Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Yellow

The envelope lining for this month's Paper Pumkin (Poppin' Birthday) was super cute & I found myself making more alternatives with it than the items that were supplied!

~Enjoy

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This one looks really close to the pink one I made - it is - I CASEd myself! I loved how the pink cupcake one came out so I decided to replicate it again in yellow.

The cupcake is from the Hello Cupcake set stamped in So Saffron & then I hand traced it with Soft Suede. I topped it off with a generous helping of Wink of Stella and popped it up with dimensionals. I peeled off some sequins from the Mini Sequin Trim & applied them to the frosting.

I applied some Daffodil Delight to a sponge & very lightly tapped around the edge of the white cardstock giving it a slightly speckled appearance as well as adding some color. Happy Birthday is stamped with Soft Suede.

All of the background papers are torn, some top & bottom. The background is again from the envelope liner and the edges sponged with Daffodil Delight, the plaid is made using the Gingham Gala paper & then I added additional thin & thick lines using Soft Suede markers. The hat stamp included in the set is inked in Daffodil Delight on Daffodil Delight cardstock and the white is embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Soft Suede is applied to all of the pieces to dirty up the card a bit more. Tying the whole thing together is some Yellow and White Baker's Twine and some Mini Sequin Trim in gold!!!

The envelope is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Soft Suede using the Amazing Life & Hello Cupcake stamp sets.

This cute cupcake card uses the envelope lining as the background. The bottom section is a two inch swatch trimmed from the inside of the card with the presents / cake trimmed away. The light yellow was embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Both were scuffed with scissors and sponged with Soft Suede & it is topped off with a strip of Mini Sequin Trim to hide the seem & add some glitz! The whole card sits on a Soft Suede base.

The Cupcake from Hello Cupcake is stamped with Daffodil Delight and topped with a Soft Suede sentiment. I added some rhinestones colored with Daffodil Delight Blends for a little more sparkle. Another strip of mini sequin trim & some ribbon from my stash completes the look.

The envelope is stamped with the Hello Cupcake stamp set and Daffodil Delight & Soft Suede.

This was the first attempt at an alternate using the packages from the inside of the card provided with the kit. Happy Birthday is stamped in Memento Black ink and all of the packages are topped with Black Mini Sequin Trim. The bow is from the kit with the big border trimmed down. I added some details to the bow with black and yellow markers and popped them all up with dimensionals.

The light yellow background is made from two 2" swatches trimmed from the inside of the card with the presents / cake trimmed away. The light yellow was embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. This is all layered on Basic Black & Daffodil Delight and I add some retired gold sequins for some added glitz!

The envelope is stamped with the Hello Cupcake and Amazing Life stamp sets and inked with Daffodil Delight and Memento Black ink and small dots were hand done with Flirty Flamingo and Bermuda Bay markers.

I played around with all of these leftover little triangles for a while before deciding on a pinwheel/sunshine element for this card. I trimmed all the leftover pieces to the smallest size / shape triangle I had. I adhered all the triangle to white cardstock & then ran them through the Corrugated embossing folder along the striped lines.

Those were then applied to a Daffodil Delight Card front that was embossed with the Swirls & Curls Embossing folder and the edges are sponged with Soft Suede.All of the triangles are popped up with dimensionals. The center is cut with Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies in So Saffron & Soft Suede and a little circle of white behind them.

Sunshine is cut twice from So Saffron & Soft Suede using the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, stacked as offset so you see the yellow shadow and also popped up. "You" "are" and "my" are hand drawn, hand cut and popped up as well. Tied up neatly with a double stand of Linen Thread.

The envelope uses the cute border stamp from the Amazing Life stamp set and Soft Suede ink.

The Yellow Collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Teal

I have never really been a fan of teal and aqua until recently and nor it seem to be invading every square inch of my life! I am not sure what color set I like the most out of the pink, yellow or teal selections, but the teal was was the ones that came last, mostly because I really did not like the balloons, the polka dot numbers or that polka dot teal paper, so these are the ones I altered the most - but are some of may favorites for sure!

