This week’s Dynamic Duos color challenge had me stumped for several days.  Although I know from art class back in junior high school that complementary colors (across the color wheel from each other) are supposed to work together, blue and orange still proves to be a difficult combination for me.  In my head, I tossed around the possibility of flowers – but then I would have wanted to add green stems and leaves and that wouldn’t work for the challenge.  I also thought about birthday presents but nothing really seemed to click.  Eventually my brain came back to nature, and I thought of autumn leaves against a blue sky.  Which, of course, seems really out of season right now since spring has finally arrived.  LOL  But I figured, I’m frequently working seasons ahead of time for Operation Write Home, so an autumn-ish card shouldn’t look too out of place here on my blog.

So here’s what I’ve created.  I sponged the blue ink onto the image panel first.  Then I stamped the leaves.  I wanted to add a little extra orange to the leaves, so I took a slightly damp paintbrush and “painted” water over the stamped leaves to spread the ink.  I didn’t want to blur the edges of the leaves, but just soften and spread the color inside of them.  I scored lines on the card base to frame the image panel, added a simple sentiment, and attached the panel.  Clean, simple, and fairly quick – and almost a one-layer card, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I do read and appreciate all comments – they brighten my day!

Supplies:
Stamps: unnamed leaf stamp (StampCraft); Everyday Messages (Stampendous)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin’ Up)
Other: scoring board (Martha Stewart); sponge; paintbrush & water