Saturday, May 26, 2012

From Fun to FAB!

What is it about some cards that make you sit up a little straighter in your chair and say, "Wow!"?

Details.

Plain and simple, it's the details.  Not random, added-without-any-thought details. No, my friends. Well thought-out ones!

For the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop, I decided to do a little tutorial, so stick with me because there are lots of pictures and lots to discuss.  If you started with my blog and want to link back to OWH to get in on all the fun, click here.

Here's my fun card using Sketch #37 found here:


Notice the details already on this card: Lots of mats add a framed effect--in particular the white mat which takes the stark white background of my main image and gives it a "companion."  The paper piercing mirrors the border created to the bottom strip of B&T paper and adds texture to my plain background. I chose the terracotta color as the background because it is the color I had the least of in the B&T. The double ribbon is just a little more interesting than one by itself.  The bottom border of B&T paper has one spot of yellow, so I put it on the outside corner to balance the yellow kangaroo at the top of the vertical strip of B&T paper.

But here are a few other things which might not be so obvious and are easier to see in the photo below.  I used four different colors of Copics on my tree and koala bear; three on the leaves, nose, and ears.  The furry look was created by dotting the koala with a colorless Copic to lift off spots.  I also added sunshine by using two Copic colors around the image, my darker color in the V's then blended out with the lighter one.

Cute, right?  Certainly a fun card and OWH worthy, but lets start adding some more embellishments and see what happens.


Adding those three little buttons filled in some blank space, sure, but what else is it doing?  Do you notice how the card is mostly horizontal in orientation?  By adding a vertical row of buttons I am accenting the vertical strip of paper and making your eye travel across more of the card.  To increase the "length" of the vertical strip, I left off the top border of the mat.  Now lets add one more button.


Why? Because I have now created a triangle of embellishments with the ribbon/bow, vertical buttons, and one accent button.  This triangle makes the eye travel all over the card.

But it still needs some finish work.


 I know one crafter whose pet peeve is "naked" buttons.  This extra step takes time and--in my case--a magnifying glass, but it finishes off the buttons so well, it's worth the effort.

And now, in my best cheezy TV announcer voice...

But wait, there's more!

What does the bigger button do that the little button didn't?  It adds "weight" to the left side of the card.  The bulk of the embellishments were on the right side, and while the little button was cute, this one balances out the two sides of the card.  It also relieves all the sharp edges by breaking them up with a different shape which was highlighted when I placed it outside the frame.  Although my vertical buttons are round, they are in another line.  Because of its more significant size, this larger button makes the smaller ones look more round.  Last, but not least, I angled the ties inside the buttons deliberately, especially the large one.  I didn't want another horizontal or vertical line, so I tilted it 90 degrees.  They might not stay angled that way through the mailing process, but it makes for a better picture.

I challenge you to go back and look at the first picture vs. this one.  Would you agree that the "WOW" factor has increased?
I hope I am not breaking any copyrights, but I wanted to show you where I got this great koala bear, as well as the instructions on coloring it.  As you can see on the cover, there is a "Bonus CD" which includes all the hand-drawn images the authors used to teach coloring with Copics.  I simply popped in the CD, printed the image on white cardstock, and (after testing to be sure the ink wouldn't bleed when I ran my Copic markers over it) followed the instructions (shown below).  To get your own copy, visit your local craft store or go to Amazon.

Fun to FAB! It's all in the right details.

Until next time,
Becca

68 comments:

  1. Nice grouping of colored papers and lovely coloring of the sweet bear.
    Hummer Hugs,
    Misty
    http://deliteful-gifts.blogspot.com/
    hummingbird204 at comcast dot net

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  2. Love the koala bear! Great coloring! Thank you for sharing and supporting OWH!

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  3. Great use of layering and that koala is so cute.
    http://www.nutsandcats.blogspot.com/

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  4. Great card and thank you so much for the tutorial. Fun and informative.
    TFS

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  5. Cute card - I've marked the tutorial to come back to later. Thanks for sharing

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  6. HI Becca!
    I Really love your coloring and the many layers you put into this card! Such a delight! Blessings!

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  7. What a beautiful card Becca, I love how you've add all the details to your blog post here. I like all the layers and how you've made them stand out!

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  8. i love the coloring on the Koala bear! :)

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  9. Oh thank you for putting thread in your buttons!! I can't stand a naked button! Beautiful card :)

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  10. Becca what a fantastic tutorial - love what the colorless blender does for us!! SUPAH!

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  11. Fabulous card! Your post does a fantastic job of showing that taking the tie to add details makes a huge difference in the end result. Beautiful work and great advice! Thanks for joining in the Memorial Day hop and for supporting OWH.

    Paula S.
    OWH Blog Team

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  12. Cute card. Thanks for sharing all the details and ideas! Thank you for your support of OWH and joining us this weekend.

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  13. So very cute, love the pink blinkie badge also;)

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  14. Very cute card. Thanks for the design tutorial! Thanks for hoppin' with OWH. craftycolonel.blogspot.com

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  15. Such a cute image and perfect papers!

