Flowers in Sunshine

Why hello there!  I had no idea I'd be away for so long.  The big news is that Kiran is married, and her special day was absolutely wonderful.  The sunshine was bright and warm, the guests were excited and happy, and love was evident.  All those little details that Kiran and G had been working on for so long came together to create a beautiful setting for the celebrating, and celebrate we did!  (Kiran promises to share some of those details here soon)  Add in a little travel and some visiting family for me, and you can see where our blogging silence originates!

But we're back, and I'm very excited to share some brand new things with you, since I received my first order from the new IBC, as well as some preorder items from the Holiday Mini.  So exciting!  And to make up for our long absence, today's post is a double header, with two ways you could make the same card.  I love it!

At the top of this post, you see a clean and simple card that features the new background stamp Sweet Floral.  TIP:  For even inking on a background stamp, use your brayer!  I brayered this stamp with Concord Crush, and stamped it onto Wisteria Wonder, which I'm pretty sure is my new go-to shade of purple.  I love it!  Once I had my main attraction ready, I used my Color Coach for this great set of colors: Wisteria Wonder, Cherry Cobbler, and Pink Pirouette.  The sentiment, a great quote from Emerson, is from the new stamp set, Pursuit of Happiness, and it's one that I plan to use often.

Version two of this card is a little rougher around the edges, since I wanted more texture.  I used my brayer to ink my favorite background stamp, En Francais, in Wisteria Wonder and layered that over the Simple Floral.  Then I tore away an edge, to do a little reveal of the sentiment below.  The texture of the Cherry Cobbler layer is an old but favorite technique of mine, crumpling the paper into a ball, and then smoothing it out again.  With all our great embossing folders, I'd almost forgotten this quick and easy way to add some dimension!  I sponged the crumpled paper with Concord Crush, to "age" it a big, and then used Thank You Kindly for the sentiment.  To complete the rougher look, I strayed from a geometric placement of layers, and I just love the result.

Which card do you prefer?
Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Sweet Floral, Pursuit of Happiness, En Francais, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette

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

Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers

Say that three times fast!  In keeping with the two recent posts, here is a card I made for new parents who are friends of mine.  This is a fairly simple card that uses two colors and two stamp sets.  Sweet and simple.

I stamped En Francais in Chocolate Chip on Kraft, then sponged the edges with more Chocolate Chip and some Riding Hood Red over the middle.  (Does this make it look vintage?  I have no clue, but everyone seems to be raving about vintage now.  I just thought it looked too stark before I added the red sponging)

The little piece is stamped with the buggy from Puns from the Past, inked with both Chocolate Chip and Real Red.  I don't have the Riding Hood Red marker...but you wouldn't know the difference if I hadn't told you, now would you?  I also sponged around this piece, then put it all together...and had to wait a few weeks for the baby to come so I could put it in the mail.  She's here now, and everyone is very happy.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: En Francais, Puns from the Past
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Real Red
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kraft
Extras: sponges, Corner Rounder punch

Sewing Friends

I traded one of the sets I use less for a set I've been wanting for a while...and I have to say, I love trades!  What a great way to save some money and still get what you'd like.  So here is my first card with Puns from the Past.

Also, Stampin' Up! is going through a color renovation--out with the old, in with the new--so I'm trying to use up some of my "old" colors.  It took me a long time to warm up to Sage Shadow, but once I did I went all in...which means that I have lots to use up now.  So Sage Shadow forms the base of this card, stamped with En Francais in Sage Shadow Ink.

The next piece is a color that will be staying, Sahara Sand.  And it is obviously the focal point, with the sewing machine inked in Chocolate Chip, and the sentiment in Brilliant Blue...another of those colors that will disappear come July 1.  Since it is about to go, I decided to use it for some sponging as well.  And then, my stroke of genius (in my opinion) was to use the Masterpiece Ribbon Originals for a little "stitching" to tie the whole card together.

And that's all.  Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Puns From the Past, En Francais
Ink: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Brilliant Blue
Paper: Sage Shadow, Sahara Sand
Extras: Corner Rounder punch, sponge, Masterpiece Originals ribbon