Thursday, October 6, 2011

A Lesson on White Space and Surprises

White space plays a key role in clean-and-simple cards. It might seem like "just empty space," but its purpose is to provide focus for a clearly defined central image. A tiny image, like an ornament, can sparkle all by itself on a card if it has a good balance of white space around it and a few unexpected touches.




Consider first the white space on the stamped panel: upper far left image, balanced with lower  far right alignment of the sentiment in strong (and mildly surprising) colors. Remember how the "sweet" spots on a card design are the intersections of lines drawn that divide a card into thirds? The ornament and sentiment are NOT in the "sweet spots" of the stamped panel; they are too far to the left and lower right for that. But their positioning puts them in the sweet spots for the whole card...which makes the stamped panel visually relate to the gloriously empty white space of the base of the card, making the whole card seem more unified and balanced.

The detail of two rounded corners and two pointed ones somewhat echoes the shape of the ornament, which again creates unity in the design and also adds some fun interest as well. Combine those corners with the use of lime green on a Christmas card with traditional red, and you've got a fresh-looking creation.

Bling needs no reason. Before I put it on, the card was sweet. Now, it's fabulous.

If I do say so myself. ;-)

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Take a Bough (ornament), Peaceful Poinsettia (sentiment)
ink: Memento Pear Tart, SU REal Red
paper: PTI white, Mark's Finest Lime (LOVE this lime!!!)
accessories: dimensionals, corner chomper, rhinestones

23 comments:

  1. Loooooooove it! One of my favourites that you've ever done.

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  2. Love this Susan! Love everything about it!

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  3. What a totally rad Christmas card! Guaranteed to get a second and third look from any recipient. This is so cool, Susan! LOVE the colors, and the little touches you used to give it such personality. This is amazing; you've outdone even yourself!

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  4. Definitely has gone into my faves file! Thanks for the lesson!

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  5. I so love it Susan :) I will be investing in stamps and ink more! They are perfect for CAS. If there is just one set of inks that one (read I) can afford, is there any particular brand I need to pick up, keeping in mind I can't order for refills ever so often? Thanks a lot :)

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  6. Love this one! The colours, the shape, the lot . . . hits the sweet spot.

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  7. i totally agree this card does look fabulous...never gave much thought to the white spaces in a card ,reading your post is an eye opener,thanks for sharing:)

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  8. oooh!! love the colors!! bright and brilliant!! Simply gorgeous!

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  9. Lovely design. Long time since I corner rounded just two corners - that used to be one of my trademarks. It's great to see how good it actually looks when someone else does it x

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  10. It IS fabulous! No question! Love the lime green and red, and of course all that glorious clean white.

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  11. Yes, you are correct - it is fabulous. But even though I have a template for your "sweet spots" it is still a struggle for me. I dislike the end result of many of my cards just because the balance is off and not in the sweet spots.

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  12. That is such a lovely card, and thank you for that very good break down of the way things work. You are so right about the sweet spots. I have never heard them described like that, but we all know that there are certain places in which things look right, and places where they are not quite there.

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  13. and you, too, are FABULOUS!
    Many thanks for sharing your creations and insights with us. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your work!
    Happy Day!
    hugs,
    Sherry

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  14. Thanks for another wonderful tutorial on the CAS process! This card really is great.

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  15. zI L.O.V.E. this card! The design of it is awesome! What a perfect, simple little Christmas card. I need 2 sympathy cards today and I am going to totally CASE this design. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  16. Oh how I love this card and you are correct...bling needs no reason!!! Enjoy your weekend!

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  17. Dear Susan,
    I visit your blog each day and every day it is a great pleasure.
    I like your cards and I love your words.
    I wish you all the best, Andrea

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  18. Great card!! And, wow... I made it through the explanation. I've never studied art or design, so I just "do it". Thank goodness my cards end up being pleasing to the eye even though I don't "technically" know what I'm doing! LOL!!

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  19. OMG.. what a lesson I learnt.. thank you so much Susan for sharing the importance of white spaces!

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  20. Going from sweet to fabulous is all the reason needed for bling! This card is both sweet and fabulous. :)

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!