COLOR THROW DOWN

Well, I have decided to enter a card in a contest. I've never done it before and my style is certainly not as complicated as most mainly because I don't have all the stuff some of the card makers have and use. But I thought I would try.

The throw down required the colors Bermuda Bay, Green Galore, and Barely Banana. I didn't have the exact colors but made do with what I had that was similar. My green was a shade lighter, so I took my Green Galore SU marker and just colored the edge that showed. : ) We also were required to use a frog and I only had one and it has hearts on its body...a real Valentine frog if I ever saw one! I searched and searched through my paper and CS and couldn't find anything but florals with those colors. Very frustrating, because I feel like I have lots of paper and CS and still NOT the right look. : ( Is this a common experience for others?

I decided to make the card itself out of the Barely Banana color and layered the Green Galore with the Bermuda Bay on top. I had a dotted paper with different colored dots that are glittered. I put that on top and SU scalloped the bottom edge short and it made it look like blue water on the bottom. I don't have a machine designated for sewing paper, so just "drew "stitches around the edges on the green only. The dotted paper is from Doodlebug Design, Inc.

I found a Darcie's saying" Love Hits The Spot" and stamped it on the barely-banana-look-alike CS in black Momento ink. I matted the heart first in green and then in the blue and popped it up on the dotted CS. I tied a turquoise ribbon from Wal-Mart that is striped sheer and satin. I put the bow near the point of the heart to draw the eye there. I drew my own lily pad and added a little Green Galore shading. I ruffled the edges to give it dimension but stuck it down fairly flat with the red double-sided tape. The frog is a Judith stamp H-95 that I bought off of ebay. I stamped it on the barely banana CS and colored with SU green galore marker and pixie pink hearts and a yo-yo yellow tummy. I covered the frog with Crystal Effects but found that it curled a little because I had cut it out first. When I tried to flatten it , it cracked a little. So I stuck it down with pop dots and added more of the Crystal Effects to cover the cracks, and it did. I also discovered a little stain of something near the bottom right corner, so I added the three homemade hearts that are glittered with Stickles. Necessity is the mother of invention they say!

So that is my offering. I came down with a virus and so won't swear to any of the above information, but I think it is all correct. Hope you like my first humble offering.

I am thinking my card is simple compared to some, but I realize that since it is only 4 1/4 x 5 1/2", I may be limiting the "canvas" I am working on. I don't know the size of the cards most gals make, so if any one will share their nuggets of wisdom with me, I would appreciate it.