card and iron on. Once cooled peel the paper backing away..

Lay the other canvas piece on the one with the webbing and iron into place.  You should have sandwiched the webbing in between the two pieces of canvas, fold in half and iron so the fold in prominent and the card stays folded once you lay it down. I even went as far as to sew a decorative stitch down the fold to hold it in place.

Trim away the strings and get ready to stamp the inside of your card.
You can just use fabric pens from here on out and write a cute little message but I love stamping on fabric so I had to add one more step to this.
I found a cute stamp that reminded me of my oldest daughters teacher so I went with that one.
I used Tulip fabric paint, a sponge stamper.

I first added some of the paint directly to the sponge dabber.

Dab it directly onto the stamp, making sure the paint is spread evenly..

 Press firmly down onto the canvas making sure to get all of the ink onto the card.. and Presto! You have made a fabric card!!

You can keep going from here and make it as personal as you want it to be, letting you kids sign their own names and add a little message to their teacher is a great touch!

Enjoy and as always.. feel free to ask if you have any questions <3 <3