Inspired by Maile Belles

Maile Belles, whose blog Simply Stamped is on my must-read list, has such a distinctive style that when I went through the last issue of Papercrafts, I picked out her many cards without looking at the credits. One of those published cards inspired my card today. Maile used buttons rather than punched flowers and bling, her sentiment was blue rather than black, and her card was longer and thinner than my 4.25" square.

Maile's card is oh so pretty while mine is oh so cute. A small change like using punched flowers rather than buttons can completely change the personality of a card, even if the layout and colors stay almost exactly the same.

When you're copying someone else's card, small changes can lead to larger design decisions that make the card more your own. In this case, I had to cut the card down to 4.25" square because it looked horribly unbalanced after I added the sentiment. My sentiment, in black and slightly bigger than Maile's, had a bit too much weight to have all that white space stretching beyond it. Maile's card looks so fresh and pretty with a bunch of white space, but mine looked awkward. So I cut it down, putting the sentiment in the "sweet spot" for a focal point, and harmony was restored.

Why did I change the sentiment to black in the first place? Because, unlike the transluscent buttons on Maile's card, the punched flowers are densely colored and turquoise would have looked weak beside the more intense color. I contemplated using taken with teal, but generally, I prefer using black or dark brown for sentiments.

I hope today's post (like yesterday's) helps those who are frustrated trying to copy cards. Sometimes, your version will turn out a bit different but equally successful, as this one does (at least in my opinion), and sometimes, your version won't quite live up to the beauty of the original (as yesterday's did not). Either way, it's a wonderful learning experience. Copying great cards teaches you what works, what doesn't, and how to feel your own way to successful designs.

Have a blessed Easter weekend!