Before, Before, and After: Evolution of a Bling-Worthy Card

You know how sometimes you have an idea? It seems like a good one, to make the sentiment the focal point and have the flower in the background, and so you dive right in. And something like this happens:

What NOT to Do.

Ahhhhhh!!!!! My eyes!!!!! Too busy, too heavy, too blech. So you try again, figuring that a different layout and color balance might help:

Still What NOT to Do.

Ewwww. Not so much. Only now do you realize that this particular sentiment will NEVER work with this particular flower because the sentiment is too heavy and the flower too whispy.

It was a good idea that shouldn't have seen the light of day.

So you fall back and punt. (Yes, I'm mixing metaphors. Sorry about that.)

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Now you're onto something! Something worthy of bling. The flower, not the sentiment, is the true focal point, and the sentiment takes its proper place. Balance, harmony, and pretty lines. What isn't to love?

Thanks so much for all the emails and advice regarding my friend. I've passed some of them on to her and will pass others later. Blessings to you all.

Losing Weight

When I first made this card, I loved it and couldn't wait to post it here. Then, as soon as I saw it on my computer screen, I thought, "Dang, that ribbon is too heavy!"

So I put the ribbon on a New Year's diet, added a third bling (but made the bling smaller), and it looked better. The thin lines of the stamped leaves from Growing Green by StampinUp were just too weighted down and unbalanced by the heavy grosgrain. Using the satin-and-sheer ribbon lightens up the line and balances the single word so much better.

If you're struggling with a design, try photographing it. Seeing it in two dimesions on your computer screen may help you identify what's out of balance.

And for those who want to know how I adhered the sheer ribbon...it was a pain. It's wrapped around and stuck down with a one-inch strip of 1/8" Scor-Tape. It looks okay, not great, on the inside. I may cover the inside with a piece of cardstock. The grosgrain has a strip of Scor-Tape across its whole length and is cut flush with the edge of the card, which results in a neat, tidy, and non-fraying edge.

So the lesson here is to use a solid image on the top third of the card so the grosgrain ribbon isn't too heavy.

The end.

Before and After: The Evolution of a Valentine

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas!

I thought it would be fun to show how a few of my cards evolve and the thought process behind that evolution. So here's a before-and-after post on a simple Valentine.

To start, I pulled out this set from Hero Arts, which I bought for my birthday back in November. Doesn't it just scream VALENTINE?!?!?! Okay, not so much. But the simple little envelope struck me as the perfect image for a Valentine, especially when paired with a 3D heart, also from Hero Arts.

BEFORE
My first instinct is usually to go utterly minimalist with cards. I ask myself the following question: What is the LEAST I can do to communicate my message interestingly?

For this, I thought making a one-layer with just the envelope image and heart sticker would be perfect. I was boringly wrong.

Sure, this communicates the message (a love letter) but it isn't, shall we say, very interesting. I find it fascinating how unpredictable the outcome will be when I start a card so simply. Sometimes, at this point in a design, that wow factor is there, sometimes it isn't. This time, it isn't, and I couldn't tell you why if you held a heat gun to my head. I just know boring when I see it!

AFTER
One solution to a boring CAS card is to pop something up. Adding just a touch of dimension may be all it needs to become visually interesting.

In this case, I also added a sentiment because all that uninterrupted white space around my love letter seemed rather blah and made it look like it was floating. I might have chosen to put the envelope on a red card base or even pink, but adding the one-line, red sentiment creates a bit of a visual triangle, with the sentiment as the base and heart at the peak. Visual triangles add stability and balance to a design, and here, the triangle keeps the envelope from floating around in white space. It also mirrors the upside down triangle of the envelope flap so nicely, doesn't it?

Another possible solution would have been to stamp wings behind the letter, and perhaps angle the envelope rather than make it straight. Again, that would create a visual triangle, but I've never been a huge fan of wings on inanimate objects, especially since the feminine products sprouted wings. Just my quirk. If you like wings, go for it. It might work. But I make no guarantees.


Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (envelope), StampinUp (sentiment, Three Little Words)
ink: Memento black, StampinUp real red
paper: PTI white
accessories: heart sticker (Hero Arts), dimensional

Peacock Make-Over

As most of you agreed, the ledge I put on THIS CARD to give the peacock something to stand on was kind of lame. Okay, really lame. So I remade the card, sans ledge. I like this MUCH better.

