Color Throwdown #398

Hello everyone!  Last week I won The Color Throwdown Challenge #396 which means that this week, I get to be the guest designer for The Color Throwdown #398.  Using lots of bright color is always somewhat of a challenge for me so when I saw the challenge graphic, I knew I had to really get into gear and use some color! This image has some cool refreshment on a hot summer day and I wanted to be equal to that challenge. Doesn't it look just divine?

Last weekend we had picked up a yellow watermelon at our local Sprouts and my husband had cut it up last Friday night and put it in the fridge.  When I went to get some a little while ago, I found that it was pretty much slush, so I continued that trend by tossing it in my blender with some ice and a bit of Vanilla Rum.  This was a very small (personal sized) melon so there wasn't much there once it went into the blender since watermelons are 92% water. It was the perfect icy refreshment for a hot summer day.  Our heat index is only 95° today! It's been at 115° for the last few days.  Let's just say I'm glad I work inside. *Ü*

For my challenge card this week, I started with some Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper and the Papertrey Ink Painted Petals Stamp Set.  I had only used a sentiment from this set previously but I really wanted to give it a good test run for this card so I also pulled out my MISTI. One of the things I really like about using the MISTI is the ability to double stamp everything to get a really vibrant concentration of color.  This was just the thing I was looking for to create this card.  The colors in the inspiration image are soooo vibrant and I wanted to create a card equal to that.

The Painted Petals Stamp Set has 4 different flowers with between 4 and 5 layers for each one.  It's a way to use layered similar colors on an image.  The color interpretations for the challenge are Red Raspberry, Hot Pink, Lime Green and Yellow but I also threw some coral into the mix. You don't have to use the exact colors, just something in that vicinity.  My flowers are a combination of  Hibiscus Burst, Berry Sorbet, Pure Poppy, Scarlet Jewel, Raspberry Fizz, Vintage Jadeite with some Gold Embossing tossed in there for the "yellow" in the flowers.  I used SU!'s So Saffron Cardstock for the background panel.  By double stamping each of the colored layers, I was able to achieve this very vibrant color and by using the MISTI, I didn't goof them up when I was doing that.  When you use watercolor paper and you double stamp your images, that paper will stay damp longer than usual so don't forget to let the images dry all the way before you add that final layer of heat embossing to the blooms.  I almost forgot!  Once that part was done, I die cut everything using the coordinating Painted Petals Dies.

I made a top folding 5.5 x 4.25 inch card base from Stamper's Select White.  This is my absolute favorite, go to card stock.  It is #110 and super smooth.  Using the WPLUS9 Design Studio Sunshine Layers Dies, I cut a scalloped, stitched rectangle background panel from SU!'s So Saffron cardstock then arranged my flowers.  The "Sending" stamp from Painted Petals was a little large for my card design so I used the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Sending Die with the Sunshine & Hugs sentiment stamp from Painted Petals.

I'm thinking of sending this card to a crafty friend in Europe who is not yet into these dog days of summer that we are experiencing here in the Southwest.  Have you seen how hot it has been in Arizona this year already? Crazy weather for sure.  If it's 115 actual degrees, how hot is the heat index?  My nephew posted yesterday that it was 115 degrees in Cottonwood, AZ where he lives. That is too hot for me!

I hope you all have a great week and be sure to check out the current challenge over at The Color Throwdown.  They have a new challenge every Wednesday.