Embossed vellum

Hello crafty friends - hope your day is going well. I typically start the morning with breakfast at my laptop visiting my friends' blogs. Today I got busy on a card for an upcoming Die Cut Diva challenge (no hints - sorry) and forgot all about breakfast until that card was done!! 

Once in front of the laptop with my Cheerios I spotted Gail's Crafty Nomad post with inspiration for Let's Squash It !! (which is much further down the alphabetical blog list). Quickly finished breakfast and off I went. I made this simple card for August's Let's Squash It!! Challenge 11 - Not Paper, Not Card:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Dove A2 card; Paper Studio black

Embossing folder - Altenew Decorative Florals 3D

Vellum - Stamp On It Irridescent Mix (sadly retired)

Other - Copic Markers (greys, golds and V05);

CZ Design Sentiment Strips Reverse Happy

Hi I'm Linda & I am a Paper Hoarder!! I have this lovely coverweight vellum purchased at a stamp expo many years ago and I use it sparingly, especially now that it's retired. Luckily I knew right where to find it in my stash - it works perfectly with embossing folders, giving a crisp image with little tearing. The piece I chose has a pale silver sheen to it - so beautiful. I embossed with the Altenew ef and added some Copics to the back. Glued to a black mat. Oops, some of my glue wasn't hidden good enough and showed through as grey. I took some grey Copics and tried shading it on top of the vellum. Looks much better in real life than in the photo (maybe I'm kidding myself...). I also applied a little more gold to the top of the vellum flower centers - done! Makes an elegant wedding card, I think.

The vellum pack contains assorted colors, including a gorgeous gold so I'm sure to be back with another card for this fun challenge. The vellum was a handy choice but I'd like to look around for some other mediums to try. How about you - what would you emboss if not paper or card?

Thanks for stopping!!

Ireland/England trip & a wedding card

Hey all - thought I'd share a few photos of the trip I took to Ireland and England in July. I spent 10 days there and returned home late on the 29th.

Sweet Adelines International held its International Education Seminar in Manchester UK from July 25-28th. I decided to attend and thought, since it's so close, I'd combine the seminar with a trip to visit my friend Heather and her family. Heather and I have been friends for 10 years and served together as Hero Arts Hostesses back in 2011. I met Heather in person in 2014 on my first trip to Ireland, then she and her family came to Orlando and I met them for a fun weekend at Disney World in 2016. For this visit we stuck close to Heather's home and made day trips to Irish Heritage sites nearby.

I arrived Friday 7/19 around 9 am. Heather and her hubby picked me up at the airport after my long flight across the pond. I don't like to sleep on the plane and with a 6 hr time change, I didn't last much past 8 pm!! But we managed to go crafty shopping and visit a castle that day. We chose Maynooth Castle which was near the shop selling crafty items. Here I am, looking a bit travel worn but ready to discover the Castle and grounds.

Off to your right you can see the arch we entered. Here's a closer look at the size of it - immense!

The inside of the castle has been turned into a museum with display boards telling the chronology of ownership of the castle and history of those owners and their allies. Very interesting! Heather couldn't resist taking a quick pic of a list of medieval cures. I certainly wouldn't want to try them!

The next morning we played with crafty items I brought from the US and stuff Heather had in her stash. I mainly used a bunch of her dies, especially a fun arch I thought would be cute for a wedding card. Here's what I came up with:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV Ms Sparkle A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 

Authentique and BoBunny 6x6 patterned

Dies - Arch by unk; Couple by Tattered Lace; Flourish Vine by Cottage Cutz

Other - ultra thin foam; Icy Stickles; Spun Sugar Distress Marker

A friend asked me to make her a couple wedding cards for this fall so this was my start. Thanks to Heather for letting me use the arch die (sorry, not sure of the manufacturer)!! I doubled it up for thickness and popped it with some ultra thin foam tape. Really like how this turned out.

I'll blog more of my trip when I get a chance. Can't thank Heather and her family enough for sharing their home with me!! And thanks to you for stopping by!