Kim Hughes
Thanks for joining me for part two of my ”Back to School” blog series! Hopefully you’re learning lots of great tips for making the most out of your Paper Crafts issues.
As I was looking through my latest Stamp it! Cards issue, I was inspired by Jen del Muro’s Happy Mother’s Day Card that’s found on p. 64. I used her card as a launching pad for a simple set.
Happy Mother's Day Card by Jen del Muro
I kept a similar color combination (because I love it!) and created a card, tag and gift bag. I chose two different types of rub-ons for the card and tag and then decided to handwrite “enjoy” to change it up. You can print your text using the same font for a more cohesive look.
Here's my trio that was inspired by Jen's Happy Mother's Day Card.
I chose to vary the flower accents and the black dotted border as well. The card uses black glitter brads, while the tag uses buttons and the gift bag is adorned with black crystals. Other options include punched black paper dots or eyelets.
Take a look through the issue and make note of certain themes that can be built upon. Why stop at the card when you can go so much further and really knock someone’s socks off!
Then when I saw Laura O’Donnell’s Love You Card on p. 30, I thought of other four-letter words that would work well.
Love You Card by Laura O'Donnell
So, let’s take this love-themed card and change it, shall we? I love that Laura chose a non-traditional color combo for her card…definite props for that! I chose the word “Noel”.
Here's my Noel Card inspired by Laura's Love You card.
Some other words that came to mind were: cute (with a butterfly in the center), hope (with a pink ribbon in the center) and baby (with a safety pin in the center). There are many, many other words that can work, too! This could easily be a window card and fun frames can be added around the main elements. You can stitch/handwrite a border, use letter stickers/die cuts or work with any color combo that speaks to you.
I hope that you take a closer look at the beautiful projects found within the pages of Stamp It! Cards. Psst…you might want to do it when you have time to create because those creative juices might be flowin’! And I’ll be back next week with another way to utilize your Paper Crafts magazines to their utmost potential.
Thank you Jen and Laura for creating such adorable cards!
Kim Hughes,
Paper Crafts Go-to Gal
P.S. I’d love to hear ways you’ve built upon an existing project. Leave a comment and I’ll pick three winners to receive a copy of Stamp It! Cards. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
P.P.S. It’s time to announce the winner from Kim Kesti’s It’s My Party post, the winner from Jennifer’s Swap and Swap Alike post and the two winners from Kelly’s Beware of Scary Sentiments post!
Kim’s winner:
Christina (Sept. 11, 12:27 p.m.)
Jennifer’s winner:
Jingle (Sept. 10, 8:07 a.m.)
Kelly’s winners:
1. Jennifer (Sept. 12, 12:14 a.m.)
2. Amy (Sept. 12, 1:12 a.m.)
Congrats, winners! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!
I’m always on the look-out for projects I love but want to tweak and put my own look to. It might be that I change the colors or I see a stamp I love but don’t have so I’ll use my Cricut to re-create the image. Any way you look at I do like to scraplift as much as I like to create my own original ideas.
I use a lot of things for inspiration. Clothing, other cards, ads. I use paper craft a lot to spark ideas. Thanks a lot.
so cute… and such a good idea to make a ‘set’–using the same sketch saves time and effort, and using the same supplies saves time and money! love it! thanks! ~k
Cute stuff! I love looking for color inspiration!
Mostly I draw my inspiration from advertisement I will see posted on places. When it caught my attention I will try to draw it or remember it and once I am back home, if I have to do it, I do it right away. I f I still have other stuff to atend to, I draw it on a piece of paper and post it on my table.
I made “back-to-school” cards for some little girls in my life and did a theme and variations take on the project — each has similarities, but each is unique.
When I get creative with a card design or see one I like I then take that design and tweak it to use for every occasion……Love all the inspiration from your site!
I love choosing a card for inspiration, but as soon as I pick out the papers, the card takes on a whole new life! That’s what I like…the inspiration leads to creativity which leads to making it ‘mine’! Thanks, Kim, for always inspiring me!
I like to take a card I love for inspiration and then re-arrange elements to come up with a new look. It’s so great to be inspired and then let your own creative juices flow! I like the idea of using the same format for several items rather than just a card…thanks Kim!
I am ALWAYS copying something I find in PC mag!!! That’s what it’s for right? LOL!
I love finding interesting decor items and copying them, but with my own flair!
i started doing tri shutter cards for this year christmas cards and then i branched out to some other ones like double pocket cards. I like having a veriety of new ideas to play with.
I generally work one project to another, somthing on my desk inspires me to go on to the next idea. I love what you did with this sketch, super fun!
suuuch super cute projects:D really love the NOEL card
I love to blog hop and bookmark my faves for all kinds of inspiration.l
I keep a lot of cards that I “would love to imitate” but my cards are some how always different.. whether it be the color choices are different to fit my needs (or I dont have any of the colors they used or remotely close), the sentiment I like is a bit different, or I use the ‘layout’ but use different stamps, images and sentiments all together.
