Pale Leaves.....

So... it was really hard to take a picture of this photo.  I got one I like, but the card is just soo washed out.  Wishing I had one of those lightbox thingies.... sigh!   Enough about bad picture taking, the card is really neat IRL, though and I made it for Color Throwdown and Pals Papers Arts (PPA58) challenges.   The PPA challenge this week is to use pearls and I initially thought I would go with something using the colors in their inspiration photo (black & white), but then I saw Color Throwdown's colors and went off in a completely different direction. 

I have had these fantastic pearl flourishes from Zva Creative and have wanted to use them for the longest time and the PPA challenge gave me the perfect opportunity.  I like the idea of combining something elegant (the pearl flourish) with something a little more rustic (the leaves).  I recently purchased one of Hero Arts new Little Clings - Maple Leaf and wanted to ink it up.  What caused me to have difficulties photographing the card is the fact that I used So Saffron ink to stamp the leaf... it doesn't show up real well.   Sigh..., again! The sentiment is from the HA set Thoughtful Messages.   I cut a strip of So Saffron cs and a strip of Choc. Chip cs, punched on edge with my favorite punch, Upper Crust, crumpled both a bit and layered them.  The pearl flourish was layered over top of the strips and then the leafs attached with a pop dot.  A bit of dark brown satin ribbon was added, as well.

Thanks for taking a peek... have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, SU! So Saffron & Choc. Chip; Ink:  SU! So Saffron, Choc. Chip & More Mustard; Stamps:  Hero Arts Little Cling  Maple Leaf; Thought Messages; Fiskars Upper Crust punch; Zva Creative pearl flourish; PTI Dark Choc. satin ribbon.

Simple Color....

Today, I'm still on my simplicity kick.  This time with color, though.  Again, I have two cards for two different color challenges, but both using several colors in common.  The first card is for ColourQ (#47), one of my favorite color challenges.  I haven't played along the last few weeks for various reasons.  The major one being I didn't have any of the new SU! colors.  I used the sketch from a challenge blog that I have yet to have a chance to participate in:  Pals Paper Arts, PPA57.   It was just what I need to finally get my card put together since I was really stumped as to how to use the striking color combo (Poppy Parade, More Mustard, Basic Grey & Bermuda Bay) put forth by Arielle (actually, that happens to me alot!).  For this card I used a new SU! set called Just Believe. 

My second card is also for a color challenge called Color Cue put forth by the very talented Dawn of WPlus9Design Studio.  Her colors this month:  Gold, Red, Aqua & White/Cream.  Now SU!'s Bermuda Bay could be taken for an aqua color, but because it tends more toward the green end, I went with SU!'s Tempting Turquoise because when I think "aqua" I think more of a blue color.  I also used Dawn's fantastic stamp set Woodgrain Silhouettes, one of my most favorite sets, and the current sketch from Clean & Simple, FTL105.  I probably should have stamped the leaf image a bit more off the cardstock to give it better balance....  Well, live and learn.

So, thanks for taking a peek... I hope you have a wonderful day!

(PS... there are no graphics for the color challenges or the sketch challenges because I didn't want a big, long post.  Appropriate links have been provided.)

Supplies:  ColourQ:  Cardstock:  PTI White; SU! Poppy Parade, Bermuda Bay; Stamps:  SU! Just Believe; Ink:  SU! More Mustard; Ancient Page Stone Grey; Memento Tuxedo Black; Rhinestones:  Kaiser Craft; Cuttlebug; SU! Lattice Square EF

Color Cue:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SU! Poppy Parade & Tempting Turquoise; Ink:  SU! More Mustard; Palette Cote' Azure; Memento Tuxedo Black, Stamps:  Woodgrain Silhouettes; Punch:  EK Success:  Bracket