I received a nice big box of new products from the Occasions Catalog, but I’ve been working on a project where I used this big dahlia stamp and got the idea for this Definitely Dahlia Gold Embossed Congratulations Card. Sometimes we forget about the products in the Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalog when we have the new seasonal catalogs. When I used the Definitely Dahlia Stamp Set (really just one big single stamp!) on the other project it reminded me how elegant and pretty the stamp was.
The dahlia is first stamped with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with the Gold Stampin’ Embossing Powder and the Heat Tool. I think heat embossing is one of the most dramatic and easy techniques you can do. You never get tired of watching that powder melt and turn into your beautiful stamped image. I also embossed the greeting in gold at the bottom of the card. The greeting is from Floral Phrases. You could also offset the dahlia to be more in the corner of the card.
I prefer the wood-mount stamp on large single stamps like this one, although you can also buy it in clear-mount. I just like the wood-mount because it is ready to go and you don’t have to take time sticking this large stamp to the acrylic block and hoping it doesn’t fall off. Often times it is easier to lay the stamp facing stamp-side up on the table, pat the ink pad onto the stamp rather than the stamp onto the ink, and then place the cardstock on which you are stamping onto the inked stamp. Then if you don’t want to get inky fingers, grab a piece of computer paper to lay over the cardstock and rub gently with your fingers over the whole stamp area without letting the cardstock move. It usually works fine! This way you aren’t handling a large block and stamp in your hands.
The card base is Whisper White with just a bit of Gold Foil around the border of the dahlia image. You can cut out the center of the gold foil since it won’t show anyway and use that piece for something else.
