Can't Get Enough of Embossing!

Here is another one of the birthday cards--though this could easily work well for Chinese New Year (place your orders now!)  In case you haven't guessed, my customer's favorite color is red, so there was a definite theme for the cards.

After making this great silver medallion last week, I decided I should try gold against Cherry Cobbler.  Talk about a rich and wonderful combination!  The center medallion is from Artistic Etchings, stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White, and then mounted on Basic Black.  I used my Circle Scissors Plus and Glass Mat to cut out the circle pieces, and that was it.  No sentiment on this card, so that it can be used for any occasion.  It also has Valentine possibilities...though I won't be using it for that.

Today's bingo piece is the holly.  Good luck!

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Medallion, Artistic Etchings
Ink: Versamark, Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Whisper White
Extras: Gold embossing powder, heat tool, Circle Scissors Plus, Glass Mat

Sparkly Medallion

This is just one of those cards that wows in person, and my inspiration comes directly from the winners of the Paper Pal Arts challenge for white on white announced yesterday--this card, made by Andrea Ewen, jumped up and begged to be CASEd.

This also gave me an excuse to break out some of my favorite things--the Medallion stamp, Basic Rhinestones and Pearls, Snow Swirled (which had yet to see ink this year!), and silver embossing powder.  Kiran used the Medallion for her holiday cards last year, but I had yet to do so.  I don't know why I waited so long--it's the perfect giant snowflake.

For the step-by-step, here's how I made this card.  Don't be deceived by the bling; it's really very simple!

--Stamp Medallion in VersaMark on Baja Breeze card base.  Then coat in Silver embossing powder, tap off the excess, and set using the heat tool.
--On a 1-3/4" circle of White Naturals, stamp the large snowflake from Snow Swirled in Baja Breeze.  Then ink "celebrate" in Baroque Burgundy and center it over the snowflake.
--Apply Basic Rhinestones and Basic Pearls liberally--use the dots of the Medallion and snowflake as your guide.
--Use dimensionals to pop the snowflake on the center of the Medallion.
--Need another sentiment?  I'm not sure I did, but I still inked "Peace on Earth" (from Four the Holidays) in Marina Mist, and embellished that with a line of Basic Pearls.

That's it!  Though this isn't the card I'll be sending this year, I think this is ripe for mass production.  Perhaps next year...

Today's bingo piece is the mittens.  Good luck!
Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Medallion, Snow Swirled, Fabulous Phrases, Four the Holidays
Ink: VersaMark, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist
Paper: Baja Breeze, White Naturals
Extras: Circle Scissors Plus, Glass Mat, Silver embossing powder, heat tool, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, dimmensionals

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

It's in the Mail...

I'm sending out my valentines today! At least, that's one of my goals--I have a few work things that I need to take care of first, and it looks I'm also going to have to do some serious shoveling to dig my car out. But since I'm mailing them, I thought I should share another valentine with you, just to get you in the spirit.

Remember all those Medallion cards I made? Well here is another, with the colors updated for Valentine's Day. The base of the card is Rose Red--and I've since gone on a Rose Red binge, since I decided that I really love it's dusty deep pink hue. Again, I used a brayer to ink up the Medallion with Versamark, and then stamped that twice--once on the Rose Red for the background, then again (after reinking) on Sahara Sand.

Then I got out my trusty pastels and sponge daubers, and chose whatever colors I liked (you'll notice that some purple worked it's way in--no surprise there!). A quick punch or two with the Full Heart Punch, and I had my layered heart to express my love in a lovely font.

That's it! I hope you'll be sending some Valentines this year too--if only to say hello.
Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Medallion, Well Scripted
Paper: Rose Red, Sahara Sand, Orchid Opulence, Regal Rose
Ink: Versamark
Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Full Heart Punch, Stampin' Dimmensionals

Last Medallion

For now, that is. As promised, I saved my favorite for last...and you'll see that this certainly follows my pattern. I'm going to make up a bunch of these to have on hand, there's no question about it.

Keep tuned for all new things coming soon! I'm happy to say that I have a few ideas up my sleeve...

Stamps: Medallion, Full of Life

Paper: Brocade Blue, Sahara Sand

Ink: Versamark, Going Grey

Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels

Just Because Medallion

So, purple is by far my favorite color...yet this isn't my favorite of the medallion cards (always save the best for last!). That said, I do really like how it turned out. It is the same technique and materials as the one below, except that I swapped out "Full of Life" for the "Define Your Life" set. I'm so glad that I did--we both bought Define Your Life last year, but haven't found great ways to use the set. This is the first that we're really happy with, and I can certainly see myself making many more of these cards to have on hand for all occasions. What do you think?

Stamps: Medallion, Define Your Life

Paper: Perfect Plum, Going Grey

Ink: Versamark, Basic Grey

Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels

Medallion Madness

Here it is, the first purchased and most used stamp I've gotten from the 09-10 Idea Book. This card was inspired by a card in the opening pages of the catalog, and then you'll be seeing other variations on this theme in the next two posts. I didn't have the Emerson quote on the catty's card, so I replaced that with a sentiment from one of my favorite sets, Full of Life.

I dusted off my pastels to do this card, and absolutely fell in love with them again--poppin' pastels is such a simple and lovely technique for a soft card. I can see doing these in a number of color combinations (as you'll soon see) and with any number of sentiments. These really are great for any time. And here are the details on today's card. Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Medallion, Full of Life

Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand

Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip

Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels