Melon Mambo and Concord Crush – Elements of Style

Hi Everyone.

Happy Thursday night.  Oh!  Yeah!  The weekend is almost upon us and I will finally get some time in my stamping room.  I haven't crafted all week and it is driving me crazy.  Tonight's card is the one I created for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.  The challenge this week was not only a sketch challenge, but was also to decorate the inside of the card.  There are some amazing cards created by the design team – and submissions for challenge players, so pop along and take a look.  I promise you will find something to inspire you.

I decided to mix two colors I have never used together… In fact,  I hardly use Melon Mambo because it is such a strong color.   So, I chose to play with Melon Mambo and Concord Crush.  The Concord Crush is the most luscious color and really tones down the Melon Mambo.  I think they look fabulous together.

I also inked up the flourish stamp from the Elements of Style set.  I've used the flowers a lot from this set, but never the flourish.  So, I decided it was time it saw the light of day and got a little time in the spotlight.  I also used the humming bird from the same set.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Concord Crush, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
• Inks:  Concord Crush, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight (markers)
• Accessories:  Whisper White ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder (for the hummer), Crystal Effects (for the flowers)
• DSP:  Melon Mambo DSP (soon to be retired)
• Tools:  Scallop border punch, heat gun, dimensionals
• Stamps:  Elements of Style, Herb Expressions (inside sentiment)

Card instructions:

• Cut Concord Crush card stock to become an A2 vertical card
• Cut a piece of Melon Mambo card stock to 1 1/2" inches W x 5 1/2" H and run through your scallop border punch
• Cut a piece of the Melon Mambo DSP a 2 6/8" x 5 1/2"H
• Take a piece of Whisper White ribbon and color the ribbon with the Concord Crush marker.  Leave to dry
• Adhere Melon Mambo scalloped piece to the back of the Melon Mambo DSP using snail
• Wrap ribbon around the Melon Mambo pieces and adhere ends behind the DSP.
• Adhere the Melon Mambo/Ribbon piece to the card base using snail
• Cut an Oval 3 6/8"H x 2 6/8"W – I used my nestabilities large oval and also embossed it
• Ink the flourish stamp with Melon Mambo, Concord Crush and Daffodil Delight markers
• Stamp onto the Oval
• Once ink is dry apply Crystal effects to the flowers and allow to dry
• Ink the Humming Bird stamp with Melon Mambo and then touch the edges of the wings, tail and the beak with the Concord Crush marker and stamp onto Whisper White card stock
• Cut out the humming bird with snips and cover the entire area with Versamark.  Then apply Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heat set
• Adhere the stamped Oval to the card using dimensionals
• Place dimensionals onto the humming bird and position on the oval with the beak over the yellow part of the flower – as though it was drinking nectar

Let's go to the inside:

• Cut a of Whisper White card stock to fit the inside of the card.
• Cut a piece of the Melon Mambo DSP – in this case I ran the stripes horizontal instead of vertical and punched out the scallop border with my punch
• I used my Versamark pad to ink up my flourish and stamped it onto the Whisper White base.
• I inked up the sentiment from the Herb Expressions set with Concord Crush ink and stamped it over the flourish water mark.

Tips:

• I know you can't see it, but the Crystal Effects really makes the flowers "juicy" and they stand out and have shine even when the card is not in the light.
• Adding the background card stock color to the humming bird really ties him to the background of the card and also to the flowers.  The little bit of yellow adds a little relief from the purple flowers
• Of course, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, always adds that extra special feeling of bling to a card.
• As I don't have Concord Crush ribbon, I took a piece of the Whisper White ribbon and colored it with my Concord Crush marker.  Let it dry before you use it, otherwise the ink will bleed off onto your hands – not a good thing when you are using white paper (ask me how I know!!!)
• Carrying the flourish as a watermark on the inside -really ties the inside and outside together – as does carrying the DSP and colors!
• When using embossing powder…. prepare the area to be stamped – and your scrap paper that will catch the embossing powder with the anti-static cloth.  You can use an embossing buddy (but I never use that on dark paper), or a cloth like a swiffer cloth.  
  Then – use tack cloth for cleanup.  Missy – you asked to see what the Tack cloth looked like – well here it is. 
  You can get this from your local hardware store and is exactly the same thing as the glitter clean up cloths you can get online – except you don't have to pay shipping and mine was more than half the price at my local hardware store.  It does a phenomenal job of picking up the glitter and embossing powder. 

OPERATION WRITE HOME – Lynn's gallery number 3:

I can't wait to show you a couple more of Lynn's great cards today.  I really do love Lynn's sense of style, her attention to detail and the love that goes into her cards.  Every card is a delight.  I know that the servicemen/women are going to love having these cards to send.

Lynn always manages to choose just the right DSP for her cards.  this one really looks like the kind of table cloth you would find on a picnic and the red scallop circle like a little bowl for the perfectly juice cherries.  the cherries were, of course, given dimension with Crystal Effects.  Totally yummy!

Now.. you see.. I would have tried to introduce another color to this card… and it would have absolutely been the wrong thing to do.  The white and red is the perfect combination and this card just makes me warm all over!

I love the mixture of pinks and brown, the stripes and the dots – they are just the perfect amount femininity without being overboard.  Perfection.

On a personal note….. it didn't rain today!  Now, that is amazing.  So, we will be eating outside again tonight!  We also booked our vacation for this year.  So a good day!  Lou wasn't impressed that the Italians got sent home from the World Cup… considering they are the defending champions and 4 time winners of the cup, they played like a high school "b" team. 

Missy, I am adding your family to my prayers tonight.  Germaine, good to hear that you are doing a little better, but you and Pri continue to be on our list.  Prayers also for Lynn and Jim, Brenda's FIL- Arthur.  For Trish who had chemo again yesterday.  For "T" and for Rach, for her continued strength over the next couple of weeks.

As always, thank you to all of you for spending a little time in my area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your vists, your support – and your comments, are always greatly appreciated.

I hope you have a fabulous Friday, filled with love and laughter.  Remember, smile at a stranger – it may change their life.

Hugs

Jaydee