Color Challenged

Yesterday's color challenge was a real challenge for me--and in more ways than one. First, I rarely reach for anything gold. I am much more likely to use silver as a metallic accent on anything I create (or wear, even). So, incorporating gold into a design along with red and black was hard for me. Add that to the fact that the inspiration for these colors was the Chinese New Year. This got me thinking along the lines of an Asian inspired design and I don't have any kinds of stamps or paper that remotely resemble anything Asian style. So, somehow from there, I decided to use the Polka Dots and Paisleys set that SU! demos received as a gift from SU! in December. I really like the images in this set, but it's been hard for me to come up with something I like using the images. There's definitely a theme developing here, isn't there?

The card in the picture is actually the second version I created. I knew I wanted to use a gold scalloped circle like a frame for the delicate flower image, but that was about all I had figured out. I started by digging around in my scrap file to make sure I actually had some gold cardstock in my stash, then playing around with the placement of the pieces on this card for a while before settling on the layout. I decided to emboss the sentiment in Gold Glory embossing powder (opened the jar for the very first time . . .). I ended up liking the way the gold pops on the red cardfront and I thought I was pretty satisfied with the end result. But, this morning, when I woke up, I realized I was still thinking about the card, so I decided to make a small adjustment. Instead of the gold pigment ink I originally used for the paisley on the black panel, I decided to use the Glory Gold embossing powder. Much better! More shine and more pop. Not a bad color combo after all . . .

Materials Used:
From Stampin' Up!: Polka Dots and Paisley stamp set; Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White cardstock; Versamark; Real Red and Basic Black markers; mat pack and paper piercer; Coluzzle and oval template; Gold Glory EP; red organdy ribbon; gold brads; stampin' dimensionals
Other: Marvy Uchida giga scalloped oval punch; gold cardstock (Michaels)