Color Throwdown 144 and Sketchbook Saturday 14

Yesterday, I went to a graduation party for my nephew and the kids of three of my cousins.  It seems so strange to see all these young people all grown up and soon to be heading off to college.  Although, the more I think about it, the strange thing is that all this really means is that I'm getting older!

Once I got home from the party, I ventured into my stamp room and made a card for the Sketchbook Saturday and Color Throwdown challenges.

I changed my mind at least three times about what I wanted to do for the circle layer of the sketch.  First my circles were too small, then I didn't like the flowers I stamped, then I tried embossing some flowers, then I almost gave up!  But giving up is not in my card-making nature.  So I stopped and made myself really think about how I wanted this card to look, and this is what I came up with.

I absolutely adore the butterfly from the Simple Friendship stamp set.  That set is among the ones that is retiring as of June 30th, so I'm glad I got it when I did.  And it's one of the ones that I'm sure I'll keep using, despite it being "retired."  I thought about stamping the butterfly in Melon Mambo then going over it with clear embossing powder, but decided to stamp it in Versamark and emboss it with the fabulous Melon Mambo embossing powder.  It's gorgeous!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'm off to my nephew's graduation later today (yes, the party happend before the actual graduation)!  The weather forecast is fine so we're all looking forward to a wonderful day!