Flourishes Focus: Putting the Pieces Together

Hi, everyone! It's me, Leslie, and it's my turn to share something I love for Flourishes Friday Focus. I've chosen to write about designer paper because it's become one of my favorite elements in card making. I entered this relationship timidly, not quite sure how to use all those beautiful patterns and colors without clashing with each other or competing with the stamped image. It can be a little overwhelming when you first venture forth, wondering which patterns you can combine, or how much you can get away with -- what's okay or not okay. Is your inner artist right or wrong? Well, I don't think there's a lot of right or wrong when it comes to art. Where would we be without the world's trendsetters? Our jaws would be hitting the floor, but probably with a great big yawn, rather than a gasp of delight.

It's difficult for one individual to tell another how to express art, since it's such a personal thing, but if you're at that "testing the waters" phase of using designer papers, perhaps there are a few fundamentals which serve well as a jumping off point. Some of my favorite papers to work with are BasicGrey, specifically the 6x6 pads since the patterns are scaled down for cards. Patterns, colors, and mood are what I look at most often when matching papers, and one pad of BasicGrey provides many coordinating options, relieving me of some of the guesswork.

Shown below are three different papers from the Euphoria pad. Not only do the colors match, but the leafy pattern is repeated in the two rose red pieces, one more prominent than the other. The lightly patterned green paper provides nice separation between the other two. Repeating pattern and matching colors -- a sure thing!

Here's a card combining those papers with Sweet Peas. I accented the image panel with a brad from the Euphoria collection. The pattern in the brad is the same as that of the card's upper panel, but scaled down even further. I watercolored the flowers with SU!'s Rose Red ink, and added a little Eggplant in the shading around the flowers and in the stamped word. There's a tiny bit of purple in the pattern on the upper panel of the card, which is what helped decide my use of Eggplant.

These papers are also from the Euphoria pad, and they illustrate another virtue -- variety. It's almost hard to believe they're from the same pad as those in the first photo, yet there's that Rose Red and Eggplant, two of the colors prominent in this collection, along with a pretty crystal blue, some green, and pink. What brings these papers together is color and mood; the two busily patterned pieces remind me of a celebration...

...so I made a birthday card. The more solid mats and scalloped border provide separation and definition, allowing the patterns to get along nicely. The presents are from All Wrapped Up, the words are from Signs of Spring, and the flourishes added into the main image panel are Ornamental Elements. I love to mix up sets as much as I love mixing up designer papers! The clear rhinestones and pretty satin ribbon are from Flourishes, too.

Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using designer papers -- color, mood, and pattern. As long as one or the other or all are common in the papers used, we can cast off inhibitions and see what develops. The rest of the design team gals have prepared some samples for designer paper fun, too. Let's go have a look: Christine, Cindy, Faith, Julie, Latisha, Laura, Stacy. There's another sample on my blog, as well.

I'm so glad you could stop in for a while. Have a super day!

-- Leslie