Details, Details

It really is the details that make something stand out from others of its kind.

Take cards, for instance.

I recognized recently that I'm a very basic card maker. I look at cards on other's blogs and realize that my mind just doesn't get that detailed when I dream up a card.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

But it did make me realize that I struggle with adding the details to cards.

There are times when I whiz through the card making process, and the ideas are just FLOWING. When that mood strikes, I try to take advantage of it, and make as many as I possibly can.

And then I let them sit and "muddle".

I leave them out somewhere so that I see them often. I cogitate on whether or not they're "done".

Is there anything more that I can do that will ADD to the card, without becoming too much?

In the past, many times - I've realized I should have stopped before I added that last piece, or color, or detail. In my eye, by this time, the card is no longer as attractive.

So, I now take the card making process a little more slowly.

Cards might sit out in my stampin' garage for a week or two before it'll hit me what that last tiny little detail is that will make it a GREAT card.

I was blog-hopping the other day and ran across a sample where they'd used paper piercing as the detail on their card. And I realized I haven't pulled those tools out in quite a while.

So I did!

And here are the results:


I papered pierced this rooster a while back and had it in my "parts" bin.


I went thru my entire collection of current samples and there wasn't ONE SINGLE sample that had been paper pierced! But I had this left-over from last year's catalog, so decided to start with it.

Here, the addition of a third layer of CS, also paper pierced, adds more visual interest.

I'm not sure why the colors in the two photos is so different! Both were taken using the same set-up - and, yes, they are the same card, with some minor variations! The card on the left is more true to color than the one on the right.

This one started out as an experiment with our new Shimmer Paints.



I dabbered the paint on to the snowflake stamps and stamped on the Hunter CS.

Then I sprayed the CS with some Shimmer Paint mixed in with a little rubbing alcohol. It comes out BEAUTIFULLY! Such a nice little touch.

The paper piercing on this card is around both the piece with the trees and the greeting.


Try this method for yourself, if you're having trouble adding those details - pull the cards together (but don't glue them down tightly!), and let them "muddle".

Maybe it's what your brain (and creative process) needs too!

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The Kidz were helping me again last night. They've both now learned that the best place to get my attention is out in the stampin' garage. So, one or the other of them is always in MY chair!

And remember I told you they don't both fit on a single chair any longer?

Well, they figured out a way! And now they're BOTH sitting in MY chair!
















They're so fun to have around - never a dull moment!

Keep on stampin'!