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Hi!
I guess I'm pretty new to stamping, although I've been at it for about 2 years. I can adequately color and die cut shapes. I have all the "stuff" ...if you can ever have enough stuff in this hobby...YET, when it comes to putting my stamped images on to a card with ribbon, brads, other embellishments, DP, etc...here I REALLY fall short!!!
How do you figure this out so you end up creating awesome cards? Here's where I get extremely frustrated. Please share your tips! I so want to create those spectacular cards!
Bonnie,
I do not have an artist's brain, so I borrow, (aka scraplift) ideas from others. I don't ever duplicate exactly, but I use other ideas and jump off from there. I call myself a technician instead of an artist. I can do the task, but my brain doesn't create.
There are multiple sites for inspiration on the net. I find them on other people's blogs as links.
I think that starting with sketch challenges, like the ones here, are a great way to practice your skills and begin to see your cards in a whole new way. I get inspiration from certain cards or DT members from my favorite companies. You can also use magazine ads that you like and try to recreate them as a card. I always start with an image and work from there with the design papers and embellishments. With some practice you will be coming up with your own "awsomeness" before long.
Bonnie - I have subscriptions to Papercrafts and Cardmaker. I usually find a "layout" that I want to lift, keeping in mind the stamp set I want to use. I then dig into the inks for the colors, then onto the papers for the perfect companion colors. I do not own any SU inks or papers, so I have to match by my eye. Also, I am in a card exchange group, so I get 7-9 other's ideas around a monthly theme. Cruising the recent gallery additions is inspiring, and I favorite the ones I might like to lift from. Good luck, have fun, and remember - there is no right way to create! Whatever works!
When I first started making cards they were not so great (although I thought they were fantastic at the time...looking back, not so much!) When I switched to SU it made it a lot easier for me becuase I didn't have to worry about coordinating stuff, I never could make color combos that looked good shopping at the craft store.
I am different in that I don't love sketch challenges as a jumping off point. I do like to browse the gallery or people's blogs and if something catches my eye I think about what I like about it and try to use it as inspiration to create something new.
I don't make spectacular cards. I make Deb-style cards. LOL~ I'm just not an over-the-top, heavily embellished, art-quality card maker or scrapper. My style is clean and simple and I'm okay with that.
I have started recently trying lot of different things. Now that my studio is uber organized, I just keep pulling stuff out and trying it until I find something that works for me. And since it's mostly just cardstock, paper and ink, I try LOTS of new things. If they don't work out or I don't like them, I just pitch it and start again.
Good luck finding your groove. Once you identify your style, things go along much easier. At least they did for me. ;)
Just play with your stuff ... you will discover what you like (tools, colors, styles of images, techniques, layouts) and then you will have your own style that suits your tastes and talents.
While I don't always do this, I am making a better effort to make more than one card each time I spend time crafting. It probably will not be the same (even for the holidays I rarely do more than 4-5 of the same design) but it will use the stuff that I made my other cards with so will have similar colors, etc.
My starting point is always different (sketch, color, image, even ribbon) but when I do get in a rut I tend to look for a sketch and start with that.
I had been stamping for several years by the time I found SCS. When I found SCS, I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the cards and ideas on here. So, I decided to "improve" my stamping abilities. I tried the techniques in many of the tutorials. I also paid attention to the challenges (though I didn't actually participate) and printed out the sketches so I'd have a book of choices. I also cased quite a few cards to get a feel for different ideas. I spent quite a bit of time "honing" my skills and the result was that I became a better stamper! What I discovered is that it really just takes a bit of inspiration and a lot of practice. I really struggled with layouts before I started this journey and I have to say that it's made a huge difference!
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How do you make that great card?
