Saturday, December 13, 2014

Stepping Up a One-Layer Card

Thursday's post about saving a poorly-positioned design shows what to do when a one-layer card goes wonky, but of course I HAD to try again to make the design work on one layer...because, you know, I'm all about "less is the new more."

Let's start with the failed one-layer version of the reindeer card so the changes I made in the new design make sense.


As you can see, the scrap paper under the card shows how I experimented with the tree and reindeer stamps...various colors and types of ink, off-stamping, etc. The sentiments along the bottom of the scrap (which is just a low-quality copy paper I buy in bulk) are tests to make sure the clear stamps are aligned on my gridded acrylic block properly before I stamp them on a card. This extra step saves a lot in wasted card fronts!

Back to the matter at hand. This card uses Memento pistachio and Hero Arts wet cement inks. It's soft and dreamy, but also a tad boring. For the new one-layer attempt, I decided to go with darker colors, especially to create greater contrast between the reindeer butt and the tree, which sort of blend together in the first version. I really wanted the reindeer to be the focal point that draws you into the design.

Here's the revised version, perfectly placed on the card, using Memento Olive Grove and Potter's Clay




In retrospect, I wish I'd snapped a shot of the card before adding the bow so you could see the intermediate step in the design. Without the bow, the card was a big improvement on the first, softer version, but it still needed a little something. The color of the deer kept the eye on the deer, and the sentiment (in Memento Espresso Truffle) seemed stuck on as an after-thought. The design needed something to take the eye to the sentiment, and a twine bow seemed just the thing. I love how it anchors the whole design on the card...it really makes a huge difference!

Color and embellishment...if you have a blah design, try stepping it up by changing these two things!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: twine, glue, post-it for masking

8 comments:

  1. love the new color of the deer and the bow. clapping!!

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  2. HA! You said reindeer butt. Also, did you mask the reindeer's butt to stamp the tree?

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  3. Yes, I can totally see the difference. And the addition of that twine bow, brilliant!

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  4. I really like the new color of the tree. I'd want to see the card with the deer to the left of the tree, too ... there's something about figures on the sides of cards where they look off the card rather than toward its center that bothers me a bit, LOL!

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  5. Oh those colors really do make the difference Susan. Fun to see your work in action.

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  6. Again, nicely done. Thanks for another great lesson, Susan.

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  7. Subtle changes = POP. The different colors made a world of difference too -- another wonderful "mini lesson" TFS

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  8. looks much better - love the twine bow - great tip about scrap paper - I waste so much card
    debbie

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!