medallions revisited.

Today, I'm revisiting the Clear and Simple Stamps "medallions" sets, and showing off a card set that was incredibly hard to photograph ;)

Here's my note to self for future projects: bright colors/high contrast projects look so much better in pictures.  (but we both know that I'm in love with the soft colors, so....)

I created a set of embossed & watercolored card, that will be gifted to Sofia's main teacher at the end of the year.  Nothing like getting a little ahead of the game... And, I was thrilled to find this little french greeting in the limited edition "celebrate" set.  Awesome.

So, to create my card-fronts, I embossed the entire thing full of medallions (remember: throw on the embossing powder as you go!)  Once everything was embossed, I gave the entire panel a wash in mint watercolors.  I love the hazy imperfection of the watercolors!

My best tip for creating a card set like this: stamp and emboss an entire 8.5x11 inche sheet of paper.  Once everything is embossed and painted, all you have to do is cut the sheet 4 ways and bam!  the bulk of the work on 4 cards is done.

A pretty card set deserves a pretty packaging:



I had a few leftover banner flags once I cut into all of the card-front panels.  I adhered one of those to the front of a clothespin, and added a flower from the "build-a-flower" die collection.  The cards went into a simple glassine bag, and the fancy clothespin sealed the top.

I gave the flowers a bit of dimension with this simple trick:



Hope you liked it all!  These designers are waiting for you with more inspiration:

Tracy ♥ Lori ♥ CSS

Hoop art gift set {CSS medallions}

I'm so excited to be showing off the newest CSS release: medallions 1 and medallions 2 stamp sets.



I had the best time getting inky and artistic and created full pages of my own designer papers.  I changed up the stamps on every sheet, but kept to a grey/beige, pink, and light blue color scheme to make sure that everything coordinated.  My best tip for creating diy patterned paper?  Stamp the bigger elements first, and then fill in with the smaller ones.  And, if you're scared of stamping a random design, why don't you do what I did and evenly space out your medallions?  I plotted out my patterns, and erased the pencil lines when I was done.



I've featured the patterns on this card - cut up my diy patterned papers and stitched them onto a raised panel.  I also created a coordinating envelope liner.



I used more of my diy paper in this embroidery hoop.  I grabbed a naked embroidery hoop that I had lying around, gave it a coat of blue paint and fitted the inside with my favorite medallion design.  The sentiment is perfect, and from the CSS set "rag doll mia: banner."  I also stamped and cut out a butterfly from the "au naturel" set, to coordinate with my card, which featured another image from that set.

When I set out to create the hoop, I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do - it's on display on my nightstand now, and makes me happy every time I see it.



I hope you like what I came up with!  Click over to these designers to see more of what's being released today:

Audrey ♥ Laurie ♥ Lori ♥ Stephany ♥ Tracy ♥ Kim ♥ Jennifer ♥ CSS