My first easel card...

Here it comes...my first easel card, the finished version. But, first the journey to the finish.

So, I started with these cute paper flowers, cut from K & Co. Que Sera paper and the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge. Then, I folded the easel card from kraft card stock and layered more Ques Sera paper on the bottom platform portion and a nice deep navy card for the upright. The green vine is cut with one of my favorite dies, Memory Box Madera Corner (I cut 2 and pieced here and there to fill out the background a little).

Now, what to add?

I punched so many butterflies trying to find a base and layer that complemented the flowers. I ended up with a light green patterned base and a layer cut from a gold shimmer paper.

I have a cute dragonfly brad and a GIANT patterned area and no ideas. I liked the upright, but needed something to balance the colors and weight of the large-ish flowers (and hide some of that patterned paper, just a little).

Out came the Cuttlebug and a Nestabilities die. Distressed, stamped, antiqued and generally messed with a while, just to find something the right size and color.

So here I am last night, pretty sure that this card was finished...

and here I am this morning at 6 AM, absolutely certain that I do not like that little stamped card piece, not even one little bit. I thought maybe some more green vines, some ribbon, some charms...but, what made me happy was this Making Memories Charmed Quotes metal plaque. I felt it had the right size, an inobtrusive color and a good weight.

This is it...my first easel card, finished (for my friend's birthday). 

So, what did I learn? When it is all said and done, if I want to use flowers of this size again, I think a 6 inch card, rather than 4 inch, will look better balanced. I also learned that I love patterned paper a little too much, and should limit the amount that I use on a project.The last thing I learned is the most important lesson...until it is adhered (and even after, if you have some fishing line to do the removal) it is never to late to rethink the elements. Go dig in the stash!