Wine with a Dark Fruit Flavor!

Aloha, all!

I very much enjoy tasting different kinds of wines and wondering what gives each wine its distinctive flavor. If you ever read wine reviews, you’ll frequently find comments that relate to a wine’s “fruity” flavor. Then the reviewer will go on to name those fruits. My expertise stops at the “fruity” level as I rarely can name a specific fruit that I’m tasting. Today, though, as I stamped the shape of a glass of wine, I knew exactly what COLOR that red wine was going to be – Fresh Fig!

Fresh Fig, as you may know, is a color in the Stampin’ Up! 2017-2019 In Color Collection. And today I found yet another stamping challenge that’s new to me, “Just Add Ink.” Their challenge this week was to use the colors, Fresh Fig, Bermuda Bay, Gold and Whisper White. If you’ve been following me for long, you might have trouble remembering when I’ve used this color in a project I’ve featured in a blog post. I certainly don’t think I’ve actually highlighted it. But I’m fixing that today, as it’s a gorgeous color.

My first task for this challenge was to choose a stamp set I’ve not used in a while – a challenge to myself as we approach the end of the current Stampin’ Up! catalog year. As I focused on the Fresh Fig Color, it occurred to me that it really is a color that would make a good wine image. So out came the Half Full Stamp Set, a stamp set that’s carried over from the Stampin’ Up! 2017 Holiday Catalog. It’s a stamp set designed by Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Linda Bauwin, who was honored last year for her achievement in selling over a million dollars in Stampin’ Up! products. So I’m somewhat confident that this will carry over into the next Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog.

Once I decided on the stamp set, I finally chose the label image and the glasses of wine to make up the central image in my card front. I stamped everything using VersaMark Ink, and then embossed it all using Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I colored in the grapes and the wine using my Fresh Fig Stampin’ Write Marker, and the grape leaves using my Bermuda Bay marker.

While I liked the background of Fresh Fig Cardstock, I felt that it was a bit too plain all by itself. So I started going through my stash of embossing folders and quickly came upon the Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder which just as quickly reminded me of wooden wine barrels I’d seen during vineyard tours I’ve taken. After that, I added a layer of Gold Foil and then Bermuda Bay. I thought I needed that as I’d given the color short shrift in the stamped image.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in this project. If I had to recommend your purchasing just one of these, I’d highly recommend the stamp set. Every time I see it, either on my shelf or online where someone’s used it in a project, it makes me smile. You just might get the same enjoyment out of it!