what i ♥LOVE♥ most about challenges...

...is that they push me to make something i would never have come up with on my own! the card below is a really good example of that, which is why i mention it. but first, lemme tell you which challenges i'm talking about. in this case, it's this beautiful pencil lines sketch (#225, i believe):

in combination with the current design dollies colour palette of green, purple and ivory:


it was the "ivory" that really got me. because i sometimes use purple... (it's niece lindsay's favorite color!) ...and i might've made the leap to putting it with green (purple flowers & green leaves, mebbe?); but then, i'd've most likely gone with white or kraft for my neutral. which is a pity since ivory is just SO NICE with purple and green! see?

(patterned paper: pink paislee, glitz design, basic grey, prima, bo bunny, making memories + more tiny purple scraps than i can count! butterfly punches: martha stewart; edge punches: martha, fiskars, recollections; heart dies: cuttlebug; alpha stickers: k&co; alpha chipboards: michaels (from leslie-THANKS, missus!); tissue tape: tim holtz; bling flourish (w/considerable surgery to make it fit): oriental trading co; inks: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i also wouldn't have thought to make an anniversary card in these colors, except i suddenly realized i needed a card for LHJ's parents, and i had already commenced to happily envisioning the combination of the aforementioned challenges. so i stayed with those, but switched quickly into "LOVE" mode. :)

please excuse the wonky lighting. i left it slightly too late to take photos, and then ran out of time completely; but i think you get the idea. mostly. by the way, the anniversary in question celebrates my lovely in-laws' *57th* year of wedded bliss. even now, they truly are one of the couples jeff and i look at and say, "now THAT'S the kind of marriage to have!" thanks, mom and dad, for showin' us how it's done!!! ♥♥♥