Exciting News!!!

First I have to share my story (go figure, right?)... I've been trying to play along with the Color Throwdown challenge (CTD54) since WEDNESDAY last week! If you can't see them in the image above, the colors for the challenge were Basic Gray, Blush Blossom, Pumpkin Pie, and Really Rust.

I don't know what my hang up is, but I truly have one with the color orange (I don't own Pumpkin Pie, so translation in my head = orange). Don't get me wrong, I like and use several variations of orange (rust, coral, etc...), but orange itself, I avoid like the plague!

I tried multiple images (from different companies) I've been wanting to use, switching the colors to see what worked best, tried a clean look, distressed look, several different techniques...you name it, nothing felt right. BUT, after all of my trial and error for almost a full week, I finally figured something out last night....this card:

It's hard to see in the photo, but I stamped the image in Blush Blossom first, then in Really Rust. When I embossed with clear powder and then heat-set it again with Dazzling Diamonds, some of the rust flowers turned orange! COOLNESS...now I had all my colors :O) I also added an orange flower and velvet brad for good measure!! LOL

I knew I wanted a clean background to really make the colors pop, so I went with white and a little Cuttlebug embossing. I sponged the edges of both white panels with gray to give it a little more dimension, yet keep the clean look. Oh...and I didn't take a picture of the inside but it says, "So glad you're in it". Isn't that the cutest gee-whiz sentiment to put on a card for someone you hold near and dear? I just loved it when I read it. Lisa Johnson comes up with some of the most amazing Papertrey Ink sets! I just love her style :O)

I uploaded it to SCS around midnight last night! Yes, I was up late on a work night stamping, but I really wanted to come up with something for this challenge since it was so challenging to me! I was bound and determined to create a card with these colors!! LOL

Fast forward to my exciting news! My card led to my selection as the Featured Stamper this week!! Woohoo!! I couldn't BELIEVE it when I saw my card featured!!!! How awesome is that? Totally, right? I am on cloud 9!

Last but not least, I can't forget to mention my layout. It came from Mercy Kerin's Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC33) last week. I'm trying to catch up now that I've been introduced to her sketches. I just think they're so fun and easy to work with :O) You should really check them out if you haven't already!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my exciting news! Supplies for my card are listed in my SCS gallery post. Hope you're having an amazing week!