Once in a while,
RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of
an ORDINARY life,
LOVE gives us a FAIRYTALE.
This card....if I had only had more time, it would have turned out a little more embellished, possibly a few more characters, and this post would have oodles of explanations of my thought process with it. Unfortunately, my work days are playing a toll on my well being, and as much as I insist on getting an hour here and there in my card making each week...when I start to SHAKE waking up, due to lack of sleep...I know I need to take care of my physical needs, so...simple this one is. I do have a few tips and tricks though, that I hope to address in this post.
Before I get into the parameters...
It's 5:30AM right now, and I have tons of chocolate work on my plate, so if my pictures aren't the best...it is what it is. I am not a professional photographer, lol...and for some reason, I manage to sell not hundreds, not thousands, not even tens of thousands of chocolate units every year - - add a few more digits to that...and bingo! I'm the link between the chocolate and our customers. I.AM.THE.PHOTOGRAPHER... haha It's a funny digital world, and it seems to work for us....As much as I want to get rid of the glare, the shadows, the yada yada yada...I.DON'T.HAVE.TIME to keep retaking pictures, nor do I have a little photo lab...we work in a very fast world here.
K...nuff said about that...
Now, for a TIP TIP TIP TIP TIP that I learned probably well over a year, maybe 2 years, on Craft Roulette. I don't know about most people, but when I create cards....I always color/fussy cut EXTRA images. You never know what will happen...an unwanted INK SPOT...a blooper here, a blooper there... I have spent endless hours on these extras, and sometimes I wonder why. I have finally trained myself to "move on" and making "one card" of a design is plenty....(I get to play with more of my supplies if I don't linger on one design...) BUT...extra images? Well, one of the guest designers offered the tip of filing them away in a pocket sleeve binder, kind of to "save for a rainy day".... Well, my rainy day arrived. I already had my precious Cinderella colored and cut, ready to go... In fact, I had CHOICES... and as much as I attempted to add other images, I didn't have the space for this fun little 4 Bar size card.
Next tip... actually, PRODUCT REVIEW.... Ink blending, has been a work in progress for me... my tip... I truly think having quality brushes and the kind of ink you use is the key for success... I used a Trinity Shading Sidekick Blending Brush along with Catherine Pooler Mini Dye Ink to shade a pretty blue sky behind my pumpkin carriage. I probably won't go wild buying up a ton of the brushes, but, probably select the few colors that I tend to use over and over again and dedicate a brush to those few colors, maybe a dozen or so. I have TONS of the amazon makeup looking brushes that I use with my distress oxides. It's an inky mess to store those, and my blending tends to BLOTCH. I'm sure it's the "oxide" of it all, the pigment ink part of oxides are harder to work with, and the brushes aren't soft and easy... It's best to not mix the brushes between types of inks...like I said, it's an INKY MESS ... I probably should have leaned into they distress inks more than the distress oxides, oh well... LAST NOTE: I am not an affiliate of either of these companies...just feel I needed to share my experience with the products.
DEETS:
Project: 4 Bar: (Basically, a 3-1/2" x 5" size) (actually slightly less than, I made it easy)
Colors: Fairy Tale: I chose Cinderella, and used Scrappy Boy Stamps Cinderella 6x8 stamp set for my Cinderella option. I linked the bundle here, as I see there are some other fun Cinderella products. I kind of wish I had a pumpkin carriage for me to use easily. Mine was a process, lol... I do think Scrappy Boy is one of the best for fandom stamp sets. I have quite an inventory from this company...and once again, I am not an affiliate, just a happy customer.
Element: Kid's Book: Who doesn't know Cinderella? It would be practically impossible to find someone who doesn't know of this Fairy Tale.
Random: Paper Clip. I went round and round on this one. Not because I didn't jive with the parameter. I really like it, just didn't know where or more WHY to put one on this small card. I decided, to create a little blank banner, with 2 sided adhesive adhered to it already (just need to remove the second strip)... perfect to add a name or date for any fairy tale wedding or couples event. I had a chunky heart shaped paper clip, but it was too much for this little card. I had already plastered bling bling to the front of the card, probably a little too heavy...so...I ended it as is. The insides definitely looks NAKED to me, but, I can go back and add a heart or 2 on the inside, and it leaves room for writing something inside.
Last tip before I go... Need a pumpkin carriage and you don't have one? NO PROBLEM... I google searched FREE CLIP ART and went from there. Be careful of copyright here, if you are reselling, etc. If it's free, it's free (if there is an angel policy, best to review) (I don't sell my cards, all for personal use for me)... if it's not free, you can purchase too, which I have, just read the rules and go from there... I wanted something simple, there are tons to choose from.
Well, another week went by, and it might be that I skip a week here and there...I already am up to 300 or so major gift basket/packs lined up on the books to get assembled and ready to ship before Thanksgiving, all in addition to our regular orders. I just like to get out of the kitchen here and there, and try to play along...but, it's about now, I might have to miss a week or 2! yikes! Oh, what the elves do to make the holidays joyous for all!
Trudi
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