18 November, 2022

DIY card

Just a quick post from me today to introduce the newest challenge over at the Alphabet challengeblog. We're getting closer to the tricky letters of the alphabet, but don't worry - Q is an easy one with a "Quilt" theme. I didn't know what to create since I don't have any stencils or dies, and I didn't want to do any cutting by hand. In the end, I remembered I had some sort of quilt-papers in my stash. I opted for a sheet with hexagons in an autumn-ish colour scheme with different patterns and blooms, cut it to the right size and placed it onto a kraft card.
Then, I began to think about something that would go with the colourful background. I had an extra print of the Mirtillamente mushroom house still on my desk, and even though I didn't plan to use the digi that I've just shown in another project, I think it fits well with the current season. 
However, I decided to leave it blank for different reasons. For one, I simply didn't have much time left since I've been in and out of hospital again, and only began to prepare my card shortly before the due date. Colouring would take a while, and since I have other things going on, too, I felt like I wouldn't make it. Other than that, I always wanted to create some kind of DIY card, a card with a blank digi as a centerpiece. I had the scenario in my mind of finishing the card with everything from papers and embellishments, and just leave it to the recipient to colour the main motif - or leave it blank if they prefer so. 
And since the card was pretty colourful thanks to the quilt background, I added a piece of yellow cardboard to frame the image. After that, I added a couple of wooden leaves from my stash. What do you think of a DIY card, is it something you'd consider giving away? Or does it look like an unfinished project? Could this kind of deliberate emptiness be useful in background patterns that are super vibrant which sometimes makes it difficult to find the right colours for the digi? Or is the purpose of an image to always be coloured, no matter what? I'd love to hear your feedback on this as I've never created anything like that and I'm not sure yet how to feel about it. 

challenges:
Posted by at 13 comments:

16 November, 2022

Mushroom house

I'm here for a quick post today to show you the card I've created for the latest challenge at the Mirtilamente challenge blog. I won some of their digis in one of the recent challenges over at the Creative Moments challenge blog, and I was invited to be a GD for the sponsor's own November challenge in addition to the digis. I understand there will be no November challenge due to unforeseen circumstances, but I think it would be a shame to not show you my creation anyway. The only requrement for my GD task was to use one of the sponsor images I won, and I went for this lovely image of a mushroom house - such a perfect image for the season!
I coloured the digi with coloured pencils, and picked some whimsical papers for the background. Since the leftover green paper was a little bit too narrow for the card base, I decided to improvise by cutting it in half in order to be able to place it on the outside of the card at least. I was left with a gap in the middle, which I covered up using a strip of dark brown paper with a swirly pattern. 
I then added a simple birthday message which I placed onto a piece of brown cardboard. In the end, I tried to placed a couple of green rhinestones onto my creation. I needed a few attempts until I was satisfied with their position, but I think I'm happy with how everything turned out.

Posted by at 18 comments:

04 November, 2022

Precious

I can't believe we're turning another page on our calendar already! We want to see "Precious" projects this fortnight, and as always, you're more than welcome to join and show us your interpretation of the challenge theme on the Alphabet challenge blog. Since I've been quite busy lately, I'll show you a card that I've created a while ago. It's a welcome card for a little Ukrainian refugee that went into a care package for a baby that has been or will be born far away from home. 
I can imagine that the arrival of a new baby brings many emotions to the family, a mix of wonderful expectations and joy as well as different fears and insecurities. However, I cannot possibly imagine the stress of fleeing your home land with a newborn in tow, or leaving your home while being pregnant to birth your child in a foreign land, not knowing when you'll be able to return home, let alone whether there'll be a home waiting for you upon your return. 
To make the start a bit easier for one little child at least, I packed a box with the most necessary baby items. As with my other boxes, I decided to include a little welcome card, too.
Not knowing the baby's gender, I decided to make it neutral and working with a sunflower motif instead. I stitched the pattern and embroidered it using a pastel yellow yarn. I added a bit of depth by colouring the image with coloured pencils. Then, I added a sentiment saying "Welcome" which I placed onto a brown piece of cardboard since I wanted it to blend with the center of the sunflower. 
After that, I placed everything onto a layer of soft blue background to resemble Ukrainian skies. This way, I'd be able to recreate the colours of the Ukrainian flag, even though in a slightly pastel version. 
In the very end, I added a tiny wooden ladybug for good wishes and good luck. For Ukraine to win this war. for people to return home and be reunited with their loved ones. For babies to be born into happy families, for children to play in endless sunflower fields of their independent country. 

Posted by at 6 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)