About 18 months ago I started worrying that my cards look dated, not in a vintage fashion, just stale. I decided to work hard to try new things things that I did not feel comfortable with or believe that I was particularly good at.
The card below is one of my experiments:
In trying new things I worried about not being able to keep my own style and ending up copying the work of others. I got over those fears by staying true to what I like flowers, bright colors, delicate details... At the same time I’ve begun to like new things bold graphic images, using black accents, becoming less worried about precision and more focused on creativity.
Recently, I saw a technique on Instagram that used Ranger Ink’s Texture Paste with crayons for coloring an image. I thought this Poppy stencil from Altenew was the perfect opportunity to try this technique.
I spread the texture pace through the openings in the stencil with a pallet knife to make a fairly even dimensional layer. I removed the stencil from the card stock and let the texture paste dry. When dry I scribbled across the image using Distress Crayons in colors complementary to the petals, leaves and stem of the poppy. I place a stencil back over the image and used a wet wipe to spread the color evenly across image. This time the stencil served as a guide allowing me to stay in the lines of the poppy flower.
Are used an outline image from another stamp set, heat embossed in gold for a collage of effect to the card front. After heat embossing the sentiment in gold on a black strip of paper, I added some black paint splatters to tie it all together.
To be honest I’m not sure I liked the outcome when I first made it, so it sat on the island and “looked” at me while I worked on other things. I changed my mind about two weeks later deciding that I had successfully gotten out of my comfort zone and learned new techniques and that in its own right was a success.
I hope that you are finding ways to challenge yourself this year and enjoy your creativity.
Thanks for looking.