Collage Duo

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I had this "collage" page in my Pebbles paper pad that I wasn't sure how to use. It's kind of busy to use as a background, as I normally do my designer papers. But then instead of seeing the page as a whole, I started seeing the smaller squares and rectangles and ways I could divide the paper, and I came up with two designs:

Not only did dividing up the squares make them more manageable, but I still have enough squares left over that I could make a third card -- just not today!

The first card uses two rectangular sections that I cut out:

I framed these two sections with another coordinating paper from the same pad. For some added interest, I used a couple of dies to cut out a red heart, which I popped up on the bottom, and a yellow flower, with a little jewel center.

For my second card, I centered a larger portion of the collage on my white card stock base:

I framed it out with a coordinating turquoise solid paper, and then added a Hero Arts sentiment to the bottom. Very CAS (clean and simple)!

This keeps happening to me, where a design that I originally skipped over because I didn't know how to use it, ends up making cute cards that I want to duplicate! Maybe some day the lesson will sink in, and I won't immediately dismiss something that is challenging.

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps - sentiments on both cards by Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings"
Paper - "Garden Party" by Pebbles
Ink - Memento "Lady Bug" red (top); Memento "Teal Zeal" (bottom)
Dies - heart & banner (top) by Becky Higgins

Rusty Rose

If you're like me, when you flip through a designer paper pad, there's usually one or two patterns that you kind of say "Aaack! What in the world will I do with THAT??" This was one of those patterns for me. While I really love almost all of the prints in Love Nicole's "Aquarelle" pad, this one was quickly skipped past. And, as has happened before, what I originally didn't like ends up being a favorite. Go figure.

The thing that originally stumped me was the color combo, I think. Powder blue, mixed with rust, mixed with purples? Oh, and some olive green for good measure. I was trying the print out with different solids, and when I hit upon this SU rust color, I liked it! Suddenly, it seemed like the color combo made sense. I added this flower from the Penny Black "Enamor" set, which I colored with Copics. This is probably the first time I've used my Copic markers in at least a couple of years, but I'm happy to say they were still mostly juicy.

I added the Hero Arts sentiment, stamped on a banner die from a Becky Higgins (American Crafts) die set found at Tuesday Morning. There are 8 really useful dies in the package, for $4.99. Score!

Since I still have time, I will enter this into Jeannie's "Rose Garden" challenge that ends this weekend. There's time for you to play along too!

Have a great weekend!

A "Pulitzer" Prize?

I was flipping through a Love Nicole "Bouquet of Color" 6 x 6 paper pad, and mixed in with all of the pretty florals were these loud and proud designs that look like Lilly Pulitzer threw up all over them. At first I wondered how in the world I would use them, because each sheet was a little overwhelming, but then I came up with this idea to mix and match strips. The colors coordinate, and I think the white space in between the strips helps tone them down a bit.  This card is a little wilder than most of the ones I make for my card ministry, but there are lots of people in my church with lots of different tastes and styles, so why not offer a little something for everyone?

At first when my daughter saw these papers on my stamping table, she turned up her nose, but my finished card won her over, and I have to say, I surprised myself as well by how much I like how it turned out. I could put any kind of happy greeting on this, but I was short of "Get Well" cards, so I used this old Stampin' Up! stamp. How could these bright colors not make a person feel more cheery?