Styling cards with "The Great Gatsby" in mind!

 

I love this style  card! Dosen't she have"class"! This card was introduced to me as a" steampunk style" however I think with the new fashion, new men's wear and ladies' frocks, ala Daisy, from the movie The Great Gatsby, we card makers have several new challenges for us to try. We can adapt some of the same notions to our graduation card theme and incorporate the dapper look to our "Father's Day cards.

The best site to look for more ideas with vintage theme papers is the Graphic 45 paper site www.graphics45.com . You will love their paper inspiration. The notions are endless!

 There are just a few  websites  but there are many, many themed papers. Some of these elements work in well with the Tim Holtz clear and acrylic stamps. When you add a sentiment stamp with the Graphic 45 papers you really do get a style that  could very well come right out of the Great Gatsby era ( and the late 1920's).
Here is a good example for Father's Day. This one was made for a 4.25" x 5.5" card. Our first mat is olive green reduced by .25" all around less than your card size. The second mat is paper from the Graphic 45 in a harlequin diamond pattern,  reduced another 1/4" ; adhere the second layer on top of the first and adhere this assmblage to the card front. The car stamp is stamped on a cream colored cardstock, layered likewise  with small terre cotta colored rectangle  and the largest being olive green. All graduated in size 1/8" smaller. Just before the car stamp is applied use a lighter shadow stamp for  a writing  and clock motif. The sentiment is cut out, trimmed and applied with the olive green background 1/8" larger than the Father's Day stamped sentiment.
Try your hand at this one. It takes more cutting but the idea is very simple and very neat---dapper!

 

 

Are You Fond of Inchies?

 "Inchies"? An "inchie" is just what you might think it is, a one inch by one inch square design or word, framed in one central color of card stock. The inchies are then placed on your cards in geographic patterns, or in random places on the card face. Look at theses "inchies" from another style of Graphic 45 paper. The inchies in this photo haven't been glues in place yet, but you can see the variety and subjects the artist is going for. The paper blends nicely into words and pictures.

 

Well-Groomed Young Graduate

 This graphic paper tells me the "graduate" is a young man, well-groomed, and on a path of success! What does it say to you? The card map, that is the design pattern one follows is a more difficult level on this card, but never the less, I think our message comes through clearly to the young grad who recievs it. A rare race for success begins with a well-groomed young man. There was something about this era with its wild music, flappers dancing, taboos broken which contrasted with the "time ticking" away. A first impression was measured in a moment.

 

Finally, let's go back to an easier card map again. Using a simple sentiment stamp' cut in a strip the full length of your card (5.5"). We begin to assemble  printed paper which will accent the center focus of the men's shoes from Graphic 45 paper. Start this card with the black background cardstock cut 1/4" smaller than your white card face. Next, add the print stripe then (space), the shoe print paper,( space) another print stripe (space) and finally your sentiment strip. Move the coponent pieces until you have a symetrical arragment.

Father's Day, Graduation, a celebration of a by-gone era for our modern day! What is it about this style ? I just love working with it and creating some special cards  for the people I love. I hope you will try some of these papers and make it a new fad! 

 



Birthdays and other celebrations!

Hello! This has been a wonderful week to make cards before all the outside activities begin. We've had some rain and then we've had more rain. This has added up to a lot of water and no gardening or planting taking place. So while we were inside, we used our time to catch up on a few cards and made these simple and easy cards for children entitled, "Enjoy your Birthday! Our clever card makers designed the front of the card with the stamp, the colored card stock, a print paper layer and the sentiment stamp. Easy enough... and the "wow" factor were the tied buttons. Cute, Judy! This was really clever. I call this simple design... Design 101. Everything is centered on the front of the card. The stamp design is attached to background on card stock,  which graduate in size from the center stamp design to the larger print paper on the card fronts.
Another design, Judy used all primary colors on this card and it looks great.

 The colorful print background gives the card "fun-appeal"--- and who doesn't like a cupcake for their birthday! The "balloons" stamp is printed onto  a white card stock, cut out, small bakery strings are attached to the back of the balloons and then, paper pieced onto the left side of the card front, with the sentiment stamp anchoring down the balloon cluster strings. Judy, Ellen, Ginny, our Card Makin' Cuties, did a great job on these birthday cards for Operation Write Home (OWH),  www.operationwritehome.org which provides hand made cards for our troops to send home to their loved ones.Click onto their link right here.Read more about what they are doing.

With lots of Graduations coming up this May, you might have just enough time to make your own hand made card. Here is another easy pattern to follow.

The idea we wanted to try was a bit different than the typical Graduation cards of black and gold. This design was based on the bright colors of the celebration papers. The lime green in the printed paper is placed along the right side of the card front. The colorful print is added off-side and the punch out scalloped oval is stamped with the sentiment.

 Just A Great Tip: ( thanks to OWH) We saw a need to multi-stamp our design stamp onto a blank sheet of card stock. These prints are colored when we need time fillers, like, waiting in long gas lines, at the doctors, or for children after school. Any time you have a second or two, color them in. Stamping and coloring them when you have a few minutes is a real time saver.
NO EXCUSE. When you need a card in an emergency---cut one of your pre-stamped, pre-colored prints out, attach it to colorful card stock and print backgrounds add the embellishments...and pop it in the mail.

 With Mother's Day, Graduation, Birthdays and more, spring is a wonderful time to be a card maker. I hope you can adapt these easy designs to your own cards. Share your thoughts and ideas too. Let me see what you are doing or leave a comment. What is your best tip? And by all means, show us how you used these tips and ideas.