~Enjoy

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This one could easily be turned into a menorah! I tool a white background and lightly sponged the edges with Bermuda Bay. Embossed the light Pool Party & Daffodil Delight Banners with Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder. I placed a few continuous lines of tear-n-tape across the back of the polka dot letter sheet & cut off a piece to use as a background for the candles.

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I added the flames on the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. I loved the way they turned out and used this technique several times with this kit.

The present is sentiment label is made with one of the presents from the inside of the card and the Itty Bitty Birthdays stamps. Topping it off with a double bow made with Linen Thread.
The envelope is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay using the stamp set included with the kit.

I was really trying hard to use this polka dot "paper" and I also wanted to start adding a little more depth to my cards in general so I started adding Soft Suede to the background to hide the 1980s teal polka dot & at first I was like, uh-oh, the numbers show through, but I kept going.

I added Soft Suede to my Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder & ran that through my machine and even though it came out uneven - I kind of liked the effect. I knew I wanted to do a background color-on-color cupcake with Pool Party. By this point, this was looking really good & I was thinking - who would I give this too - then I remembered my great niece will be turning 16 soon & she loves teal - perfect!

I added the 16 cut from the retired numbers set in Crumb Cake sponge edged with Soft Suede and the Sweet is stamped with Bermuda Bay and the Hello Cupcake set. Add a off white hand cut banner edged with Bermuda Bay, a double bow with Linen Thread, a small border of the 1980s teal polka dot paper & the party hat with the excess border trimmed down. I rough up the edges on most of the layers & then sponged the rough edges with a coordinating color. I LOVE the way this card came out!

This was a pretty quick and easy variation. The background is trimmed down from the card base provided, the cakes are trimmed from the card insides. The sentiment is from Hello Cupcake in Black and some yellow ribbon from my collection.

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I took the hat stamp & carefully positioned it so the stripes would line up to be stripes on the candles and miss the flame. Make sure that you do not get in on the top part of the hat where the pom-pom is. I then added the flames with the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. These little striped candles add so much to the card!

The envelope for this one came out so cute! It is stamped with Pool Party and Hello Cupcake for the large confetti, The 3 little dots are with Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight & Amazing Life Then the Flirty Flamingo & Black dot are hand done with markers. It matches perfectly!

Here is another version at a grungy card. I started with a background of Lemon Lime Twist (nooo... please do not retire), I added the trimmed off edges of the scalloped tag provided. A piece of the light blue polka dot card base trimmed down, topped with the rest of the trimmed down tag embossed with Swirls & Curls.

For the sentiment I cut apart the stamp "It's your" and also "Today we celebrate YOU!". I stamped the sentiment with Bermuda Bay onto Pool Party and edged all of the items with Soft Suede.

I made the candle with the candles provided and the party hat stamp using Bermuda Bay and Daffodil Delight & So Saffron markers. I trimmed down the border of the party hat & edged those also with Soft Suede. Everything is popped up with dimensionals and topped off with the Polka Dot ribbon, Gold Mini Sequin Trim and some green and white Baker's Twine form my collection.

This may have turned out to be my favorite card. Unfortunately it uses a LOT of outside of the box product, but I finally got that teal polka dot "paper" to look good!

This uses the retired Cupcakes & Carousels DSP and behind those is a swatch of cheesecloth. The cupcake is heavily Wink of Stella-ed and stamped with Hello Cupcake, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay on Pool Party.

The cupcake sits on a piece of Whisper White embossed with Swirls and Curls and the 3 background papers have torn edges. It is topped off with a White Baker's Twin double bow and the sentiment is provided in the set and inked with Bermuda Bay.

The envelope for is stamped with Daffodil Delight and Hello Cupcake for the large confetti, the 3 little dots are with Bermuda Bay, the little flourish is from Amazing Life and stamped with Pool Party. It's so cute!

The collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Pink

I was really excited to get this month's Paper Pumpkin, I am always running low on birthday cards. I struggle with items that have a lot of colors - 3 is usually my ideal then mixed with neutrals & probably something shiny, so this one was color overload! The key I have found is focus on one of the main colors & let the others fall to the background. The papers & envelopes were really cute, but I was a little disappointed with the stamps. I mean, who already doesn't own Happy Birthday in all caps & a serif font? To top it off I lost my candle for the entire process & then found it when I was cleaning up. I usually make one of each card per the sample but I just could not get on board this month, so here come LOTS of alternatives.

~Enjoy

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I will start with my favorite pink card I made and I think it was the last one. I absolutely love this little "hairy" cupcake from the Hello Cupcake set (I am sad it will be retiring soon). It is stamped in Flirty Flamingo & then I hand traced it with Poppy Parade. And I topped it off with a generous helping of Wink of Stella and popped it up with dimensional.

I am trying to grunge up my cards a little more to add interest, so for this one I applied some Poppy Parade to a sponge & very lightly tapped around the edge of the white cardstock giving it a slightly speckled appearance as well as adding some color. All of the background papers are torn, some top & bottom. The polka dot is from the inside of the envelope, the strip is from the kit as a stripe, I added Flirty Flamingo stamped hats to Flirty Flamingo cardstock and the white is embossed with the Swirls & Curls embossing folder. Tying the whole thing together is some retired Seam Binding Ribbon - I LOVE this ribbon - it is my favorite!!!

The envelope is stamped with Powder Pink, Soft Sky and Poppy Parade using the Amazing Life & Hello Cupcake stamp sets and I added single dots of Bermuda Bay.

This is the 3rd pink card I made & my second favorite pink card, it is pretty simple using the envelope for the background. I trimmed the inside of the card and removed the presents/cakes which left me these 2 inch strips of light yellow & light pink. I embossed the pink with Swirls & Curls (Actually - I could not find my embossing folder - so I think this one is another brand - but the intention was S&C). I had cut off the scallop border on the fish-tail banner for one of the other projects, so I added that to the soft pink.

I cut one of the label in half and stamped with Flirty Flamingo and a sentiment from the Hello Cupcake stamp set. I trimmed the obnoxiously large borders from the hats & bow and added some Poppy Parade pen detailing for the bow. Topping the whole thing off is some iridescent sequins from my stash. All of these I popped up with dimensionals.

The envelope is stamped with the set in the kit and Poppy Parade & Flirty Flamingo.

Next come some "also-rans", not my favorite cards but there are some good techniques here, so I will chat about those. This one used the presents theme and I again trimmed the border down on the bows & added pen detailing with Poppy Parade. I had some leftover trimmed scallop pieces and applied wink of Stella for some sparkle.

The background was made with two 2" strips of the soft pink card insides trimmed and placed next to each other. Then I stacked the Happy Birthday sentiment & stamped with Powder Pink and then stamped again before re-inking. Photopolymer is not a really big fan of this technique. Even though my lines were not incredibly straight its ok, it gives the feeling of whimsy and for this card that is ok.

Have the kids look away now if they are squeamish about cutting stamps apart. For the sentiment I trimmed off YOU! and stamped with Poppy Parade. I die cut YOU from the Celebrate You Thinlits Dies. The striped border is actually the leftover pieces from the striped borders and I added small Powder Pink dots around the outside of the sentiment tag. It is topped off with some Silver & White Bakers Twine.

I used the same background technique above for this one. The one thing I wanted showcase here was the cute little candles!

I took the strip of red & white candles & turned them over to the back. I then took the hat stamp & carefully positioned it so the stripes would line up to be stripes on the candles and miss the flame. Make sure that you do not get in on the top part of the hat where the pom-pom is. I then added the flames with the outside in Daffodil Delight and the inside of the flame with So Saffron. I loved the way they turned out and used this technique several times with this kit.

I can't help it - that red and white banner just screamed Christmas to me. Here is a half sheet of the striped banners as the background on Real Red cardstock.

The sentiment and snowflakes are from the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set stamped in Real Red. Rudy is from Seasonal Chums. Topping it off is some retired red and white Baker's Twine and Silver Glimmer paper. The envelope is stamped with Read Red and the Amazing Life stamp set.

Here is a birthday version using the retired Birthday Blast and the cupcakes are made from the Lift Me Up stamp set

This was the first pink card I made & absolutely my least favorite & probably made the decision to go completely away from the presents & cake idea and create alternatives.

The pink collection

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Paper Pumpkin Alternatives March 2019 - Yellow Stripe

Just a quick recap of the March 2019 Paper Pumpkin called Poppin' Birthday alternatives. These are all made with the Yellow envelope striped paper.

Additional supplies:

• Hello Cupcake Stamp Set
• Gingham Gala DSP
• Swirly Scribbles Thinlits
• Sunshine Wishes Thinlits
• Lemon Zest Stamp Set
• Beautiful Bouquet Stamp Set
• Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder

~Enjoy

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Spring Retreat - All Adorned

Her are some more ideas from my last retreat day. I borrowed my friend Shannon's All Adorned Stamp Set since I was traveling. It make some really spectacular cards!

~Enjoy!

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This one I started with a CASEd card from Pinterest. I switched out the colors for Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, Basic Gray and Very Vanilla. The sentiment is from Hello Cupcake. I used the retired Decorative Label Punch and the Bitty Butterfly Punch. The Ribbon is from the Sale-a-Bration Ribbon pack and the butterfly is topped off with some rhinestones. The navy background is embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder. I just love how this came out!

I loved it so much in fact, I created a second one in red! This one uses the same elements but in Merry Merlot, Memento Black, Basic Gray and Very Vanilla. I used the Everyday Label Punch for the sentiment & it is topped off with the ribbon from my stash. I colored the butterfly's rhinestones with the Cherry Cobbler Blends Marker & then darkened it with the Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Marker. The sentiment is from Firefly.

This last one was switched up a bit using a single line of medallions. The colors are Bermuda Bay, Memento Black, Sahara Sand and Pool Party. The background is embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder. Happy Birthday is cut from Well Written Dies. A piece of vellum anchors the sentiment and the copper and white Baker's Twine is from Layer Leaves Paper Pumpkin. The butterfly's rhinestones are colored with Bronze Stampin' Blends Markers. It is oh so pretty!

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• All Adorned Stamp Set
• Hello Cupcake Stamp Set
• Well Written Dies
• Decorative Label Punch
• Everyday Label Punch
• Bitty Butterfly Punch
• Layered Leaves Paper Pumpkin
• Sale-a-Bration Ribbon pack
• Subtle Embossing Folder
• Bronze Stampin' Blends Markers
• Cherry Cobbler Blends Marker
• Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Marker
• Night of Navy
• Balmy Blue
• Basic Gray
• Very Vanilla
• Merry Merlot
• Memento Black
• Bermuda Bay
• Sahara Sand
• Pool Party
• Vellum
• Rhinestones

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Spring Retreat - Builder Birdcage

Aren't these little birds just the cutest? The Builder Birdcage stamp set is super flexible and super cute! This first card I made for someone who let me constantly borrow her Cuttlebug machine since I was traveling. I did bring my own plates and luckily she was very sweet to let me borrow her machine - thanks Nancy!

Her daughter was clearing out her paper stash, so the envelope flap was covered in one of those papers I picked up for cheap and since I was hand delivering it to her, it was safe to cover just the back flap. The color combo I used was Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Flirty Flamingo and then I embossed the card front after stamping with the Tufted embossing folder.

~Enjoy!