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  16. loved the tutorial! it's a wonderful card
    thanks for sharing it with us on the OWH blog hop

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  17. Great card! Thanks for being part of the OWH blog hop!

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  18. Nice card and good instruction. I really like how you showed the effects of the changes as you went along.

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  19. What a great card! Love the layering, the piercing, the textures, and the embellishments.

    And,I totally understand what you mean about naked buttons. My eyes also need a little help in dressing my buttons. But it really does make such a difference! :)

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  20. Love your card! The koala is so cute and the design and layer of the card really set him off and make it a beautiful work of art. Thank you for sharing and supporting our Heros.

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  21. That koala bear is fabulous! You did a great job coloring him!

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  22. Adorable card. Love your coloring.

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  23. Very nice card, and wonderful tips you shared.

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  24. Thank you for sharing why you did some of the embellishing, like adding the bigger button.

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  25. Thanks for posting all those great...and there's more...tips!!! Love your card!

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  26. Your card is absolutely wonderful, the colors are perfect, and all the details also.

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  27. What an adorable card--sure to put a smile on anyone's face :)

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  28. Loving the Kola bear. my fave. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Hugs

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  29. Your card is really cute and I like the color scheme. Thanks for the tutorial - it's nice to read the reasoning behind the placement of embellishments, your advice will certainly help out my card making!

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  30. I just ordered my copy of that book. I'll have to check out that adorable koala! Your tutorial was great so thanks for taking the time to write out all the steps!

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  31. This is a sweet card and thanks for outlining the thoughts behind it!

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  32. What a tremendous attention to detail. The koala is so sweet.

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  33. Gorgeous card! You are so right. It is all about the details.

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  34. thank you for the tips!!! Wonderful card!

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  35. Such a unique image! Thanks for offering a glimpse into your thought process.

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  36. Gorgeous! Love koala bears.

    Sheila
    Http://2pawprints.blogspot.com

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  37. Fun card and very well described! Thank you for supporting OWH and have a great weekend!

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  38. I'm speechless. I love the little details and how you balanced cute with earthy.

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  39. I was good-to-go with the first card, then you just kept making it better. The coloring you did is amazing. Thanks for the tutorial on stepping it up some. Thanks for participating in the blog hop and for your continuing support of our troops.

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  40. Awesome card and huge thanks for the tutorial! (I have that book, but sometimes my eye glaze over following the instructions. I must have card making ADD!)

    I'll admit to a fear of over embellishing, but you've really explained how all the things worked perfectly together and I'm bookmarking this to come back and look at it again.

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  41. Oh, p.s. Forgot to mention that I'm one of those people who has a pet peeve against naked buttons! :)

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  42. Nice card, thanks for explaining how you made it and adding fun details!

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  43. Artistry is in the details, you've got them down pat. LOVED your card and thanks for giving us a peek into your thought process. TFS and supporting OWH.

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  44. Cute and love the explanation! TFS :)

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  45. Love the koala bear he is so cute - TFS :)

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  46. FAB indeed! love your tips - especially about how to make it look furry, I can't wait to try it for myself. thanks for supporting OWH.

    SuzAnn
    OWH Board

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  47. Beautiful card, and all your little artistic touches make it extra special. Thanks for sharing your thought process! I especially love how you worked with the colors in the patterned paper and where they fell on the card layout. And it's nice to know I'm not the only one to think about the angle of my button knots!

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  48. cute card and great tutorial on details - sometimes you do things without thinking about why you do them - but your explanation - brings to light some of the theory behind our creative madness

    Barb Housner

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  49. Awesome card! I love all the details. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  50. Stephanie AllisonMay 27, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    Thank you for talking through what you did with that cute card!

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  51. Really nice coloring on your image.

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  52. Great coloring. The joyful little bear is brought to life!
    Mary, Wausau WI

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  53. That koala is so cute! Darling card & details.

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  54. Oh WOW! Your coloring techniques are amazing. Loved the layers and your tips on buttons.. The koala looks lifelike and the background really suits the card. Thanks for sharing something so fun.

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  55. Very pretty card. Love your coloring and your choice of papers

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  56. Wow! Thanks for the tutorial. Like the Stump Sandy episodes, this tutorial really helps me learn how to "put a card together" (as design is a big challenge for me!). Thanks for participating in the OWH hop.

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  57. I love this card! And the tutorial, thank you so much:)

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  58. Beautiful! I LOVE the details! Thanks for the explaination of all of them!!

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  59. Love the adorable card!!!! I have a few scraps of that paper left... one of my FAVORITE CTMH sets!!!! Thanks for supporting OWH!

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  60. Love it!!! I just got this book and am finding so many ways to use my Copics.

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  61. Fabulous tips on your wonderful card!

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  62. Great koala bear, love the card and the coloring.

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  63. Cute koala... the colouring is so pretty.

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  64. What an adorable koala! Those extra embellies do make the card more balanced and polished!

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  65. Thanks for the share! Love the card!

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  66. TFS! Great tutorial... and a beautiful creation from it!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. You bless me!