Swap card

I've signed up for one small new catalog swap. Usually I sign up for more and then stress out trying to get the swaps made. I love getting samples, but I'm trying to be practical about it now. Anyway, I love signing up for Crystal's swaps because the quality is always outstanding! So here is the card I came up with. I thought I'd tell you how I did it in case that helps you in your creative process.
First, I looked at the sets I wanted from the new catalog and decided which one to use. I decided on Boho Backgrounds because it's not very expensive, and that medallion goes perfectly with the scallop circle punch. Then I happened to be going through old swaps deciding what to discard and what to keep when I came across the card in the photo below. I really liked it! Then I looked on the back and saw that it was done by Laurie Schmidlin. She is so talented! She's one of the Dirty Dozen now on SCS. You can visit her blog here. I decided to use her layout for my swap card.
I changed the color scheme based on the paper I chose. I decided to use the Ginger Blossom paper. I wanted to use strips of the really cool piece that has big tree branch/plant stalk images on it, but there just wasn't enough color in it. So I chose the one you see on my card. Of course, the focal image is different too. I stamped the medallion 3 times, in Ruby Red, Cameo Coral and River Rock. I punched out the Ruby Red with the scallop circle punch, Cameo Coral with the 1 1/4" circle punch and River Rock with the 1" circle punch. (I got this idea from Crystal!) Then to make the circle behind the medallion, I punched the round tab punch twice in Cameo Coral and adhered them together to form the circle. Because most of it is covered by the scallop circle, you don't even notice the seams. (I didn't come up with this idea either!) I added the twill tape for a little accent. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in Groovy Guava. (In case you are wondering, I did end up cutting apart that one stamp and mounting each line onto dominoes. It makes stamping one part SO much easier!)
So that's the story of my swap card. Thanks for visiting!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Boho Backgrounds; Paper: Whisper White, River Rock, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Ginger Blossom; Ink: River Rock, Cameo Coral, Groovy Guava, Ruby Red; Accessories: cutter kit, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scallop circle punch, round tab punch, twill tape