Gretchen Barron: Takin' It To the Top Tuesday with the Medallion

Hello and welcome to Takin' It To the Top Tuesday! Today I'm featuring the lovely Medallion Background stamp on my cards and I'll show you some quick tips and tricks for taking your cards and projects to the next level. Let's start with the basic card. I've used Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White Cardstocks and Brocade Blue Ink on the large Medallion Stamp. The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations, stamped on Whisper White and punched out with the Large Oval Punch and then mounted on a Scallop Oval Punchie of Elegant Eggplant. This is attached to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. The ribbon is 1/4" Elegant Eggplant Grosgrain.

Here's a Tip for you:When stamping with these large background stamps, it's very difficult to get enough pressure in the middle of the stamp to get a good, clear image. My solution is to turn the stamp upside down and ink it up really well. Lay your cardstock carefully on top (you don't want to smear the ink) and then lay a piece of scrap paper over the top of that. Being careful not to move the paper, rub firmly with your fingers or use your brayer to apply pressure over the entire surface of the stamp. When you remove the cardstock, again do it carefully so that the ink does not smear!

Okay, let's step this card up just a bit! I always say it's amazing what a difference it can make when you add a few simple extra elements -- extra color, extra texture, extra layers! For this version, I again inked up the stamp with Brocade Blue Ink but then took a Sponge Daubber, saturated with Elegant Eggplant ink, and daubbed all the way around the edge of the Medallion and also around the center circle. Look at the difference that the added color adds! It adds depth, texture, contrast and interest. I also added another layer on this card -- the whisper white is layered on Elegant Eggplant and a Brocade Blue Card Base. The only other change I made was to use the wider 5/8" Brocade blue ribbon.

Are you ready to Take it to the Top?

Here is my final version and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. As you can see, I embossed the entire top layer using the Finial Press Impressions Folder and the Big shot. I must say, after spending the time to ink the stamp and get such a beautiful image, I was a little hesitant to fun that baby through the Big Shot to add some texture, but I love it way it turned out! I don't think I've ever added the texture to a piece that was already stamped and I think I will be doing it again. This texture is so beautiful in person, it definitely produces a "Wow" for anyone who sees it. If you click on the photo, you can view it even larger and I think you might be able to see the texture better.

The other change I made in this final card is to embellish the center of the Medallion with some punching. I stamped the smaller medallion from the Sale-A-Bration set, Vintage Labels (yes, you can get it for FREE) with Brocade Blue ink on Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Scallop Circle Punch. Next I stamped the smaller medallion on Elegant Eggplant and punched it out with the 1 3/8" circle punch. The next layer was to stamp the medallion on Brocade Blue and punch it out with the 1" Circle Punch. Finally (whew) I stamped the center of the Large Medallion Stamp with Brocade Blue Ink on Whisper White and punched it out with the 3/4" Circle Punch. Wow -- there's 4 layers just on that center medallion alone! The added color and layers really draw your eye to the center of this beautiful stamp. The perfect finishing touch seemed to be a Square Rhinestone Brad placed in the center. The entire punched piece is attached to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. When I looked at the beautiful texture on this card, I decided to not put a sentiment on the front. I didn't want to cover up one square inch of the beautiful embossing.

If you look closely, you can see that I added a 1" strip of embossed Elegant Eggplant to the inside of the card as well to dress it up a bit! I think this card (perhaps in a different color) would make a beautiful Wedding Invitation or Anniversary Card.

So, there you go -- one basic card design and the same stamp sets taken from basic to more to beyond!

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Stamping!

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Comments

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Awesome!

Posted by: Mickey Roberts | January 26, 2010 at 08:49 AM

I really like the colour combo Gretchen! Great job!

Posted by: Erin Morley | January 26, 2010 at 09:01 AM

I love those colours together. The Medallion stamp is one of my favs.

Posted by: Colleen Olsen | January 26, 2010 at 11:34 AM

Excellent project. Love, love, love the final, embossed card. Thanks for sharing how you did all the layers!

Posted by: Kit Marie | January 26, 2010 at 11:47 AM

I love this concept. I have done some take it up stamping with the medallion stamp, but I never thought about running the paper through the Big Shot to texture it. That looks so cool! Love those colors together. I think my wish list just grew again. :D

Posted by: Lydia Morris | January 26, 2010 at 12:51 PM