Somerset Life Inspiration

The latest issue of Somerset Life is chock-full of inspiring photos. The next few days of posts will explore how the inspiration has worked for me. It's my hope that those of you who are intimidated by inspiration challenges will be able to loosen up and explore ways of adapting inspiration to your own style and supplies without anxiety or creative block.

Seriously. You will make pretty trash, but stick with it, and you'll get to something lovely in the end.

Here's the first photo that caught my attention.

Designs by L. Katherine Roberts

That tiny tag with the 6 on it deviled me. I tried for a fairly literal interpretation of it using vellum, velvet paper, an eyelet, etc. But after three failed attempts using different stamps that were closer to the original piece, I decided to take it in a different direction, pulled out Hero Arts Vintage Christmas Post, simplified the design to one layer, and made this.

Now, here's how I adapted the inspiration to my final tag. First, mine is just one layer of white cardstock...which is my strength, so I played to it. The spot of red was moved up and a green branch added instead of torn patterned paper. After searching my stash for olive green ribbon or eyelets and finding none, I opted for an olive green circle to create a nice color balance (and visual triangle). 

Finally, I LOVED the soft, textured fabric strips on the inspiration photo, so I took a thin strip of fabric, frayed the long edges, and knotted it on top. It looked messy left long on the card, so I trimmed it short.

The tag looked great but kind of floated on the card, so I grounded it with the text on the card base.

The end results looks like something I would make but clearly shows its roots in the inspiration piece. Working from an inspiration piece involves feeling your way forward using the Force and whatever supplies and stamps you have on hand. Each change you make from the original might necessitate other changes, which is perfectly fine. Go with it.

Play.

Have fun.

Make mistakes.

It's all a learning process. And it's all good.

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts Vintage Christmas Post
ink: Hero Arts charcoal, forever green; Archival red geranium
paper: Papertrey white, StampinUp old olive
accessories: white fabric, circle punches, craft foam, glue, Corner Chomper