Words, Words, Words

I'm sure you all have seen the cards (primarily mixed media) that use cut-out words for their sentiments, such as this pretty example here. I've used this idea before and loved the effect, so I decided to try it again on a Christmas card.

Here's the final result:

Now, you'll notice that my words are matted. Without the mats, the words looked very floaty on the card, and this did not look good. I realized that on the mixed media cards, the cut-out words typically rest on a colorful background, which makes them stand out beautifully. My card had no colorful background against which to stand out, and colored mats (say, in red to match the Stickles or gray to match the tree) would have been distracting and busy for my style. The white-on-white gives the perfect little bit of visual weight to the words without distracting. At least, that is how it looks to me.

All the cutting was by hand with scissors, so there's a loose, imperfect feel to the words that matches the imperfections of the font, which I just love immoderately.

Here's the card all by itself. *happy little sigh*

Now, if all this white space and simplicity has you feeling itchy, just wait for tomorrow's card, which has a lot less white space and simplicity, but still showcases cut-out words.

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Penny Black (tree), Tim Holtz (words from a large background stamp)
ink: Archival watering can, red geranium
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Stickles, scissors, glue pen