One of my favorite things to share with you each month is my Color Challenge design!! April’s Colors are so bright and cheery! They are Melon Mambo, Orchid Oasis, and Bermuda Bay. I love each of these colors individually but I don’t know that I would have put them all together. Isn’t that what a color challenge is all about? The first step in designing my color challenge cards each month is to choose a stamp set. This month I went with one of our Online Exclusives, Irresistible Blooms. I love the way it turned out and hope you do too!

I used a technique called the Emboss Resist technique for the flowers on this card. I stamped the larger flower two times using VersaMark ink, covered the ink with white embossing powder then heat set it using the heat tool. Next I used a small blending brush and Melon Mambo ink to color over the embossed flowers. Lastly, I wiped over the embossed part of the flower with a tissue to wipe away any ink left behind. The embossed part of the flower “resists” the ink and easily wipes away.

The leaves were stamped in Bermuda Bay ink and then cut out by hand but you could also use the dies that coordinate with this set. The sentiment was stamped on a white strip using Orchid Oasis ink.

To make the background layer, I used the “speckled” stamp and Orchid Oasis ink to “stamp-off” twice each time before stamping randomly all over the white layer. After stamping, I used one of the Basics 3D embossing folders for texture.

The flowers, leaves, and sentiment were glued to the white textured piece as shown. Not sure you can tell in the picture but the sentiment strip was wrapped around the back. This layer was then glued to a piece of Bermuda Bay. Dimensionals were used to adhere to the card base.

Here’s a closer look at the card itself.

Cutting Instructions:

• Thick Basic White: 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″
• Bermuda Bay: 5″ x 3 3/4″
• Basic White: 4 7/8″ x 3 5/8″; scraps for flowers & leaves; 3/4″ x 2″ for sentiment

Irresistible Blooms Bundle (English) [161150]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229]	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131197]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [147051]	Orchid Oasis Classic Stampin' Pad [159214]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [147096]	Basics 3 D Embossing Folders [161598]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Basics Embossing Powders [155554]	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053]	Small Blending Brushes [160518]