Valentine's Day Mini with a Surprise

Here's a matchbox-sized Valentine's Day mini with a colored Mehndi Medallion on the cover. Love that set from Papertrey. Such a value for only $5. You could color this a million different ways and get a new look each time.

This mini has a mini surprise on the inside: 

A fun honeycomb with a greeting stuck in the layer. There are actually two halves here (top and bottom) put together to make a ball. Do you recognize where they came from? They are left-overs from the exploding ornaments I made in December. The black, inside cover is embossed with the Mehndi plate.

 Keep opening it and you've got a free-standing ball. Do you see the white thing on the left edge of the book? That's a wire I attached between the front and inside cover, wound in a circle, and used to hold the book open. You swing it one way to let the book close, then back down to hold it open. They used this idea in the 1900's to hold the fancy honeycomb valentines open. I'd like to share photos of the ones from my collection one day. You'd love 'em!

I was particularly excited at how this one turned out, especially since it used up scraps sitting on my table, so I showed it to my husband. He suggested I make a globe. Umm, right. 

 To put it away, unhinge the wire, fold closed, and slide the black band back on. Since I stamped the Mehndi Medallion off the edge, the spine of the book has interest too. I added a heard to the end of the band. Notice the white space on the fold line just above the band? Arrgh, I need to stop folding things before I stamp them! It's so much more difficult to get the ink in the cracks. I just get anxious to see what they're going to look like.

 

This mini is for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to use markers on your card (sponsored by Spectrum Noir Markers, which I use)

and the Moxie Fab Challenge to make an itty bitty card.

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly