Weekend Wrapup

It was a busy weekend, stamping-wise.  Not only did I make this lovely card, but I got to share it with others because my good friend Kathy hosted a small, private class for some of her friends to learn the stamping basics.  Kathy was there at the very beginning, and took part in an entertaining session of Valentine making with Kiran and myself way back when--lots of laughter involved!  I'm glad that we still had lots of laughs on Sunday...and that our cards turned out a little bit nicer than those Valentines.  

I got the initial inspiration for this card from LeeAnn Greff's great double medallion card.  I thought layering the medallions is a brilliant idea!  But I wanted a bold palette for my card, so I decided to use the combination of Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant and Baja Breeze that I found in the Stampin' Up! Color Coach.  I love how these vibrant colors look together, so I'm sure I'll be using them again.

Though there's lots on this card, it took minimal stamping, thanks to background stamps.  While I love the medallion on medallion look, I was afraid that there was too much open Rose Red space, so I added En Francais in Elegant Eggplant over the Rose Red Medallion.  Perfect!  Next, I stamped the Day of Gratitude medallion in Versamark on the Elegant Eggplant, then heat embossed in gold.  PAUSE: If you've never heat embossed, you've got to try it!  I still ooh and aah when I see the transformation from dusty powder to a polished finish.  Everyone at Kathy's party loved this!

I needed a sentiment, and Thank You Kindly came to the rescue yet again.  The sentiment fits perfectly in the new Decorative Label punch from the Holiday Mini.  My final touch was just a few of the pearls.  I don't know if the card needed them, but I definitely needed to use them.  Fun, fun.

I was also making out a new wishlist this weekend, because the Occasions Mini catalog appeared on the demonstrator website last Friday.  Customers can't see the catalog until January, but a great demonstrator perk is getting both a sneak peek and the chance to order a month earlier than everyone else.  Plus a discount!  If you've ever thought about being a demonstrator, you should do it--send me an email and I'd be happy to answer all your questions.

Cheers!

~Melanie

Stamps: Medallion, En Francais, Day of Gratitude, Thank You Kindly

Ink: Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, Versamark

Paper: Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, Baja Breeze

Extras: Paper Snips, Embossing Buddy, Gold Embossing Powder, Embossing Trays, Heat Tool, pearls

Have a Seat and Celebrate!

This is my favorite card made with Have a Seat--something about these chairs just works perfectly for an engagement (or a party, as in yesterday's post).  Maybe an engagement party?  I don't have anyone lined up for this YET, but I'm sure that someone will snatch these up very soon.

TIP: For an easy, refined look, put an 1/8" border in a neutral color around your layers.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Have a Seat, Together Forever (retired)
Ink: Early Espresso, Basic Black
Paper: White Naturals, Blushing Bride, Basic Black

Have a Seat

...and enjoy these cards!  Last year I fell in love with the elegant line art of the silverware in Compliments to the Chef.  This year, I can't get enough of Have a Seat for the same reasons.  There's something about the simplicity and the realism of these images that just appeals to me.  I'd seen a number of cards that pair the chairs with this sentiment from Word Play, so I had to make one of my own while playing with this new set of Kiran's.  What do you think?

TIP: With clear mount blocks, you can assemble a number of stamps at once and mass produce your cards.  Since I already had the three chairs lined up on a clear block, I decided to make another card for another occasion.  I replaced the sentiment from Word Play with one from Afterthoughts (hostess level 1), and now have a perfect party invitation.  Hopefully I'll have a reason to use this soon, because I love it!  Check back tomorrow for my favorite (thus far) of Have a Seat cards.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Have a Seat, Word Play, Afterthoughts
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Crumb Cake

Kiran's Holiday Cards for 2010

I realize I'm revealing the cards before they go out, but just look at them!  Can you blame me?!?!  Last year, I used the Medallion and this year I've been dying to use Dasher.  He's just so regal and elegant looking in his pose, isn't he?  I added some extra sparkle (snowflakes coming off his antlers) thanks to Serene Snowflakes and combined it with the gorgeous sentiment from Many Merry Messages, this card is a stunner!  I think the "snow" vellum is the perfect finishing touch.

I really wanted a holiday card this year that wasn't red or blue or green and was still distinctive and elegant.  I think I accomplished my goal, don't you?

Happy Stamping!
~Kiran

Stamp: Dasher, Many Merry Messages, Serene Snowflakes
Ink: Versa
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Vellum
Extras: Gold embossing powder, heat embossing tool

Clean and Simple Christmas

Now that it's November, I'm beginning to anticipate the holidays.  Will I be ready?  It's hard to say...so I'm getting started now.  This week's sketch over at Clean&Simple Stamping, Fall-To-Layout 114 immediately made me think of my Bingo Bits stamp set--it's perfect for a simple card like this, and the combinations are endless.

I used Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Garden Green to stamp the images on Crumb Cake.  I was also using Pacific Point, but smudged my snowman.  No worries!  I stamped the snowman onto a scrap of White Naturals, and then punched it out with the 1/2" circle punch.  I did the same with the snowflake, just to keep it even, then attached both to the card with dimmensionals.  The final touch is my sentiment, from Four the Holidays, inked in Early Espresso.

This would be a very easy card to reproduce.  I have grander visions (of course!), but if those don't work out, this will certainly do the trick.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Bingo Bits, Four the Holidays
Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Pacific Point, Garden Green
Paper: Crumb Cake, White Naturals
Extras: dimmensionals, 1/2" Circle Punch

Our Super Scary Stampin' Set-up!

I'm sure you've wondered what it looks like when Mel & I get together to stamp it up, down & all around.  Well, here's the visual.  This was our table from our scary Halloween sleepover.  It's always fun to just spread out and see what you've got & play!

Hope this inspires you to get creative (and even a little messy)!

Happy Stamping!
~Kiran

And We're Back!

It's the morning of our stamping sleepover, and we have big plans for today!  But first, we collaborated last night to create our November look for the blog--be sure to hop on over from your Reader and check it out!  And we should have plenty of posts to share...this week at least.  Stay tuned!

Back to the blog's new look.  This month we're featuring the Digital Download--Autumn Spice Digital Kit.  Have you seen this?  It is a fantastic deal!  For $9.95, you get the Autumn Spice Speciality Designer Series Paper, and the images from the stamp sets French Foliage and Day of Gratitude.  If you bought all of these things from the Holiday Mini, it would cost either $45.85 for clear mount or $58.85 for wood mount (before shipping and tax--neither of which apply to the digital downloads!).  

TIP: You'll never run out of the paper when it's digital.

Even if you don't have My Digital Studio, you can get this kit for the same amount to use with whatever graphics program you like.  At this price, why not try it out?

Cheers!

~Melanie