First up, I created a tightly connected design (surrounded, of course, by lots of white space) by offsetting the sentiment to the left and placing a heart with an arrow through it nestled into the sentiment on the right. That looked fine by itself, but the design still needed something so a trio of tiny hearts added some movement. Finished! Yay! I love this!
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| Heart pierced by arrow courtesy of a well-placed strip from a post-it note. |
Looking at it on my screen, I think I'd move the third tiny heart to the bottom left side of the larger heart. Where it is now draws the eye to the arrow and heart rather than the sentiment. But this is, to my eye, a quibble.
After making the above card, I decided to work with another sentiment paired with a wonderful dimensional heart stickers Given the meaning of the sentiment, a single heart was most appropriate. Unfortunately, the resulting design is nowhere near as interesting or fun as the first card I made. It lacks movement; that heart just sits there. (The stickers are prettier in real life than in pictures...the epoxy or whatever it is interferes with the color, which is a lovely bright red.)
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| Nice try. Thanks for playing. Meh. |
This is the design process for me. Some things work while other things that seem like good ideas flop. Until I make something, I have no idea if it will work. This is awesome because when things do work, I'm surprised, bouncy, and happy. It's also awesome because when things don't work, I've simply learned what NOT to do.
So it's all good.
Please share your design process. Do you "see" in your mind what will happen and then make it happen, or are you more experiential in design, like me, feeling your way toward something good with trial and error?
Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan
Supplies for Truly, Madly, Deeply
stamps: Hero Arts You Are my Happy, Borders and Arrows; Papertrey Heart Prints
ink: Archival red geranium, black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none
Supplies for Meh
stamps: Hero Arts You Are my Happy
ink: Archival black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensional heart sticker
These are so pretty, Susan! Loving the sharp contrast of the red, black, and white space! Isn't it funny how we see our creations so differently when we put them on the 'big screen'? Lol...my process. Hmmm. Yes, I always have a definite design in my head, but my projects never seem to end up the way I plan. Even when I try to CASE exactly, it never looks like I imagined it would! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove card #1. Needs nothing else, perfectly balanced.
ReplyDeleteCard #2, I agree with you, no movement. Perhaps 3 sequins or bling placed around the image? Would give it movement and tie it all together, and still be cas. But that's just me.
I so enjoy your witty comments every day-starts my day out right. Blessings on your day.
Whoops, hit the wrong key! Anyway, sometimes my design process starts out as something I see in my mind, and at other times I just start pulling out stamps and papers and hope inspiration strikes. And they rarely end up like I thought they would. Guess I have a messy mind :)
ReplyDeleteLove that top card, it works perfectly. You are right that the second card is meh. My design process varies but often I plan for more layers or more embellishments and then partway through decide why screw it up, stop now. I think some of that is your (and other CAS blogs I read) influence and some of it is seeing these cards my friend makes. She even calls them dumping grounds. EEK!
ReplyDelete"Heart pierced by arrow courtesy of a well-placed
ReplyDeletestrip from a post-it note." Wow, the best tip I've read in a long time! Thanks for sharing; I love your style.
The first is definitely my favorite. I usually have some sort of design in mind when I start a card. I play around with it until I like it. Sometimes I let the card sit on my desk while I mull it over. This can take time - minutes, hours or even a day or two. I always remember something you said in a post I read years ago: it's just paper. That makes it easier for me to just toss what I really don't like.
ReplyDelete