Not much else to say about this, so let's talk about the new Hero Arts catalog. Happy sigh. I'm loving it and have started a wish list that is sort of scary. It'll get whittled down over the next month, but oh my gosh it's so much fun!

Also, I ordered the catalog bundle (with the cling set called My Type) through Hero's website, but simonsaysstamp.com filled the order. They sent a $5 coupon for an order placed before the 30th, which is nice, and a pack of dark green rhinestones as a gift. Must say I'm impressed.

And no, they didn't pay me to say that.

I won't be posting again until after Christmas to focus on my boys and the furry fiend furry golden sunshine.

Christmas blessings to one and all!

Inspired by Jessica Witty

Card Creations Vol. 8 contains the following card by Jessica Witty:

Gorgeous! I love the subtle colors, the big blue flowery button, the glitter, the dotted ribbon, the punched border...raptures!

But...that big blue button is, well, really BIG, and the other buttons are a bit thick as well. And glitter is so messy. And I don't have that dotted ribbon or the dotted border punch.

Whatever is a girl to do?

Improvise.



The Primas are a good, flat substitute for the buttons, and the bling doesn't add enough bulk to matter. The satin ribbon adds a touch more shine to the matte finish of the cardstock and white ink; I opted out of the knot because this ribbon is not double-sided and the matte/shiny sides would be distracting. Plus, it's simpler this way. Finally, the apron border punch adds a nice scalloped feel to reinforce the scalloped ends of the Prima petals.

Whenever you see a card that you love in a magazine or on a blog, don't feel you have to do everything the same. Improvise and play around with what you have. Modify the original design to express YOUR crafting style and values. Go confidently in the direction of your own artistic vision. (Gandhi was smart, and his sayings so adaptable!)

And when you post your inspired creation for the world to see, always acknowledge the source of your inspiration. It's the right thing to do.

Thus speaks the English 102 instructor who once had the entire MLA Handbook memorized.

So thanks, Jessica Witty. I couldn't have done it without you.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Beautiful Blooms, Birthday Basics
ink: SU white craft ink, close to cocoa classic ink
paper: sahara sand, white
accessories: primas, rhinestones, ribbon, apron punch

CASification of a Card by Jenyfur Pohl

Card Creations, Vol. 8 is out on newstands, so of course I have it and have already flagged it with about two dozen post-it notes. There's lots of gorgeous stuff in this one, especially options for CASification.

For those who are new to Simplicity, CASification is a word I made up as a shorthand for the process of cleaning up and simplifying heavily embellished or layered cards. I CASify these cards to make them work for me.

Aren't neologisms fun?

Anyway, today's CASification comes to us courtesy of Jenyfur Pohl, whose "It All Matters" card inspired me to make an anniversary card for my darling husband. We're celebrating 24 years of wedded bliss this June. No way are we that old.


As you can see, Jenyfur's card is nicely balanced and laid out beautifully, and it's heavily embellished and layered, even on the inside. Just on the outside, I counted 14 separate elements. My version has only seven elements, which is a lot for me but still, I think this works pretty well and preserves the essential integrity of Jenyfur's design.


How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. First, I used my spiral border punch from SU, which I love but don't get to use very often. Second, the marriage of black and white with punches of red make a perfect guy color combo for a romantic card. Third, using my office-supply stamps and punches always makes me happy. Fourth, the white background makes this so crisp and fresh my heart goes pitter patter.

I hope this inspires you to go forth and CASify! Clean and Simple Inspiration comes from anywhere if you open yourself up to it.

Two Other Things:
1. Check out this post for stamps I'm selling.

2. Check out my other blog Questioning my Intelligence for a Memorial Day Tribute.

Text Style Goes Cute

The new issue of Take Ten (Spring 2010) has TONS of cool inspiration in it. One trend that's on practically every other page is text backgrounds, especially pages from books. While I have no moral objection to tearing up books for art, I struggle with the idea of books being ripped up in my presence and am grateful for PTI's Text Style set.

Take Ten is published by Stampington and Company, which sells stamps, so of course some of their stamps are spotlighted in each issue. Here's a photo of a page from the new issue showing some really fun and easy cards.


The stamps are not exactly my style (a bit too loose for my AR/OC tendencies), but the "Quick and Easy" headline caught my eye, and when I studied the cards, a lightbulb flicked on in my head. The cards are already beautifully simple, but they could be cleaner in style. I had to make this idea over!


