Classic Black and White with Red

Today's card is made with the classic color combination of black, white and red.  Honestly, you can add almost anything to a card with these colors and it will look good! :)

I wanted to use a new die-cut I bought a few months back ... it's been sitting there collecting dust and so today is the day!!  It's the Curly Q Border die from C.C. Designs and right away you think, telephone cord, but I know I can do lots of other things with it, just need to experiment a little.  Today I used it for the border of my birthday card and am happy with how it turned out.  The only negative is that I made a small card (4 1/4" square) so you don't get to see much of the border, which also has the flower on top.  But, I did add an inside panel to the card that has a bottom border of 1" of black polka-dot, topped with the red ribbon and the black Curly Q Border, so you get a good dose of it when you open the card.  Hope you like this clean and simple card for the CAS challenge this week at SCS - CAS175 - inspiration photo of a black and white bathing suit ... I just had to add a little pop of red :)

"Polka-dot Birthday"

Stamp:  Happiest Birthday Wishes (SU!)
Paper:  Basic Black, Black polka-dot DP (SU!); Bazzill White
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Giant Daisy and Small Sun punches (Punch Bunch), Big Shot, Curly Q Border (C.C. Designs), mat, stylus, 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain ribbon, Embossing Buddy, White embossing powder, heat tool, sticky strips, glue, and dimensionals

I punched three giant daisies from Bazzill white cardstock, pinched them to shape the petals and then glued the layers together, offsetting the petals.  I punched nine small suns from basic black cardstock, molded them with my mat and stylus to break down the fibers to make the cardstock easier to manipulate, cut into each sun just past center and then rolled them into a cone shape.  I glued eight (on their sides) in a circle around the center of the flower, leaving a small space in the middle.  The ninth rolled sun is glued to the center space, standing upright.

I then mounted the polka-dot paper onto the white panel and added the red ribbon over top of where the two pieces meet and wrapping the ends to the back to secure.  I glued the Curly Q Border on top of the red ribbon, trimming the ends; and then mounted the panel onto my black card base.  I added the flower on top, popping it up with dimensionals to add depth.  After the card was done, I realized it was missing something, so I carefully added the sentiment in versamark and embossed in white ... normally I would have done that before adding all the layers.

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I was experimenting with making a poinsettia using my new flower making book.  I didn't have the punches they suggested, substituting my Cheery Lynn Small Leaves #2 instead.  I'm not completely happy with how it turned out ... but it was my first attempt.  I think it would look better with darker green leaves - maybe Always Artichoke instead of the Old Olive.  And next time I will add some sponging to the petals.  Here's my first attempt ...