Swirls and Pearls Challenge entry

I love to surf the web for inspiration for my cards and I came across this lovely blog: Selma's Stamping Corner http://selmasstampingcorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/bloom-where-you-are-planted-plus.html . There I found a fabulous tutorial on how to make paper roses. I had to try it! It is a bit time consuming, probably because it's still new - but SO worth the effort. I have to share.

I decide to find a challenge where I could use this new technique. I went with Winter Wonderland - Swirls & Pearls challenge. http://christmasblogchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/01/swirls-and-pearls.html . The challenge was to create a card using swirls and pearl embellishments.

This week is not a Christmas Card, so I decided to make a Valentine Card. I felt that would fit perfectly with the roses I created. I was also inspired by Selma's use of white on white with loads of texture and detail, so I thought I would try that also. I think everything came together beautifully.

• I created a 5 x 5 card from my Cricut Wild Card cartridge.
• I then cut out a window from the center of the card using the Cricut Christmas cartridge - altered with my Gypsy to just cut the window openings.
• I then re-cut the shape on white cardstock, unaltered.
• I embossed the top portion of the card with my Quickcutz floral embossing folder - Rose. I felt the roses went well with the paper roses, and the centers have a lovely swirl shape to them.
• I cut some embellishments swirls from the Cricut Home decor cartridge, and some floral Baby's Breath from Cricut Serenade cartridge (both in white cardstock) and added a bunch of pearls.
• I then layered everything, using foam squares to give some height and 'oomph' to my embellishments.
• I have this super cute stamp, I think from the $1 bin at Michael's (can't beat that, right???). I added this to the un-embossed section at the bottom of the card, and heat embossed with a translucent red pearl powder. I love how the X's have little swirls on them, fits right with the theme.

I specifically did not add a sentiment to the inside, as I am not sure who the recipient is going to be yet...

OK, so here you have it. The first picture shows the whole card, and the second is an attempt to show just the the detail of the stamp - a bit blurry though.

As always, many many thanks to the talented desing teams that give me constant inspiration for my cardmaking. And a super big thanks to Selma for posting the wonderful rose tutorial.

Blessings!

Kat