Love this Medallion stamp!

I must confess that I bought this Medallion background stamp when it first came out in the 2009 Stampin' Up! Idea book and catalogue but never really used it that much.  However, lately I have fallen in love with it due to the versatility of this great image.

Now I ask you, did you see a Christmast wreath when you looked at this stamp?  Well, neither did I...but my Canadian Stampin' Up! "sister" Jackie Topa saw it and shared the idea with me so I had to give it a try myself.  How fun and easy is this card?  All you do is punch out the middle of the wreath with the 2.5" circle punch (hint, stamp the image a little bit off the edge so you can get the punch in far enough to punch out the inside) then  stamp a sentiment on the flip side of the cardstock circle you punched out and stick it back into the punched out space. 

Of course, you could be like Jackie and use the empty space to hold a photo for a Christmas cards. Click on the link below to see an example of this on her blog Granted, she dressed it up a little with the perfect red bow but you will still see the resemblence.  http://jackietopa.typepad.com/addicted_to_stamping/2010/11/photo-card.html

The wreath was stamped in Always Artichoke and a few of  the little holes were colored in with Cherry Cobbler marker to resemble berries.  The little Merry Christmas sentiment at the bottom right corner is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  My meetup group ladies at the November Simply Stampin' Class at the O'Fallon,IL0 Library really enjoyed making this cute and creative card.   If you are interested in finding out when we meet at the library, you can join our group at http://www.meetup.com/..   just search for Stampin' and Scrappin' in O'Fallon, IL, SAFB and surrounding areas and you will automatically be notified of our stamping events.  Or just contact me at inkerzaway@aol.com and I will be happy to send you an invitation.  We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 1 PM and make 3 cards for $5, I just need an RSVP at least 24 hrs in advance so I can be prepared with enough supplies. Please check back later this week to see one of the cards we'll be making at the December library class!