Poppy birthday parade

Often when I sit down to make cards, I plan to use a specific stamp set (or sets if I've recently received a new order). But yesterday I decided to focus on a specific color instead: Poppy Parade. I think Poppy Parade is a beautiful color, but I've always struggled with the vibrant red-orange hue. So I used my Color Coach to find two color combinations with Poppy Parade, one feminine (Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, So Saffron) and one masculine (Poppy Parade, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand), and I created two birthday cards for each combo.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Bring on the Cake
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Old Olive card stock; In Color Designer Series Paper Patterns Pack
Ink: Poppy Parade
Accessories: Floral Fusion Sizzlits die, Finishing Touches Edgelits dies, Bird Builder punch, Decorative Label punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, pearls, Dimensionals

I cut out the flowers with the Floral Fusion Sizzlits die, gently folded up the petals and then adhered the layers together with Dimensionals. (Tip: If you want to emboss the flowers, cut them out first, and then use an embossing folder to emboss them. If you emboss first, the texture will be flattened somewhat with the Sizzlits die.) The stems are the branch from the Bird Builder punch; I glued a punched branch behind each flower so just one of the leaves was visible.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: It's Your Birthday
Card stock: River Rock, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Old Olive
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: 1-1/4" scallop circle punch, Bird Builder punch, corner rounder, 5/8" Neutrals brads, pearls, Glue Dots

For each of these flowers I punched two 1-1/4" scallop circles. On one of the circles I snipped between the scallops to create petals, gently bent the petals up, adhered it to the second scallop circle and added a large Very Vanilla brad. The leaves are actually the wing shape from the Bird Builder punch -- they were pieces leftover from punching out the branches/stems for the previous card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Bring on the Cake
Paper: Poppy Parade, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White card stock; In Color Designer Series Paper Patterns Pack
Ink: Poppy Parade, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Tasteful Trim die, Color Spritzer Tool, Essentials paper-piercing pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, linen thread, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I struggled a bit with this card because the main panel is so much larger than the stamped image; no matter where I placed the tag it seemed out of place. So I spritzed some Not Quite Navy ink on the background and wrapped linen thread around the panel. That helped break up the Poppy Parade and anchor the tag. I was aiming for masculine with this card, and I think I could have gotten away with it if I'd stopped at the scallop trim. But the rhinestones are probably a bit too girly; I should have reached for the brads instead.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Bring on the Cake
Card stock: Poppy Parade, Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Poppy Parade
Accessories: Stripes embossing folder, Decorative Label punch, Merry Minis punch pack, Color Spritzer tool, linen thread, Dimensionals

I stamped the "wish big" image in Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy and Poppy Parade, punched them out with the Decorative Label punch and added a second, solid-color, Decorative Label punch behind each one. I embossed the card front, spritzed it with Not Quite Navy ink and wrapped linen thread around the bottom of the card front. Then I adhered the labels and a punched star to the card.

Once I got into a groove, I found it wasn't so hard to work with Poppy Parade (although I admit I like the first two cards, with just touches of color, better). Is there a color (or two or three) that you find challenging? Thanks for stopping by!