One Layer Cards Lesson

Earlier this week I CASE'd this card from Amusing Michelle.  I love its design and the "Spirograph" nature of those flowers.  Isn't it fabulous???

I learned a lot of lessons during this process, and finally came up with a version I can only describe as "not very spectacular":

I had 4 attempts at this.  Here's what I learned:

1.  When I CASE a card, I'm not using the same stamps, so I should test them on a scrap first.  I'll save a lot of expensive card stock this way.  For example, I didn't have a dot border stamp, and the ones I tried to substitute were too busy and had to be eliminated in the final version.
2. The same goes for ink. Now that I look at the cards together, my inks lack the punch of Michelle's.
3. Although I love pearls (and own them), I'm reluctant to send them through the mail, so I don't use them on many cards.  Here, I've used dimensional paint dots instead.  Lesson learned:  don't buy bulky embellishments.
4. What I thought were similar flower stamps weren't really vivid enough to make a one layer card like this.  I decided they were better suited to paper piecing, so I did this as well:

Flowers by Autumn Leaves

Greeting by Biblical Impressions

I like the punch of this much better!