Going off in a New Direction

So, sometimes you see an inspiring card and think, "I'm going to do something like that!" And then in the course of creating, you go off in a new direction.

That's what happened with today's card, which was inspired by this pin. I loved the snowflakes and giant bow but knew my bow would need to be smaller because how else was I to mail the thing? Seriously.

I also wanted to make a red-and-white card. Kraft cards look awesome when made by other people, but my own leave me missing my white cardstock.

So this is how my card turned out.

As you can see, the ribbon is no longer quite as impressive. In fact, it's sweeter than it is bold. The red snowflakes on the white background stand out far more than the white-on-kraft snowflakes of the original. Plus, my initial arrangement of the snowflakes left too many holes, requiring me to add some smaller flakes to fill in the gaps.

I also altered the proportions. The ribbon is one third of the way down the card rather than in the middle. This takes advantage of the rule of thirds and gives me more space for the snowflakes. It also made the centered bow look strange, so I followed the rule again and moved it to the right. It looked more balanced that way.

Finally, I converted a one-layer card into a three-layer card, which feels strange given my passion for one-layer cards. But remember, new direction.

And of course I added bling to the three big flakes. Because bling makes everything better.

I've said it before: take your inspiration where you find it, but don't hesitate to go off in a new direction if you need to. You might end up somewhere beautiful!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Snowflake Serenade and Keep It Simple Christmas; Clearly Besotted small snowflake
ink: Hero Arts red royal
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: satin ribbon, glue (to attach bow), rhinestones, ScorTape (to attach flat ribbon)