Inspired by Maile Belles

Maile Belles, whose blog Simply Stamped is on my must-read list, has such a distinctive style that when I went through the last issue of Papercrafts, I picked out her many cards without looking at the credits. One of those published cards inspired my card today. Maile used buttons rather than punched flowers and bling, her sentiment was blue rather than black, and her card was longer and thinner than my 4.25" square.

Maile's card is oh so pretty while mine is oh so cute. A small change like using punched flowers rather than buttons can completely change the personality of a card, even if the layout and colors stay almost exactly the same.

When you're copying someone else's card, small changes can lead to larger design decisions that make the card more your own. In this case, I had to cut the card down to 4.25" square because it looked horribly unbalanced after I added the sentiment. My sentiment, in black and slightly bigger than Maile's, had a bit too much weight to have all that white space stretching beyond it. Maile's card looks so fresh and pretty with a bunch of white space, but mine looked awkward. So I cut it down, putting the sentiment in the "sweet spot" for a focal point, and harmony was restored.

Why did I change the sentiment to black in the first place? Because, unlike the transluscent buttons on Maile's card, the punched flowers are densely colored and turquoise would have looked weak beside the more intense color. I contemplated using taken with teal, but generally, I prefer using black or dark brown for sentiments.

I hope today's post (like yesterday's) helps those who are frustrated trying to copy cards. Sometimes, your version will turn out a bit different but equally successful, as this one does (at least in my opinion), and sometimes, your version won't quite live up to the beauty of the original (as yesterday's did not). Either way, it's a wonderful learning experience. Copying great cards teaches you what works, what doesn't, and how to feel your own way to successful designs.

Have a blessed Easter weekend!

Inspired by a RAK from Girlgeek101

After I had admired girlgeek101's gallery at SCS, she sent me a RAK that included a number of her fabulous cards, a few blank cards, some mat board tiles, and a roll of yummy white satin-and-sheer ribbon. It was a box full of goodness, and it totally made my month! Thanks, girlgeek!

This card stood out as particularly beautiful. Notice how perfectly the rich colors blend (harder to do than it looks!) and the way her brilliantly colorful tile pops off the black swiss-dot embossed background. The butterfly stickers bring together all the background colors perfectly and add even more dimension. Happy sigh.



Since girlgeek101 had included some tiles in her RAK, I decided to try to duplicate her card. I have a nice selection of the LuminArte iridescent watercolors but have not done much with them at all...certainly not enough to use them as skillfully as girlgeek did. Still, even though my card lacks the intense glow of the original, I'm pretty pleased at my first effort.



My watercolor background isn't as nicely blended as that of the original, especially between the blue and orange. Notice how asymmetrical hers is, compared to mine...seriously, I tried to get the lovely, dynamic curves of blending she got, but mine came out all horizontal, static bands. Hmm. Must practice more. Since my background didn't have the movement and smoothness of hers, I decided to use a single, larger stamp that gave some asymmetry to the design and three butterflies to harmonize the whole thing and to cover up some spots that needed to be covered.

My colors didn't pop off the black as well as girlgeek's, so I used an idea from another of her RAK cards and outlined my tile with a gold pen. That really helped my paler colors stand out more.

Since I had nothing even close to the puffy butterfly stickers, I opted for some iridescent cardstock from Marco's Paper and Martha Stewart punches. The gold and orange cardstocks didn't look good at all, but the blue at least matched my background, even if it does look a tad flat. Some orange bling helped integrate the background and the butterflies a bit.

The result of my effort is nowhere near as satisfying as girlgeek's original, but I couldn't care less. First of all, I have her lovely card on my inspiration board to enjoy. Second, for two days, I played, really played, in my craft room doing things I don't normally do. Watercolor blending? Four colors on one card? Black, textured card base? So what if it's not perfect? It was FUN. And that, my friends, is what this hobby ought to be all about.

So here's my Friday challenge to you: use something you're not good at or don't use often to make a card. AND HAVE FUN!

Remember that today is Good Friday, the day of the Crucifixion. Given the fact that I spent Palm Sunday driving a rental van through wind and rain and clouds, Easter has sort of ambushed me this year. For Christian believers, Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection are the basis of faith, and they should be foremost in our thoughts all year long, not just in Holy Week. In the words of Charles Wesley,

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

Happy Easter, everyone.

An Explanation and a Pun

Thanks for all the kind comments on yesterday's post. Please know that not all guilt is bad! I love this hobby and love sharing on my blog and love encouraging others to find joy in their own creations. When I first started stamping, hardly anyone I knew stamped (or even knew what stamping was). It was lonely. Now, because of high-speed internet, I have a whole community of stampers at my fingertips. No more loneliness! Yippeeee!

I can't remember posting this card, though I made it months ago. If I did post it before, please don't tell me. The illusion that I'm on top of things is precious to me. It keeps me going.



You should know that puns and I are experiencing a detente. I've never at all minded when others used them on cards. In fact, the Queen of CAS herself JulieHRR uses them a lot, and all her punny cards are too stinkin' cute! It's just that as a word nerd, I've generally avoided them except when I wanted to elicit a groan from my audience. But on cards, well, I just can't resist the cuteness.

The sheep is from a Hero Arts clear set and its fur is Polar Flower Soft. The sentiment came to live with me courtesy of my friend Sue in Charleston who accidentally bought two of the PTI Year-Round Puns sentiment set. Thanks, Sue!

