Monday 21 February 2011

Quick and simple.....I wish!!!!!


Well the afternoon is romping away and I desperately wanted to enter Clare's Weekly challenge which has a leaf inspired photo and I am determined to keep plugging on with my "keeping it simple" philosophy. Soooooooo ....I know ....I will knock up a quick card with a suitable sentiment and a bit of stencilling. ....ha ha ha ha.....this has taken me quite a bit of time!!!!... and quite honestly I know it's not quite right but as the deadline is ticking away I will post it anyway (then I really must feed my husband.....beans on toast if I don't get a move on!! he's hungry ooops).

LESS IS MORE has not only a Spring inspired challenge but some brilliant tips on creating word art. I really enjoyed exploring positioning of text but seriously know I haven't perfected it yet, not sure about the transparency thing...I had to use the "no fill" option in "format" and after creating my piece of work I found I couldn't then reposition it as a whole....there has to be away of grouping the entire piece and then moving???????? any help is gratefully received.



After I had created my word art I draft printed on paper to decide upon the positioning of my image.
I created a quick stencil by folding a piece of paper lengthways, roughly sketched one side of the leaf on the folded spine then cut out the shape. Once open I then cut the stalk.
I practiced on the draft print, then repeated the stencilling on a blank A5 piece of card.


I stencilled pen ink over the stencil using my homemade daubers (further details on the dauber tutorial). I used a yellow and a couple of greens....again I was disappointed with my colours... I would have preferred a much fresher brighter palette for spring. To create the spine detail I cut out some veins from the stencil off-cut. I reinserted the leaf and stencilled a darker colour.


I then repeated the process by shifting the stencil over to the side (first I used the stencil to cut another leaf to create a mask to place over the original stencilled leaf).
All that was left to do was print the sentiment and score the card in half. quick and simple...it wasn't.....Clean and simple...may be!?
All in all I was quite pleased. The proportions and positioning aren't exactly right, and possibly the leaves too big. I preferred it once I rounded the corners , not sure why, maybe it echoes the leaf shape and creates a bit of harmony (ooh that was a bit deep and pretentious!!).
(To round corners, place a glass tumbler on the corner and cut round with a sharp craft knife - use an emery board to sand down any blunt edges)
I love the sentiment and I firmly believe keeping it simple adds so much to the importance of the message, I hope to send this to someone I know who is feeling a bit down, as life is proving a bit tough at the moment....I think the proverb says it all.


22 comments:

Sylvie said...

Wow! what alot of work you have done for this card!.. and it looks amazing! I love how you have shared how you did it. A true work of art.
Hug
Sylvie x

Sylvie said...

Hi Diane...I've just popped back to let you know that I have something for you on my blog..
Hugs
Sylvie x

Chrissie said...

Great work Diane.
There is mention of how to group text boxes on the tutorial... you hold down shift and keep it down whilst you click on each box then right click and select the group option.
Your card is lovely, those stenciled leaves are so fresh looking.
I hope you'll join us again next week
Chrissie
"Less is More"

Jenny said...

A simply beautiful card and I love the sentiment.

Seafield Jo said...

I think your card is beautiful. What a lovely sentiment, I'm sure your friend will be thrilled to receive your card. Jo

Sue said...

What a lovely card. I know what work has gone into this card. I did something similar a while ago but with hearts. It's such a fun technique and very affective. I just love your card.

Mandi said...

Very well done on your card it's perfect!
CAS is so often seen as an easy get out, not creative and quick, but, ti so isn't if anything the positioning of everything can take time...as you can tell!
Great card Diane, do come back again
mandi
"Less is More"

Jose said...

Interesting post and what a lovely card you have made, and you have mastered text in word. excellent.
Jose

Caroline Hallett said...

this is great card, and I too have learnt that "Clean and Simple" is not a watchword for Quick and Easy.. they are usually neither - the simple designs call for precision and exacting standards - I have found it a real challenge - but its good to stretch oneself isnt it?

Juanita said...

Goodness! I love this card. Thank you, also for sharing your masking tutorial with us. I was getting ready to go out and buy that stamp!

Susan said...

What a great tutorial. Love the placement of your sentiment! If you hold down the shift key and click on each text box, then you can right click and group all the boxes together to move them as one. Hope that helps.

Kathleen said...

Wow Beautiful card. Love the leaves and the sentiment. Fab shaped card. You have a fabulous cards ans great tips. Thanks for the lovely comment on my card. Kathleen x

Maureen said...

What a lovely card, it really depicts Spring, love the sentiment!!

Jane said...

Beautiful card xx

Deborah Frings said...

I don't think Chrissie or Mandi ever said that CAS was quick and easy!!! :) This is lovely. I really like the leaves and the verse is super - like the font!

Jen said...

Wow love the card, thanks for the tutorial, I haven't mastered the word art thing yet but yours is great.
jenjoy x

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Cor! that was a lot of work, but a GREAT result

Linby said...

wow - this looks like calligraphy rather than being done on the PC - really well done on a beautiful project.
Linbyx

Inkyfingers said...

This is a simply beautiful card, and I'm so impressed with the word art. Your leaf is gorgeous.
Carol x

Suzi B said...

Gorgeous leaves... so clever!
Sue x

Pauline said...

This is lovely, those spring leaves look so fresh and springy!

Lynne said...

Fabulous! All that hard work was well worth it.
Lynne xxx

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