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First I want to apologize for sounding like a whiner. I'm not a whiner. I'm actually a "get it done" type person. I'm about at my wits end with the whole paper crafting thing. I can't remember ever having something just kick me in the fanny like this craft has. I seem to keep going around in circles. I sort and separate and buy and read and study and THINK I have things figured out but when I go to make a card I can't remember what colors matched what and before I know it my whole area looks like a tornado went through it. I don't have all of the colors of matching ribbon and I don't remember what colors are supposed to match what. I got a pretty big order from ribbon retreat a few months ago but it doesn't look like it matches my su paper. I don't have anyone to help me. I have no family and none of my friends are interested in anything. My lss's stores have classes but all they want is your money. They don't teach you anything. They have pre cut cards and you just glue them together.
I'm trying to buy all my paper from su other than my card stock...that's pti. It's absolutely gorgeous.
I don't know whether I should buy ribbon from this retreat place or just go with the sure thing...stampin up. I know I should have more matching ribbon after that huge order I placed. I couldn't find anything that matched.
Ribbon questions: What size is used the most and do you buy all solid or do you buy striped? It's really hard matching solid with solid.
I think I'm going to buy the su starter kit strictly for personal use. I need the discounts. I could get a LOT of product at a darn good price to begin with and save 30% on my first order over 150.00. I'll have a huge order out of this mini catalog.
I have no idea why I want to do this so bad other than the fact that I'm semi disabled and need something to occupy my time. My DH works out of town and I'm terribly lonely most of the time. This does keep me from feeling sorry for myself. I just wish I could get good at it. I color good. I have the copics down pat. I might not be doing it right but it looks good to me.
How do y'all have your stuff sorted so you can go straight to the color group that you need? It will take a while to learn all of the colors. Do I need to keep the color families together or do I need to keep like items together? I have three quarters of a small room so I'm pretty cramped for space. :::sigh:::
If anyone could help me I would be so very grateful. I'm working with a stampin up demo online but she's out of town this weekend. Her hubby is home from Iraq for a few weeks. Stampin Up is the last thing on her mind.
My plans are to buy into Stampin Up just for personal use. I'll use their resources to learn and familiarize myself with their color system. I will buy other stamps like Penny Black, Hero Arts, Rubbernecker and Inkadinkado BUT use su's accessories. That's assuming I learn how to open their ink pads.
I want to start a blog and I want to post in a gallery but I've got to be able to make the cards in order to do so. I piddle in my art room all the time and practice on various techniques. I'm not artistically challenged. I'm doing SOMETHING wrong and dang if I can figure out what it is.
Gail,
Just start out with what you think looks good! If you have a stamp set on hand check the gallery and see if you can make a card similar to what you see.
I have my SU colors sorted by family, but my friends have all the yellows together etc.
We all seem to buy more than we use so I have been trying to use what I have, but I did make a little trip to the scrapbook store today!
Good luck!
__________________ Pia 2024 Scrapbook goals MAY 6/10 layouts YTD 113/120 Check out my gallery
First of all I have been making cards for about 5 years. You can't do it well with out making a big mess. It takes me about 20 mins. to clean up after I am done. I don't have anywhere to do it but my dinning room table so I must clean up after I am done. I might use ideas from different catalogs magazines websites ect and I use what I supplies I have to make them my own. Just have fun with it.
OK, take a breath. don't panic! This is supposed to be fun, not feel like school. There are no "rules" in being creative. If you think certain colors "go together", then they do! No one will stand behind you and tell you that your work is "wrong." Do you remember what it was like as a kid to make collages with construction paper and color and draw? this is eactly like this, only our canvas is small.
I myself don't organize my papers in any way, shape or form. It takes me about an hour to make 1 card. And I've been doing this for more than 5 or 6 years. I just play around with pieces of colored cardstock, and then I look at the patterned papers I've bought and then I look at plain papers and scatter them on my living-room floor and try to find some that go nicely together.
As for ribbon, I have never bought "matching" ribbon. Whatever you have I'm sure is awesome. Just take the papers that you think go nicely together and throw some ribbons on the piile and pick out the one that looks the best. Honestly. I buy my ribbon at Mike's and I use only solids. In the end, it all looks great.
