Paper cut heart card for Valentine's Day

This paper cut Valentine's card was very simple to make, and it can be used to decorate a card or to make a decoration for your home.

You need:

A selection of pieces of pink or red card
A plain piece of cardboard for the background of the card
Cutting mat and craft knife
Bostik Micro Dots
Bostik Foam Pads (small)

Instructions:

First you need to come up with a design for your heart paper cutting. There is plenty of inspiration online, and if you don't feel confident enough to draw your own design you can find plenty of free templates or ones to purchase that you can cut yourself.

If you are coming up with your own design, make sure that you are very clear which areas need to be cut, and leave plenty of space around the edges. If you are new to paper cutting keep it simple to start with. I came up with a freehand design featuring the word Love and a few smaller motifs, and I chose a piece of pink cardboard to cut the design.

I copied the design to my pink card using a pencil. I made sure that I kept the pencil marks light as I'll be rubbing them out when the heart is cut. You can also draw your design on to what will be the reverse of your cut out, but if you are including lettering remember that this will need to be drawn in reverse.

Then cut the design using a cutting mat and small craft knife. It's important to work slowly and carefully on a small area at a time, but don't be afraid to make changes as you go along if you can see ways to make the design balance better. The design will become more delicate as the card is removed, so it is best to start with the smaller sections, like the centres of the letters, and leave the larger areas until last.

Next use an eraser to rub out any visible pencil marks. Work very carefully so as not to pull on the delicate areas of the design.

The paper cut heart is adhered to a piece of card using Bostik Micro Dots. This is a sheet of tiny sticky dots that you press against the item that you want to stick. The dots attach themselves to your item allowing you to stick it where it needs to go. They are perfect for detailed items like this paper cut, as they will coat it evenly with adhesive and you don't need to worry about any glue showing from the front. Just press the paper cut against the sticky sheet then position in place on the card.

Finally cut out some smaller decorative hearts from a contrasting piece of card. I used a heart punch, but you can cut the hearts freehand if you don't have one. I used two different colours of card to make four smaller hearts.

The hearts are stuck to the card using Bostik Foam Pads. I used the small pads which are 5mm by 5mm in size. They are easy to apply and are great for giving some depth to a project.

Your card is finished! It's ready to send to a loved one, or just to keep on display.

This is a collaborative post in association with Bostik