Great ideas for that next special occasion:

My favorite part of a day likeValentines is that through my efforts to create a surprise for my husband, I find myself  feeling excited and full of anticipation just like when we were dating...and what mom or wife doesn't enjoy revisiting those feelings?

Here are some "do-it-yourself" ideas for YOUR next special occassion.

 You will need: 
-  ivory cardstock (mine has a simple, yet elegant, embossed border)
-  1 chisle (caligraphy) pen, black
-  metallic paint pens: silver
for shadowing script, and three other harmonizing  shades (shown here are green, purple, and blue)
-  poem (unless you would rather use your own words, as I chose to)
-  pictures of example filigre to inspire you

 If  you have a steady hand, you can go ahead and write in your text, using your chisel tip pen, in the style you prefer.  If not, use a ruler and pencil to draw in light, even lines across for writing your text upon- they will be erased once text ink is completely dry

Next, use your filigre examples to help give you your inspiation for the shape and flow your hand drawn filigre on the card.  Start with framing the card in filigre using your base color paint pen- mine was green.  Framing the card first makes it easier to do the "fill" work between the lines afterwards. 

Once you have filled in the card using the base color, go back and accent alternatively using the other two paint pen colors.

Lastly, take yout silver paint pen and use it to lightly add shading to the letters.  This gives a great finishing touch to the card.
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This next idea is a fast, sure-fire way to add a little romance to you next after dinner treat.
For this, I was really short on time and even used a brownie mix instead of from scratch.

You will need:



 -  brownies, from scratch or a mix, baked in a thin layer and cooled
-  a least one large and one medium to small sized heart shaped cookie cutter
-  raspberries, strawberries, or the fruit of your choice- fresh or frozen
-  ice cream of your choice, i like plain bourbon vanilla with these

       

First, use your cookie cutters and cut out your pan of brownies, making sure that you have an equal number of large and small cut outs ( you will be stacking them later.  I only made three stacked cakes, so I cut out the rest of the pan using various other heart themed cutters.)                                                                                  

                                                                  

 

Next, using a spatcula and knife, clear away excess around your cut outs and stack brownie cakes- smaller on top of larger cut out.

 After stacking the cut outs, heat your berries, or other fruit and drizzle over the top-

Make small ice cream balls and add on top, and "THERE YA ARE!" Güten Appetit and enjoy!