I keep all of my stamping stuff on one shelf in my pantry closet in my kitchen. I do my stamping on my dining room table so I always have to clean it up.
There are so many fabulous people on SCS to help when anyone gets stuck for ideas, or freaked out over a technique, or has a creative block.
I would suggest, making cards for YOU right now, not a blog. Just try some stuff. If you don't like them, it's so easy to take the cards apart and use the parts another time.
Oh yeah, about matching colors. There is an awesome web site that a woman here has put together that matches colors for you. It's Scrapitude. I have no idea how she did it; to me it seems like magic. Maybe it will help you feel more confident in your color choices.
And yes, after 6 years of this, some of my cards are still atrocious. But I learn something from each and every one.
Enjoy!
__________________ Now I see the secret of making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth. -- Walt Whitman
I have to have everything match, I think it might be a small character flaw!!! That's why I stopped buying things here and there and signed up to be a SU! demo. I love how everything goes together, made card making so much easier for me. I think you are on the right track going for the Starter Kit now as it is 15% off a great deal that you can customize to suit your needs. And getting your first order at 30% off is tons of fun, plus all of your hostess freebies!!! It boggles the mind!!
And I understand wanting to make paper crafts to fill a void. This is my therapy, I lost my sister to breast cancer over 3 years ago and making cards is my way of forgetting on some days and remembering on others. I wish you all the best in your card making ventures.
__________________ Barbara SU! Demo with a Blog
Procrastinators of the world unite... tomorrow!
I don't try to match the ribbon. I usually use black, brown, white or cream as an accent color in my card - then use the same neutral color for ribbon. For example, if you used black as an accent color, use a sheer black/white polka dot ribbon. I find this method is easier than trying to match the solid colors.
What might help is to look at designer paper and see what colors they have used together and than use solid colors of cardstock, ribbon, brads, etc. that looks the same/close or a different shade than what is in the designer paper. Also the thing that I find very useful is to browse the gallery and see what others have put together. If you are using only SU paper, don't they have a color wheel that shows what goes together? After awhile you will get the hang of what goes together!
First of all, when you find yourself obsessing about it being "perfect" - say to yourself. "Just make the card" I find that will snap me back and help me get on track!
Second, I have found that participating in the daily challenges is great for honing your skills. The more you make the better you get. You will get comfortable and find your favorite color combos, too. If you have trouble getting started, CASE your favorite card from the gallery. That can go along way to warming you up!!
Don't worry, I think we all have troubles like your experiencing. It does help to "talk" it out with others, though! Glad you posted. Your getting some good advice and making new paper crafting friends!!
Here is one idea for you to draw color inspiration from. Look at your favorite piece of clothing. What colors do they coordinate with? Look at scrapbook paper, generally patterned paper will have color themes. Choose solid color papers from the scrapbook paper that match follow the same rule for ribbons and inks. Hopefully this will help a little.
You might want to look into buying SU's color wheel if you are having trouble matching colors (though if you aren't buying SU's cardstock it might not be that helpful unless PTI is really close to SU in color).
I love being a demo, and there are tons of resources available to demos including a monthly magazine that is full of ideas, tips for designing, etc.
Hi, Gail,
I think you are getting lots of good ideas. I see that it has already been suggested that you do the challenges, or at least check them out. I am also in a position that it is not convenient for me to get together with a demo, nor are there classes I can take, although at one time I did take a few classes.
I have learned so much through this site. I consider myself very unartistic, but I am getting a lot better with colors and matching. There are great ideas in all of the daily challenges, but I do find some that work better for me. On Sunday, the featured stamper - just copy away - find a card with a color and/or layout you like!
The Sketch challenge on Wednesday gives you a layout to start with - that helps me find something that works with an image of a certain size/shape. The color challenge on Tues. should help you find color combos you like. This gives you the idea of using challenges.
I think my stamping area is being hit by the same tornado that hits yours!!!
Good luck, and don't get discouraged. Like was said earlier, there really are not a lot of rights and wrongs.
