Saturday, May 26, 2007

Scrap Stash Saturday!

I'll warn you right now....today's post is longer than usual! If you don't have time to read it through right now, you might want to come back when you have a spare hour:)!.....

I love Scrap Stash Saturdays! It gives me a reason to use up the scraps that are threatening to invade my studio. I need to come up with a project soon though that I can use tons of scraps on! I do have one little idea gel'n in my brain right now....

So, do you want to know what the "twist" is on today's Scrap Stash Saturday? Well, I was getting a little bored just doing the same ol'-same ol' on Saturdays. Pick the paper, make the card. Boring. Instead, this time, I reached into my scrap drawer...WITH MY EYES CLOSED...and pulled out four different pieces of designer scraps!!!!! Wow, am I actually this courageous in real life, or am I doing this just for the sake of my blog, just for the ratings, as they say in television? Mmmm, a very thought-provoking question.....I think I'm really just a very daring person when it comes to my creative thought processes. What the heck do I have to lose? It's just art. This is totally NOT brain surgery peeps!

Here are the four pieces of paper I pulled out for my Scrap Stash Saturday card...can you say "hyperventilate"? Yikes! Whew. These are some patterns alright. Do you want to know a little secret though? These papers did not scare me in the least. They charged me up! Could I do this? Could I bring all these different patterns and colors together in a cohesive look? I knew I could. Bring it on sistah's!

Again, with all the patterns, I needed a simple layout. No need to add more busyness to the card than the papers would already bring to the table. Both the main image and sentiment needed to be simple. So, to start, I used the multi-colored polka dot paper as the main background and cut small rectangle pieces from the other three papers. I laid out the rectangles kiddy-korner from each other all the way down the card. One of the papers I used twice. Each rectangle was sewn to the card using a zig zag stitch (insert note here to Beate: Yes, Beate, I now have my sewing machine set up in my studio full time! There's no excuse not to use it now!). With this layout, your eye now travels via the multi-colored paper all the way down the card to drink in all the amazing patterns and colors the card displays! The main image was stamped with ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Creamy Brown. It's matted with with the burgandy designer scrap paper and adhered to the card with foam tape. The sentiment is from my Paper Tray stamps and is stamped with Cranberry Crisp ink.

So see, I did it. And it's not hard, my friends. Please give this "technique" (I put it in quotes, cuz I'm not sure putting very different patterns of paper together is really a "technique" as much as it is a "style"!) a try sometime this weekend if you're ready to stretch yourself a little beyond your norms. It might not be a style you use over and over again, but the more you work with different patterns and colors and push yourself out of your comfort zone (and out of what this industry deems "acceptable"), the more you'll grow! And the more you push yourself out of your comfort zone, the better chance you'll have of finding a style unique to you! I can pretty much say with 99% assurance that when people (in our little blog world) hear or see the name Amy Westerman, they know they'll be treated to a card that will give them an eyeful of color and pattern. I LOVE that people are learning that about me. Color is what makes the world beautiful. Where would we be if we didn't have color? Would sitting on the deck in the morning (sippin' a cup'a joe), be anywhere NEAR as beautiful and satisfying if you were looking at flowers of black and white? Flowers of yellow, pink, red, orange, purple and blue are what wakes your senses! God gave us color for a purpose....so we could enjoy our time on earth and drink in all he has blessed us with. Why should your artwork provide anything less? Celebrate color. Embrace pattern. They are around us every where we turn. And thank God for that!

Ok, I'll step off my cheerleader box now (I'm sorry if I'm too enthusiastic sometimes). I have one more suprise for you this morning. One of my new blogging friends, Denise Roberts, sent me a package FILLED with fun scraps and embellishments! Remember, I invited you guys to send me scraps if you wanted to challenge me to make a card with them....? Well, Denise took me up on the offer in spades! She sent TONS of stuff. One more bit of honesty for you....Denise's scraps really DID cause me to hyperventilate. It's one thing to make a card using your own scraps (papers you picked out because you LOVED them), but it's completely another thing to have someone send you their scraps, which were papers THEY loved! Denise, you challenged me GOOD!!!!

Denise sent me about three different "groupings of paper". I chose the "purple paper grouping" (my words, not hers) because they appealed to me the most. Here are the scraps from the purple group....


