Welcome back for my lesson to help you save time in your card-making. I don't know about you, but there are many times I need a quick card and I have to come up with the design and cut all the paper. With this technique, I cut my colored card stock and my neutral card stock ahead of time so all I have to do is grab a few pieces, stamp away, and, Voila!, my card is ready!
The credit for this technique goes to Connie Stewart… (Yea, Connie!). The beauty of this technique is that it will work for any card with any color palette. No two cards look alike, yet each card starts with the same steps. Here is the concept:
Most cards have several layers from which a card is built:
1. a neutral colored "layer" on which your image is stamped. In my Thank You card I used Whisper White. On Saturday, I'll show you another card I made, using Very Vanilla as my neutral color.
2. a colored piece of card stock on which the image is "layered".
3. the card base; usually a second color that coordinates with the layer from #2.
When I am choosing my colors, I keep my "Color Coach", (120148), handy. I love using this tool because it helps me come up with color combos I would not ordinarily choose and yet end up loving!
I take one package of Whisper White Card Stock and one package of Very Vanilla. I cut it using the following measurements:
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Cut each piece of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock to 8 x 10. (Save the pieces you cut off–they are the perfect size to use for stamping and punching greetings, (i.e. with Teeny Tiny Wishes and Word Window Punch). Then cut this piece in half vertically – you will now have 2 pieces that are 10" x 4". Now cut each of these pieces in half; you will have 2 pieces from each half that are 5" x 4". Now cut these in half and you'll end up with 8 pieces that are 2 1/2" x 2". In my Thank You card, this is the white piece on which "thank you" is stamped. Notice in the photo below, one of the layers for the flower is stamped out of the left-hand side of this piece and my "Thank You" greeting is stamped on the right side. The focal flower image is placed over this cut out piece, saving paper. This was such a "lightbulb" moment for me….I am constantly grabbing pieces of paper from which to punch out things and I end up wasting a lot!
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The patterned paper is from the Regals Collection Designer Series Paper Stack. Again notice the largest "petal" of the focal point flower is cut from this piece and then the other pieces are layers on top…again…no waste!
I take my solid-color packages of card stock, (for my Thank You card, I used Cherry Cobbler as the layer onto which I layered my stamped Whisper White piece), and cut using the following measurements:
Cut each piece in half length-wise at 4 1/4". Then cut each half in half at 5 1/2" and then in half again at 2 3/4". You will end up with 8 pieces, each measuring 4 1/4 x 2 3/4".
If you get in the habit of cutting your pieces for your layers and your card bases ahead of time and storing them in a container, you will save SO much time.
I'll be showing you more cards, now and then, that use this technique for the basic layering but of course there is lots of embellishing that will step them up!
Anne Brown
anne@stampmaven.com
