Creative Process

On Saturdays I usually start my day by spending time catching-up on my blog-reading for the week.  I use Bloglines and try to keep the number under 700.  There is just so much inspiration out there ... and I don't want to miss out on any of it.

As I go through the blogs I save posts that inspire me, or have challenges I want to try.  Then when I'm finished, I go back through the saved posts and write down the different themes and challenges for the week.  I also look through the recipes I've saved and decide if I want to incorporate any of them into my shopping list for the week. 

Next, I see what cards I need to make for the week (upcoming birthdays, design team work, etc.) and develop a plan to get those done, often incorporating different challenge ideas if they work.  I don't intentionally set out to combine more than one challenge in a card, but sometimes, as with this card, the whole turns out much better than the sum of the individual parts.

When I saw these green chairs for the Tuesday Trigger at the Moxie Fab Blog, I knew they would be the perfect starting point for a Birthday Card I needed to make.  I wanted a sort of shabby chic look to the design and green was the perfect color.   It just so happens that this week Clearly iStamp has a green challenge going on as does The Order of the Opus Gluei.  The Stamp Something Blog is featuring a green and cream color combo, which works as well.

Next, I went through this week's sketches to see which one inspired me first.  I was so amazed at Lauren's amazing Victorian hybrid card for Laura's Sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You, I decided to give that one a try.

 
The next step was looking through my paper stash for some Green & Cream designs.  This great background paper is from Basic Grey's Origins Collection.  I wanted to incorporate the corner elements of the 6" square design into my card, so I cut the page in half and trimmed the paper out of the center rather than the edges, cover the cuts with the center piece of cardstock. 

I played around with different shades of green and punches for the center spine of the sketch, and finally settled on layering a sold strip with Martha Stewart flower punched border edges.  Every since my Dad built me my great wall-hanging Nestability storage, I've sort of neglected them (unfortunately, while the design is great, my placement in my studio could have been better, because I have to get on a step-stool to reach them).  I like the proportion of these wide label shapes with the sketch. 

One of the final decisions was a focal image.  I thought about the card's recipient and chose these wonderful birds from Artistic Outpost's Bluebird Plate (which also work for this week's Card's Blog challenge to incorporate any bird other than an owl into your design).  I wanted to add a bit more elegance with the Zva Creative pearl flourishes, but the only pearls I had were white, which was too much of a contrast with the muted ivory design.  So, Distress Ink to the rescue.  I patted the Tea Dye Distress Ink pad on the pearls and used a dry baby wipe to buff in the color.  I did this several times until I got the shade I wanted.

I really liked the design at this point, but still thought the card needed a tiny bit more somethin'-somethin'.  Then I remembered Alison's Everything Old is New Again challenge to incorporate a forgotten coloring medium.  I dug out my Pebbles Pearlescent chalks and added a tiny bit of color and shimmer to the birds and branch in the image ... and Voila ... a card I love ... and I hope the recipient will love too.

Happy Saturday!

Comments

[Janelle]

Wow! I loved hearing how you manage your blog reading and organizing the various challenges -- but this card must certainly take the prize for the most challenges incorporated in one project! Must've taken you an hour to link up to each one -- haha! But, what a gorgeous card it is! I'm sure the recipient will love it!! Thanks for sharing all of your processes...

[Rosemary]

This is an amazing card, I love the romantic feel of it! So very pretty!

[Laurie wilson]

So lovely! Very fresh, soft and the design flows perfectly.

[Gloria Dojlido]

Thanks for sharing your blog reading schedule....very informative. I think your card is just absolutely gorgeous....love the bling you used too! Nice to see were able to incorporate the Clearly Inspired Challenge into your wonderful card.

[Tiffany E.]

Your take on the inspiration is absolutely gorgeous, so delightful to look at Stef!!

[Allison]

So much to look at...what a supreme mix of embellies! And all that green...I ♥ it!

[Corie F]

WOW WOW WOW -- this is so gorgeous

[JeanFB]

Oh, this is stunning!! That image is one of my favorites!

[Kathryn Martin]

Lovely! Thanks for playing along this week! :)

[Laura Davis]

Oh wow this is beautiful Stef! The pearls are the perfect touch!
Thanks for playing at 2S4Y!
Laura

[Lea Lawson]

This is so pretty Stef! I love the pearl flourishes! Great job with Laura's sketch!

♥♥♥Lea

[Cheryl N]

Such a gorgeous card!! I'm so in love with those birds!! The pearl flourishes are the perfect touch!!

[Cassie]

This is absolutely beautiful! Glad you joined us at CIC ;D

[Shawna]

Gorgeous and elegant as always! Love it!

[Katie Renz]

Beautiful! Thanks for playing along with us at Clearly iStamp.

[lauren]

WOW!!! ok, i'd loooooove to think i had something (ANYTHING!) to do with this, but this is ALLLLLLLL YOU and it's absolutley ♥STUNNING♥! i am just drooling over the combination of patterned paper, stamped images, and embellies...and i mean you really have to *LOOK* to see where one element ends and another begins--which i think is the ultimate "collage compliment"--to me it means, definitively, that the (AMAZING!) whole is exponentially cooler than the sum of it's (already quite awesome!) parts!

i think this could pretty much win ♥ALL♥ of the challenges in which it is entered...best to tell the postman to get ready for an innundation of prizes!!! :)

[Gina]

That is so pretty. I love your card from that pic inspiration.

[~amy~]

This is sooooooooo pretty...I love everything about it!

[Cath]

Hey Stef! What a sweet approach to this week's Tuesday Trigger in the Moxie Fab World! Thanks so much for playing along! :)

[DeeDee]

Wow your card is amazing! I love it!

Thank you for joining us at Stamp Something this week!

Hugs from Germany,
Diana

[marley]

gorgeous card, love the colours you used together!!

[Tricia T]

This is such a beautiful card! I love the vintage feel. Thanks for joining the Clearly I Stamp challenge!!

[SueB]

Very elegant and gorgeous - lots of wonderful texture. Thanks for joining our challenge, too.

[Sandie]

Stunning card. Love the vintage feel to it :)

Thanks for joining us on Stamp Something this week.