Another "Just Because" - Thank You for Loving Me

Happy Monday!
I don't know how but this week I seem to have a little extra time and am pretty much caught up on DT commitments for the next couple of weeks so I can spend a little time creating just for the fun of it. Don't get me wrong, DT work is super fun as I get to play with new designs and great team members but sometimes it's nice to create just because I feel like it.
There are so many wonderful challenge blogs out there at the moment and I want to play in so many of the challenges that I have to keep creating to fit them all in! LOL
This card is no exception:

Totally Gorjuss wanted to see Monotone cards and I never made one before so it was a fun challenge for me
PollyCraft wanted Fire and Ice and although mine is more Fire than Ice it does have "bling" which is also (showing my age) called Ice!
Crazy 4 Challenges had a fab sketch
Magnolia-licious had a fabulous Frame Style card for it's challenge. I love to try new things and this was a first for me.
Etsy Inspired had a wonderful soap store for inspiration and I chose Sweethearts for both a color and theme inspiration
One Stop Craft wanted Fancy Edges or Corners and with so many wonderful border punches around I just had to do that one
Just Magnolia had a Thank You theme and I twisted that a little for this Valentines card
Magnolia Down Under wanted Valentines too
Your Next Stamp wanted to see Embossing and so did Practical Scrappers

When I saw the Christmas collection a couple of months ago I first wanted them all, just like any self respecting Maggie lover would ;)
But I couldn't have them all so I picked out not just my favorites but ones I thought could do "double duty" and not be just for Christmas.
Christmas Eve Tilda was one I knew could definitely be for birthdays as well and today she is the star of this Valentines Day card.
When I decided to try the frame style card I looked at the great tutorial from the super talented Claudia at Pretty Pressings. It was a great lesson but of course I had chosen a rectangle sketch, not in the middle and so I had to adapt it as I went along. Then I didn't want the corner "holes" on the inside of the frame to show so I had to make an inside "edge". Then I decided I wanted an embossed frame around the frame , never one to make life easier on myself! LOL
But after measuring and tweaking, scoring and cutting, I think I got what I wanted.
Of course I chose the easist, not, of color schemes too, what was I thinking!
After coloring Tilda I realized the white background was too "white" for the Monotone look so I cut her out and popped her on to a mat with Martha Stewart fancy punched heart corners.
The dp is K&Co, the embossing folder is the Morroccan Screen and the punch is EK Success. The flowers are Prima and I printed the sentiment and punched it and inked it.
I used a lot of my Warm Red Chalk Ink on all the edges to keep the cosy feeling I hope the card conveys.

Here you can see the frame effect from the side.

I covered the back of the frame with matching dp and added a message mat with punched border to the other side.

I wanted to show you a close up of Tilda with all the shading of the red tones but I couldn't get the brightness right so this is a little dark but if you click on it to make it large it should work.
Anyway, I hope you got through the marathon post and enjoyed the "Tale of a Tilda Card Creation"! LOL
Katie