Cardmaking Challenges

One of the most difficult things that I find when sitting down to craft is thinking of what to make.  I sit down with all my crafty stash around and... nothing.  Without a pattern, or a plan or some sort of guide it can be overwhelming.  There's simply too much choice.  What materials should I use, how does everything go together, what layout would work best, what colours should I use, which embossing folder, which dies, which papers, and so on, and so on.

So I decided to find a few papercraft/cardmaking challenge blogs to help me out.  Having someone else come up with the idea leaves me free to focus on the making.

Here is a card that I made with a summery theme.  It's a bit of a departure for me as yellow is not one of my "go to" colours.

I used the Sizzix Tim Holtz Rays Texture Fades embossing folder on yellow card stock and highlighted the raised areas with yellow ink.  I've tried to emboss the rays but I think I need more practice with that.  The butterfly and flower are from the Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp & die set, which I've coloured in with Spectrum Noirs.  The small flowers are also die cut from Creata patterned and glittered paper.  The sentiment came with the latest issue of Papercrafter magazine.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Here Come Summer

Crafty Cardmakers and More - It's a Bug's Life

C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Make Your Own Embellishments