A Versatile Card for Any Occasion…
Make the most of your greeting card stash by creating cards for multiple occasions!
Are you’re greeting cards categorized under the traditional headings such as - Birthday, Get Well, or Sympathy?
What if we create with a greater purpose in mind?
So 1 card that works for multiple occasions!
For Example: This adorable card below.
When I create a card for a specific event or occasion, I usually know before even sitting down to create what the card is intended for - so like Great Aunt Lucy’s Birthday. I know that she likes pink flowers, cake and a cup of tea. So her card is surely going to showcase at least one of those items, however it’s likely that I will try to get all 3 of her likes embedded into the greeting card.
But if I am creating a card that is intended for an event in the future, an event that hasn’t quite transpired yet - then what type of card will I create? I want to be prepared and have some cards already designed and ready to add a few quickly penned notes from me. A greeting card that is ready to send.
Creating cards that have no intended purpose or that aren’t for an intentional event ( at that moment ) actually allows the creative process to take us on a journey. A journey with no boundaries, no rules and therefor allows our creativity to strive towards it’s full potential.
The card above uses a digital image from Whimsy Stamps that I absolutely loved at first site! The image is called Breezy Yellow Daisy and it’s just so playful and cute that it lends to the imagination. This image has the ability to take my imagination in many directions in the creative world.
I started by coloring the image with my Copic Marker Collection (this collection needs to grow). I was pretty sure I wanted that little flower to stay pretty subtle and fairly true to a daisy. So the center is yellow and the petals have a small bit of blue shading to create shadow and tad bit of interest, rather than just leaving it stark white.
I wanted a background paper that was going to be fun and playful yet highlight only the color the flower petals. Despite the fact that I have more pattern paper than one would know what to do with - I just didn’t have what my brain was envisioning to play a lead role on this card front. So I ended up creating a background paper of my own using Adobe Express, which seems to have become one of the most important tools in my studio.
I use Adobe Express to transform all of my digital images, to resize as well as create a little card sketch of my intended card. I have even designed my own personal line of printable greeting cards using this program. We will find out more about that in an upcoming post. In this case however, I used the program to create a digital printable paper that would suit my project perfectly.
In short - I fashioned up this tiny pinstripe paper that would color match to my flower. I end up creating a background paper to perfectly suit my project a lot - hence is why I have a ton of store bought pattern paper that isn’t getting used. Ooops!
Choosing a sentiment - I wanted a sentiment that could be used for several different occasions. I wanted something rather small that wouldn’t be overtaking the whole stage, so to speak. I have a set of sentiments in my stash from Pink and Main that have coordinating dies - Take Care
Right?! If you have this amazing stamp & die set - you need to use it!
So I chose the “Thinking of You” on the smaller side sentiment, stamped it in an ink color that was almost a perfect match to my paper, and cut it out with the coordinating die. The sentiment was absolutely the size needed for this card.
Although I wanted a smaller sentiment, it also seemed to leave a bit of open space on this card front… just a little more than I wanted. At this point the pattern paper had almost become somewhat like a whimsical sky background. What does every sky scene need? Why, some clouds of course. So I used a random die to cut a few clouds that fell right into place on this card.
This card was back onto a white card base and all it was really lacking at that point was a few gems or dots just to add a hint of sparkle and extra interest to the card.
I opted for - Pink & Main Farmers Market dots. The color was perfect and the little dots have teeny little sparkles in them that look similar to water drops catching light from the sun.
The card inside was stamped with this adorable little quote from Scrapbook.com. - “Just a little reminder that you are thought of with love today”.
Given the sentiments used on this simply sweet card, and the adorable little image and the cool & calm background of the scene - all of the elements work together to create a card that works for many different occasions. This could be a birthday card, or a get well card, a simple thinking of you card, or even a sympathy card. Even a just because card… the card simply conveys that the recipient is being thought about with love and isn’t that usually the intended purpose behind any greeting card?
So as much as it can be easy to start a card out with Great Aunt Lucy’s favorite colors, and her likes for a creative goal - that card is only intended for her. Today’s card gave the opportunity to use creativity that had no limits, can be used for many occasions, yet still made with tons of love…
THE LINKS IN THIS POST CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS - WHICH MEANS THAT IF YOU CHOOSE TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT FROM ONE OF THESE LINKS THAT I WILL MAKE A SMALL COMMISION. THIS DOESN'T COST YOU ANY EXTRA TO PURCHASE. THE SMALL COMMISION HELPS ME TO CONTINUE TO SHARE CARD IDEAS AND EXAMPLES WITH YOU. HEARTFELT THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.To see all of the tools I use in studio when creating hand made greeting cards visit “Craft Room Favorites”
