Artistic Etchings

I am so excited about the vintage offerings in the new catalog. One set that was available for demonstrators to preorder is called Artistic Etchings. It is all about "French." Ooooh la la :) I was especially drawn to this set because one of my grandmothers was actually born in France. She used to tell me stories about gathering water from the well in the middle of her village and stomping grapes in her bare feet so her father could make wine. I loved her stories and have always dreamed of visiting France to see the place where she grew up. Well, I don't see that happening anytime soon, but at least I can use these images to spark my imagination:

I got the inspiration for my color scheme and layout from Jan Tink -she is very creative!!! I love the Newsprint Designer Series Paper (also a preorder item) that will be offered in the new catalog. It is absolutely PERFECT for vintage designs. So many demonstrators have been using pages from old dictionaries and other books and now we will have our own paper to work with!! I can't wait to use this for scrapbooking too. The black images were stamped with Versamark and then embossed with Black Emboss Powder and the gold images were stamped in Versamark and then embossed in Gold. I wasn't all that pleased with the way this turned out - simply because I tried the Log Cabin Spritz Spray and that is definitely still a work in progress for me. I think I went a little heavy with it and I got a big drop of it and tried to smooth it out and ended up with that large smudge :( But, it takes practice. I may end up just giving up on it but I do want to see if I can master it - I never back down from a challenge :) So, I decided to carry the theme to the inside of the card as well:

I stamped the medallion image off on scrap paper once before applying it to the cardstock and then stamped the Eifel Tower image with Versamark Ink. I sponged around the edges of everything with Cherry Cobbler and then Early Espresso - both new colors that I just adore!!! They are amazing :)

The complete list of supplies:

Stamp Set: Artistic Etchings

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Newsprint Designer Series Paper

Ink: Versamark, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso

Accessories: Black and Gold Emboss Powders, Heat Tool, Modern Label Punch, Gold Brads, 3/16-inch Hole Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Log Cabin Spritz Spray, Stampin' Sponges

I am excited to feel like I can connect my stamping to a person who has meant so much to my life. My grandmother was a wonderful woman who I adored. She made the best homemade bread I have ever tasted, tought me how to play cards for chocolate-covered peanuts or marshmallows that had to be sucked on to soften up before you could chew them, and peeled the apples for her pies close to the time my brothers and I would come to visit. She would save the apple peelings in a bowl so we could eat them. To us, that was almost as good as the pie :) I cherish my memories of her and will always share her with my son. I wish he could have known her, but sadly, she had passed on long before he was born. But, that is what scrapbooks and journals were created for. Hopefully you won't mind if I share some of those with you as I explore some of the French offerings from the new catalog. 'Til next time......

Happy Stamping,

Laurie

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