Birthday Buttons and Guilt

Let's start with the good news. I adore this birthday buttons card. It uses Memento Pear Tart ink, which is just about my favorite new thing ever. If I had favorites. Which I don't. But still.



This card uses PTI's Turning a New Leaf, PTI's buttons, PTI's white cardstock, and PTI's Paper Tray sentiment set. The white embroidery thread in the buttons, the Memento ink, the corner rounder, and the glue dots that hold the buttons to the card are not from PTI. But that's not my fault. I love PTI. And this monochromatic card makes me happy. Very happy. I sure hope it makes you happy, too.

Someone was asking about visual triangles. The buttons are arranged in a visual triangle. If you connect them with lines, they form a triangle, right? That gives the whole design a sense of balance and harmony. I did that on purpose. GO ME!

Now for the bad news. I'm feeling so very strapped for time right now. My commenting on other people's blogs and in the gallery at SCS has slipped to next to nothing. In the last two days, I've read about 180 blog posts that had backed up in my Google reader. Needless to say, very few got comments. I am consumed with guilt over this. Epic guilt. So many of you leave such nice comments on my blogs and in my gallery, and I'm not returning the favor. It isn't that I don't love you, or your art, or that I'm not looking. It's just that life is really, really busy right now.

For all of you who visit Simplicity and don't comment (there are HUNDREDS of you every single day *giggle*), I want you to know I understand. Truly. The fact that you came at all means a lot to me.

For those who do comment...you bless me in so many ways you'll never know and that I can't even articulate without requesting that you all take insulin first. My articulation would be that sappy and sugary and sweet. Just know that you're the reason I post pretty much every single day. You keep me going when things are tough.

Now, I'm off to stamp something to share with you tomorrow. Because right now, I got nothin'. But I sketched several ideas from other blogs yesterday that I just have to try....

Have a lovely, creative day!

Mother's Day...Soft and Scalloped

I'd like to make a few Mother's Day cards for the troops to include in my next box to them. This Hero Arts Heart Flowers stamp is so pretty, but I sometimes don't know what to do with it. Other times, however, I do have a creative idea and oh. my. gosh. Am I happy or what?



My favorite purple in all of SU's color families is Almost Amethyst. It's so spring-y and soft and pretty. I used markers to color the stamp, pearls to accent it, and ribbon to anchor the flowers on the card. Note that the ribbon is attached using the one-hole technique explained by LeAnne Pugliese.

After hemming and hawwing for about ten minutes, I decided to put the sentiment inside. Every placement option on the front just seemed wrong. How I wish I were decisive and confident about these things, or at least had, you know, a good reason other than "just seemed wrong" to put the sentiment inside. Instead, I confess I really liked this card as it was and was scared I'd ruin it. It's just so girly and delicate and soft.

And don't you just LOVE that border punch? Martha did it again.

Personal Note: It ended up being too cold yesterday to sit on my concrete garage floor and de-mold the dresser, so I went to my craft room and made five cards...two of them good. Sigh. Anyway, when the dresser is finished, I'll definitely post some pictures of it and the rest of the bedroom set that belonged to my great-grandparents, as well as the grandfather clock built by my grandfather.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: SU almost amethyst, mellow moss
paper: PTI white, SU almost amethyst
accessories: MS border punch, sheer ribbon, half-pearls

Super-Simple Gift Idea

I had two sheets of really pretty textured cardstock left over from another project and wondered what I could do with them. Then, this super-simple idea came to me:



Using nothing but a Martha Stewart border punch, I made notecards and packaged them with envelopes in a PTI clear box. I did have to trim each piece a bit to get the scallops all even, but it was worth it. Especially since the whole project took about ten minutes and would be PERFECT for those times when you need a very quick gift that looks lovely!



To make a super-simple card set like this work, you really do need high-quality, interesting cardstock, though. The texture on this one has lots of right angles, so using a dotty, lacy, curvy punch provides some subtle contrast that adds interest. Plus, the weight of this cardstock is lighter than PTI's white and so punches easier with the detailed lacy punch than PTI's does.



Does this give you an excuse to go buy a few sheets of interesting white cardstock? And a package of PTI clear boxes? I sure hope so!

Needless to say, I'm back from my trip safe and sound. Many, many thanks to all who said a prayer for me as I traveled through wind, snow, rain, and fog to retrieve some family heirloom furniture from Charlotte. Right now, I'm drinking coffee and psyching myself up for a very busy day of rental truck returns, Jack's developmental pediatric appointment, and de-molding the antique dresser. Wooo-hooo! I hope I can make time to stamp something or tomorrow's post will be mighty boring!

Edited to add: Holy cannoli, Batman! Simplicity passed 100,000 hits while I was gone! Thank you all! I'm speechless!

A Blessing for You

I liked the black-and-white New York card I made on Monday and decided to try it with another rather awkwardly shaped stamp, this one from Stampendous. Boy, is it old. The copyright date on it is 1994! Well, that's an old stamp for me because it was made about 8 years before I even knew stamping was a hobby, much less that I would obsess about enjoy it as much I have.

This blessing is for you, my kind and generous readers, to keep you until next week. I will be without internet this weekend, and Monday is hugely busy, so I may not be able to post again until Tuesday.

It feels weird to know that I won't be sharing with you for the next few days, but rest assured, as soon as life settles down again (and my seriously long and fast road trip is behind me), I'll be back. Please say a prayer for me as I travel, if you get a chance!

Supplies
stamps: Stampendous
ink: Palette Noir
paper: PTI white
accessories: dimensionals, ribbon