These cute cat and dog stamps from Hero Arts seemed perfect for layering over PTI's Text Style. First, I stamped Text Style in SU sahara sand ink on PTI white cardstock. Then, the animals and words went down in Palette Noir. A few black Hero Arts gemstones completed the triangle of black. I lightly ran the edges of the stamped panel over the ink pad and voila!


These cute cards really do make me smile. They are also a bit outside my usual box. It's fun to play with trends to get a feel for them and how you might make them your own.

Simplicity Tip: By arranging the black elements on the card in a visual triangle, I unified the design and then anchored it with more black on the edges. Creating that sort of stability in a design lets you work with a bit busier background and still keep everything feeling simple. Also, the smaller type and light color for the text background keep the focus on the main images for an overall cleaner feel than the more artsy inspiration cards.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: SU sahara sand, Palette noir
paper: PTI white
accessories: dimensionals, black gems (Hero Arts)

Cracking the Code: CAS-ifying Vintage Style

What a coincidence y'all asked for more CASification and make-over cards because I'd planned a few days of them after picking up the latest Take Ten. It has my CASification mojo hoppin'!


When I first started stamping eight-ish years ago, I read Rubber Stamp Madness, Rubber Stamper Magazine, and a few others. Most of the magazines back then were full of what I call "artsy" stamping: collage or mixed media cards with lots of brown. A lot of the stamp images were vintage, such as men in bowler hats with the letter D on their foreheads, Mona Lisa, court jesters, paper dolls, and such. There were also a lot of natural leaves, trees, and scenes.

Now way back then, I didn't know about a clean-and-simple card style (didn't seem like anyone was doing CAS except maybe StampinUp, but I hadn't heard of them yet, and I'm not creative enough to come up with it on my own). But I'd worked with a graphic design artist named Liz who DID do clean and simple, and I wanted to BE Liz.

Since all I saw in the magazines were vintage-style stamps, I bought a bunch of them, though I'm happy to say I never bought the man in a bowler hat with a D on his head. (No offense to anyone who did; I'm sure someone who isn't I could make a lovely card with him.) Then, armed with these vintage stamps, I set about trying to make cards like Liz's graphic designs and failed spectacularly.

As I learned about CAS stamping from SU and Julie Ebersole and other talented stampers at SCS, I started buying stamps that lent themselves to a cleaner look and miracle of miracles, I liked what I made with them.

But now I have drawers full of stamps that I bought years ago (though I did give a lot of them away), and they sit, unused, like the lost boys languishing in Never-Never Land, just awaiting the day I dump them in a box and take them to Goodwill.

Isn't that just the saddest thing you ever heard?

Then, a few days ago, I saw this card by Teresa Abajo in the Spring issue of Take Ten (which still publishes cards made with the man in a bowler hat with the letter D on his forehead):




This card, which is both balanced and interesting visually, has soooo much going on, including a lot of brown. There are seven different patterns and at least three different scripts. Never in a million years could I pull this card off like Teresa has. But I decided, what the hey!, I'll see what I can do with it as a springboard to CAS.

GO, ME! I'm cracking the code, folks.


How did this happen? Well, it started with a color scheme. Of course there's brown, but the original card has (if you squint sideways and use your imagination) hints of pink and blue. So I punched Martha Stewart butterflies in blush blossom, bordering blue, and close to cocoa. Then I stamped the text stamp on white with close to cocoa ink and cut out the panel. It looked better to work light to dark from top to bottom.

The original three butterflies are all linked by a reverse-printed word under each. I ditched that design element in the interest of CAS but still needed to unify the butterflies somehow. I tried coloring white pearls with Bic Mark-It markers in matches to blush, bordering and cocoa, but couldn't get a good cocoa. Then I figured all-white pearls would unify them better anyway.

The cocoa matte grounds it nicely, but the white card base keeps the whole thing from being too dark.

So what do you think of my vintage CAS card? It totally works for me, but does it work for YOU? What vintage-style stamps do you have lying around that you could make into a CAS card? If you take up this challenge, let us know by posting a link to your card.

Up tomorrow, more artsy-inspired CAS in cards suitable for kids!

