Welcome back!

I made this card for the JustRite Friday Challenge #071. I was really happy with this one, so I also submitted it to the Crafty Friends Challenge.

Welcome Back!

This week, Challenge Hostess Sheri Holt, chose a photo to inspire us.  It's funny that she isolated the yellow, pink and peach; when I look at that picture, I am most inspired by the greens. I think what makes this image look so inviting is the back-lighted, blurred background, brighter in parts than the focal elements. I tried to capture that, and the colors Sheri selected (plus the greens) in my card.

I only discovered the JustRite Original stamps a couple of months ago. I love the way the borders and centers coordinate, and fit into the circular die cut doilies that so fascinate me. All of the JustRite Original stamps are currently being retired; I would be delighted to know when a new release will come out! In this card, I stamped a flower from the now retiring Plant a Little Love Set in brown Memento ink. I then stamped a border from a recently retired JustRite Original set called, Birthday Celebrations, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I used the JustRite 15pt font to stamp the sentiment (retired? I couldn't find it on the site).

I colored the flowers with my Copic markers, beginning by coloring the flowers and leaves entirely in warm grays (W1, W3, W5), to give a sepia quality to the shading. Then I added reds, greens and a little yellowish brown, shading as usual. I colored the background in light shades to capture some of that back-lighted quality I see in the photograph.

Welcome Back! Detail

I cut the flowers out with a Spellbinder Standard Circle die, and then sponged the edges and the embossed border with a pale pink Memento ink, to make the white design pop out. I used Spellbinder Lacy Circles dies to mat the image in green. I stamped the sentiment in brown ink and cut it with Spellbinder Petite Scalloped Circles dies. The border (from a discontinued JustRite two inch stamper set) fell just outide the embossing from the die, giving the edge an ornate look. I sponged and matted it to add even more definition.

Welcome Back! Detail

I stitched the background papers together on my sewing machine (I am really enjoying sewing on card stock! Here's the video about zig-zagging that I watched from Gina K.). Then I assembled the card and added a bow with a cloisonne bead charm (I bought the bead from Fire Mountain Gems, through the wholesaler Jet Beads, to get the best price).

Blockheads Paper Arts is having a blog hop featuring the embossed resist technique. Here's how to play.

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Thanks for looking!