See what I mean....WOWZA! Them are some patterned papers!!!! Think, think, think. Pray, pray, pray. Run, run, run!I'm just kidding....I didn't run. I just got busy!

I used the white/purple patterned paper in the largest capacity so the card wouldn't appear so heavy. It was matted with the purple "flecked" paper, because it was so bold and would have overpowered the rest of the card if it appeared much more than it does. I stamped and Prisma colored the Hero Arts flower to pick up the flowers in the paper. The stem of the flower is one of the ribbons Denise sent me, and the leaves of the stem are actually leaves that Denise sent! Perfection! The only thing I'm not so crazy about on the card is the ladybug. I tell you, me and Little Lady are not diggin' each other these days. I'm having a rough time with her. I hope we don't part ways.....

So, I think it's time to end the post for today! If you actually read through this, hugs to you for staying with me! I had such a blast today with the blind scrap pull and this reader challenge! I hope Denise likes the card I made with her beloved scraps!

Have a great day!

15 comments:

  1. You are just so good at this! I wouldn't have known WHAT to do with those papers! Awesome!

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  2. Anonymous7:33 AM

    Love today's post, Amy. You really do a great job encouraging us to stretch, and i love your comments about the colorful world God gave us!

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  3. Hi Amy,

    I tend to be a lurker on a lot of blogs and don't leave many comments, guess I should change that. Seeing as I love to get comments, myself on my blog.

    Anyway, your post today certainly screamed to me to leave a comment. I am so totally impressed with what you came up with all the scraps of dp. Awesome job! All your work is so gorgeous, such a treat to look at! :)

    Have a great weekend, hope you're enjoying some beautiful sunshine and lots of pretty flowers! :)

    Hugs,
    Julie
    in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

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  4. Omgsh, your scrap stash saturday card is beautiful - I want it for myself!!

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  5. Too pretty, and what a great idea for your little scraps!

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  6. Anonymous11:35 AM

    Love your card today...I should try the blind pick just for giggles...I am sure it would be funny!

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  7. Anonymous12:45 PM

    Gorgeous cards, Amy. I confess I cheated and didn't read it all! LOL It did look at the pretty pictures though. LOL
    You are a wizzard with those patterned paper.
    Hugs!

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  8. Anonymous1:13 PM

    WOW!! I don't know how you do it. I love both cards but the purple one blows me away!

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  9. That is awesome! I love it. Wow, for someone that was overwhelmed at the sight of these scraps, you sure did a stellar job of pulling this card together! WOW!

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  10. Anonymous2:33 PM

    You are great! And I have had this idea in my head for several weeks now - my stamp club does a monthly challenge besides our round robin project. The challenge is the choice of the hostess. I'm going to use this idea when I hostess. I'll just pull scraps, put them in baggies, let them draw one and then challenge them to make something using all the scraps. I can't wait - should be a blast!

    I really enjoy your blog - you are so funny!

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  11. Okay. I thought I WAS being daring the other day when I used three, count 'em, three different pattern papers in one card. Never mind they all co-ordinated and came from the same manufacturer, same design line. And now you dare us to use some crazy mish mash of papers. I love my colors, but come on Amy, we're not all as talented as you in the mix 'n' match department. Okay, rant over. GORGEOUS cards. You really amaze when you pull together such beautiful cards with such different papers. Talk about "eclectic paperie".

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  12. Anonymous8:13 PM

    You have such a great spirit, which is probably the reason I check your blog everyday. No one could accuse you of being a scaredy cat!

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  13. Amy - Oh my goodness!! You rock! I sent you some crazy paper and you really pulled it off. I was looking at those papers (and all the others I sent too) wondering if I should just toss them out instead of sending them. I LOVE both the cards you made. I especially love what you did with that group of crazy paper I sent in. I am so impressed and inspired - you know I have some of that stuff left I should see what I can come up with. *wink* I know it won't be as pretty as yours but it would be a great way to stretch myself and learn. Thanks Amy!

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  14. What a fun "technique" to try. I'm still relativley new to patterned paper on cards, so I need to work up to the blind challenge. You make it look so easy to pull all those different papers together into a beautiful creation!

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  15. I loved today's blog. Read every word. I just have to wonder sometimes, when God created the earth, if even HE didn't giggle at His own creations. (The snap dragon, a giraffe, etc.) Thanks for giving me a new appreciation for that ugly little mess in the corner of my desk called my scrap stash.

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