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