Scrap Stash Saturday!

I'll warn you right now....today's post is longer than usual! If you don't have time to read it through right now, you might want to come back when you have a spare hour:)!.....

I love Scrap Stash Saturdays! It gives me a reason to use up the scraps that are threatening to invade my studio. I need to come up with a project soon though that I can use tons of scraps on! I do have one little idea gel'n in my brain right now....

So, do you want to know what the "twist" is on today's Scrap Stash Saturday? Well, I was getting a little bored just doing the same ol'-same ol' on Saturdays. Pick the paper, make the card. Boring. Instead, this time, I reached into my scrap drawer...WITH MY EYES CLOSED...and pulled out four different pieces of designer scraps!!!!! Wow, am I actually this courageous in real life, or am I doing this just for the sake of my blog, just for the ratings, as they say in television? Mmmm, a very thought-provoking question.....I think I'm really just a very daring person when it comes to my creative thought processes. What the heck do I have to lose? It's just art. This is totally NOT brain surgery peeps!

Here are the four pieces of paper I pulled out for my Scrap Stash Saturday card...can you say "hyperventilate"? Yikes! Whew. These are some patterns alright. Do you want to know a little secret though? These papers did not scare me in the least. They charged me up! Could I do this? Could I bring all these different patterns and colors together in a cohesive look? I knew I could. Bring it on sistah's!

Again, with all the patterns, I needed a simple layout. No need to add more busyness to the card than the papers would already bring to the table. Both the main image and sentiment needed to be simple. So, to start, I used the multi-colored polka dot paper as the main background and cut small rectangle pieces from the other three papers. I laid out the rectangles kiddy-korner from each other all the way down the card. One of the papers I used twice. Each rectangle was sewn to the card using a zig zag stitch (insert note here to Beate: Yes, Beate, I now have my sewing machine set up in my studio full time! There's no excuse not to use it now!). With this layout, your eye now travels via the multi-colored paper all the way down the card to drink in all the amazing patterns and colors the card displays! The main image was stamped with ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Creamy Brown. It's matted with with the burgandy designer scrap paper and adhered to the card with foam tape. The sentiment is from my Paper Tray stamps and is stamped with Cranberry Crisp ink.

So see, I did it. And it's not hard, my friends. Please give this "technique" (I put it in quotes, cuz I'm not sure putting very different patterns of paper together is really a "technique" as much as it is a "style"!) a try sometime this weekend if you're ready to stretch yourself a little beyond your norms. It might not be a style you use over and over again, but the more you work with different patterns and colors and push yourself out of your comfort zone (and out of what this industry deems "acceptable"), the more you'll grow! And the more you push yourself out of your comfort zone, the better chance you'll have of finding a style unique to you! I can pretty much say with 99% assurance that when people (in our little blog world) hear or see the name Amy Westerman, they know they'll be treated to a card that will give them an eyeful of color and pattern. I LOVE that people are learning that about me. Color is what makes the world beautiful. Where would we be if we didn't have color? Would sitting on the deck in the morning (sippin' a cup'a joe), be anywhere NEAR as beautiful and satisfying if you were looking at flowers of black and white? Flowers of yellow, pink, red, orange, purple and blue are what wakes your senses! God gave us color for a purpose....so we could enjoy our time on earth and drink in all he has blessed us with. Why should your artwork provide anything less? Celebrate color. Embrace pattern. They are around us every where we turn. And thank God for that!

Ok, I'll step off my cheerleader box now (I'm sorry if I'm too enthusiastic sometimes). I have one more suprise for you this morning. One of my new blogging friends, Denise Roberts, sent me a package FILLED with fun scraps and embellishments! Remember, I invited you guys to send me scraps if you wanted to challenge me to make a card with them....? Well, Denise took me up on the offer in spades! She sent TONS of stuff. One more bit of honesty for you....Denise's scraps really DID cause me to hyperventilate. It's one thing to make a card using your own scraps (papers you picked out because you LOVED them), but it's completely another thing to have someone send you their scraps, which were papers THEY loved! Denise, you challenged me GOOD!!!!

Denise sent me about three different "groupings of paper". I chose the "purple paper grouping" (my words, not hers) because they appealed to me the most. Here are the scraps from the purple group....


See what I mean....WOWZA! Them are some patterned papers!!!! Think, think, think. Pray, pray, pray. Run, run, run!I'm just kidding....I didn't run. I just got busy!

I used the white/purple patterned paper in the largest capacity so the card wouldn't appear so heavy. It was matted with the purple "flecked" paper, because it was so bold and would have overpowered the rest of the card if it appeared much more than it does. I stamped and Prisma colored the Hero Arts flower to pick up the flowers in the paper. The stem of the flower is one of the ribbons Denise sent me, and the leaves of the stem are actually leaves that Denise sent! Perfection! The only thing I'm not so crazy about on the card is the ladybug. I tell you, me and Little Lady are not diggin' each other these days. I'm having a rough time with her. I hope we don't part ways.....

So, I think it's time to end the post for today! If you actually read through this, hugs to you for staying with me! I had such a blast today with the blind scrap pull and this reader challenge! I hope Denise likes the card I made with her beloved scraps!

Have a great day!