Aloha, all!
Earlier this week, I showed off some of the swaps that I received at convention, focusing on those swaps that had layouts that contained three matching elements. Today I'd like to share some of the swaps that have a bit of lace – as in Stampin' Up!'s Crochet Trim.
There are four cards in this group. All of them used the Victoria Crochet Trim, which I think of as the lacier of the two trim styles.
The first card, by Diane Evans, has so much more to it than the lace – actually all of them do! The Elements of Style images on this card overlap delightfully. I love how the swirl stamp is embossed in White on top of the First Edition Specialty Paper, with a bit of sponging to accent it a bit. The way that the Victoria trim is tied into the taffeta ribbon provides a nice counterpoint with some Basic Pearls in the lower right corner of the card (unfortunately covered here by the copyright mark).
The second card, by Wendy Rudyk, also features some Victoria trim tied in with other ribbon, in this case some 5/8" Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon. Again, the whole layout of the card is really enhanced with some sponging and that bit of lace with the ribbon.
I hate to say that I have favorites when all of these cards are so beautiful. But I have had a hard time keeping my eyes off of Dale Morin's card, below. There are so many Stampin' Up! products on this card and the sponging and spritzing technique is really stunning in real life.
I took several photos of this card until I got one where the camera's flash caught some of the Gold Glow Smooch that was spritzed onto the top layer. Add the sponging around the edge of the layer and finally the folded lace edge and I have to tell you that I'm not letting this card out of my sight!
The final card in this group was stamped by Karen Bouchikas. Again there's a bit of sponging that adds to the vintage flavor of this card, along with the pin from the Vintage Trinket set. The lace is a perfect accent.
One of the reasons that I love to participate in swaps and to share them with you and my friends and customers at home in Hawaii is that I don't own many of the stamps and embellishments that you can see in them. I'm sure that you are like me and can't possibly see your way to trying to own everything in the Stampin' Up! catalogs. Swaps give us the chance to see these products "in action," as well as to check out some techniques that I typically don't use.
I have to confess that I already own the Smooch Paint and I've not used it much. For sure I'll be getting it out soon!