I’m Here for You for FabFri104 and FMS271

Before I share today’s project, I want to give a big “thanks!” to Cindy Hall at Freshly Made Sketches who chose my Basket of Spring Daffodils card as her pick for last week’s challenge.  Great choice, Cindy!  🙂  I love these challenges and find so much inspiration in them  – so I always play along when I can.  It’s always nice, though, to be recognized by the design team.  Thanks, Cindy!  If you missed that card, you can see it here.

There are so many occasions to use soft and sweet colors.  Cards that honor Mother’s Day, celebrate Easter or welcome a new baby will often be designed around soft shades – and rightfully so.  For the latest Color Challenge at Fab Friday, I’ve created a Thinking of You card (another occasion where soft colors are appropriate) with the challenge’s gorgeous color combination of Soft Sky, Sweet Sugarplum and Very Vanilla.  This week’s sketch at Freshly Made Sketches gave me a wonderful foundation for this sweet card.  Here’s my card:

And here’s the banner for this sweet and soft FabFri Color Challenge that inspired my choice of papers:And Cindy Halls’ Freshly Made Sketches banner that inspired my card’s layout:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

• Stylish Stems.  Wow!  If there ever was a set of Framelits that came with endless bells and whistles, this is it!  At first look, you probably find the die cut pretty, but you might not recognize that the flowers can be cropped in so many different ways.  Not only can this flower be cut into a piece of paper with the Thinlit Die, but you can then crop around the flower to have a stand-alone image.  How brilliant is that!?  Here’s a card I made where I just used the Thinlit on a piece of paper and didn’t then cut it out with the Framelit like I did on today’s card (you can click on this card to read my original post):  Here’s Stampin’ Up!’s video that showcases the many ways you can play around with these Stylish Stems:

• Layering Tips.  I like to create symmetry on a card.  Not only is it appealing to the eye, but symmetry helps to create a clean layout.  There’s nothing more “buttoned up” than when layers are repeated in perfect harmony.  There’s a small black frame around focal elements on the card, and the Soft Sky frames are the same width around the base of the card and the band around the sentiment.  You like when I share my dimensions with you, so here goes (from the base of the card, moving up):
  • Soft Sky – 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″
  • Basic Black – 4″ x 5-1/4″
  • Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack – 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″
  • Soft Sky – 2-1/2″ x 5-1/8″
  • Basic Black – 2-7/8″ x 5-1/8″
  • Very Vanilla – 2″ x 5-1/8″
• Cut the Sweet.  Wowza!  The combination of Sweet Sugarplum and Soft Sky is SO SWEET that it makes my teeth ache.  Just like baking, you sometimes have to cut the sweet with something a little richer and earthier.  I like a sweet brownie, but I like it more with an earthy glob of peanut butter on top.  Who doesn’t?  I used thin frames of Basic Black around the central panels of this card to help cut down on the sweetness of the two pastels.  The Basic Black sentiment helps make those borders an important player on this card.

Stamp Sets:  Sending Thoughts  Papers:  Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack, Soft Sky, Sweet Sugarplum, Basic Black, Very Vanilla  Inks:  Archival Basic Black  Accessories:  Stylish Stems Framelits Dies

Sending Thoughts Clear-Mount Stamp Set – 142965

Price: $20.00

Stylish Stems Framelits Dies – 142750

Price: $31.00

Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack – 141657

Price: $10.00

Soft Sky 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 131203

Price: $8.00

Sweet Sugarplum 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 141418

Price: $8.00

Very Vanilla 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 101650

Price: $9.00

Basic Black 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 121045

Price: $8.00

Special Reason Clear-Mount Bundle – 144720

Price: $45.75

Supply List

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

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

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