Three Variations on another Maile Card

Maile Belles is an amazingly talented designer, and her fourth card HERE inspired all three of my cards for this post. (It's also on Pinterest HERE.)

Today's lesson is about varying an inspiration layout to accommodate the stamps you have. A solid design usually works with the shape and line of the stamps themselves, playing off their strengths. Maile's card, for instance, takes strong advantage of the half-circle shape of the focal-point stamp, its lightness and symmetry, and the wonderful sentiment design that's the true focal point of her card. Note that her image is definitely background here...the whole point is the expression of sympathy.

My first effort to use her layout implemented a stamp that would NEVER have worked to fill a half-circle, but it worked most excellently set at a right angle.

Stamps: Altenew Botanical Garden, Papertrey sentiment;
Ink: Memento Luxe London fog, rose bud;
Paper: Papertrey white;
Accessories: craft foam, rhinestones, glue

The asymmetry works so very well. The rose fills the corner and balances the bling on the bottom right corner. My effort to create a visual triangle with bling proved unnecessary and distracting. If I thought I could remove the bling in the rose without damaging the card, I would.

Live and learn.

The second card returns to Maile's symmetrical layout with asymmetrical bling. Notice, though, that the butterfly isn't covered by the sentiment panel in any way. You don't pin down a healing butterfly on a card! We want this butterfly to fly free and healthy, now, don't we?

Stamps: Hero Arts Antique Engravings, Papertrey sentiment
Ink: Hero Arts butter bar, Memento Luxe London fog
Paper: Papertrey white
Accessories: craft foam, glue, rhinestones 

Maile's enamel dots are asymmetrically arranged to draw attention to the "you" of the sentiment, rather like a hug. Brilliant design and placement! My sentiments on all three cards, however, needs broader spacing of the bling. The bling simply serves to move the eye through the whole sentiment.

The final card changes the theme and gets a little whimsical with a subtle visual pun on turkey butts using a chrysanthemum. This card most closely mimics Maile's card in symmetry and half-circle emphasis, but the heaviness and color density of my variegated mum completely changes the feel of the card.

Stamps: Mama Elephant Freestyle Florals, Papertrey sentiment
Ink: Memento black, Archival Monarch Orange
Paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Memento markers, craft foam, glue, half pearls

Maile's sympathy card is light and airy, calm and peaceful, soft and comforting...as a good sympathy card should be. My Thanksgiving card, on the other hand, has a dense and heavy focal point, rather like a pumpkin or mincemeat pie sitting heavily in your tummy after a very satisfying meal. Or it looks like a turkey butt. Take your pick.

Turkey butts aside, adapting an inspiration layout to your own stamps can be easy if you relax and play around. Give it a go! But make sure you start with a good design. Pretty much anything on Maile's blog will work.