This or That Thursday 2023 retiring core colours

 Today I'm sharing 2 cards made with the last 2 retiring core colours.  The colours are merry merlot and sahara sand. Merry merlot is as the name suggests a rich deep red. Sahara sand is a lovely neutral tone.

As it's  This or That Thursday I have made 2 cards. One in each of the 2 colours although they do have a pop of the alternative colour in them 😉

The cards are what I would call grungy. That is to say there is a lot of layering of colour. I started each card by stamping directly onto a white mat in the cards primary colour. I then used the same stamps and stamped in versamark and heat embossed in white powder. 

I next took a blending brush and applied colour from the outside edges working inward. On the merry merlot version even after wiping the embossed areas with a soft cloth the ink had stained the areas a soft pink. Now in real life it's  a really pretty effect, even though not intended, but I'm not sure it translates as well in the photo's. 

 

After heat embossing and blending I used the splodge stamp from the Nature's Prints stamp to add further grunge to the mat. I then mounted the panel on sahara sand then adhered it to a merry merlot card base. The sentiment was heat embossed in white onto a merry merlot die cut lable and mounted onto a sahara sand circle. 

I repeated the process with the sahara sand ink and cardstock. 

When I started the process I was certain that the merry merlot version was going to be my favourite....

But then when I'd  finished the sahara sand version I just couldn't  decide!!!

So which do you prefer the merry merlot or the sahara sand? Let me know in the comments below 😀