In my last post, I shared how my friends and I each created a unique card that began with the same stamp. A great way to spend a Sunday with friends!
However, most of the time I craft alone as I’m sure many of you do. I’d like to demonstrate how one stamp and a concept can change and improve over time.
Here is the first card I made using my new Owl in a Santa Hat stamp:
As far as techniques go, I used one snowflake stamp with Antique Linen distress ink and overlapped that with the owl stamp in Forest Moss distress ink (although any two inks could work, I think distress inks are more natural looking and easier to blend). I used some letter block stamps to add “Hoo Hoo Hoo” separately. I made the snowflakes along the bottom with a punch and added some rhinestones and a gold star for embellishment.
What I like about it: The stamps and the “Hoo Hoo Hoo” message are fun and exactly what I imagined they would be. I also love the antiqued quality of the color scheme as opposed to the bright red and green (and now blue) that are ubiquitous around the holidays.
What I don’t like about it: The main image is off centered because I didn’t allow enough room around my stamps for cutting a rectangle. I’m big on balance. Also, it feels a little flat and less than what I wanted it to be. In other words, meh.
But look what happened when the second batch came out:
Definite improvement! I think my mom had just given me a huge bag of ribbon and lace and I found some great stuff to match my color scheme. Also, I made these cards AFTER I got together with my friends to make the Kitten in a Santa Hat cards. Having other creative people around really helped get my own creative juices flowing. I don’t know if I would have thought to cut out the owl and make it 3D otherwise.
All the positive feedback (and subsequent orders to buy them!) inspired a third round of cards with this theme.
I incorporated more contrasting shapes and pulled those “Hoo”s up off the flat surface to balance out the 3D effect of the owl. It might be hard to tell but I also distressed around the edge of the owl and tree image.
Compared to that first card, these feel finished, refined, balanced, and just plain old pretty. I think it says a lot about our potential as crafters, and as people in general, how much things can change and improve in a short time if we open our minds to it.
And to all the people who’ve told me that they “aren’t creative” after seeing some finished product of mine like this, I say: This end product took time and practice as well as the inspiration and support of my friends and family. Not to mention the hours I spend researching different products or techniques and then trying them out for the first time only to completely destroy a project. It happens. You learn from it and keep trying.
I still have one more Christmas Card 2013 post so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!
– Leann
Sowing Crafty Seeds 