Gail, I'm so glad you posted. I too have felt really frustrated from time to time. To the point of tears. I know that seems a little extreme, but, I have never wanted something to come together so badly than to make great cards. However, I am slowly learning that it doesn't happen overnight. It requires practice, practice, practice. In addition, I've been buying books and magazines and POURING over them...which I'm sure you have too when you said you've been reading and studying. I agree with some of the others here as well. GO with what makes YOU happy. I've had to tell myself over and over again.........make it because YOU like it and how you want it and RELAX. Play some of your favorite music in the bkgd. or play the TV for distraction. It also helps to keep you company in those lonely times. *hugs* I wish I lived close to you. But, know that you have friends here.
Just a side note....someone mentioned to enter some challenges. This DOES help bring things into perspective. Also, using some sketches helps me TREMENDOUSLY b/c it gives me a starting point. At least I know what the card needs to look like yanno? Good luck to you!!
My stamping area's always a mess too! I go for a while, get sick of the mess, clean it up, have good intentions, but then it inches back to Disaster-ville again.
I've been going through a phase when I haven't been all that motivated with my stamping... I'm going to send you a pm with my contact info and maybe I can help you and get myself out of the SCS forums and back to my stamping table all at the same time! lol
A quick "style" note... I always find that if I'm having trouble deciding what looks good together, if I do something in black and white and then add a metallic and/or another color, it gets me going and you can't go wrong with those colors. They always look good together.
If
__________________ Just twist my rubber arm... ;o)
Thanks to those of you that have replied so far. When I said I used pti card stock I meant the white...for stamping. I wouldn't dare try to mix pti colors with su colors. I love the way the copics color on the pti. Believe me, I've tried every white card stock on the market before settling on pti for copics. I love the su colors. They have so many different colors and patterns to choose from.
If you read all of the posts on colors you will see why I am so "worried" about matching colors. I never knew it was an exact science. I thought light pink was light pink until I started reading the posts from the pros. Now I'm really paranoid about it. When I was matching my card stock with my dp the other day I was comparing the various brown and saw that there is actually a lot of difference in brown.
I know I'm putting too much pressure on myself. That's just the way I do things. I was taught to do it right if you're gonna do it. In this case I guess there's no right or wrong. All I have to do is convince my brain now.
I'm going to regroup my colors. I'm also going to set up an extra work area in my dining room which is right outside my studio. I get SO claustrophobic in my little room! I'm also going to invest in paper storage. I want my paper more organized.
The most frustrating thing is knowing you are capable of being really good at something but not being able to figure out what keeps getting in your way.
The "pros" had a thread the other night laughing at their past silly mistakes. I was doing half of what they were laughing at. I realized then how much I have to learn. I wish we had an area just for beginners so we could grow together.
I keep missing the challenges. I need to make a chart that lists the challenges and what day they're on. I don't see how y'all have time to do it all...the cards...the blogs..the forums. Geez! That's a lot to do in a day.
I can tell you how I organize my stuff, and see if that helps you!
First of all, I am not an SUOnly person. I make use of a color wheel I bought at JoAnn or Mike's with a coupon, because the SU one ONLY has SU colors on it. It helps a lot! Otherwise, it's just what you like! If YOU think the colors work they probably do! There are times when some other color might be better, but they're probably fine. I take a LOT of time to make a card, because I pull out different shades of a color until I find the "best" one. I'd probably be better off just making a go of it with the first one that seems good!
Secondly, I scrap a lot too. So I have a lot of 12x12 papers. I have a plastic folder (again, bought at JoAnn and/or Mike's on sale) for each color family: white & black are together, tans/creams, greens, blues, yellow & oranges together, purples, pinks & reds together (just because I ran out of folders). I keep solid colors and dp with whatever the main color in it, or wherever I think *I* will look for it. I put my cut pieces/scraps in the front part of the same folder, so they are with their color family.
Now, I am not strict about this, because I get those DCWV stacks sometimes, and don't take them apart by color. I keep those by theme...say, "distressed/old fashioned" in one folder, "elegant" in another, and patterns that don't have a main color all go in their own folder.
I have a black paper tote but I put these folders inside it, so I can grab the whole pack of whatever color family I'm thinking about using, and pull it up to my table to find the shade I want.
So, you see, it's not perfect, and it takes me time to find the paper I want!