CAS45 Variations on a Theme

Recently, I've seen lots of cards with lots of buttons, on blogs and in SCS's gallery and in magazines. Buttons annoy me. They are lumpy, bumpy, and hard to mail. On the other hand, they are a fantastic way to kick a clean and simple card design from boring to beautiful. Plus, I have a ton of PTI's vintage buttons sitting, largely unused, in my craft room.

As soon as I saw the CAS challenge Sunday night, I knew I needed to do something with buttons.


The sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set called Friendship Messages. I curved it on the acrylic block, stamped it in Palette dark chocolate, and attached the buttons with glue dots after tying the floss knots on each one.

Can you just imagine mailing this thing? Bubble envelope for sure. I plan on giving it to a real-life friend. One who lives down the street. One I can HAND IT TO!

But it makes me happy anyway. Who says we have to be pracical all the time? Not me.

After applying the final button, I wondered if I could make a totally flat, practical version of the same card that would be as satisfying.


Not quite as satisfying as the button version, but infinitely more practical for mailing. I used SU's Little Pieces, a stamp positioner, and VersaMagic's sea breeze ink. The little dots of Stickles kick it up a notch without adding bulk.

Practical can be nice, too!

CASification Inspired by Colette Copeland

Every time I buy the Stamper's Sampler, Take Ten, I swear it will be the last one I buy. Each issue seems to showcase mainly cards with a collage-y, artsy, brown appeal. While these are lovely cards, few of them can be reproduced in ten minutes (as the name of the magazine implies). Very few are what could be called "clean and simple."

But I keep buying the magazine, like a gambler putting one more nickle in the slots, eternally hopeful that this will be the ONE that pays off big. And with a little CAS ingenuity, each one does, which explains why I keep buying them.

Consider this card from Colette Copeland. What a pretty, alliterative name! Anyway, her card really is CAS from the start, but the style is very vintage artsy, just like her other lovely cards showcased in the article "Scraphappy," which starts on page 84 of the Winter 2010 issue of Take Ten.


The idea of a shape with a sentiment strip placed over it struck me as VERY useful, in a CAS sort of way. First, I knew I'd have to change the scale of the image, seeing as I am lazy and don't like cutting shapes by hand (as Colette did here) and don't have Nesties or other dies. Sorting through my punches, I found this sun punch and paired it with a tiny sentiment from Sign Language. When I reached for cardstock, SU's In Color Crushed Curry raised its hand and said, "Pick me!" The result: my first card with a current In Color that I truly, absolutely love:


Immediately, I saw huge potential in this idea. How often do you wonder what the heck to do with all those tiny little sentiments that get lost on a 4.25" x 5.5" canvas? Giving them opportunity to state their sentiment boldly is tough because they are so small. But gosh darn it, they're cute. Here is a perfect formula for making these tiny stamps say what they have to say with gusto!


Come on, you knew there had to be a Christmas card in this idea, didn't you? And how about looking forward to spring?


And here's a heart, smaller than Colette's and plain, but oh so CAS.

What do you think?

Supplies
stamps: PTI Sign Language
ink: Palette dark chocolate
paper: PTI white, SU crushed curry, bashful blue, almost amethyst, regal rose
accessories: dimensional tape, assorted punches

Design Note: The sentiment strips are just a quarter inch high. I cut them with a quilting ruler and craft knife for precision.

Learning by Copying CAS Cards

Both of today's cards were directly inspired by CAS cards in magazines. All I really changed were colors and themes. Sometimes, I see cards that I totally WISH I'd thought of and just have to make my own! Here are two of them.

First, I basically copied the card above by Jen Del Muro that was published in an issue of Stamp It! Cards earlier this year. Jen is an incredibly versatile stamper who is as at home making a twelve-layer confection of a card as she is making a very CAS card.


Jen's card was a mother's day card in kiwi kiss, white, and black. Mine is a birthday card in blush blossom, white, and chocolate chip. What I loved about Jen's design is how she created a three-part rectangular base for the scalloped circle. (I wish I'd noticed how she runs her rectangle all the way to the edge of the card because it really looks nicer that way!)

She accented the thin white rectangle with the row of circles (she used brads, I used half-pearls). The scallops are repeated at the end of the base, tying the circle and rectangle neatly together. Scalloped BRILLIANCE!!!!

My second card was inspired by the totally awesome Tracy Durcan. She published this Merry Mittens card in Holiday Cards and More, Vol. 2, in 2007.


