Waffle Flower Challenge - 1 Hello, Friend

"Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want."
                                                                        ---------------Joseph Wood Krutch



Hi, Friends.....

I am here with the first of two cards that I made for a fabulous challenge from Waffle Flower.  
 
Here's the photo inspiration.  Isn't that an awesome color palette???  I was just fascinated with these deep rich colors.  They are so different from what I usually use that I couldn't resist giving them a try! 

My card is a big departure from my regular style of layers of papers and lots of embossing.  Awhile back, I found two plastic French curve tools for a dime a piece at our local thrift store.  I couldn't pass them up because I knew I could use them somehow, eventually.  Ha! (The "somehow, eventually" justification is why my stash is overflowing!!!)


The other day, I had this idea to use one of these tools to draw a graceful curve across a card front and informally stamp small images following the curve.  When I saw the interesting palette for this challenge, I knew I wanted to give this idea a try using these colors.

I knew I wanted to use a solid heart as one of the little images, but looked in my stash and couldn't find a suitable stamp.  I did have one from a cheapo thrift store grab bag with a circle around the heart, though.  So, throwing caution to the wind, I carved off the circle with my utility knife and had the heart I wanted.  

A previous owner apparently stamped this with some kind of paint that left a wavy residue and wouldn't wash off.  I didn't realize that it would show up when I used it, but it does.....and I totally love the texture it adds!!!  In the photo below, you might notice that during my carving, I accidentally took a small chunk out of the heart...OOPS!  But, you know what?  I LOVE how that looks, too.  :)

My other little images are from a discontinued Clear Dollar Stamps set called Blooming Bouquet.  To go with my informal look, I used Distress Inks for stamping:  Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Chipped Sapphire, and Stormy Sky.  The lovely scripty sentiment is from Inky Antics - Script Sentiments #1 that I also stamped in Aged Mahogany.  I wanted to keep the clean look to this card, so I made a very narrow mat with some deep blue Core'dinations cardstock. 

So what do you think???  Is this a style I should try more often?  I really love the graceful and casual look of the little images stamped on the curve.  It almost might make a CAS girl out of me....at least some of the time!  :)  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I have another card for this same Waffle Flower challenge, so I will see you soon!  Have a lovely rest of the weekend!!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Waffle Flower Photo Inspiration Challenge January 12-25, 2015 
2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart
3. Add a Little Dazzle - Dazzling Diva Challenge #59 - Music or Anything Goes
4. Vandicrafts Artistry Challenge - January 2015 - Anything Goes