Magenta Zentangle Leaf

Magenta was one of the first stamp companies I fell in love with back when Nathalie would show how to use her stamps on The Carol Duvall Show.  

I recently picked-up some new Magenta stamps for my collection including this gorgeous Zentangle Leaf, so I wanted to join the Magenta September Challenge which is Autumn. 

I stamped my leaf in Potting Soil Archival ink on watercolor paper and clear embossed.  Next, I colored with Spectrum Noir markers (GB6, CG2, GB3, and OR1).  

I detail-cut my leaf, so I could bend the paper to provide some movement (or perhaps I detail-cut my leaf because I had some stray embossing powder and colored outside the lines a bit … whichever story works for you).  I attached the leaf to ivory cardstock and bent the edges for dimension using this week's Cas(E) this Sketch.

I die cut my Celebrate sentiment from a scrap of green designer paper, but it didn't give enough contrast with the leaf.  Next I tried dark brown cardstock, which still seemed to fade into the background.  I die cut the sentiment two more times from the brown cardstock and stacked them all together, which gave me the stronger sentiment I needed.

I'm also joining the September Elemental Inspiration Challenge at Daring Cardmakers.