Sunday 17 November 2013

How to conceive ideas for your cards? - Part 2 by GD Neha Bhatt

Hiya people, 

          We are so happy you are enjoying Nehas post and are eagerly awaiting the second part. It is so good to see the good article and the artist, getting a good reach.Ok..so without further talking, over to Neha


         Happy to be see you again in the post.Last post we discussed, about the sentiment - the soul of the card. This post we would be discussing about the other 2 .


2.A stamp, or a motif, or a design element leads the whole card & sentiment is added to give definition to it.

          Any design element could be the inspiration for a card. Be it the pattern paper, stamp, embellishments, a color combo, a die cut, embossing folder.. or literally anything that decides the card theme.

Consider this card by Poornima, 

1.               I love the background of this one…very soft, dreamy, and romantic. The sentiment goes very well with it. The only problem is flower as there is no connect with sentiment. There is a clear word ’hearts’ in the sentiment.So basically, love should be the theme of the card.
             I would stamp small hearts in the background with very light colored ink, stamp the sentiment with white or silver ink & heat emboss it and have some heart embellishment on the string. This would give a totally different reach to the card!

1)        Metal Wire as design element


I was trying to use different material for DIY embossing. This one is created using thin metal wire… I loved its grungy look so added the embossed panel with few stitches to add to that rusty look. But then I needed to give direction to the design… so printed that sentiment... and added that little handmade heart to show the ‘beautiful’ part of the sentiment.


2)        Embossing folder and pattern paper as design element.
Here, I loved this pattern paper – the way all numbers are arranged & fonts & little text & grid feels. Remember - 

• If I cut it into small parts than it will loose its charm & with the whole paper covering the card there was no way to 

add a focal point. 

• So I decided to make the paper a focal point and added “It’s just a number” to give voice to the card. (Inside you can 

add “It’s not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years.”). 

• Red flower is added to break the monotonous number pattern. 

• I have used geometric pattern for leaves so it will not go too far from total geometric focal point. 

• I also embossed the top of the card with number embossing folder to give subtle backdrop for my focal point. ( 

this is another way to make your design cohesive – try to repeat similar motif in all the medium eg. Stamp, die cut, 

embossing folder etc.)

3)        Stamp as design element
I had these two stamps and wanted to use them. I stamped smaller images, multiple times to show the crowd & larger image (luckily it is facing the other way than the crowd – which again adds to the tone of the sentiment) just once and colored it to make it stand out… thought of the perfect phrase to enhance the tone of the card & done.

4)        Pattern Paper as design element

For this one I had to use pattern paper… no stamps for focal point. So – 

• I cut the buildings from studio calico papers and glued them with foam tape to give dimension

• Once again I used a very famous phrase which was apt for the focal point.

• Decided to add little heart to show ‘happy’ … & this adds more meaning

• Blueprint/map motifs are repeated to balance ‘find’ part of the sentiment.

3. All the elements, as a whole express the message


           And there will be times when you cannot show direct connect between sentiment and other elements but as a whole they will whisper the message you want to give.And choose the supporting elements, that gives the same MOOD or conveys the same message.

Consider Priya's card

1.        Look at this gorgeous, grungy, aged background…now don’t you think the flowers are clashing with it?

          I would use just one sentiment ‘you are the best’ in front with 1-2 colored matting to highlight it. And inside I would write ‘ Old friends are the best friends. I treasure our friendship.’ Or something similar.


1)                                          
The sentiment (from Mama Elephant) is funky and the fonts are big and bold so directly translating it with any motif was difficult. So I decided –

• To give a colorful, ombre’ yet very clean lined back drop to this trendy sentiment. 

• Used similar embossing folder to balance the design. 

• Metal heart embellishment (die cut for a soda can & colored with alcohol ink) & enamel dots to soften the look of the card.

2)      
  
This one is again Mama Elephant sentiment & back ground stamp set used to match the pattern paper.
  1.  Graphic background makes it trendy while the banner shape adds to the ‘celebrate’ part of the sentiment & goes with the paper. 
  2. The cut of the white card stock, enhances the overall trendy feel. 
  3. Colors & blings represent happiness.

3)        
And the last one for the post which is my favorite one too. I don’t know how to dissect this one but think in this line… a boy – full of life, child’s imagination … flying kite – imagination… water color strokes – again painting your imagination…. Making kite colorful – enhancing ‘you have imagined’ ….. does it make sense…? Do you feel what I am trying to paint??? If yes, than I have been successful explaining a very simple process taking place in my mind (actually back of the mind) while i conceptualize a card.

By the way this is my first ever blog post and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any question please feel free to write to me at nehab99@yahoo.com.

Thanks Priya for this opportunity. I never thought I would enjoy it so much.

Neha, if ur first post is this rocking, I cant imagine, how much we would get benefitted, if you start blogging.;)Thank you so very much

I am sure you all loved this post. Leave some love for her here,so that we encourage her to write more .


Thanks for visiting
Priya



13 comments:

  1. What a wonderful lesson.....precise and perfect..

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  2. Love your thought process.......that is sheer talent. Cannot be copied or learnt.
    My favourite is the last card simple and very cute!!!

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  3. You've got us thinking now...atleast me! Lovely cards and loved the thought behind each of them.....thanks a lot neha.

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  4. Woww ... this is amazing info.. thanx for sharing !!

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  5. Woww.. this isamazing info.. thanx for sharing !!

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  6. Thanks Neha for this amazing article. We all make cards but tend to forget the basics. You have explained it in such a simple way.

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  7. Loved going through your thought process....effectively scripted too!

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  8. Awesome, even qualified design veterans lose out on design connect. you have put it so beautifully here...the numbers card is mind blowing..Its really smart design

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  9. Neha Thank you so so much for explaining this so beautifully and such a simple easy to understand way ...I especially loved the cards that you have used as examples to make your point ..And like I said earlier you have given me a whole new perspective to card making and this post is definitely going to be bookmarked in my comp :)

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  10. Thank you friends for sweet words & lots of love. I feel blessed...:)

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  11. Many many thanks Neha for this treasure. Awesome cards n explanations are perfect. :)

    Thanks to u too Priya for giving us this blog. All posts are very informative n all Crafters are Masters. :)

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  12. Thanks a lot Neha for this treasure. All cards are superb and explained very well. :)

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  13. A fantastic write-up Neha....Ur cards are too gud and convey each n every msg so well. Thanks for sharing such wonderful knowledge with us and hoping to see u soon in thys blog world :)

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