Sending Warm Hugs....and a Little Failure

I sat down to create a thank you card for the present my grandparents sent me. I knew I wanted to create a winter scene and I thought I'd try my hand at the Northern Lights style background that has been trending recently. But we'll get to that later in the post...

This is the finished card. The one that I actually sent to my grandparents. Let's just say I had a little failure with my original concept. I went back to my trusty distress inks and created a blended sky for this one! I'm still loving these Arctic Animals from Clearly Besotted. They're just so cute!

Supplies:
Stamps: Arctic Animals (Clearly Besotted)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch)
Other: Masking Paper, Clear Wink of Stella

I'm entering this final card into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (Winter Wonderland). I think these critters are absolutely adorable with their frosty background!

Okay, now for the failure. I'm posting this as proof that we all fail sometimes. We try something new and we just stink at it the first time or the concept we have in our head just won't come out on paper. And that's okay! It's our failures that really help teach us something new! Besides, what I see as a failure, someone else might see as beautiful. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Now that I've let this failure sit for a few days, I'm actually liking it a little more. Just remember before you scrap something that you don't think is perfect, it may look better in a few days, or a week, or a month. Don't be too hard on yourself!

The background is supposed to look streaky, but the darkest color just wouldn't blend into the rest. No matter how hard I tried, it just stayed there, looking all dark and harsh. But it taught me something about my markers and choosing colors! I won't be throwing this panel away. Instead, it sits in a place on my desk to remind me to never be afraid to try something new. In this case, a copic background! I'll try again later and maybe it'll look better since practice does make perfect!