Have you ever started a project with a result in mind only to finish the project and have it completely different than you thought? This happens to me a lot, and I thought I would share my most recent project that this happened to. My daughter was sleeping and my two boys were actually playing well together and not fighting for once, so I sat down at my computer and thought I'd try to design a card in My Digital Studio for an upcoming "Spring" card swap I'd joined. (wow, can you say run on sentence???)
ANYWAY, I needed to keep an eye on the boys while creating, so I wasn't able to head into my stamping "workshop". I knew what products I currently had on hand, so I tried to stick with using only those in my design. I had an idea in mind and couldn't wait to see it come to life.
This is the card I came up with. The circle over the ribbon is just a reference for me for a knot. My Digital Studio has the option of adding a knot with two small "tails" which I knew I didn't want, so I just used a circle for the general idea. ;)
Cute right? Um, ya, I didn't really like it either. It didn't look anything like I'd envisioned! So what's a girl to do? Change the layout and colors of course! ;)
This was my second attempt:
I flipped the layout, tossed the yellow and added a vellum circle to the bottom and a blue background to simulate sponging (which I planned to add to the real card). Hum...better, but still not right. I think part of the problem is that the only butterflies I have is the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die for my Big Shot and I knew they were just going to be too big for this card.
SO, moving on....this was my third attempt. Keep in mind that up to this point, it's all been digital design, so I haven't had to cut or toss a single piece of real cardstock yet. ;)
I flipped the layout back to my original design, tossed the butterflies, changed the stamp set, layered it on Melen Mambo (one of our current In Colors) which I also punched the heart out of. So much better! Now, would it look ok stamped and created with real products???
Here it is!
My finished card is still a bit different than my digital one, but I'm happy with the results. Instead of a knot, I tied a piece of linen thread around a piece of our new Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon. I've sponged the background behind the bird with a faux sky technique, stamped & cut out the bird in a different color, embossed & sponged the punched heart accent, used my new Scallop Trim Border punch (which you can earn FREE right now through Sale-a-Bration) and of course sponged almost every edge shown. :)
What do you think? So much better than my first attempt, right?
Happy Stamping!