I CASEd myself from the Day by Day challenge with the eggs all lined up. I lined up these cute birdies in Memento Black, Blackberry Bliss and Crumb Cake. The sentiment was stamped on Crumb Cake and cut with the Decorative Label punch.

I CASEd the background from Pinterest for this one and switched up the colors and then waited until I got home to add all the additional layers of the bird cage and the sprigs. Super cute, this one ended up going to my friend Louise for her birthday! I used Blackberry Bliss, Melon Mambo and Powder Pink. The birdcage was an old die I have had for years and the sprigs are from Flourish Thinlits and Bouquet Bunch Thinlits.

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Builder Birdcage stamp set
• Flourish Thinlits
• Bouquet Bunch Thinlits
• Decorative Label punch
• Tufted embossing folder
• Old Olive
• Daffodil Delight
• Flirty Flamingo
• Memento Black
• Blackberry Bliss
• Crumb Cake
• Melon Mambo
• Powder Pink

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Spring Retreat - Wonderful Romance

I borrowed the Wonderful Romance & Wonderful Floral bundle from my friend Shannon to create these beauties below!

~Enjoy!

This one was CASEd from Pinterest & I loved it so much I decided to make it in additional colors below! This one is in Blackberry Bliss - one of my all-time favorite colors!

My friend Diane who was at the retreat was selling off a ton of paper and this one reminded me so much of the paper from Floral Romance DSP, so I snathced it up & with a little help from Pinterest created this one.

This is another version of the one above this time made with Bermuda Bay & Coastal Cabana.

One last one with Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Crumb Cake.

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Wonderful Romance Stamp Set
• Wonderful Floral Thinlits
• Blackberry Bliss
• Pear Pizzazz
• Bermuda Bay
• Coastal Cabana
• Early Espresso
• Soft Suede
• Crumb Cake

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Spring Retreat - Simply Sketched

I simply fell in love with Simply Sketched that I borrowed from my friend Shannon. Most of these are CASEd from Pinterest, but I love how beautiful every card turned out!

~Enjoy!

My friend Shannon has a ribbon scrap box with all kinds of unique ribbons from past years and she only has these tiny scraps leftover in the box. Luckily she had this beautiful striped velvet that matched this card perfectly, here is the inspiration card from Pinterest.

Here is the inspiration card, I substituted out what I had on hand while traveling. I just adore the colors of this card and its simplicity.

I loved the doily background of the inspiration card, but since I did not have that I used some mottled blue background that I brought with me and an oval die to frame the bird. The leaves are from the Wonderful Floral Thinlits die set.

I was having so much fun with the Simply Sketched set, I had to make an original using the blue & brown cards above as inspiration! This card uses Berry Burst as the background embossed with the Layered Leaves embossing folder.

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Simply Sketched Stamp Set
• Wonderful Floral Thinlits
• Blueberry Bushel
• Crumb Cake
• Pear Pizzazz
• Soft Suede
• Balmy Blue
• Berry Burst

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Spring Retreat #3 - Day by Day Paper Pumpkin

Look at this super cute card I found on Pinterest! It uses the Day by Day Paper Pumpkin set from December 2018 to make the different pieces of the flowers. So cute!! This one uses Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Grapefruit Grove and Mossy Meadow.

~Enjoy!

One last card for this set again making flowers from the little stamp pieces. Once again a shout out to Stampin' Pretty for the inspiration! I love the polka dot embossed Early Espresso background and Grapefruit Grove flowers.

Here are all of the cards for the collection - so super cute and easy!

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Day by Day Paper Pumpkin December 2018
• Mango Melody
• Daffodil Delight
• Grapefruit Grove
• Mossy Meadow
• Early Espresso

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Spring Retreat #2 - Day by Day Paper Pumpkin

This next group of cards is so cute and pixie-like, I loved using the dots and stars from the Day by Day December 2018 Paper Pumpkin stamp set. Most of these ideas are CASEd from Pinterest with a color change, but I am really happy with all the cute cards! This first card is CASEd from Scraps by Sissy with a color change to Lemon Lime Twist and Daffodil Delight.

