Bring Back Beautiful.... Go Neutral!

Hi all! It's the first Monday of the month, which means, it's time for another Bring Back Beautiful Challenge thanks to Flourishes! This one is being hosted by the lovely Beate Johns and her challenge to us was to go neutral! That's right - no real color, just shades of neutral colors like greys,browns, even black and white!

And so.... here's what I whipped up!


After stamping my daffodil from the A Year in Flowers 1 set on Flourishes Classic White, I colored it up with Copic markers in shades of brown and grey. I did add a touch of a grey green (YG91)and a wee bit of a neutral yellow (Y21) just to shade and it's funny, when you add just that touch and then add a bit of color with your paper -- it looks like a softened color. I also used the warm neutrals Copic has (W00, W01, W03, W05), and the browns I used were a mix of Flourishes Flesh Tones 1 Collection. After it was colored, I did cut my image out with Spellbinders Petite Ovals LG and then cut a mat with Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Ovals LG. Next came the fun part of matting and this below... the Grand Calibur was how I was able to create a fun shaped mat! I used this machine plus one of Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Dies called Grand Labels One.

I love the fact that you can cut mats that are up to 8" wide! And, you can cut multiple shapes at once, which is nice.

After stitching along the side, I added a strip of embossed decorative paper from the BasicGrey Orgins pack that I had run through my Calibur with an embossing folder. I then lightly sanded the raised image. Add some crochet lace, some cotton linen ribbon, and a fun decorative brad and alsmost done! The sentiment is from of Flourishes new sets called Hello Hydrangea.

Here's a close up!
 

I have to say, if Beate hadn't have ushered in this challenge, I wouldn't have thought to color up an image this way. I love it though and can see myself doing this again! Want more info on the challenge? Click HERE. And, don't forget to hop on over and see what the other 'Beauty Gals' created!

Beate JohnsCindy Coutts
Heather Jensen
Kathy Jones
Yvonne Hagane
Laura Fredrickson

Thanks for stopping by and happy Monday!