Friday, July 9, 2010

Asymmetry Is Fun!

I made today's card back in April, just when the OLW challenge was getting started. At the time, I thought, "Oh, wouldn't this be a great card for a one-layer challenge?"

Then I forgot about it. When I found it a few days ago, I realized that if I saved every one-layer card I make for an OLW challenge, I'd have a huge backlog of some of my favorite cards languishing unposted in the electrons of my Pictures file.

That thought made me sad. So here, fabulous Love card, be free! Go out into the World Wide Web and shine!


Design Thoughts: This clear alphabet set is HUGE! I bought it for boy scrapbook pages (its distressed look seemed appropriate for dirt-loving boys), but when I stumbled across it while making a card for the OLW challenge to use punctuation, I felt it could stand on its own on a one-layer card. The word love popped into my mind, and I ran with it. After fretting for a while over what colors to choose (all red? multicolored? red and black? which letters should be which color?), I decided to make the o red and the rest black. The asymmetry adds interest to the super simplicity of the card.

This is true for lots of designs: center everything and it looks sorta blah, but if you do something unexpected to throw off the symmetry, it can be fun and energize a blah design.

How-To Tips: The alphabet's letters differ in size (see how much bigger the e is than the v), and if I stamped each individually, it would have been really hard to get everything spaced properly on the card. So I put all four letters on my big gridded acrylic block, stamped the whole thing on scrap paper until all the letters were as lined up as they could get. Then, I removed the o, inked the l ve in black, and stamped it onto the card. Then, I stamped the o in red. Easy as can be!

I hope you all have a glorious weekend. The vicious heat we've had this week won't be so bad this weekend. Whew. Maybe we can go to the pool, though I imagine it'll feel like bath water.

Supplies
stamps: Art Warehouse Mini Monogram set
ink: Palette noir, SU real red
paper: PTI white
accessories: gridded acrylic block

11 comments:

  1. What a wonderful card. So simple but so well done. I think I'll get my alphabets out and play around with them

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  2. "love" this card! Thanks for the stamping tip, I normally stress out when my letters aren't the same size!

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  3. What a perfect card that would work well for either gender too. Thanks for the tips on the lettering. I always get freaky when trying to stamp with letters and never thought to just play around until it works well.

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  4. These letters are cool also because they look like they are vibrating. So this isn't just a 'love' card, it is a dynamic love card. Nice!

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  5. too stinkin' cute!!
    you are the BEST!!
    marty

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  6. That's a neat alphabet and the red "o" does make it more interesting.

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  7. This wouldn't seem to be an alphabet that would have appealed to your CAS self (though I see why you got it for "boy" pages) -- and then you work your magic with it!

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  8. Ut! Oh! I knew some day I would lust for an alphabet.

    Love that card.

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  9. Oops, I commented on the wrong day. So, again - thank you for the tips and design thought. Both are very helpful!

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  10. I just LOVE (sorry, couldn't resist lol) this card! The tips on design, spacing, and even how and why you chose this alphabet are so helpful! Thanks so much!

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  11. I really "love" this card Susan (no pun intended ;) The rough edges of the letters, and the fact that you used different colored ink, makes this really interesting, for such a simple card!

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!