Black, White, and Beautiful!

Hi all! 

Today I am mixing up some of my favorite things💟... Patterned Paper (polka dots, stripes and hounds tooth) plus Black and White❤❤👀! I started out with the Rustic Botanicals stamp and die set by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson (I adore this set!!) and stamped them on Neenah white cardstock using Hero Arts Black Ink. 

For added impact I heat embossed them with Wow Clear Embossing Powder and cut them out with the matching die cuts. I love the gloss and slight dimension that embossing adds.  I have been borrowing a heat gun from my husbands work bench, but I think he was tired of having to search for it every time he wanted to use it so I ordered my own...and am so happy I did!

I picked a selection of black and white papers that spoke to me and then went about the business of planning out how I was going to put it all together.  I also cut out Brushstroke Hello by Julie Ebersole in black and white glossy cardstock.

 In the end, I was able to turn this collection of components into three cards using a strong black and white patterned paper as the background and a coordinating paper as an accent.  The sentiments and botanicals pop off the backgrounds and are fresh and fun!

The first one I left strictly black and white and just added 3 little enamel dots as a finishing touch...well, HELLO lovely!

On the second one I added just a hint of color by filling in some of the circles above the stripe with a
Ranger Distress Marker in cracked pistachio.  I think it added that little something that was missing.

 And on the final card, I decided to add the hint of color to the floral component by using Ranger Distress markers in Cracked pistachio on the leaves and Barn Door on the flower.  The final touch was an enamel dot in the center of the flower and the word Thanks.

I hope you will try using your favorite color combination to create some cards with a monochromatic feel...You may even surprise yourself with what you come up with!  HUGS!!