Her square card uses a scalloped circle stamp as a base for brown mittens with a little pink ribbon knot.



Obviously, I kept her exact layout and close to the same color scheme, just changing the theme and images. I don't have a scalloped circle stamp, so I created a mask with the SU scallop punch and sponged blush blossom ink onto the card. Since the idea of a ribbon on ice cream is icky, I popped my image up and added a bit of brown stickles for the sprinkles on the ice cream to add dimension and a bit of sparkle.

It's a lot of fun--and very stress-free--to make cards that are not "original." I believe we learn a lot from copying designs so directly. It allows us to get inside the designer's head and understand in a very tactile way how the design works. If we do this enough, we internalize those lessons and don't have to think so hard when we do sit down to make "original" work.

At least, that's what I think.

CAS-ification of a Card by Suzanne Czosek

Yesterday's CAS-ification was all about stripping multiple embellishments off highly embellished card while still preserving the layout. Today's inspiration piece is by Suzanne Czosek and was published in Crafts 'n Things, December 2009. Suzanne's lovely card isn't "over the top" at all, so CAS-ifying it was pretty straightforward. Today's make-over is more about style.

My card is smaller, a 4.25" square. I substituted a white card base and a linen-like Chatterbox patterened paper on top, which allowed me to easily eliminate the tag/sentiment and move the sentiment to the bottom right corner...necessary to balance my simplified version. I also switched the border punch from the pretty lace punch she used to a simple dotted wave.


The result is a totally different look. Where Suzanne's card is warm and cozy and shabby chic, my make-over is crisp and bright and graphic.

So just because you look through a magazine and don't see anything that's your "style," remember that you can still get huge inspiration from other styles when you look for a solid base of good design and start substituting product and colors you love.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Signature Christmas
ink: Versacolor
paper: PTI white, Chatterbox
accessories: edge punch, ribbon

CAS-ification of a Card by Sharon Laakkonen

Here's a card by Sharon Laakkonen published in the July/August issue of Papercrafts Magazine.

Wow, there is a LOT going on here with texture, pattern, bling, shape, and dimension. Note how she fixed the top of the panel to the card base but popped the bottom. That is so cool and I'm going to try that on a later card. Also, see how she tucked some flowers UNDER the panel. So clever!

The basic layout of Sharon's card is really neat, and I thought it would translate well to CAS. Besides, I wanted to make a different sort of baby card for little Grady. Here's what I came up with.


I love this color combo for a baby card...it's fresh and cheerful and happy! All the white really makes the bold bright colors pop without hurting my eyes.

Hmmm. Seeing the card in a photo, however, I think I need another flower on the bottom right corner for balance. Originally, I had only two in the upper corner, but added a third because it looked...odd. The flowers, I think, are just a tad small for all that white space. Now the balance is a bit off, but not bad. I'll add another before dropping it in the mail.

To give the dots an orange background, I traced the curves onto a piece of only orange cardstock and cut slightly inside the line. I glued that cut piece to the back of the white panel, and voila! Orange dots.

Supplies
stamps: PTI
ink: only orange, Palette noir
paper: PTI white, only orange
accessories: brads, Prima flowers, border punch, dimensionals, rick-rack

Fixing Scale

I made this card in my first batch with Tree Trimmings. Everything looked great until I edited the photo. Looking at it large on the screen, I felt something was off. The ornament seemed so small. So alone. So sad.

I was sad. I had liked this card, but now, it just looked wrong.

So I fixed it:



Not bad, eh? I simply stamped another ornament, and now the whole thing feels so much more to scale. The proportions of the focal-point-to-white-space work so much better than in the single-ornament version. Of course, I was terrified I'd ruin the whole card because I couldn't use a positioner (the rhinestone would have made it impossibly awkward), but the gamble paid off.

And doesn't that Martha Steward lattice punch go perfectly with the snowflakes in the ornament? Yeah.

Supplies
stamps: SU Tree Trimmings, PTI Signature Christmas
paper: SU brocade blue; PTI white
ink: Versacolor atlantic; Palette noir
accessories: rhinestones, lattice punch

CAS33 It's a Sketch

No, you haven't come to the wrong place. I know what you're thinking: where's all the white Susan loves? I guess that's why these are called "challenges." We can stretch ourselves outside our usual comfort zone and it's all good. I've stretched. Cookiebaker's inspiration card is AWESOME, and why my creative muse took me to the land of Asian color drama, I'll never know. Charlene's colors are so much more appealing to me. But I'm still proud of myself for making such an "out-of-my-box" card. Black card base! Me? Amazing!

