Bold Blooms

Wild, isn't it?  One of great things about papercrafting is the chance to try on a completely different style.  If you buy an item of clothing that isn't quite your style, you might love it or not.  If not, it sits in your closet taking up space and radiating guilt.  I love the color yellow but I can't wear it with my skin tone.  I don't even have that much of it in my home.  It has to be an accent for me.  And orange, forget it.  For years, I said it was my least favorite color.  However, I've come to really enjoy orange on my scrapbook pages and my cards. I don't want to live with it all the time, yet I can indulge in something totally different on my pages.

So this layout that screams yellow and orange is definitely, ah, different, for me.  It isn't just the colors.  I did this one for two challenges.  One is the Scrapbooker's Anonymous challenge this month to use at least 7 flowers from your stash - no homemade ones.  Such a shame as I've really been into making my own flowers lately.  Fortunately I remembered these from Hobby Lobby's floral department that I thought were a great bargain and I stocked up for cards.  However, they are so large you have to do a large square card and I just don't make many of those.  Once you have made someone a card with a large flower like this on it, you and they will remember it so less is more.  You just can't send a big yellow daisy birthday card year after year.  There is a baker's dozen flowers adhered to the background with glue dots.  More submissions at:  March Challenge

I also worked through the stash with this ancient piece of brown MME paper for the background and some old chipboard I painted and stamped to replicated the look of the lattice in the background of these photos.

Speaking of the photos... they are from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg, California.   This will be the intro page to several pages on these gorgeous gardens.  

The other challenge this layout is being submitted to is from Two Peas "Products You Love" class.  This month's topic is buttons.  I frequently put a button in the center of a flower.  My tiny alteration here is to use a cluster of buttons which I suppose is more realistic for the center of a flower.  Check out Shannon's class at:  Two Peas March class

Thanks for braving the flower patch today!

Ingredients:  Chipboard:  Stampin' Up!
Flowers: silk from Hobby Lobby
Buttons:  Fancy Pants, Basic Grey and various sources
Cardstock:  Early Espresso and Crumb Cake
DSP:  My Mind's Eye
STickers:  Paper Studio