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.

Color Q & Simon Says Challenges

When I got up this morning, the first thing I checked was the Color Q Blog to see what the new colors were for the new challenge this week.  I love coral and pink so this challenge was one I definitely wanted to participate in.  Plus the new theme for this week over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is Flowers.  The colors listed at Color Q are all Stampin' Up! colors but we can use a representation of the colors listed which is what I did.

I started with the Square Label from the Don't Forget to Write Kit cut from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  This kit has been wildly popular and they are accepting pre-orders for a very limited time -- until May 16 at 7:00 a.m. ET.  The stamps and dies alone make up $80.00 of the cost plus there are many additional items in the kit including stencils & papers and a downloadable PDF File created by the Designer, Betsy Veldman.  Anyway, I love it.

I used the Don't Forget to Write Stamp Set that came in the kit (it is not available for individual purchase) and stamped the corner flourishes and then the striped outline in Papertrey Ink's Berry Sorbet.  I used my MISTI tool so that I could double stamp to intensify the color.  Then I set that aside while I started stamping the bouquet. Since green wasn't one of the colors in the "Queue", I decided to stamp the leaves and stems in Kraft Ink.  I actually really like how this looks and decided this will be a great way to start using up some of my Kraft paper as well. Initially, I wasn't too crazy about the way it looked until I was finished putting all of the other layers of color in. For the large bouquet, there are seven different steps to get the finished product. The colors I used are Sahara Sand (Kraft), Berry Sorbet (Calypso Coral), Hibiscus Burst, Melon Mambo, and Sweet Blush (for Peach Parfait).  The scalloped background panel is from the WPLUS9 Sunshine Layers Designer Dies and is cut from Berry Sorbet Cardstock.  Everything has been misted with a coat of Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz (of course).  The card base is made from Sahara Sand Cardstock from SU!

I still need some practice at getting each layer of stamping lined up perfectly, but this bouquet turned out pretty well.  I was not as successful with the smaller bouquets on my first attempt so more practice will be needed but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make. *Ü*   I really love how the Kraft color in the bouquet and the card match and tie everything together.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.  I'm sure this is just one of many cards you will see me creating from this kit.  There are so many possible ideas and I plan to make a few more before today is over.  Please feel free to leave a comment if you like.  I read and treasure each one.