.

.

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But I immediately turned around and made this one:

Much more comfortable. Safe. Some might say boring. But hey, welcome to my world!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
paper: PTI white, SU black, real red
inks: Palette noir, real red
accessories: gold cord, dimensionals, rhinestones, black marker

Give-aways coming soon...

Extreme Make Over #3

The third of my Extreme Make Over cards was inspired by Kimberly Crawford's fabulous Christmas card in Holiday Cards and More, Vol. 4.

Two things caught my attention about this card. First, Kimberly's use of shape is masterful. Notice the circles in the patterned paper reinforcing the three layers of circles (one of which has polka dots, too) and the circular stamped image. Then she throws in a wide horizontal strip that has subtle vertical lines of texture. Curves love angles/angles love curves. The combination creates tension and interest in her design.

Second, I HAVE THAT STAMP SET! I bought it in a weak moment with a coupon at HL, and have regretted it ever since. It's just so hard for me to work with. Not sure why. So I decided to "clean and simplify" (or CAS-ify) Kimberly's card to see if I could finally make a card with this set that made me happy.

Here's what I did. First, I stripped all the patterned paper away: this is the easiest way to CAS-ify anything. Then I eliminated one layer from the focal point, so it's just the stamped panel and a scalloped matte. I made the "December 25th" stamp red rather than black (Kimberly's is all black, which makes sense in her color scheme to keep the focal point different to emphasize it amidst all those circles). By doing this, I integrated my stamped panel into the rest of my very simple card.

I layered the wide grosgrain ribbon over the scallop and under the stamped panel, which is popped up on dimensionals. I attached a knotted piece over the flat ribbon to make this card more postal friendly and because I'm scared of bows. Well, not of the bows themselves (that would be silly), just making them. Knots are easier.



Thanks, Kimberly. I'm finally happy.

Supplies
stamps: Art Warehouse
cardstock: PTI white, SU real red
ink: palette noir, SU real red
accessories: ribbon, dimensionals, CM circle cutter, marvy scalloped punch

Extreme Make Over #2

Here's the inspiration for my second Extreme CAS Make Over. (Please ignore the copyright...I'm too ditzy to turn off the automatic copyright in Picasa. I shot this photo of part of page 32 in Papercrafts Holiday Cards and More.)


This wonderfully rustic, country card was made by Alli Miles, whose wonderful work has inspired me numerous times before. The design of her card here seemed so balanced and perfect, I just had to make it over to be more CAS.

In this case, my main job was eliminating pattern because the design itself isn't overly embellished or complicated to start with. I did removed a few layers and made essentially an OLC, but removing the cute sentiment flag meant the button also had to go away (trust me, it looked dumb on my remake). To preserve the balance of Alli's card, I replaced the bow with a big brad and three small brads on the third tree. The gingham ribbon is a nod to Alli's original country feel, which is lost with just plain cardstock.

The trees I cut were a bit big for a standard card and looked squished, as did the sentiment. When I tried to cut the trees smaller, they got all crooked and skinny. So I started again and adjusted my card size to fit the triangles. (I seriously want a triangle punch.) The card is a 5.5-inch square, and now everything has room to breathe.



If I remake this card, I'll add a ribbon piece under the big brad to make a faux bow...the brad alone seems a bit plain to me. I might also add faux stitching to the trees to get more of the country feel that's so integral to Alli's card. Other than those two tweaks, though, I'd leave it as is: clean, simple, and sweet.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts sentiment
ink: real red
paper: PTI white, SU olive, artichoke, and cocoa
accessories: brads, dimensionals, ribbon.

Extreme Make Over

This week's CAS challenge is to take a card you've made before and make it over CAS style. I did make over a couple of my cards, but taking my CAS style and making it CAS-er is sort of hard. By freaky coincidence, I spent a lot of time last weekend making over sumptuously embellished cards from two magazines. Then, this morning, I checked Joan B's blog Paperlicious, and she has posted a fabulously simple make over.

Make overs are totally in the air, and for once I feel like I have my finger on the pulse of trends in the stamping world. I don't expect this giddy feeling to last, but I'm enjoying it while it does.