I also CASE a lot (copy others' cards) so then I have some idea of what colors I'm going for already. Or, like someone said, go by the dp you want to use (what colors are in it).
As for ribbon, I do the same thing. I have a little bin or section of a bin sorted by color family. I don't have SU, so I just find something that works. Or, more often than not, I use my WHITE ribbon and COLOR it with a reinker or a marker in whatever color I want!!! I finally decided I would mostly buy white ribbon from now on, for that reason!
I hope you've found some useful tips here, and we surely understand...it can be overwhelming, time consuming, and MESSY!
__________________ Lynn
"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right�--Lincoln
I'll echo some of the others - try some of the challenges. In particular the sketch challenge each Wednesday and the colour challenge each Tuesday. In fact if your combine the two, then you know which colours to use and what the layout will be! But do try to have fun with it. And post your cards so others can comment - I found that it gave me the confidence to continue and try different things. The SCS community is fabulous and will offer encouragement and advice when you need it! Welcome aboard - look forward to seeing some of your creations soon!
Since you said you are happy with your coloring skills, I think you should use that as your "starting point." Stamp and color an image that you like. Then, let the colors you used to color the image inspire you to pick colors for your card.
I'm kind of boring and have settled into a card "style" that seems to suit me, but I can change it up a bit. I generally use a solid color 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 for my card front, which will then be attached to a white card base when it's complete.
After the solid color, I cut a pattern paper in a complimentary color, 4 x 5-1/4, for the next layer. Then I usually make a mat for my image in the solid color, and sometimes add another complimentary color layer on the mat. If you have Prima flowers or other embellishments, put them here and there now and see if you like the look.
A lot of my cards have the image in the top half, then a ribbon and sentiment in the bottom third.
I like embellishments and put them on most of my cards. Others like the "clean and simple" look, and that's okay, too, just not my style.
Here is an example of a card I did last night following this recipe. I only used a couple of colors of paper and a coordinating ribbon, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I especially like the little polka dot button on top:
My whole area always looks like a tornado went through it - I think it's just part of being creative :lol:
Lots of great advice already but I'm going to repeat part of it because I think it bears repeating: relax and have fun! There really isn't a wrong way to do this. If you like the way things look together then you made yourself happy and that's the important thing. If you think about a lot of famous artists, they didn't do what was "expected" or "acceptable" - they did what their creativity drove them to do (Andy Warhol's vibrant coloured portraits, Georgia O'Keefe's extreme close-up florals, Frida Kahlo's startling combinations of images that represent things we don't usually see as being totally visible etc etc). Our card making may not be in the same league as those great artists but the root impulse is the same - to create something that expresses something about ourselves.
Sounds like you already have fun colouring in images so in your shoes I think I'd try to build on that foundation. Colour your image and then see what you can pull out of that both in terms of colour and "feel" - is it whimsical, romantic, graphic, cutesy, arty...? Then have a little fun choosing elements to add to your coloured design to complete the project.
You might also consider taking an online class. Unlike your LSS, they're not providing you with "lick and stick" elements or trying to sell you the supplies off the shelves and they're likely to be full of people just like yourself who are keen to learn and just finding ways to make sense of their supplies oe wanting to explore new techniques. People here may be able to recommend specific ones but My Creative Classroom is probably a good place to look, lots of very talented people (the likes of JulieHRR) teach classes for them.
Repeating some of what's already been said, but relax, enjoy what you're doing. If you're getting that stressed, there's something wrong.
At the end of the day, what matters is that you, personally, enjoy what you are doing and are moderately happy with what you've made. Many of us are our own worst critics and often wish we'd done x or y differently, which is why I just say moderately happy .
Matching things - I wouldn't worry too much about that. There isn't a right and wrong. If it looks OK to you, then it's OK for you. And for eveyone, it's a learning curve. There's no way to get from the starting block to the finishing tape without running along the track. Sure, you'll improve along the way, we all do.
I have ribbon from all over - if it doesn't go with the papers I want to use on a particular card, then I just don't use ribbon on that card. Yo don't need everything. Sometimes it's easier with less to choose from.
