Thursday 14 April 2011

Getting all sentimental...

Hello!! :)

Well, I’d been planning to get my Mother’s Day card posted before it was time for my LIM entry but my energy levels have dictated otherwise this week so here I am with a One Layer Card with the Sentiment as the focal point... well, two cards actually, though I’m not sure my favourite of the two will be eligible for the challenge as I realised- after sitting back feeling very pleased with myself that the idea in my head had come out even better on paper- that it may be lacking in the ‘white space’ department? ...ooops :( But though t I’d share it anyway, along with one I know will fit the challenge, as I really am pleased with it and think, aside from the white space issue it’s still pretty CAS in style and substance... Anyway, hope you’ll like them!! :)


Apologies for the awful pic- can never get a good shot of top-fold cards, especially when they have so little weight to keep them rigid!! :S As you can probably tell, I decided this week was the week to finally bite the bullet and try printing on to my base card... me and my printer are not the best of friends so I’ve been putting this off, but the two-fold problems of a lack of energy to get up and sit at my desk and a lack of any interesting sentiment stamp even close to big enough to be a focal point left me little option but to brave it!!lol


I made a page sized to the card blank I wanted to use in my graphics program to start with, then this design was really very simple to create with a couple of the many fonts I have collected since discovering free font sites and a quick shape for the oval- the flower is from a dingbat font, too :) I can’t remember the names of the fonts and am too tired to go looking atm but if anyone really wants to know then just ask and I’ll have a look when I’m feeling better :) That was where the simple part ended though as, when I came to print it out (having first tested it on a piece of appropriately sized copier paper, which worked perfectly!) it came out with the bottom of the oval missing!! :/ So I fiddled a bit in the settings and tried again... with the same result :{ Which is when my Mum said that, if you didn’t know it wasn’t meant to be that way, you’d never guess- she’s used to me tearing my hair out when I have these tussles with technology!!lol So, I now have two of them to go in my stock box, ‘cos she really is probably right and nobody but me would notice!! ;S


I popped a pale purple pearl in the centre and drew a few little lines of Copic Spica pen in each section just to lift it a little :) Don’t really know what made me start designing a sympathy card- maybe just that the simplicity of an OLC suits that type of card...

This is the second and my favourite-which can ofc be discounted, Chrissie and Mandi, if it doesn’t meet the criteria!!lol I’m kind of glad that the lack of white space didn’t occur to me in time to stop me making it though, as I think this is one of those ideas that, if I had even thought of it pre-LIM, would have rattled around in my head for a bit inspiring excitement, before being pushed aside and forgotten about in favour of my latest stamp or paper pack!! ;) I printed the sentiment- again a couple of alpha fonts along with a dingbat font for the smiling sunshines- successfully, this time I’m glad to say, having arranged it all in my graphics program by using quick shapes to represent the circle and border square on my workspace :) Then I embossed the circle with a Nestie- aligning it with the sentiment on the back of the card by holding the card and die up to my light so I could see the sentiment through it- and made the rest of the lines with my Hougie board... tiring to do so many but I love the effect :) Then I used shimmer chalks to add some colour :)


I think I was inspired by the fact that I managed to make it out in the sun not once but twice at the weekend- if we could have that weather all summer I’d be so happy!! :)- though that may be a contributing factor in my low energy levels this week but I just couldn’t resist the lure of the warmth!! :)The chalks really do look blended in the circle in real life, btw, I promise!! :S I think making my own sentiment freed my imagination for this one to come up with a different kind of card :)

As well as entering these at Less Is More – One Layer Card- Sentiment Focus, I’d like to enter my Sunshine card in the following challenges: The Stampman – Embossing :) ; Paper Sundaes – Childhood Memories (the sunshine makes me think of beach holidays when I was a child :) ) :) ; OSCC – Monochromatic :) ; CES – Monochromatic :)

Well, that’s it from me- sorry I've waffled again 'cos I can't marshall my thoughts throught the fog today!! :S- hope to be back again before too long if energy levels allow!! :) Hope you all enjoyed the sun this weekend and have had a good week since!! And thank you so much for all the comments on my cards last week!! :)
 

hugs,

22 comments:

Carole of Brum said...

