Hey, it's Kathryn here again with Week 26 of the Colour Creations Showcase.

Yay to this week's shade of Chistmas - Merry Merlot! I can't wait to see what my fellow Art With Heart stampers have created this week!

Merry Merlot

This dark wine red is perfect for adding depth, shade and tone to your red images particularly on Christmas cards, but I have chosen to use it as a stand alone colour - the key colour in a couple of cards for experienced card makers.

In fact as soon as I starting thinking about this week's colour, I knew I wanted to use the Whiskey Business stamp set for some rich, dark, men's club kind of masculine cards.

My first card is A4 Merry Merlot card base, cut in half vertically with an initial layer of In Good Taste Designer Series Paper. Then there is a panel of the Merry Merlot patterned paper from the Neutrals 6"x 6" DSP matted on Whisper White.

I've used the Layering Ovals Dies to cut a scallop oval in Merry Merlot and a plain oval in Whisper White which I then stamped with the texture stamp from Whiskey Business stamp set in Gray Granite ink. The bottle and glass were stamped on scraps of Thick Whisper White, coloured with Stampin' Blends and cut out with Paper Snips. The Blends are shown in the product images right at the bottom of this post.

The inside of the card has a strip of the leftover Designer Series Paper and an extra glass stamped and coloured just on the insert.  The sentiments are stamped with Merry Merlot ink.

The second card steps it up a little, including a "Z fold" and a few more layers. This card was inspired by one I found on Pinterest by Dawn Griffith.

I have used most of the same materials - the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper, the images stamped on scrap Whisper White and hand cut out, the base of Merry Merlot card and the sentiments in Merry Merlot ink. But for this card I have added the beautiful Brushed Metallic Card for some extra glamour.

The Layering Squares Dies were used for the panels - and as usual, I die-cut extra shapes from the centres of the Brushed Metal card before creating my layers - maximising my cardstock usage and giving myself some lovely brushed metallic layers for next week's cards.

The "Z fold" here is probably the easiest one you can do - just cut the A4 card vertically at 10.5cm, fold it in half to form a standard card, then fold the front in half back on itself - too easy! Then add as few or as many layers as you like. I am half inclined to think that I may have gone a little overboard with the layers on this one, but is sure it a spectacular card in real life!

I hope you like them! Please leave me some feedback in the comments. I would love you to join me is seeing what the other talented Art With Heart Stampers have created using Merry Merlot. To do that, CLICK HERE to go to Cathy's blog where she has the full list of participants!

See you again soon with ink on your fingers!

Kathryn Ruddick

Product List

Merry Merlot A4 Cardstock [147005] $15.25	Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' Pad [147112] $13.00	Neutrals 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [152485] $20.00
Whiskey Business Cling Stamp Set (English) [152550] $33.00	Brushed Metallic Cardstock [153524] $26.00	In Good Taste Designer Series Paper [152494] $37.00
Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154888] $15.50	So Saffron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154905] $15.50	Seaside Spray Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154901] $15.50
Layering Squares Dies [151772] $58.00	Layering Ovals Dies [151771] $58.00	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $17.00