If at first you don't succeed....

I came across a really pretty card recently with this image:

And then I tried to copy it:

And I was so unhappy w/how dark the middle turned out, so I tried a different method (using the pastels instead of the classic inkpad & this is the end result:

And I'm really not happy with this result either as you really can't see the scallop square in the center of the card (like you can on the first picture.

So I went back & read the tutorial on how to create the center & my problem was I am using the wrong color (I used Mellow Moss instead of Sahara Sand).

But since I don't have Sahara Sand, I sought out the next best thing - River Rock. And, I just put one flower in color vs. 3 across the whole square scalloped background.

For the most part, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I think for my 'next time opportunity', I would use my stamp-a-ma-jig to center the colored flowers a little more evenly against the square scalloped background.