Worth the Struggles?




My card today put up a fight! It took me way too long to make
this card - for some reason today, the ideas in my head were not
making it to paper the way I intended.
I was very frustrated so I took a break and had some chai tea. I gave 
myself a 'pep talk' and, well it must have worked because a little while later
 I had an idea for this weeks sketch challenge at Merry Monday that I 
combined with a color challenge at Pals Paper Arts
Here is the sketch...


and here are the colors

I love the look of the decorative dots EF when done on the vellum
card stock - it has such a soft look about it - it's like watching the snow
fall on a quiet night. Stamping the trees in Bermuda Bay onto Crumb Cake
card stock makes the color appear darker than it truly is - when I look at it I 
have to remind myself that I did indeed use Bermuda Bay. 
I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to add a splattering of white so as
to give the illusion of snow falling.


Since I wasn't using traditional Christmas colors, I decided I didn't want
 to use the traditional holly. I opted to use a flower from the Petite Petals
stamp set - stamping it in red helps to not take away from the
Christmas theme.
I used my Real Red marker to coordinate a few brads for the top corner, 
sponged every piece possible - except the flower - 
popped up a couple of the layers to give it some dimension and I'm done.

Yes, this card did put up a fight, but in the end I think it
was worth the struggles.  What do you think?



supplies:
card stock: whisper white, crumb cake, vellum
stamp sets: Merry Merry (Recollections), Petite Petals,
        Gorgeous Grunge
ink: real red, bermuda bay, crumb cake, whisper white
big shot: decorative dots EF, pretty print EF, circles framelits
punch: petite petals coordinating punch
embellishments: brads (?)


Happy Stampin'
and thanks so much for visiting!!






Comments

Sandie Conner said…
A little break will do you good, I love how the card turned out. Lovely! Thanks for having fun with the Pals this week!
A fun change from typical Christmas colors. Your break served you well!
Katie Melhus said…
Way to power through! The end result is lovely :) There are many times when I have to step away for a while when struggling then find it goes so much better after some distance. You really made the sketch look great! So glad you joined us this week at Merry Monday!
Bonnie said…
Taking a break did the trick, Susangail! This is awesome! Love the colors and the three trees! Let me know if you want to be our Guest Designer next week. And thanks for sharing with us again this week.
I think you WON the battle! I've had many of those days myself where things just don't look like I want them to. YOU have created a beautiful card!! Thanks so much for playing with us at Merry Monday!
Susan Joyce said…
Lovely card it was worth the fight and a cup of tea. LOL Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday.
Notes by Nina said…
Very pretty card, Thank you for joining us for Merry Monday.
Wendy said…
Adorable!!! Just love your pretty trees and that embossed vellum piece! Great take on the sketch! Thanks for playing along with us this week over at Merry Monday! :)
Susan Powell said…
thanks so much Ladies :)