Colour Creations Showcase - Early Espresso

Hi there

Tonight, I'm joining the ladies from the Art With Heart Team for this week's Colour Creations Showcase. This week we're featuring Early Espresso which is from the Neutrals Collection. 

For my card, I decided to pair Early Espresso with an equally bold colour in Melon Mambo from the Brights Collection. Browns have a pinkish undertone, so they they do work well with pink.  

I have started with the Early Espresso card base and I added a card sized panel that was dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. Although it isn't necessary, I like to lightly spritz my card stock with water before using this embossing folder to achieve a deeper etching. It is still subtle but has a rich texture that I like. I added a strip of the woodgrain Melon Mambo designer paper on the right for a nice pop of colour.

For the art panel, I started with a piece of Whisper White cropped with the second largest Stitched Rectangle Die and stamped the lovely tree image from the Life is Beautiful stamp set in Early Espresso ink.  You can see this stamp set on page 51 of the August-December Mini Catalogue; I think it gets a little lost amongst all of the holiday products, but it is such a sweet stamp set. 

I love the font on the greetings, the little bird house and the different seasons that are represented. Given we have starting spring in Australia, I was chanelling a blossom tree with beautiful pink blooms. I would love one of these in my garden! This is a Distinktive style photopolymer stamp set, so there is a lot of detail and shading in the stamps that you want to see, especially in the tree. If your ink pads are juicy, you may find you need to use the back of a teaspoon to (temporarily) push some of the ink to the bottom of the pad, so it doesn't muddy the detail of the stamp. The ink will redistribute itself when you close the ink pad. I did a little stamping at the base of the tree for some fallen blossoms and added the cute bird house, using Stampin' Write markers direct to the stamp for the different colours.  The greeting has been heat embossed in white and cropped with a stitched circle. It is popped up over a stitched banner from the Tasteful Labels Dies, cut from Early Espress card stock that had been dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder.

For the inside, I've used another stitched rectangle and partially stamped the tree on the right with the pink blooms stamped over the top and base. I added it to a panel of Melon Mambo to create borders than balance the length.

I decided to make a few more to thank my customers for their support. Using the Stamparatus, I was able to stamp the tree and bird house easily, but the blooms are hand stamped, making them all look unique. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Life is Beautiful
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo Brights DSP
Ink	Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Versamark
Accessories	Rhinestones, Braided Linen Trim
Tools	Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies, Tasteful Labels Dies, Subtle 3D EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers (Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pacific Point), White EP, Heat gun

 

Catherine is hosting us tonight, so make sure you head over to her blog for the links to the other participants tonight.

Thanks for visiting today!

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Comments

[Caroline Manwaring]

Judy, I love the combination of the rich Early Espresso and the vibrant Melon Mambo on your card - it's gorgeous!

[Sujatha]

Love the use of the brown and pink, Judy - great colour combo! And I do love the Life is Beautiful stamp set!!

[Tina Gillespie]

Gorgeous card, Judy! The pink works so well with the rich brown. I love the little pop of blue with the birds!

[Kate Morgan]

Gorgeous Judy, that pop of pink adds such a wow and those cute little blue birds, beautiful.

[Theresa Gerrard]

Lovely sweet card Judy and the colour combo of Melon mambo and Early Espresso is just spot on!

[Diane Furniss]

What a lovely colour combo Judy, Beautiful.

[Rachel Woollard]

Another beautiful card Judy, I love the pop of pink with Early Espresso

[Christine Blain]

Beautiful! Love your choice of stamp set (great minds, ha ha), and the colour combination is just fab, Judy.

[Cathy Proctor]

Wow Judy I would never have put these colours together but they look amazing! I love your little birdhouse too - how lucky are your customers to receive these beautiful cards. Thank you for joining the Colour Creations showcase with your beautiful Early Espresso card xx