Thursday, February 5, 2009

Plain & Simple

Many people complain that they just don't have the time to scrap or stamp, but what they don't realize is that plain & simple can be easy and just as nice. In this card example, I went to my scraps stash to see what I had to work with. I found this strip of Creamy Carmel cardstock wheeled with the So Swirly wheel in carmel ink, a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon and scraps of Ivory Naturals, Chocolate Chip and Pacific Point cardstock.

My quick solution was to go with a neutral Soft Vanilla background for the card and one color of ink: Chocolate chip. I used my scallop square and 3/4" punches to give this card some added interest. Notice that I mounted the punched out circle element from the b is for birthday stamp on the brown scalloped cardstock. By mounting the simple, 1 color stamped element onto a vibrant color that shows through the center of the b, it gives the card a focal element against the neutral tones used throughout. I used my glue glider pro with Perma Tac adhesive on the card and used some Crop n' Glue Ribbon Adhesive to mount the knotted ribbon. Duplicate this card idea in 5 minutes or less using the Party Hearty stamp set from Stampin'  Up!® along with your color choices.
Some other fun color combinations to try:
White, Black, Grey + Vibrant color
Or try some monochromatic colors: Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink, Riding Hood Red or Bravo Burgandy  Or mix in a patterned paper in place of the wheeled pattern or scallop punched CS.

Remember that when you get discouraged, head to your stash pile of pre-stamped items, paper scraps and extra embellishments to kick start the process. You will feel so satisfied when you get to "recycle" those into a fantastic card or project. Happy Creating!

3 comments:

Melissa Bove said...

Beautiful card Cheri! So elegant!!

Hugs, Melissa

Kim Dellow said...

Lovely card, so simple but so elegant. Love the colours. Kim

Kathleen Summers said...

Ya gotta love something quick and easy that uses scraps AND turns out so pretty. Nice job as always, Cheri!

xoxoxo