CAS Bicycle

The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is "Pop of Color." I must admit, this is kind of tough for me--I do love colors! But I decided to give it a go with this card.

I began by choosing Operation Write Home's Sketch #259 for my design. I figured, a pop of color deserved a CAS design, and this sketch seemed to fit the bill perfectly! I also used Hero Arts' "Bicycle" stamp, which I've had forever, and never inked up before. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Then I colored the flowers, basket, & wheel rims with my Zig Clean Color pens. My own bicycle has teal rims, so I colored this image to match!

For the background, since I needed it to be neutral (to stick with the challenge theme), I decided to use the "Swirl Background" embossing folder by Darice. I just couldn't stand to have all that empty space with no decoration whatsoever! :) I drew a light pencil line 1/2" up from the bottom of my A2 size panel of pale grey cardstock, and lined the edge of the folder up with that, then ran it through my Grand Calibur die cutting machine. I used one of the stamps from Mama Elephant's "Basic Borders" to stamp the bottom in Versafine Onyx Black. I added 1/8"-wide black strips above & below that, just to finish it off. Finally, I adhered my focal panel & mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's "Color In"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: "Fabulous Florals" (hopefully the flowers in the bicycle basket count!)