Thursday, July 16, 2009

Project Parade Day 1: Divine Details

Welcome to the Verve Stamps July Project Parade. This is Day 1 of "Divine Details," a theme that is a little different than those in the past. The idea for this theme came from being asked "How do you come up with your designs?" and various other "How did you do that?" type questions. This month the Verve Divas are going to break down their design processes and ideas, using Verve stamps. We hope that you will come back each day and play along with us, too.

For me, the start of a project is in the layout. That's not to say that what I start with is what I end up with, but I generally use this as my starting point. From there, I move on to which stamps I am going to use and then what paper(s) will best match those stamps. I like to mix and match stamp sets. Usually I stick with the same company's stamps, as these are most often the same style of stamps and will coordinate very easily. As for the papers, I like to mix and match all different brands and styles. Many times combos come from circumstance. I will pull out a few scraps and see what might work together. I know that a lot of people dislike 2-sided papers because they feel it is a waste of one side, but I love them. They are perfect for cardmakers that only uses small pieces at a time, and more often than not, they coordinate perfectly.



For this card, I flipped through my sketch book and combined a few elements from some of my favorite sketches. I try (emphasis on TRY) to switch up shapes, especially for main panels. I combined 2 of my favorite stamp sets from Verve, Up, Up & Away and Circular Sayings. Finally, my paper choices came from the colors that I wanted to use: Blue, Green and Kraft. The designer paper is from October Afternoon's Ducks in a Row collection, and is double sided.

Divine Details I used on this card:
-Paper piecing and popping up the balloon. I always think that dimension helps to make a "Wow" card. Detail pic of the dimension on this card...

-Using various shapes on my panels, and popping them up. I used Nestabilities on the main panels, as well as using the scalloped scallop punch on the thinner horizontal panel.
-Adding coordinating embellishments without overwhelming the rest of the card.
-Layering and matting panels. This is a very simple way to add interest to your card. Just think of how different this card would look if the main image panel was not matted with the white circle!
-Sponging and stitching. Neither of these is terribly obvious on this card, which also means that I did not overdo it. The stitching is done on the long vertical panel that the ribbon is attached to. I sponged the Kraft main image panel's edges, just to give it a little more definition.

We can't wait to see what you come up with for this month's Project Parade! To play along, just make a project or card that shows us your Divine Details. Verve Stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em we love to see 'em! Then just add a link to your creation to the Mr. Linky form below before 8PM Mountain on Saturday, August 1. Two lucky participants will win a stamp set of their choice from the Verve Store. We've also hidden another $25 gift certificate somewhere along the parade for a random commenter. So if you like what you see, be sure and give a little shout out in the comments of each post! Have fun and good luck!