Crate Color Challenge---Use up your scraps!

Hello and happy first day of school for many!  I hope all the students and teachers out there had a good one...

I don't know how this happened, and the stars may never align correctly again, but yesterday, amidst the flurry of laying out clothes, making lunches, and gathering school supplies, I had two solid hours to myself!  Time to craft, of course!

My absolute favorite paper company is Crate Paper, but I have never participated in any of their challenges before.  I decided yesterday was the day...It was the September Crate Color Challenge.  These are tough for me, as I wouldn't often think to use certain colors together, but I guess that's the point, right?  To make you step out of your comfort zone.  So the colors were these:

The color palette for this month is: Raspberry - Petal Pink - Apricot

 

Whoa---tough or what?

Here is my layout---I went a little lighter on the apricot, but I like how it turned out.  What a great way to use up scraps of paper---I love Emma's Shoppe so much and this is a great way to make it last!

This is my oldest at her piano recital last June.  She really rocked it out---a child of the seventies and eighties at heart, her final piece was Billy Joel's "Piano Man."  Man, she is one cool kid.

A couple of closeups:

I was able to use lots of my border punches.  I took some of the little bits and pieces, popdotted and inked them to make them stand out.  I also learned that my sewing maching will not sew through all these layers of paper---so, to stitch down the middle of each butterfly, I had to gun the footpedal while fooling with the turny thingy on the right hand side!  See how technical I am?  Fortunately, it was only a few stitches, but my husband did wonder what all the noise was.  I may or may not have said a few choice words while I had the pedal to the metal.  Ahem. 

Another closeup of my new FAVORITE handmade flower of the moment:

Can we just pause for a moment to admire its satin simplicity?  I could make these things all day.  I will be teaching a class on how to make them at an upcoming retreat---can't wait to spread the word.  There are tutorials all over youtube on how to make them, but it is as simple as cutting some circles, singeing the edges with a tealight, and hotglueing them together.  Try this one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkFFpzYstA   The flower is a bit different but the concept is the same.

I used bits and pieces of Emma's Shoppe, the new Farmhouse and Random Collections.  The Dusty Attic chipboard music is so finely cut---I purchased this over at

The Paper Trail, a great little site to shop at that also has a challenge blog!

Thanks so much for looking at my layout!  Have a great evening.