I love being able to adapt others ideas into something great for ‘me’
I look at all kind of things for my inspiration… Paper Crafts card magazines, of course..blogs, fashion designs for new color possiblities, etc. Thanks Kim for some super great ideas!!
I always look to my favorite blogs for inspiration….there are so many talented gals out there and I can always find something to jump start my creative process.
I love the idea of taking the card and expanding it to other projects. My inspiration comes from blogs, other scrappers and advertisements and photos….especially for color!
These are fabulous! I just decided that I really need to go on a cardmaking spree just to bump up my stash. I’ve wanted to have a good solid stash and I never have, so now is the time! I’m going to utilize all the inspiration I can get and make TONS of cards!!!
I like to keep pictures of projects that I really like & when I have time, I try to use a similar layout for my projects. They always never turn out the same though since I don’t usually have the right supplies but it definitely helps to get my creativity flowing!
I will create elements for a card and decide not to use them so I will leave them in a pile on the corner of my desk. Sometimes weeks later I will pick them up when working on another project and they will work perfectly,
For me I find that going into galleries where projects are posted,blogs and of course Mags helps me w/my mojo and when I see something that catches my eye I doodle something about it and write where i saw it and then I can later on go and see what I could do to make it an “Ellie” creation. Its so much fun to see something as simple as a color combo to get your mojo going!
I like to get inspiration from many places–for my Christmas card this year I found a ribbon that I just love–my color scheme is coming from the ribbon and I most likely won’t even use the ribbon on the card. I had been stewing over what to do for this year–and a walk through the ribbon aisle inspired me and I had found the exact supplies I needed to complete the project in about 10 minutes.
I like to give altered objectsw (books, bottles, frames, etc) and match the card and gift tag, tying them all together.
~Shari R.
I love to look at other peoples versions of the same card design to take pieces of inspiration from everyone…its always interesting to see how differently everyone portrays it.
I love to make matching cards & gift bags/boxes. I’ve also made bows to coordinate with cards as well.
I love using sketches and magazine/catalog projects for inspiration — especially if I’m in the market for a quick and easy card! Sometimes the end result is very similar to the starting point and sometimes it is quite different… Thanks!
I love finding a wonderful project in my stamp mag and re-creating it with my own twist. Using it as a sketch or color inspiration or even to drag out a stamp set I haven’t used in awhile… It really gets my creativity flowing!
kudos! this is absolutely one of my most favorite things to do–taking an example somewhere and seeing what i can do with it. i love the springboard of creativity it gives to me and the flexibility it gives in being able to make something my own. love it, love it, love it! glad to hear someone else loves it too!!
Cute projects – thanks for the ideas
Nice cards, thanks for the inspiration. I have just started to like using sketches. They are a great start off point.
A lot of times I will take an old design and make it work for whatever occasion I need, especially if I am not getting any ideas that day!
I frequently get inspiration from my favorite blogs. I’ll see something and it will help me add a new layer or dimention to my cards. I also use craft magazines, such as my archive of ole Rubber Stamper magazines for inspiration to add on to an existing design. I will haveto check out the Stamp It! Cards magazine. I have not seen one yet.
Thank you~
I love to scrapbook and make cards, so many times I will use a sketch or layout that I like for a scrapbook page and use it for a card.
I love the “NOEL” card! How cute! My inspiration comes from just putting different colors together and seeing how it goes!
This is why I cannot throw out old magazines. The ideas are always good to go back to. I like to use card ideas for scrapbook page elements.
I use Papercrafts Mag all the time for inspiration. I like to take card ideas and transform them for Scrapbook pages, or visa-versa! The current Halloween ideas are going to be so fun to work with!
Last issue I used an idea from one card layout to create a 50th Anniversary card for my parents, but used THEIR invitation as the background paper. (Their invite was embossed on cream paper). They loved it!
My card and gift bag/wrapping paper have to match and the paper/bag gives me inspiration for the matching card.
I like using ideas from magazines and online to create projects…it really speeds up my projects.
Sketches are always a great kick off point to creating something. And I love how Splitcoast Stampers has galleries for different stamp manufacturers.
I took one of Jen del Muro’s card layouts recently & ran with it!
story of my life! CASEing other! I get a lot of my inspiration on-line.
Thanks for the fun!
Sandra
Awesome projects. I have been repeating a lot of projects that I have made in the past, but stepping them up a notch with these fantastic new border punches that are out there…totally addicting and completely changes the look!
I am always really attracted to lots and lots of layers! But…I always seem to break it down. I usually go CAS or with a less is more style.
I love to get a basic idea or sketch from a card that I like, and then vary the colors or theme. Then I try to add my own twist with different embellishments.
If I find a good design I use it alot, but chance it each time just a little bit.
what fun to see my card on the blog! love Kim’s take on it, and Jen’s card, and Kim’s take on Jen’s card too.
I’m forever ripping out pages of scrappy magazines when I see something that inspires me and then I pull them out when I’ve run out of my own ideas!
I like to use the card layout then put my own spin on for papers and embellishments.