SNSSJAN12RP01, Catch the Bug-Anything Goes

Hi there!

This card is for the challenge over at splitcoaststampers.com hosted by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
The challenge was to use black, white and one other single color. We were allowed to color the image, though. I was a bit late for this, as we only had until today to submit it but we're not allowed to upload cards on Sundays unless we're Fan Club members, so this technically won't be an entry to that challenge. Still, I was glad for the inspiration, as I needed a thank you card for a neighbor who loves orchids.

I will be entering it into the anything goes challenge going on over at the Catch The Bug blog.

Also entering it into CRAFT136 over at the C.R.A.F.T. challenge blog.

I had ordered this orchid stamp set made by Flourishes a while back but had not inked it up. I opened it to find out it had the wrong sticker insert but that's ok. If I decide to switch the stamps to a cd case, I'll just stamp on acetate or on the outside of the case with Stazon.

Here's the card:

I am going to try my hand at a better version of this. Where I stamped the sentiment first, I messed it up. And this after coloring the image! I wanted to cry with frustration, lol. I took out an Xacto knife and cut out a rectangle, and then taped a card front behind the actual card front and stamped the sentiment in. Then I framed the ragged edges with a black pen. My, does it look messy :S I want to make more of these cards because I know they would be a huge hit. If these don't sell, then I do not know what will! 

Ok, I'll explain the colors I used now.

For the shading on the white petals, I used T0 as the dark and then C00 as the lighter gray. 

On the yellow areas on the center, I used Y00 and Y08.

For the buds, I used YG01, YG03, YG23 and YG25; on the stems I used YG03, YG67, G07 and YG17.

I know you can't tell on the picture, but I used a load of colors on the purple parts on the centers of the orchids. Here's the full sequence from light to dark: V12, V15, RV09, RV17, RV19, R39. How did I choose those colors? I looked up pictures of orchids on the internet and using the hand-colored chart of my Copic colors, I went and matched what showed on the computer screen to the colors I had. These orchids come in so many color varieties that I could easily make a 10 card set and color them all differently. For now, since I have the colors out, I'll just focus on trying to recreate this particular color combo. I shaded the outline of the stamped image with the C00 instead of a light blue. That's my preference.

Now for the list of supplies:

paper: stamped on Neenah Solar White 80# card stock; added an extra white panel of Georgia Pacific white

stamps: Papertrey Ink- Mega Mixed Messages; Flourishes- Orchids

ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black; Colorbox in Orchid

Copic colors: T0, C00, YG01, YG03, YG17,YG23, YG25, YG67, G07, Y00, Y08, V12, V15, RV09, RV17, RV19, R39

accessories: craft knife; pink round rhinestones; fine tip black pen

Thanks for looking!