26 August, 2022

Kraft card

Just a quick card from me today, featuring a kraft card base as is required for our newest challenge over at the Alphabet challengeI've dismantled the cover of a scrapbook paper album recently since I didn't want to just throw it away. I decided to prepare scraps for a couple of cards, but since it featured different motifs on the inside and outside, I had to sacrifice one side to use the other and vice versa. However, I managed to prepare pieces from both sides to be used. This particular scene is from the inside of the cover, and I like those abstract, watercolour-looking flowers. While the foliage is rather blurry, it has a beautiful accent in form of golden blooms. 
I cut a piece wide enough to be featurred on a card base, but since the floral motif interfered with other stuff, it wasn't quite tall enough for me. To make it appear bigger, I added a punched strip of golden paper which goes with the golden dots of the image. I wasn't sure whether the finished card would be suitable for a masculine occasion or a short "just because" note, but in the end I decided to use it for a sympathy card - the main reason being that the motif looks so serene to me. I then added a small sentiment on dark turquoise paper, and couldn't resist adding a couple of rhinestons in the end.  
I'm not entirely sure whether the outcome is appropriate for a sympathy card, but I like to believe that somebody will like to have one that is not entirely black & white. I try to tell myself that the golden accents are quite discrete, and the gemstones are almost invisible as if they would resemble fireflies above a meadow on a warm summer evening...
... but I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this one. Would you think of making a sympathy card like this? Would you buy it if you saw it in the store? How would you feel about receiving a bit of gold and glitter on a sad occasion?

12 August, 2022

Juvenile

Can you believe two weeks have passed already since our last challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog? Time to announce a new challenge, I guess. We'd like to see your "Juvenile" themed projects this fortnight, meaning you should create something for a young person.
For my DT inspiration, I've worked on something very simple: a birthday card for a young vehicle enthusiast. You certainly know the patterned paper as I've used it in a couple of masculine projects already, and this one is actually a leftover piece. I've cut out the motif of cars in the middle to use them for one of my bookmarks. I figured I'd fill the emptiness with a greeting or sentiment to create an extra card (I didn't want to create any more bookmarks), which is why I placed the patterned paper onto a bright yellow card base. However, I always thought about placing a sentiment over the yellow gap in the middle. This way, whatever I'd place atop that base would have to be rather big, possibly interfering with all the vehicles in the background and making them look inaproppriately small. Since I couldn't come up with anything better, I put my half-finished project aside. I came across it every now and then, and each time it ended up annoying me because I just couldn't come up with a solution. Until I decided to completely change my thought process.
Only a couple of days ago it struck me that I don't necessarily need to cover up the awkward gap - I could make it the centerpiece of my creation! I rearranged the sentiment from my recent summer card and cut it to the right size to match the card base. I then removed the piece of yellow card base that was acting as a gap-holder the entire time, creating an opening instead.
See, instead of putting the greeting atop my card, I decided to place it inside, and I think it gives such an unexpected twist to the original outline. I actually like how everything turned out, and how it all was possible because I changed my way of thinking by looking for the exact opposite of what I had in mind before. A concept that might as well be useful in everyday life.

challenges: