Wednesday, January 14, 2015

When Inspiration Goes Awry

I love the card by the highly talented Rosemary Dennis on the cover of the winter issue of Take Ten.


That layout is so clean and simple and perfect! I decided to do a rather straightforward CASE of this card, using a single tree stamp in place of the three flowers, and I failed miserably. The sentiment I stamped in brown made me realize that a large part of what makes Rosemary's card work is the color placement...the hot pink sentiment, ground, and focal-point flower/heart unify the card so beautifully. My version lost all unity because I went with a green ground. I wanted to use lime with pink...go figure. It ruined Rosemary's design.

So I chopped off the top of the stamped panel just below the sentiment, turned the design into a square card, and stamped a different sentiment in the sweet spot.


Size: 4.25" square

Not a bad save, actually. I have Rosemary's card, however, to thank for it, because I never would have started without her lovely inspiration.

This example goes to show that as you adapt and modify an inspiring design, strange things can happen. Don't let that deter you. Tweak, edit, cut off, cover up. Let your changes take your design in a little different direction. It's okay. Maybe it will work, and maybe it won't. But IT'S ONLY PAPER.

Can I hear an Amen?

Supplies
stamps: Trendy Tree Tops, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey)
ink: quick-dry pigment/chalk (VersaMagic, Fresh Ink, Memento Luxe)
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: rhinestone, dimensionals

11 comments:

  1. Amen! Making it your own and searching for a solution for things that didn't work out in the first place: thanks to creativity!

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  2. I love how you were inspired by sweet Rosi. Wow Susan. Your card just makes me smile and want to curl up under a tree with a book and lunch. Do you know..........Rosi and I are friends and live about 30 minutes apart. We were just going to do lunch today but I fell it.

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  3. Amen to that! It's something I'm struggling with, though, so it's good to be reminded that we can only learn by trial and error. Love how you'v managed to salvage your card.

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  4. And yet another, AMEN! Why is it so hard to admit defeat and throw something away when yes, it is just paper! I think that you hit on the answer to that question, Susan. Making missteps is a great learning experience! Especially when it is JUST paper!

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  5. AMEN! Plenty of stuff goes in the circular file at my house!

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  6. I am all for fixing stuff and learning by doing.... It would have been great to see the "problem" as well as the "fix" cause I have trouble visualizing you getting it wrong.

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  7. Amen, Susan! And I love your scallop ground.

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  8. such a pretty card -- the lime green works nicely with the pink!

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  9. AMEN! My CASE attempts generally take on lives of their own.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!