Moxie Fab World Challenge: The Appearance of Cameos

When I was a little girl, I remember my grandmother wearing cameos. Pinned to the top of her white ruffled blouses, I would stare at the intricately carved reliefs with awe and wonder, the contrast between the white and, typically, coral colors, like a dream. I wondered who those ladies portrayed on the cameos were, and did they have a life similar to the life my grandmother lived, the one she told me about in our visits? I remember thinking all those years ago that cameos were old-fashioned, a part of a by-gone era, and here they are today, head and shoulders above the rest.

According to my good friend, Mr. Webster, A cameo is "a technique of engraving upon a gem or other stone, as onyx, in such a way that an underlying stone of one color is exposed as a background for a low-relief design of another color." Often profiles in silhouette, what a cameo can bring to the table that a silhouette can't is dimension. And while a cameo is typically a profile of people, by definition, it can also be simply a carving in stone where two contrasting colors are revealed. Interestingly, it can also be simply a profile silhouette that is contained within a frame. Check out these gorgeous examples of cameos, and then see how three moxie fab designers incorporated cameos into their projects for the January/February Moxie Fabs column.

Chocolate Profiles from Country Living

Misty Cameo from KatKuffs

Cameo Wedding Invitation from The Handcrafted Card Company

Cameo Choker from catsinthecradlesoap

Wall Displays from Country Living Magazine

Vintage Blue Cameo from prettyvintagejewelry

 

Beautiful Bride Card from Hello Lucky

Cameo Wallpaper from Anthropologie

Emma Cameo Necklace from outoftheblue

Butterfly Cameo Pendant from cameojewelryart

Little Houses Print from charmaineolivia

Cameo Screenprint from hhop

Lady of the Flowers Cameo Pendant from lovespelljewels

Enchanting Artwork from Country Living

Phoebus and the Hours with Aurora from W.H. Stark House

The Best Card by Danielle Flanders, p. 24

Happy Moments Card by Kim Kesti, p. 25

Krafty Be Mine Card by Courtney Kelley, p. 25

Inspired? I can't WAIT to see what you do with this fun challenge! Here are the details you'll need to give 'er a go:

• Create a paper crafted project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor item, mini-book cover, etc.) that incorporates a cameo/cameos in an innovative way.
• Upload it to your blog, click on the title of that post, copy the URL, and add it to Mr. Linky below.
• Tell your readers that you've created your project for the The Appearance of Cameos Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and link it back to this post to encourage your readers to play along as well.
  
• If you don't have a blog, upload your project to this flickr gallery, copy the URL to your project, and add it to Mr. Linky below.
• Upload your projects by midnight EST on Monday, February 14.
• The winning entries will be shown on this blog on Wednesday, February 16 and will receive an "I'm Moxie Fab" challenge winner button as well as a moxie fab prize.

Cameo, Cameo, wherefore art thou, Cameo?

~Cath

PS To see more cameo inspiration straight from the pages of Paper Crafts magazine, click here and/or turn to page 26 of the January/February issue.