Before I share this week’s card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge, I want to thank Narelle Farrugia for selecting my baby twins card as a runner-up in last week’s challenge. It’s nice to be the King of Clean, but I am just as honored to be selected as a Perfect Prince. Thanks, Narelle! You can see my selected card here.
Cindy Hall is the hostess for this week’s FMS challenge. Cindy’s sketch allows for broad design interpretation – you can make any type of card to fit this challenge. I decided to make a quick and simple Christmas Card:
And here’s Cindy’s great sketch:
Tips, Tricks and Reminders
- Layout. When I sat down to make this card, I wanted to make a collage card – you’ve seen them, right? My friends Justin Krieger and Debbie Crowley are experts as gathering many different images and collecting them in an untailored collage. I tried, but I did not succeed. After trimming many different images in many different colors, I decided to just go with this. I like it, but it wasn’t what I set out to do.
- Pointing to the center. Cindy’s primary design layout is a band with two strips peeking out from underneath. I went straight to the Pool Party chevron print in the I Am Me Designer Series Paper. I trimmed the paper so that the arrows on the paper would point directly to the center of the card. I added the arrows from Hello Lovely (I already had them stamped and cropped, so why not go ahead and use them?). If you notice, they also point directly to the center of the card. Thank goodness my star and sentiment are centered because that’s where your eye goes. Here’s a closeup:
- A smattering of rhinestones. With the star and sentiment centered on the Pool Party panel, I filled in some of the empty space with a random spread of rhinestones in different sizes. I typically try to line up accessories in a straight line of three, but it was liberating to spread these out over the panel. Woo hoo! Let’s hear it for getting crazy!
Stamp sets: A Banner Christmas, Simply Stars, Hello Lovely Papers: Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party, Whisper White, I Am Me Designer Series Paper Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive Accessories: Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin’ Dimensionals
Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Brian
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Holiday Sale. The Holiday Sale kicked off yesterday and is still in full swing. Please check out the flyer here or click on the picture to the left to see all the great deals in my DBWS store – including great new bundles. These are great products at amazing prices, so scan the list carefully – you don’t want to miss a thing.
One-for-one Holiday Card Swap. My postman has been delivering gorgeous Holiday cards all week. If you want to participate, please make sure you drop your cards in the mail soon – the deadline is next week (I’ll be sorting and mailing them during my Thanksgiving weekend). For more information about how to participate, please click here.
i really like this card! it’s clean, stylish, and carries the theme of chevrons all the way through even to the star. the bling really finishes it. excellent execution.
Love the bling, Brian! My goodness, you’ll be using glitter next…! Beautiful card.
New and trendy ….I like this card . You could change the sentiment and you have another event covered ! The variation of sizes of the Rhinestones really appeals to me. I think the Holly Jolly fits this card perfectly ….well done !
First of all, I love the colors – they made me feel happy the minute I saw the card pop up on the screen. Your design is playful with the arrows, the star, the bling, the chevron patterns, and that Jolly Holly Christmas sentiment in the center! The way you chose to stamp the Jolly Holly in the Old Olive and do your signature snipping made for a great finish to the card! (What are the dimensions of the card base, Brian. Photos can be deceiving. Thank you.)
Thanks, Suzie! The photo makes the card look bigger than it actually is…it’s a standard 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ card front. 🙂
Thanks, Brian. I know you like to make square cards … just checking!
Oh WOW!! I love the bling, so pretty and fun. Great rendition of the sketch Brian, I like the colors you chose very much, this is they type of card that can be used for any occasion, just by changing the sentiment, which is masterfully snipped out!! showing your fantastic skill. Thank you for sharing and have a great weekend.
Love it! So hip!
Love this layout and your interpretation of the sketch! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂 as always.
Smart, superbly snipped, and so fun!!! Smatter away Brian, I love it when you get crazy!!! 🙂
Awesome take on the sketch, Brian! Love all the modern elements and your smattering of rhinestones.
After careful study, I’m thinking those rhinestones aren’t as random as they appear, Mr. Line-em-up. Lol. Any errant rhinestones appear on your hands or face, like its evil cousin, glitter? That would convince me of randomness…..lol
Happy stamping Saturday to all!
Your ‘smattering’ technique works well. Plus you have the element of odd numbers….9 smattered jewels twinkling in all their glory. So many cards are made using the hues of blues, it may be growing on me. Although I still love the traditional red and green. Wonderful simple card.
It’s clean, it’s colorful and it’s perfect! And I very much enjoy the smattering of rhinestones! Thanks for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches!
Fabulous card, love the clean graphic look. Hugs Bev x
You’re very welcome Brian – your cards are so lovely and your use of colours and images always look perfect together! Now this card is another stunner – loving all the gorgeous details! Thanks for joining us again at Freshly Made Sketches this week!