About the challenges, you don't have to do them on the day they are posted. You could pick a sketch you liked from a year ago, and still do it and link it into the challenge gallery. You won't get a lot of comments as you would if you did it the week it was posted, but you'd learn and develop, and be inspired by looking at the other cards in the same gallery, without any feeling of pressure. Some people start way back at the beginning of the challenges and work their way through slowly. But, even looking back in the challenges you can see that trends come and go. Find your own style that you are comfortable with, experiment with things that stretch you. Be yourself...
And don't worry about the mess. I tidy my desk every day. One card is enough to make a mess again - my DH just says that's part of the creative process, don't stress over it.
Relax, relax and enjoy.
Try to relax. We've all made cards that just didn't turn out right, but along the way, you make a few great ones too.
As far as matching, I hate matchy-matchy stuff. If stuff goes together, it's fine. It doesn't have to match exactly, and I think it looks more interesting if it doesn't match exactly. JMO.
Look at books or magazines - your local library is a great place for free resources, sometimes LSS have books/mags you can borrow as well - to get ideas. Find some layouts you like or a certain detail and then adadpt it using your supplies. Don't try to recreate exactly what you see, but go for the idea of it using what you like the best.
HAVE FUN! I have a small office that holds all my crafting stuff and it's all contained. even so, I spend at least 10 min. just cleaning up from a card, if not more.
I'm another one who is not into "matchy-matchy"- if it looks good together I go with it.
My favorite thing is also the coloring. I've found that if I make my image first, the cards come together better.
I would call most of my cards Clean and Simple, although I often use stamps that require more coloring than strictly meets that criteria.
I am SOOOO NOT one of the "pros"- but I mostly like what I do. In fact, I have to say that most of the time my least favorite cards are those that I've done in classes and such- they're just not ME.
I went to the Challenges pages here and printed out the diagrams, but NOT the card samples, for the sketch challenges. These were a BIG help- I just put together a card using those as my guide, and my own images as the focal point. Find a sketch that matches an image you stamped and colored and go from there.
Mostly, just DO IT and have fun! Start a gallery and upload your cards. No one here will be judgmental!
PS- you do NOT need "perfect" cards for a blog- in fact, you don't need cards at all. I LOVE my blogging even though I rarely get to post anything I made myself because I have so little time for stamping these days.
Blogging, and all the other social aspects of the Internet are wonderful. I was home, disabled and unable to work, for 5 1/2 years and I swear the Internet saved my sanity during that time. I made incredible friends that will be with me for life through the Internet.
If you're stuck on color, I recommend using just one color with black or white, or black and white -- like black and white plus light blue, etc. That way you don't have to worry, they will all match. And then, you can either use a ribbon that matches that color, or use a black or white one. Something I've been seeing around is tan or kraft colored cardstock with black -- very striking.
I have told several of my SU customers who are just starting out in this craft, find a color family that you like and get an assorted pack of cardstock in that family. Everything in there will match when you put it together. Then get some neutral ribbon -- you can put that on anything and it will add a lot to a project's final look. Also, you can use a thin strip of cardstock in place of ribbon; that way you don't have to have every color of ribbon and you can just cut what you need from your paper.
You prolly already have a SU catalog, so just copy a card from there. If you don't have those exact colors then this is your chance to play... if you already like the layout of the card, you don't have to worry about placement, scale, balance, etc and you can focus on what colors YOU like together. Another free source of inspiration of course is the internet here, lots of creative people love to share. Remember there's no law that says you need to come up with ideas all by yourself!
Best of luck to you, remember you have a whole community of stampers right here that are ready to help when you need it!
I haven't read the other posts yet but I will - just wanted so much to reply to you!! I wish we lived near eachother ~ I'd love to come visit you!!
The first thing I'll say - In my opinion, if you need the stuff to get started from SU and there's a good promotion going on, by all means go for it!! Just for the discount and it's worth it!
Secondly, ribbon. When I started SU I ended up getting a bunch of the SU grosgrain ribbon and I do like it. I knew that I liked the Earth Elements and some of the Soft Subtles and Rich Regals best so that's what I got in cardstock and in ribbon. Think about what colors really appeal to you personally - what do you gravitate towards? And start with that. Then, chances are you'll head in that direction with other things until you're ready to branch out.
