Well, I'm still editing my photos, but in the meantime I wanted to take the opportunity to show the valentine's card I got for Michelle Mach's Valentine Challenge.
The challenge was to alter a plain embossed card any way we wanted. Like several of the participants I had no real experience in paper crafts, lacking both the skills and the materials and tool to make any kind of more professional looking card, but it was a challenge and I sometimes find it hard to say no to a challenge. Even if it is in a medium I'm no more than a newbie in.
This is what the card Michelle sent me looked like before I altered it. At first I just thought of it as being in landscape format and this is how I kept looking at it when planning and playing with different ideas. Then one day I turned it 90 degrees and realised it looked better in portrait format.
And this is what the card ended up looking like. I began by colouring the leaf pattern with watercolour pencils in spring green and light brown -- two colours I felt worked well with the cream white paper. I then wanted to add a quote and not having the time or resources to make a fancy stamping or image transfer I had to write it my hand. Lettering isn't my strong side, but what can you do?
The text means "Love [in order] to live. Live [in order] to love." I wanted something love related that was more philosophical than something addressed to a lover. More about love than about valentine.
As the card felt pretty bare, I thought of what material I had that could add to the design without overpowering the simplicity that I liked. My eyes fell on some pink tissue paper that I cut into flowers. Using the dull point of a brush shaft I pushed the flowers into a pin cushion to cup them. The remaing five flowers were shaped the same way, but using a pencil point so they became more ruffled, perfect for the centres.
So all in all not one of my best creations, but there are details I like (such as the flowers) and I probably shouldn't be too hard on myself considering that I'm a newbie in the art of card making after all.
If you want to see what the other participants made with their cards, please check out Michelle's valentine challenge blog post.
Beautiful, what a lovely idea. Happy Valentines Day xxx
ReplyDeleteHi nice card with sweet little roses. As for me, I'm a bit scared of all those interesting materials for card making and scrapbooking that I see in craft shops. I feel overwhelmed by all those beautiful papers etc. I would really like to be able to create cards. I've decided to give silk embroidered and beaded cards a try. And then move further from my comfort zone to paper crafts...Maybe I should ask somebody to "force" me to make paper cards...like you were "forced" by this challenge? Milka
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day aka Friend's Day here in Finland! We send cards to our friends and relatives.The income from card sale usually go to organizations like The Red Cross etc. I think your card is very suitable as a greeting to a dear friend.
ReplyDeleteI love those little flowers. Thanks for sharing how you made them! I also liked how you changed the card to be portrait format. Such a small change, but one I would have never thought about. Thanks for joining the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteMilka: Yes, challenges are a great way of pushing yourself -- and being pushed -- into trying something new. You should do it!