Rustic garden with butterflies

Unity has a weekly challenge on facebook. This week it was a photo inspiration challenge. I loved the colors and right away I knew I wanted to do faux barn wood technique. One of the things I like about doing faux barn wood technique is no two pieces turn out the same. That is usually a good thing. But today, I didn't like the colors or the way it was "cracking". I ended up making 4 different tries before I got one that was the color I wanted and looked like aged wood.  Here is a look at the ones that I didn't like...

 I was in between my 2nd and 3rd try when my friend Pam shared her card with me. If you would like to see her card you can see it HERE. I absolutely loved her card. She is such an amazing artist and has such an eye for detail. After seeing her card I started to do something that I don't like doing... I started comparing. I was comparing what I was doing to hers and felt like mine was falling short. I sat for a minute and remembered that I have to do my own art. I could practice for years, trying to copy my friend Pam's art, but I could never do a good "Pam card" because I'm not her. So I decided to push on and make a "MariLynn card" because that is one area that no one else can compare. I do the best MariLynn cards. If I had shared what I was thinking with my friend she would have told me exactly what I just shared because she pushes me to be a better me.

This is the photo for the challenge. Don't you just love the teal wood and the peach flowers and the Queen Anne's lace?

The Unity Stamp that I used on my card is the Butterflies. Both butterflies were stamped with black stazon and water colored. The sitting butterfly is two right halves of the butterfly layered on top of eachother. The stamp is HERE TODAY HERE TOMORROW.