Choose Happiness for FMS183

A week ago I shared a clean-and-simple Thinking of You card with a bold butterfly on the front and a unique combination of colors (you can see that card here).  A couple days later I was excited to see that Cindy Hall selected my card as her Freshly Made Sketches favorite – an honorable mention for last year’s sketch.  What an honor to be selected by such a talented artist and friend!  It’s always wonderful to be recognized for cards I share.  Thank you, Cindy!

My card for this week’s sketch challenge is just as clean as last week’s but has many more layers.  Here’s my card:

Choose Happiness, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, FMS183

And here’s this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge that inspired my project:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Choose Happiness.  This sentiment is from Choose Happiness.  There are so many beautiful images in this stamp set (that’s why I bought it), but it’s this sentiment that I keep reaching for.  I make the daily, conscious choice to be happy.  We have to remember to find the bright side of every challenge we face.  Sure, it’s easy to get bogged down with worry, and it’s easy to complain about the things around us (not many are fans of Mondays, and no one likes change), but we can’t let those things bog us down.  That’s why I love this sentiment so much – it’s a simple and friendly reminder that we have that choice.
  • Perfect Patterns.  My original idea for this card included the Hello Honey zigzag pattern from Sweet Dreams Designer Series Paper – the large, bold zigzags were to bring such a positive energy to the card.  Unfortunately, though, the large pattern overwhelmed the sentiment.  I tried a couple of other papers before landing on this tiny pattern from the 2014-2016 In Color Background Designer Series Paper Stack.  The small pattern works perfectly to bring in the Hello Honey without overpowering the sentiment.
  • Color Combination.  I’m absolutely, positively in love with this color combination of Crumb Cake, Basic Gray and Hello Honey – I’ve used a very similar combination before in this Christmas card (I used Crushed Curry instead of Hello Honey), but I just might like this combination better.  If you like this, too, please feel free to save this: Color Inspiration, Stampin' Up!, Brian King

Stamp Sets:  Choose Happiness  Papers:  Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, 2014-2016 In Color Background Designer Series Paper Stack  Inks:  Jet Black StazOn, Stampin’ Write Marker (Hello Honey)  Accessories:  Whisper White Baker’s Twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you’ll pop over to Freshly Made Sketches to see the cards by the design team members and to play along with this week’s challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

Shop Now

in with the old & in with the newIN WITH THE OLD & OUT WITH THE NEW.  In conjunction with the Retiring Items List, I’m sharing my very own promotion from now until the middle of May.

When you spend at least $50 with me, I’ll send you:

  • A PRINTED COPY OF THE 2015-2016 ANNUAL CATALOG and
  • FREE PRODUCT FROM THE UPCOMING ANNUAL CATALOG*.  I’ll send you my favorite new accessory from the soon-to-be-released catalog when it’s released in June.  While I haven’t seen the new catalog and can’t tell you what that item will be, I can tell you it’ll be something I love valued at $4-$6.

Spring Card SwapSpring One-for-One Swap.  I have announced my Spring One-for-One Swap.  If you haven’t participated in one of these, NOW is the time.  It’s a great way to share your work with others and receive a beautiful card in return.  I’ll even share the projects on my blog – you don’t want to miss out on this!  There’s not a lot of time to mail your card to me, so start preparing your beauty.  🙂  For more information about this swap, please check out this post.

15 Comments

  1. Brian, How do you go about determining the width of your borders for your focal points? Do you start with the Whisper White piece that will contain your stamped images or do you begin with the base layer and then determine you want the next pieces to be smaller? Your unique style of layering is always so appealing to the eye. Just perfect once again.

    • Michelle, It varies from card to card and changes as cards evolve. On this card, I created the outer panel and then replicated those sizes on the pieces behind the focal point panel. I just keep going until I find something that’s appealing to my eye, so I’m glad it’s appealing to yours, too.

  2. Thank you Brian for this card!
    I think we all need reminding once in a while, to choose happiness. We don’t want to choose worry, doubt or fear, yet it creeps into our life anyway from time to time. It’s up to us to choose joy and happiness. This clean fresh card says it loud and clear!

  3. What a nice sharp clean card!

  4. I REALLY like this card, Brian. I don’t think I would have thought to combine those colors… Do you use the color coach? Or, how do you decide which colors to use? I also like the different sizes of layer borders….the 1/8″ and 1/4″. I usually use the same size border on my layers, but this is so striking!

  5. An unusual color combo ….but modern . Love the sentiment as well as the card . Plus the detail of the border on the smaller Crumb Cake mat . Love love subtle details !

  6. Simply wonderful! Love it! 🙂

  7. Great color combination! Your colors lately have been “spot on”! Great job!! Your card conveys a soothing sense along with an important message. Thanks for sharing.

  8. Hi Brian:

    I love that your twine always sits so taut and perfectly placed. I’ve had trouble with that and I do end up with great placement but it seems to take a lot of time for me to reach that point. I almost gave up on using twine but the phrase “it’s all in the details” would not leave me alone. LOL

    Of course, your borders are perfect (as always)! I think I would freak out and rush to Atlanta to make sure you were all right if ever that wasn’t the case. Keep doing what you’re doing Brian – every card, every day is just fabulous. Hugs to you my friend.

  9. Brian, I love the classy look of this card, every single element is placed just right to work with the rest. I must confess that I’m always very weary about leaving empty spaces on a card or panel but you have a way of always making it work.
    The colors are very soft and work together beautifully, I would never have thought of combining them at all so, thank you for showing us the wonderful possibilities.

  10. Mary Alice Bellis

    I just love when you scroll down to a card on a blog and say “WOW!” Your clean design really packs a punch. I just love the soft colors and beautiful combination. Your card just says “happy”.

  11. Happiness is looking at one of your wonderful cards!

  12. Wonderful color combo and I love all these yummy layers. Thanks for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches!

  13. I LOVE this card Brian – the colours, the clean lines and placement of your sentiment. It really has an elegant feel. Thanks for joining us at freshly Made Sketches this week!

  14. Your color’s look so good together!
    Thank’s for sharing

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