The first card make over I'm going to share comes from Card Creations Volume 7 and was made by the totally amazing Sherry Wright, whose name pops up in the credits for beautiful cards in practically every magazine I open. Her We Are Thankful card is a beautiful design that I just had to CAS-ify. Notice how perfect it is...she even has a faint text background on the distressed piece under the ribbon to echo the text on the focal point circle. Brilliant!

To CAS-ify a card, I do the following:
1. Eliminate layers.
2. Eliminate embellishments.
3. Eliminate patterns.
4. Simplify colors.
5. Simplify textures.
Basically, I strip everything but the key elements necessary to communicate the message in an interesting way. Sounds simple, right? NOT! But it IS fun.

I love the wreath around Sherry's text circle and realized that my new leaf punch would do the trick without time-consuming fussy cutting. I also love how the glittery branch directs the eye to the sentiment, and thought about using the branch from PTI's Beautiful Blooms (I LOVE that set!) in place of Sherry's glittery branch, but eventually chickened out. When you only have a focal point and a sentiment on a card, does the viewer's eye need to be directed? I'm not sure, but I do know my make over card is totally me. It's minimalist, it's cream-on-cream, it's crisp. But it could never have happened without the inspiration of Sherry's lovely card.



If you want more detailed instructions, read on. First, I stamped the text style background from PTI on a scrap of vintage cream cardstock in chocolate chip, and then punched out that circle (making sure I included the word gratitude in the text) and a slightly larger matte of really rust. I punched six leaf branches from really rust and attached them to the back of the matte using a glue pen. It took a bit of fiddling to get them lined up right, but it was worth the effort. Next, I cut a square card from vintage cream (I think it's 5.5 inches, but it may be 5...can't remember) and used a craft knife to slit the fold where I wanted the ribbon to go through. I tied the ribbon using the one-hole knot technique, hoping the knot would be smaller...it's still huge. Oh well. I stamped the sentiment twice using a stamp positioner to get the two colors (you could use markers, though). Then, I attached the medallion with a glue dot to the knot.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Text Style, Hero Arts Autumn
cardstock: PTI vintage cream, SU really rust
ink: SU really rust, chocolate chip
accessories: ribbon, leaf punch, circle punches, glue dots, stamp positioner

Snowperson Card Make-Over

Before:




After:


Changes:
I changed the color scheme to a monochromatic blue to create better color balance. The glitter is Stickles Frosted Lace, used on the two hat pom-poms, the star, and the scallops. I popped the star, since it's on white now and I thought it needed to be popped to have more presence.

Verdict:
The blue version is more balanced and harmonious.

What do you think?

CAS16, A Make-Over Challenge

The Clean and Simple Challenge #16 is posted. This is my last week on the Design Team, and it's been so much fun working with Carolina, Angela, and Jen to get the CAS challenge off the ground and running strong! My heartfelt thanks to Jen for starting the challenge in the first place, and to every person who has posted their CAS cards. CAS is good, very good, and it's so gratifying to see it celebrated by so many people.

Good luck to all who threw their cards in the ring for the next DT. Every one of you deserves to be on the team!

Here are my cards for this challenge, which was a make-over challenge. It's been a very weird week that left little for creative play, but I like the way these two cards turned out. Both are cleaner and simpler than their original versions.

Let's start with the tree card. I like the way I matted the original, but it has five layers. I did not particularly like how I stamped the tree (in Ancient Page Azalea ink). That was easy, and the waterproof ink allowed me to use stickles without smearing and looking icky. But without pretty matting, the card needed a strong and interesting focal point, so I used markers to ink it up, huffed, and then stamped. I like the more natural look much better.

And rhinestones just make a girl happy, you know?






















The bamboo card original made me singularly unhappy. I couldn't and still can't pinpoint what I don't like, so I decided to rethink the layout completely. I needed a thank you card, and Artfully Asian's sentiment works well with the bamboo stamp. Eliminating layers and the circle made this version much cleaner. You might recognize the layout as a variation from my previous challenge card here. The stickles on the dragonfly doesn't really show up in the photo but looks very nice IRL. It's not an exciting card, to be sure, but it is balanced and rather zen in its serenity and peacefulness. I need a little zen in my life this week!



























I hope you'll play along with the challenge at SCS. I'll be checking back in the CAS16 gallery there regularly for inspiration!