Next up, I really wanted to feature these mushrooms by themselves. The original image is a group of 4, but I thought 5 would be more pleasing to the eye. I couldn't really think of an appropriate greeting, so "just because" it became!
Supplies:
I was so focused on my sketch over at my clean & simple blog that I thought I'd take a stab at a not-so clean & simple card. I used the same basic sketch but added several steps. First I stamped the leaf, then I coloured in the non-inked parts with Copics. Next I cut it out and embossed it, twice, with ultra glossy embossing powder. I placed that over a background stamped oval. Next up, creating the matching patterned paper. I cut a piece of glossy white paper, stamped several leaves, then brayered a few inks until I got a colour I was happy with. Then I stamped the Weathered background over that and embossed the whole thing so it would set. I added an extra mat to the patterned paper layer. Instead of going with an ultra neutral card base, I stamped Linen on mustard paper, then sponged the edges. Remember when it was the "cool thing" to use tons of background stamps. It's fun to go back to that style every now and then.
I really love how the watercoloured roses turn out, so I did that as my watercolouring component. I actually colourwashed the whole thing with watercolour paint, let it dry, then I came back to it. I soaked it with water and added in bits of colour with reinkers. I did the same thing with the leaves. When it was almost dry, I added even more colour to make it really vibrant. Next, I didn't want all that vibrancy to fade, so I coated it with glossy Mod Podge. Once that was dry, I added bits of "dew" with crystal effects. The card ended up being quite large- 7x4.25.
Supplies: Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, It's Your Birthday, Friends 'til the End Ink/Reinkers: Versamark, Black Onyx, Ridinghood Red, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Certainly Celery Paper: Ridinghood Red, Watercolour Paper, Confetti White, Ginger Blossom DSP, Pink Pirouette Accessories, etc.: Texture Plate, Satin Ribbon, Nestabilities, White EP, Crystal Effects
And here's a close-up of the "dew".
So I wasn't feeling that inspired today, but I wanted to make something, so I checked out a few recent colour challenges. First up was this one by Kristina Werner . What I like to do with colour challenges is pull out a full piece of paper in each colour and see where it takes me. When I saw these 4 together, I thought Retro, which led me to using the Retro Background Basics. I like this diamond and circle pattern and thought it would look cool stamped in white on chocolate. Next, I grabbed Stem Silhouettes. One thing I really like about silhouette images is you can pair them with almost any colour group and any type of greeting. I thought this leafy image matched the whole retro vibe nicely. 
Next, I thought about doing this challenge by Dawn McVey. As I assessed the colours, I realized they would work well with the exact same layout. I kept the chocolate patterned part, used celery in place of saffron, and teal in place of tangerine. It worked really well, since the colours in this challenge were of similar brightnesses to those in the previous challenge. The only change here: I embossed the leaves. After the first card was mostly together, I thought, hmm embossing would've worked here. I already had everything adhered so I didn't want to take it apart or emboss over it (since warping would have occurred). 
First up is a card featuring Damask Designs. I was happy with the Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream, and Dark Chocolate colour combination the other day, so I decided to do that again. I added in one extra colour- Sage Shadow. It works quite well with these colours. The card is pretty basic. I did however do one thing I don't normally do... scoring as a means of decorating the card. First I masked off the side, stamped the one repeated background image there, then I scored two lines beside that, leaving enough room for a thin strip of cardstock. I really like how it turned out, I'll have to try that again some time.
Second up is a card featuring Fifth Avenue Floral. One thing I really like about line art is you can use not only for making fun backgrounds, but you can also really bring it to life with some sort of colouring medium. I stamped this flower and stem on watercolour paper, got out a few reinkers and got to work. I added some grey to really contrast with the orange and green. 
Time for another colour inspiration. This week, it's all about keeping things monochromatic with black, grey, and white.
I kept things pretty simple. I made some stamped patterned paper using black, white, and grey ink on grey cardstock. I adhered that to the card, added some 5/8'' black grosgrain and a simple knot. Next I added in my sentiment and stamped a few more flowers on the white base. Very quick, and any colours or sentiments could be used to fit any occasion.
Here's a card I made today for a colour challenge . It's been a few weeks, so I thought I'd take part in a challenge again. I'm not super thrilled with it, but that's okay. I was trying to put a slightly different spin on a fall-to layout. I really wanted some patterned Pretty in Pink paper, but I didn't want just solid dots. So I got out the stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped the dotted design from Big Bold Birthday several times over. I like the effect, but doubt I'd do that again. I SO don't have the patience for it.
Here's a pretty quick card for you tonight. I received this paper this last year some time from a publication. I hadn't used it because I believe I received it some time in the spring. Anyway, I "refound" it and was inspired. I thought it'd be fun to use a rub-on on some ribbon, so that's what I did. It's really very basic and I figured with paper as pretty as this, you might as well let it shine!
I finally made time to use some of my latest acquisitions. I had been eyeing this birthday set for quite some time and finally picked it up when it was on sale last month. I used the Hawaii Papaya patterned paper as my colour inspiration. It's a pretty standard layout, but I was on a square kick tonight, so that was a slight change.