Another Card Challenge

I mostly like clean and simple cards.  I probably do better at clean and simple cards.  Ok, so I really stuggle with things that AREN'T clean and simple.  When my upline and I were working on some card designs for the Operation Write Home event we did back in October, she sent me a link to a blog for this type of cards.  This week, I decided to do one of their card challenges.  I'm not sure I like the card I did, but I am going to enter the challenge anyway.  : )   Clean and Simple Blog

My entry: 


I'm thinking ... it's crooked.  Hmmm....

It's kind of different for a birthday card, isn't it.  Well, some of my friends and family are creeping up to the big 50 year thing that seems to bother so many people. So I made it in black.  hahaha...  (I'm not there YET, so I don't know if it will affect me.  I honestly don't think it will.  I mean, geez.  It's just a number.)  Anyway, I also hate to throw stuff away and decided to use the little teardrop shapes that punch out of the Blossom Bouquet punch that is in the summer mini.  I scooped them up, used tweezers to hold the tiny little pieces, glued them, then stuck 'em down in no apparent pattern.  I ran the black piece thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice EF.  Used the (retiring) Spiral Border Punch on the edge.  The sentiment is just the Decorative Label punch, the 1 3/4 x 7/8 oval punch and the (retiring) 1 3/8 x 5/8 oval punch.  Finished it off with three Basic Pearls.   Am I using enough retiring stuff??  Probably will be seeing a LOT of it for the next couple weeks. 

I think I really like the look of the teardrops embossed into the paper.  Not so sure it looked exactly like what was bouncing around in my mind, but thats ok.  I do that a lot!  And now, I have a 'reason' to keep the leftover stuff from the new punch.  :)  I don't have the doily one.  It looks like it might have some fun stuff to keep, too.  *I am NOT a hoarder!