I wanted a little change of pace from the “clean” cards I made for the blog hop last weekend.  I must say that Funky Four pretty much demands a clean style.  For today’s card, I pulled out a set that has been languishing in my stamp drawer for far too long…Fresh Cuts.  I found yet another great sketch from the Operators at Stampin’ 411:

They really have a knack for a great layout!  I, like many of you, have a stash of designer paper.  When things retire, I hold on to my very favorites.  One of the DSPs from last year that I just loved was Nouveau Chic.  The colors are so pretty together and seemed to fit my stamping mood.  Gray, icy, a little distressed…just like the view outside my window today.

As a starting point, I stamped the “background” image from Fresh Cuts in Sage Shadow (retired) and then stamped the leaf image in Basic Gray over it.  After that I chose the papers for the panels and distressed everything.  It was still missing something so I stamped the words and punched them out with my Large Oval Punch and put on a Scallop Oval base.  Finally, I added some Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon using the scrunching technique and frayed the ends a bit.

Hint:  Once you have distressed the edges of your designer paper, sponge some color on the edges to finish the look (Basic Gray used here).

So glad you were able to stop in today.  I hope you are not adversely affected by the huge weather pattern crossing the U.S. today!!  See you again on Thursday for another ColorLab Challenge.

Stamp:  Fresh Cuts (111634); Paper:  Nouveau Chic DSP (retired), Basic Gray (121044), Very Vanilla (101650); Ink:  Sage Shadow (retired), Basic Gray (120966); Accessories:  Basic Gray Taffeta (retired), Large Oval Punch (119855), Scallop Oval Punch (119856), Antique Brads (117273), Sponges (101610), Dimensionals (104430)

All products are Stampin’ Up!