One layer cards - a love/hate relationship!

I love the look of one layer cards - elegant without too much fuss. I, however, have a hard time getting mine to look nice.............and I have a hard time NOT adding more!! I was inspired by this card at splitcoast by Julie Buhler. Beautiful!! She inspired me to give one layer cards another go!

I used my creative memories cutting system to make an oval template for the shading and to make the oval opening in the one card. I shaded in positively pink using a stipple brush. The flower stamp is from clearly wordsworth and the sentiments are from Stampin' Up! I used the crayon resist method with my classic inks (perfectly plum and garden green) to color my flower and leave a little bit of lighter area in the colored image. On the one card I used my scalloped scissors (another love / hate relationship here!) on the bottom and dotted the scallopes with my perfectly plum marker. The card with the oval frame was pierced with the tools from my crafter's tool kit. I also used my color spritzer on the bottom of this card. And of course both cards have a small rhinestone (from WalMart) in the center of the flower for just a bit of bling! I think I like the card with the oval opening the best out of the two. What do you think? What would you have done differently? Leave a comment with your two cents:)

***added 1/26*** I did another variation of this using bashful blue. The flower is watercolored with so saffron and sage. I think this is now my fave of the group!

I have a nerve posting this right now.........as I have dirty dishes in the sink and the boy needs to be fed....hehehe. I am off to the kitchen! Have a wonderful day!