ETA: This next paragraph is a moot point as you clarify that you only use PTI white. I do too and love it. Just in case you consider branching out of SU, since you like PTI white, here are some thoughts on other PTI products:
I see you like PTI cardstock - ME TOO!! I'm going to donate some of my less favorite SU colors to my daughter's school and go more with the PTI cs. Also, their ribbons are luxurious and of course coordinate! I purchased a ribbon organizer for my wall and it is 95% PTI ribbon. To me this is sticking with the basics to get started. You don't need a lot of patterned ribbon to get going - PTI has the saddlestitched and swiss dot for some variety but all of it is wonderful and simple.
If you're really unsure of yourself with colors but usually color an image on either white or ivory, be sure to have white/ivory ribbon, too. You can also color it with your Copics!
As for actually designing cards, I'm guessing this has been mentioned, but visiting the challenge forum here and doing sketch and color challenges can be a huge help. You don't have to figure it all out yourself, and as you go you will find what combinations you like and also probably find yourself making little changes here and there to appeal to you. You'll find your style.
When I first started stamping, I would just open my SU catalog and find a card I liked and use the layout or color combination. Also, use the SU color wheel when you get it. It can spark an idea you wouldn't have had before. I used it just the other day and didn't even have the color I checked! I had an image with some purply shades in it and a bright gold that I had colored with Copics and had a DP I wanted to use that was purply. The wheel led me to olive, so out came Ripe Avocado and Summer Sunrise and it worked!!
It's wonderful that you love to color and are comfortable with Copics. Keep your image as your guide while this is your strong area. A lot of people use patterned paper (DP) to lead them to the other colors and the image colors. I often pick out an image and use colors I think suit the image or my mood or just a combination that I like. Then I find my DP and cardstock to match.
You don't have to do anything complicated. A simple basic layout can explode off the page with a nice image and a pleasant combination of colors. Remember that often you can just add white or black to help brighten contrast. If I'm struggling with something, I think adding layers often helps make the colors look better.
For sorting through and organizing, there have often been threads here discussing the pros and cons of keeping like colors together or color "families" with SU. Whatever works for you! I remember my SU colors by family, generally, but right now because of storage issues they are a bit mixed in. I have my PTI in just two drawers right now - warm and cool colors - with a drawer ready for more .
Please don't be too discouraged - remember, you are doing this because you ENJOY it. Shake it off and go back to the basics. Enjoy your coloring and look to sketch and color challenges, your SU catalog, or just the gallery here for ideas. When you see something you like, use it as a jumping off point.
By all means, start a gallery! There are constructive criticism threads, too, and they can really be helpful.
Best wishes to you - I will be thinking of you today if I get a chance to pop in and make a mess in my stamp area! I have one wall of a smaller room and it's enough ~ but it gets a little crazy in there sometimes. Just let yourself go and enjoy it. There's something head-clearing and therapeutic about cleaning up the mess, too. Then you're ready to start with a clean slate!
Please let us know how you're doing and remember to have fun
This site has TONS of things to look at, get ideas from, etc. If I'm looking for something in particular, I type in the search and see what comes up. Sometimes it's for coloring a detail in the stamp, or what I can do with an image I have and get stuck on how to use it. I do keep my SU colors separate from my other cardstock. I have a file folder for each SU color, and arrange it in ROYGBV. ( not by SU color family) The other cardstock I have all bunched together in all shade of reds, all yellows, all blues, etc.
I wouldn't worry about the way something is "supposed" to look like! There's so many ways of doing things, and everyone has a different style or technique that they are good at and enjoy doing. Use your own judgement and creativity. If you think it looks good, then that's what counts!
As far as matchy matchy goes, again, I'm not super obsessed with that. I mostly use neutral colored ribbons because they will go with everything. It is hard to match shades of red, blues, etc, unless they are dyed to match.
Don't make it stressful! Have fun with it. If you worry about it all too much, you'll drive yourself away from it.
I may have missed this in the other posts but one more thing to keep in mind that for most of us, every card we make is not "the bomb". In other words, we make our fair share of ugly cards and a lot of things get tossed. Most of only post our successes so you never see all the no so great cards. So remember that you have to make alot of frogs before you make a prince of a card.
