Sunday, April 20, 2014

Card making and entering my first sketch challenge

So, my most recent obsession has been card making. I love it because it lets me use so many of my crafty/artsy interests in on place, plus I get to give my projects away, which is my favorite reason to make anything. I wish I'd been taking pictures of all the cards I've been making to send out, but usually I make a card for a specific purpose then immediately send or give it to the person it was made for. I'll try to be better about that so I can share my work here. I can definitely promise to share the cards I made for Mother's Day after those cards have been given. I'm pretty proud of them.

Well, as you can imagine Pinterest and the internet in general has become my best friend, giving me inspiration and instruction. I'll list a few of my favorite blogs at the end of this post so maybe you can get some inspiration, too. :) I'll also list my Pinterest board and my paper crafts board in case you'd like to follow my exploits.

All that being said, I've been watching some card making challenges recently and really loving seeing how all these designers interpret a given sketch. Then, I came across this challenge: Retrosketches Challenge #111. When I saw it, I immediately thought to myself, "I could totally do that! I could do that right now!" And, I did!

This is what I came up with.

 

 I'm really happy with it. As you can see, instead of a ribbon from the sketch, I used washi tape and instead of a button, I used a flower attached with a brad. I added embossing to the sentiment and a few rhinestones because most things are better with rhinestones. I didn't brush all the stray embossing powder off the card because I liked that it gave it a bit of a vintage/worn/imperfect look. I thought it was interesting, so I left it.


 I left the inside blank because I like writing my own personal messages. I also stamped the enveloped with a simple floral stamp to add a little something.

I'm going to enter this in the challenge. I hope to at least get a little constructive criticism. Wish me luck!!

Here are those links I promised:

Retro Sketches - I really like their sketches!
 Jennifer McGuire - so! much! to! love!!
Splitcoaststampers - check out their tutorials!
Damask Love - literally everything she makes is gorgeous, elegant, and fun!
Omiyage Blogs - fun with paper and washi tape!
Fiskers - great ideas using their products