Wow Rachel, 2 such different occasions but both really excellent! I love CAS for Sympathy cards, it always looks wrong to me to have a fussy or colourful design, so the white space is very tasteful for this. And the sunburst....well what can I say? Very inspired idea, the embossing and chalking for the sun rays is amazing, well done you. Oh, and I never noticed the missing base of the oval either, but now I look again it actually looks more correct like this, sort of like a base for the flower. Great that you managed to get out in the sun, I will spend the whole summer trying to avoid it but I am glad it does you good. CoB

Diane said...

Wonderful cards, two very different sentiments but the design for each is perfect!
Diane x

Mandi said...

2 great cards
the proportions on the purple one are perfect, huge sentiment and smaller image, the sentiment is def the focal point
Great job Rachel
Lovely to see you
mandi
Less is More

Chrissie said...

Two great cards. The one with the sun must have taken ages to do all that scoring.... but for me the favourite is the sympathy card... it looks so calm and serene... just beautiful!
Thanks so much!
Chrissie
"Less is More"

Vicky said...

I them then Rachel!...just so pefect..!

hugs Vicky xx

Suze Bain said...

Wow,two super card Rachel. Your embossing is fab and I wish I could master resizing fonts and printing straight onto card, Lol! x

Jennifer said...

These are beautiful makes! Thanks for playing at CES Challenges xx Jenny xx (guest designer)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful cards, both so very stylish!

massofhair said...

LoViNg both your cards very much, each a reflection of the other. One sad and one very smiley a perfect balance.

My favourite is your sun card as i love how you have coloured and framed all your embossing. Very clever card:-)

Pauline said...

These are wonderful cards, but WOW for your sunburst card! The sunrays may have taken time, but boy was it worth it! A fabulous card.

coops said...

these are both stunning rachel.i love the fab cas designs :D

xx coops xx

Deborah Frings said...

I think these are both absolutely brilliant. I think the sunshine card is very cheerful, and the sentiment fits perfect. However, I just love the sympathy card - bold sentiment and fantastic image!

sparklingblackrose said...

I love these honey :-) How funny two DT visits on each others blogs! Thank you for joining us at OSCC this week and hope to see you again soon :-) Elaine xxx OSCC DT

Donna said...

I do like both of these cards but the Sympathy card is my fave - and you wouldn't have known the bottom of the oval was missing if you hadn't pointed it out! Super cards Rachel x

Dolly Daydreams said...

Both of them are beautiful but I think I prefer the first one . I can almost feel the sun rays warming my face.

By the way I love your waffling !

Marie

Crystal said...

Fabulous cards! Thanks for playing along with us at Paper Sundaes this week :)

a Seeker of the TRUTH said...

I think both of your cards are beautiful. I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you also for taking time to visit my blog and post me a comment. It is well appreciated. Cheers! It made my day.

Hugs Julie

Steph said...

Both cards are gorgeous! I love how you love to experiment til you get it right- sounds like me! I was told by my CFS consultant that perfectionism is a trait of people with ME- I wasn't quite sure how to take that!!! How's your ME been?

Uhooi said...

Uhooi..
His card is simple and looks good,,

Uhooi.blogspot.com

Rachael said...

Oooo love the bright colours on the sun card! I dont have the patience to score all those lines lol well done! The sympathy card is very elegant.
Rach :) xx

Dragon said...

This would brighten any day with it's sunshine. thanks for playing with the stampman theme this time
Frankie
xx

Lisa M. (aka. Lisa @ Farm Fresh) said...

I really love the sunshine card! Thanks for sharing a childhood memory with us and Thank you so much for playing with our Childhood challenge at Paper Sundaes!
♥ Lisa

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