The Creative Process

Christy Uncategorized 10 Comments

Here’s what happens when I make cards. I color an image, then I go through my paper stash to see what patterns and colors I have to go with that image. If the answer is none (as it often is), I make my own. We’ll get to that in a second. Once I have 2-4 papers to work with, I start experimenting with layering and laying out the card. 9 times out of 10, I end up with 2-4 layers of frames in varied widths. (See here, here, here or here.) Then I get annoyed with myself because I’m terrible at doing layouts and really shouldn’t be in this business in the first place. Then I decide I’m going to do Something Different. Then I hate it, but by the time all the work is done I’m too close to my deadline to start over (I’m a procrastinator, too). Then I try to salvage what I have by adding ribbon or gemstones or other little embellishments.

And I come up with this.

It’s not all bad. It has just enough redeeming quality to make it to the blog.

First, there’s the coloring. You know how much I love Bugaboo stamps. Since the Card Cupids challenge theme this week was Red, White and Blue, I thought it was a good time to show off Ron’s red hair. It required a lot of experimentation to come up with the perfect color combination, but I found it. The secret to a good ginger is using orange instead of red. I used YR68 with E13, 15, and 17. I gave him blue robes (B20s, along with a little C3 and C5), to keep with the theme.

The other redeemer is the background paper. As I said, if I don’t have anything in my stash that fits the bill, I make my own. This one was a lot of fun to do. First, I inked the male side of my embossing folder with Chipped Sapphire, and embossed a sheet of white paper. This colored the background blue and kept the swirls white. Using an ink blending tool and Fired Brick, I made the swirls red. Then I covered the entire thing in clear embossing powder to give it a nice glossy finish. I used several layers of regular embossing powder, then remembered I have an old pot of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel that would have done the job in one go. Oh well, I’ll remember next time.

So sure, I thought, “oh, I’ll do something interesting with my nesties,” and then ended up with just another framed card, but I also got to have some fun with my supplies, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Card Recipe:
Image: Bugaboo Stamps HARPOT Sidekick
Copics: E000, 13, 15, 17, 33, 35, 55, 59; R20, 22, 89; YR000, 00, 68; Y15, 26; B21, 24, 28; C1, 3, 5, 7, 9
Distress Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Fired Brick
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug D’Vine Swirls
Other: Ranger Clear Embossing Powder, Nail Heads by Mark Richards (colored with E35), Straight and Narrow Ribbon (colored with R24)