I like that SU matches, but I rarely use all SU products and I'm a demo. I do use the color wheel to give me ideas and I force myself to do the color challenges to get myself to look at new and different color combos. But buying SU products won't guarantee that you are going have cards that you love.
May I suggest that you just play with your toys when you get frustrated instead of actually making a card. Your good with coloring, then just spend some time coloring images. Then when you are relaxed, make a card. Like someone else said, just do simple layering. Pick one of the major colors from your colored image and layer the image on that paper or layer it on black.
You might also want to look at the CAS gallery (clean and simple). You'll see some beautiful work that is just stamping. It might help you see simple color combinations without getting sidetracked with all the stuff on the card.
Back in the old days we didn't have designer paper and hardly no embellsihments. It was all about stamping and coloring. We made our oun background paper using stamped images. I think that it I was lucky to start stamping back then because all I had to do was stamp and color. I actually miss it and have started doing more just simple stamping. You might be surprised at how beautiful your cards are when you just relax and enjoy and remember that you are new to this hobby that have a gazillion ways to do any one thing.
I wish you well and hope you stay with us addicted stampers.
I just wrote a whole post and lost it somehow. Anyhow, in short I was saying most of what everyone else has said. And while I was typing my post I came up with an idea for a card I'm working on because of a sketch challenge I've done in the past. So challenges can be helpful, not to mention fun!!
As far as ribbon goes, in the beginning I wanted all the matching SU ribbon but it's expensive and I wanted stamps instead SO........I've over 100 rolls of ribbon and 2-3 of them are SU. They go just fine with all my SU cardstock. Start out with sheers if you want, they seem to bring the color of the cardstock out, at least IMO. I buy most of my ribbon from Hobby Lobby when they've it 50% off, boy can you get a deal then. I like ribbon!
I too wish my area was more organized than I have it right now. I'm working on it but when I'm stamping, it's a mess again and I just accept it. I pick it up and organize it like once a month or so.........I figure that's just the way it is and I'm having fun so I don't care what it looks like. And, you know what, being organized or not being organized, you'll still spend 10 minutes looking for something you can't find or remember where you put when organizing or you won't be able to find it on your messy workstation......so see, it all works out.
I'm certain you do beautiful cards already, don't be so hard on yourself.
Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Alumni Creative Crew SU Design Team Alumni
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I never thought I was very good at making up my own stuff and putting it together but that's all changed thanks to SCS. At first I was just copying cards that I liked on here but recently I've discovered the challenges and I LOVE the color combo and sketch challenges. They give you some focus and a starting point to come up with your own card. Having said that, I still CASE a lot of things. I'd try that if I were you. And my cards always turn out a little different that I planned, and that's ok I've come to realize.
I have started to limit myself to only SU! stuff because when I had a lot of different stuff I got overwhelmed much like you! I had a ton of stuff I didn't use and that I couldn't match together. With just SU! I can focus on just thier stuff and colors and it all matches and I seem to use up what I have. You will learn the color families quickly. I subscribe to all of the galleries for the stamp sets that I have and get daily updates to peruse. If I like one, I favorite it to make later.
I make a mess when I stamp too but I just clean it up when I'm done. I try to keep everything organized. As for paper I keep it all together in one of those plastic file cubes in hanging file folders. I have it organized by color family and keep my designer series printed paper. I have easy access to it and can put it up in the closet if need be. I also have a magnetic board hanging on the wall with cups and baskets to hold adhesive, scissors, etc. I have rails from IKEA to hold punhes and some baskets to hang things off of those as well. I say take advantage of wall space by hanging things up or using shevles if you can. Check out the section of the gallery for stamping spaces.
It takes a while I think to feel like you are doing a good job and I think all of us on here are continually learning from each other and getting better. I laugh at all the old cards I used to make, they look like a 8 year old made them, haha. Just be patient and use this place as a resource, someone is always ready to help!!!! I think all of us on here are totally addicted to this hobby! I know I am and I'm glad I am, I'm 28 and none of my other girl friends have ANY hobbies and they are always bored, I'm NEVER bored (now due to this hobby being poor may be anther story, hahaha)...when I am, I go stamp. I like having something to do and something that makes other people happy when I give them something. Just give it some time and you'll get better and more comfortable with your creations. Good luck and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I agree...go onto galleries and get some ideas...I never have all the supplies to reproduce a card exactly, so I improvise and then it becomes my own. I get color combos from the SU catalog, the galleries, and stamp camps. It is overwhelming at first. Slowly things improve. It took me about a year to really "get things down"....are you able to go to any stamp camps or workshops? They are so fun and the social part of it is half the fun!
