Red Cardinal on Gray - Before and After

When I was working on yesterday's card, I found a very old swirl-embossed piece of gray.  As I started to throw it away, I thought "winter sky" and was glad I saved it.  I've found a lot of inspiration from trying to use my leftovers!

My first card (at left) used a medium green, and it seemed to need more contrast against the gray.  I prefer the second card with a darker green, but both are nice. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source (PS) spruce (dark green - was discontinued, but is available now as a seasonal color), PS gravel (gray),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) new leaf (medium green), PTI pure poppy (red), and PTI stamper's select white.
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug d'vine swirls.
• Dies are PTI winter woods, PTI keep it simple frames, WPlus9 folk art florals (retired - leaves), and Savvy Stamps hello.
• The berries are punched with EK Success 3/16" circle punch.  I added the centers with a Copic 1.0 black multiliner. 
• The black detail on the bird is from PTI winter woods, stamped with PTI true black ink cube.

Created for Operation: Quiet Comfort.

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