~Enjoy!

I love, love, love this card & CASEd from Pinterest, although I cannot find the original poster. It was done with white embossed dots and stars and then the background sponge inked with several shades of blue including Night of Navy, Balmy Blue and Pacific Point.

This one was CASEd from my good friend Tracy Marie Lewis over at Stuff N Thingz. She made hers in Pumpkin Pie and you can see it in her video! Mine was switched up to Highland Heather & I know exactly who this card will go to when their birthday comes around!

One last card with the stars and dots made into a cute little planter! Once again CASEd from Pinterest with a color swap from Calypso Coral and Coastal Cabana to Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry.

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Day by Day Paper Pumpkin December 2018
• Lemon Lime Twist
• Daffodil Delight
• Night of Navy
• Pacific Point
• Balmy Blue
• Pear Pizzazz
• Rich Razzleberry
• Highland Heather

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Spring Retreat #1 - Day by Day Paper Pumpkin

On my most recent retreat, I was traveling so I did not have a great deal of stamping supplies with me, luckily my friend Shannon offered me a room & a raid on my last night before the retreat so I gladly took her up on her offer! I spent about an hour going through her stamps, adding notes to them so I could place them back where I found them after the retreat & picking out anything that I did not have in my stash at home.

There had been several cute cards made with the December 2018 Paper Pumpkin stamp set, which was just a bunch of odd shapes for a calendar set, which I did not get. I was thrilled that she had it & it was one of the first things I grabbed.

Most of these ideas are CASEd from Pinterest with a color change, but I am really happy with all the cute cards I was able to make with teh Day by Day Paper Pumpkin set! Here is the whole collection. The first card was part of Digital Retreat March #1.

~Enjoy!

The last card was made with the Melon Mambo and Memento Black I made the pink and black one first and really thought it was cute, but my table mate was not feeling it. I replicated it on the second card with Cajun Craze and Night of Navy, trying to get a more masculine version and I love Cajun Craze! These are CASEd from North Shore Stamper.

Stampin' Pretty always has the best card ideas and this one is not an exception. This pattern has been around for years, I remember making a card at my friends house in the early 90s like this one! It is so easy to just stamp aways at a piece of paper and them just cut it into strips!

Since I was traveling and did not have a great assortment of stamps & I had decided this retreat would be all about Birthdays, I found this cute birthday stamp at Tuesday Morning from Firefly and used it on almost every card I made this weeked. It was so cute & everyone kept asking what set it was from!

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Day by Day Paper Pumpkin December 2018
• Night of Navy
• Melon Mambo
• Cajun Craze
• Memento Black
• Blueberry Bushel
• Balmy Blue

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Digital Retreat March #4

Project #4 for the day is one more color challenge (we love color challenges) and stamp challenge. We used the Wonderful Romance stamp set and the Facebook Colour INKspiration Challenge #51. The colors were: Berry Burst, Mango Melody, Highland Heather and Pear Pizzazz.

I struggled with this card a lot! I find when I do this, I really need to get back to a cleaner palette and add more white. Overall the final result was not my favorite, but I could give it to someone and feel comfortable.

While Tracy was finishing up her card, I decided to play with just making a really abstract version of this with just dabbing an inked sponge onto the flower stamp and I really like the result a lot better!

~Enjoy!

Tracy's cheated a little on her card by adding a background of blue and when I protested, she quickly rectified it and replaced the blue for a white background. She also submitted the white to the Stampin' Up! Only Challenges - #219 - Coloring & was selected as a Top 3 card! Way to go Tracy! Don't forget to check out her blog!

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Stampin' Up! products used:

• Wonderful Romance stamp set
• Berry Burst
• Mango Melody
• Highland Heather
• Pear Pizzazz

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