Forgiveness

In honor of Valentine's month, I was thinking of incorporating a heart into my February mindfulness cards.  I had been playing with smaller chipboard hearts and chains and liked this look.  However, the die-cut hearts I had were too small for a 4 x 6 size card.  So, I cut a larger freehand heart to use on my cards.

I painted the hearts a bronze-copper color and rubbed the edges with a black ink pad for a distressed look.  I then draped a chain around the heart and connected the ends with a lock and key charms.

The background is chipboard covered with aluminum foil tape.  I used a retracted ballpoint pen to create "rivets" along the borders and seams.

The word that I zeroed in on for this month's card was "forgiveness."  I searched for a quote to put on the back of the card but in the end I decided to use just the word.  I had a set of metal alphabet stamps to deboss metal.  These worked like a charm to imprint "forgiveness" into a piece of aluminum foil tape.  To make the letters pop, I wiped black acrylic paint over the letters.

When I showed this card to a friend of mine, she said "I understand this card.  We hold onto the pain or anger to protect the heart but then we are not free."  I responded, " and forgiveness releases us from the chains that bind."  I have been trying to practice forgiveness.  It is a hard thing to do, but I am hoping it gets easier with practice.