Stamp-A-Faire - The Renaissance

Sometimes travel comes with problems and I've had my share today! Computer troubles have kept me more than a little frustrated and way behind schedule.  Ahhhhh! breathe! : )

Have you ever dreamed that Nichole Heady would show up at your door asking you to join her design team because your cards are so great?  I love that never-wanna-wake-up-from dream : )....... just kidding I've never dreamt that but if Nichole stopped by this post I'd be embarrassed! ugh.  I could go on and on about the troubles I had and how I almost burned the house down! (terribly close to serious on this one) and I could explain how the dog amost ate my homework but then she'd figure out that I don't even have a dog and there is no excuse for this poor take on her beautiful challenge and I'd have to hang my head! LOL  What can I say we are working with the Renaissance here - lots of drama and all.

OK Enough! excuses and dilly dallying I need to get moving because Jane and the Regency era are waiting to be introduced!

Nichole's amazing video tutorial is HERE Please be sure to see this one for yourself : )

I based my card on her two lovely demonstrations.  I do not have any velvet in the house so I attempted to create a medallion focal point - what I'll call a faux velvet : )  I created this by selecting a patterned paper and stamping a medallion on it.  I then heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  It kind of looks like embossed velvet to me anyway.... hmmmm. After the paper cooled I swiped Gothic Purple Staz On ink over the top to add dimension and to help bring the medallion out better.

Nichole writes:  During the  Era, wax seals were an important part of correspondence.  Men and women alike usually wore a custom designed ring that featured their monogram or family crest.  Whenever they wrote an important document or letter, hot wax was added and the ring design impressed into to it.  Not only was this an important element of security and honor, it was also a stunningly beautiful tradition that we unfortunately no longer do today!

I had printed out the supply list for today's festivities and tried to purchase the things I needed for each challenge.  Some supplies I was able to come by - some I was not.  One thing I did not need to buy was sealing wax because I knew I had some in my craft drawer.  The sealing was I own has been in that craft drawer since... I think it's actually been since about the Renaissance Era! or some time in the 1970's - literally LOL.  And it was gold! so yeah one supply I didn't have to buy : )  Here is where the fire department got involved (just kidding).

I fired up the wick and horrible black smoke began to fill my craft room.  I didn't blow it out.  Eventually BLACK and gold drops of wax fell onto my tin foil but not fast enough for me because the flame, which was now about 3 inches high was not only spitting out thick black (probably toxic) smoke but also teeny tiny bits of soot! Oh gees!! but as soon as I had a big enough pool of wax I inked up a small stamp from my Doodlie-Do PTI stamp set in Versamark and squished it into the wax.    ...... um..... uh...it didn't work and I quite possibly ruined my stamp : (

Ok,so what would you do?... no really? ... ok yeah, but what if Nichole were coming?  I fired up that sealing wax stick again and waited for my poor husband to come running in to rescue me with the fire department. Which he never did, by the way!LOL I tried the process again and this time I squished this little gold seal into the hot wax and walla!

Perfect right!? ok, so it has a tea kettle instead of a coat of arms but what can I say?! LOL Shamelessly I peeled it from my tin foil and attached a TEA KETTLE! it to my card.  Oh but before I did that I added a snippet of black and gold ric rac for some real regal elegance (it's ok, you can roll your eyes I will understand).

By now I'm starving because I skipped lunch and it is after 4 p.m. I have guests coming for dinner and the house still smells like... icky black sooty gold sealing wax.  My husband has been able to get my computer running but girls, no telling how long this beast will survive!  If it lives I will dust off the soot from my craft table and move on to the Regency Era : ) thankfully a bit more up my alley.

I hope you are having a great time with Stamp-A-Faire 2014.  As soon as humanly possible! I will be out to visit your blogs and see all the wonderful things you've created : )

Patti

Supplies:
Solid cs by SU
Patterned papers by CTMH
Die cut from Spellbinders
Medallion Stamp ( a NBUS) from Lil Davis Designs
Sentiment is a masked version of the large stamp from PTI's Birthday Classics: May stamp set that I stamped in Versamark and embossed with  gold embossing powder