Hi there!!! – Here we go again, it’s me participating in the Stampin’ Dreams blog hop for January!! make sure you hop with us as you will get lots of inspiration as you visit all participating blogs!!

I know it seems like lately I am participating in a lot of blog hops, but honestly I have fun at these and I get lots of inspiration when I play with them.

Also being very honest, I have my new resolution for 2020 that I need to step up on my blog and be more consistent with posting my cards in my blog. 

Committing to the blog hops keeps my behind on task.  It forces me to write even when I don’t feel like doing so to meet the deadline and therefore it helps me with consistency and accountability. 

Don’t get me wrong, I create cards on a regular basis, and in fact I share lots and lots of ideas on my Facebook page but I know I can do way better if I share those ideas as well in my blog!! what do you think?

What do you do to keep yourself on track on your NEW YEAR resolutions? for me is commitment with others..  It always force me to do better as I know others are counting on me and I definitely don’t want to let them down.

Blog Hop Theme – CASE a card!

OK, so back to our card project!!! The theme for this blog hop is actually CASE a card.  If you are not familiar with this term, let me explain it a bit. 

CASE means Copy and Share Everything! To be honest this is my favorite way to design cards! there are so many ways to CASE that I can go on and on for hours, but today I want to share with you one way I design my cards using patterned paper and CASE-ing (is that a word??? 🙄 )

Designing your cards with patterned paper 

For my cards today, I want to show you a quick an easy way to come up with your ideas with the CASE method. 

First you find an idea for inspiration, in my case I found this Pin on Pinterest.  

Then, you see the elements that you like in the idea you are using for inspiration. 

In this case, I loved the layout and the fact that it was a card set. I also loved the use of designer series paper (DSP) for the background and the focal point. 

Finally, I loved how easy and simple these cards looked.  So when I decided this was the idea I wanted to CASE, I created an sketch to follow for my cards. 

 

The Sketch!!

Below is the sketch that follows the basic elements on the cards from the pin I wanted to CASE. 

Please note: I do not add all the elements from the card into the sketch, as you want to have a simple sketch to stretch your creativity, by thinking how you can play with it, how you can change it, or how you can exchange elements.

Having a sketch always helps you to follow a layout for a card. Additionally, it helps you to focus on the products you want to use.  I tend to do this a lot, to avoid copying exactly the same design.

You see, when you are watching the original card it sometimes can overwhelm you, thinking you might not have some elements on the collection of items you want to use to replace the ones you see in the card you are casing.

 Therefore, having a sketch takes that noise away, as a result you can think of what you have from the collection of products you want to use into your card. 

For example, the cards on the pin used linen thread under the circle, and in my case, I did not  add this to the sketch.  Similarly, you can see that for the sentiment, I added a banner on the sketch, however the cards on the pin do not have banners for the sentiment. 

Different sources to help you design your cards 

Since we have been talking about getting card ideas for you to CASE, I thought it would be helpful to share a list of sources you can use.

• Old cards you have made in the past 
• Stampin’ Up! catalogs (past or current)
• Card magazines
• Pinterest 
• Sketches 

Additionally think of other ways you can CASE, in these cards, I used the layout for inspiration and that is what I copied for my cards. However, you can copy other things when CASE-ing.

The following ideas might be something to consider when designing your cards and CASE-ing. 

• Color combos you liked 
• Layout – as shown on these cards
• Copy the same card, but change the colors or stamp set
• Rotate the layout – if the card was made horizontal, try to make it vertical
• Make the same card using another patterned paper collection 

I am sure these ideas will help you get your mind thinking on other ways you can design cards and make it easy, while getting a lot of sources to get lots of inspiration. 

Products used in these cards 

 

 

 

 

 

In the cards I am showing today, I wanted to focus on the Bird Ballard Suite from Stampin’ Up!, as I adore the designer series paper (DSP) and stamp set included in this collection. I then used the Follow your Art embellishment kit to compliment the cards. 

As usual, I looked at the back of the patterned paper pack (DSP) to get the color combo for my cards. This is the number one tip I can give you if you struggle with color combinations. Believe me, it never fails! 

For these cards I used the following color combos:

• Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Pool Party
• Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral
• Petal Pink, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party 

At the end of this post you will see the full supply list of the products used for my cards. If you are interested in getting any of these products you can click at the pictures, and you will be taken to my online store, where you can purchase any of these items. As always I truly appreciate your support, this keeps me motivated in creating and sharing card ideas with you. 

Step-by-step instructions

Here is the Video tutorial where I show step-by-step on how to make these cards, I go over how I create the sketch from the pin I found in Pinterest and how I go about making decisions on mix and matching the designs from the designer series paper a.k.a. DSP or paper pack collection. 

Also, I go over the measurements and colors of the ink and cardstock. As a result you will get lots of information on this video. However, the downside is that the video is around 42 min. Therefore, I recommend you watch this one when you are winding down from your day so you can relax and enjoy it. 😉 

Blog hop line-up!

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, make sure you visit the rest of the participant blogs. 

Full Supply List of Products

And as promised, you can see below the full supply list of products I used when creating these cards. Thank you so much for your support and for stopping by today!