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I am not new to stamping. I save lots of ideas for cards but rarely CASE. Most often I make a specific card for a specific person. My goal is to someday have a larger stash of generic cards. I know "how" to make cards but I struggle constantly. I try to have an idea of the finished card before I start but inevitably make many changes as the card progresses.
My problem is if I stamp something to color and cut out I seem to end up wishing I had stamped it on the card front. If I try to make a stamped card front something will probably go wrong such as a smudge or poor coloring. I stamp multiple images to color and then wish I had left more room so I can cut out the image in some form other than fussy cutting. I just can't seem to get the hang of this!
Do you have any tips or suggestions on how I can make a card easier?
How do you figure out how to take a card from beginning idea to finished card? So many people (videos etc) make this look effortless but it is anything but for me.
Remember that a lot of times what you are seeing on a video is someone's umpteenth try at it, not their first usually. They probably had to practice, just like you or I would.
Since you are already stamping multiple images to color, why not fussy cut some and space others far enough apart that you have more flexibility with those?
A MISTI might make you more confident about stamping on a card front, as it allows you to restamp (check out the My Sweet Petunia/ forum to see how amazing the MISTI is!).
I know, too, I make plenty of mistakes on my card but I either cover them up with more paper layers or embellishments, or just let it go if it isn't too glaring. No one knows what your finished card was supposed to look like, so there is nothing for them to compare it to. If you are getting frustrated with your own designs, I would CASE a card you love. There are many beautiful ones here on SCS! There are also lots of challenges that might help you get more easily through the construction of a card.
Thanks Nicole! You make some very good points. I am a bit of a perfectionist so maybe I just have to keep remembering that no one knew how I thought it would look at the start of the process and try to chill. I often am satisfied with the end product just frustrated with the challenges it took to get there. Thanks for your suggestions.
I just send all the oopsies to my sisters and they send theirs to me. It makes us laugh and our nieces, nephews, grandchildren and parents get all the almost perfect cards. I just try to have fun and not be so perfect.
It does take a long time and usually several mistakes to make a card. Longer than it looks in videos and blogs, although many more people are willing to point out the issues they had making a card nowadays. (In fact, if I make one that doens't take a while, I am surprised.)
Two suggestions: 1)Do CASE a card every once in a while for a quick one.
2)OR CASE your own card. Make two instead of one. The second one won't take as long. If you are like me, you might have to change a color or something in the second card, but it still helps save time.
well, If I don't know what I am going to do with the image yet, I tend to stamp them on 1/4 sized sheets so that if I do want to cut it how ever there is room, if I know I am going to cut something with scissors then sometimes I stamp a few on the 1/4 sheet.
I know what you are suffering b/c I have that too...I know how to do some stuff but I have a serious disconnect between what I see in my head and how it looks on the page. Plus it just takes me too long to even figure out what I even want.
I know I need to do a lot more practicing like coloring.
Totally agree with what you see in vids has been practiced...both to 1) get it the way they want it-the best people I know will stamp out an image 10 times and color it just to decide how they like it before going on to make the actual card....and 2) To get it down to abt 15 minutes in time so people dont get bored. So we should never compare ourselves in that way.
I will make more than one when I get a card to work.
I have been wanting to do sketches where I dont have to think about the design..just plug in elements b/c I was told if you do this enough, designing cards becomes more intrinsic and easier.
Maybe if you put some post its around the central stamped image till you finish and it is dry, you wont get smudges on the card?
If we dont work when we are under the gun for time so we can relax and not freak if something happens and we have to start over, seems like a more happy way to work.
I actually do like to fussy-cut, which helps. But also, I very rarely stamp anything on my actual "card base". I "create" the card on a piece of lighter-weight (less expensive) cardstock cut down to the size of a card front. It's only after I'm happy with it that I attach it to my card base. If I'm not happy with it (which happens a LOT), I will either cut the piece smaller and mat it, or cut out any parts I like and attach them to a new piece, or cover up the imperfections... or just toss it and start over. It doesn't bother me as much to toss a quarter-size piece of thinner cardstock as it does to toss a whole entire card.
We are definitely our own worst critics. Most people never notice the imperfections that an artist sees in his own work - and that goes for all sorts of things, not just cardmaking.
And it might be worth mentioning that many of my favorite cards were actually "happy accidents" - in an attempt to fix a mistake, I end up with something different and wonderful. Embrace the errors!
__________________ ~ Kitty ~ "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney
I would also suggest that instead of just focusing on the finished product that you embrace the creative process. Why do we make cards when we can buy them at the dollar store?
For me, the answer is that I enjoy making things, and I love all the supplies (paper, stamps, coloring mediums, embellishments) that go with this hobby. Don't get me wrong, I am striving for a good finished product, but realize that is not always going to happen. People sometimes ask me what I am going to do with all the stuff I make, and I usually tell them that I'm not worried about that, that this is my hobby that I enjoy, just as other might enjoy playing tennis or fishing.
So maybe you could be a little easier on yourself and look at mistakes as creative opportunities to learn (or discover) a new technique, or even to learn what you don't like. I know that Lindsey the Frugal Crafter says that for her mistakes are an opportunity (excuse?) for embelishments.
I just took a peek at your gallery and I don't see you having any problems! Beautiful stuff!
I will share two tricks that I use, fort of all I'm a big believer in the sketch challenge. I feel the sketch can rein ,e in without stifling my creativity. Sometimes it's too overwhelming to start creating without a plan.
Another thing I've been into lately is to create a second layer 4"x 5 1/4" that I stamp my main image onto, then mount that onto my monochromatic base with dimensionals. It allows some added texture and keeps me from worrying about messing up my base.
I am not new to stamping. I save lots of ideas for cards but rarely CASE. Most often I make a specific card for a specific person. My goal is to someday have a larger stash of generic cards. I know "how" to make cards but I struggle constantly. I try to have an idea of the finished card before I start but inevitably make many changes as the card progresses.
Do you have any tips or suggestions on how I can make a card easier?
How do you figure out how to take a card from beginning idea to finished card? So many people (videos etc) make this look effortless but it is anything but for me.
I think you're being very hard on yourself! If you reframe it as: "mistakes are part of the process and will happen. This is not a race, or a competition, it's about expressing myself and having fun" you might see your "mistakes" differently. I have never done a card where I haven't wished I had approached it five other different ways in the middle of creating it. Sometimes I beat myself up over it, but I tell that inner critic to be quiet and then often stop to do the other ideas at the same time! It's crazy, but if I'm having fun and enjoying what I'm doing, that's the whole point. Otherwise I could just go to the store and buy the person a card.
And CASEing isn't cheating in my book � it's how nearly all of my projects start, because a beautiful design inspires me the most. I know that my project will only barely resemble the inspiration by the end of it so I never worry that I'm "copying." Go forth and create, have fun and tell that inner critic to hush 😛
Thank you for the kind comments and great suggestions! I haven't posted or looked at my gallery for so long I almost forgot I had one. I went to a stamp store this weekend and the inspiration was crazy-good. Along with all of the great suggestions above I feel ready to have some fun creating!
Tips and suggestions needed