I started with a cone flower stamp and using the same color ribbon as stamp pad then I used chalk to color the flower. Every card with on white card stock. I still make card fronts that go on white card stock but it helped me to buy a 6x6 pad of scrapbook paper so I could coordinate. I still use the 6x6 pads and bought the spot pads from SU so I have ink to match. I've learned to find a designed paper and cut out what I like to place on a matched background. But just this weekend I couldn't find a solid to match my paper. I usually get inspiration from looking at scrapbook paper I can spend an hour at Archiver's and not buy anything but get ideas. Papercrafting magazines help try getting several past issues from your library they are also a good source for card creating books.
You got some really great replies. I love the idea of choosing a designer paper and find colors from your paper stash that look alike. I am sure you will have some sort of ribbon that looks similar to one of the colors in your project. Add that and it will look good. If not, you might have plain white ribbon, that looks good with almost anything. Maybe get a pack of black, silver or gold brads, they go good with any and all colors.
I personally love to using the narrow grosgrain ribbon that SU sells. I also love using black gingham ribbon and add a little touch of black card stock to my project.
I have all SU colors, I sort them by color families, but have been thinking about sorting by greens, yellows, blues etc. Oh, and about the mess when your're done, well, my desk looks so bad, it is a great place for a spider to scare me the next day, if I don't clean up- yes, I about got a heart attack one morning when I was working on a card. Weeks ago and I never did find the spider. So, you are not the only one with a big mess on the stamp desk. I do try to remind myself to put things back right away after using it, but most of the time it ends up right there on the desk.
If you love SU products, then I would also suggest to become a hobby demo. That is what I did a few years ago. It was a great way to get lots of stuff at a discount.
First, I just want to say that we've all been where you are at one point in time or another.
When I found SCS I was overwhelmed by all the talent and amazing cards. I didn't think I could ever make cards half as good as some of the members here.
But, I learned to play in the challenges. Combine the sketch challenge and color challenge - then a lot of the frustration is taken out of it for you. Then just create a card following the recipe. You will build your confidence.
Someone else mentioned the color combo site at scraptitude http://scraptitude.com/colorcombo/ - it's wonderful. If I really want to use a certain color, I will check there for accent colors I never would have thought of.
As far as organizing. I use mosts SU paper and all of my paper is sorted by color group, each color in an individual folder. I also have all of the SU ink spots and some full size pads so I can mix and match.
Another idea - If you have a stamp you want to use and aren't sure what to do with it or what you can do with it, check the gallery - you'll get lots of ideas and inspiration there.
Good luck to you. Remember - this is suppose to be fun. If you aren't having fun, take a break . . for an hour .. . a day... a week and then go back to it.
Gail, I totally understand where you are coming from, stamping has been my lifesaver since being diagnosed with cancer. Now I am having problems with coming up with ideas due to all the medications I am on, but anyway here is my advice. I am a hobby demo, much what you are talking about, just supporting my own habit, lol. I have until recently had my paper sorted by color family in those plastic paper boxes that hold hanging file folders. I had each color in a folder and that really helped me alot. I have other companies of paper and just keep them in a different area. Now, as far as ribbon, I am a self confessed ribbon aholic and have been buying SU ribbons to "match", I am not hung up about it, just for me makes it easier. My crafting areas "yes areas" are a total mess, I guess great minds needs mess to make beautiful creations, lol. Just try to relax and have fun, there is no wrong or right answers and you will get more comfortable with everything soon. Ever need to vent, just let me know.
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Also, I just lately found these two sites...Dawns stamping thoughts and KWerner designs. They have U-tube demontrations and K Werner has a card every Monday and Friday and maybe more! They are fun to watch and they really get me motivated. Hope things are going better.
Please help me?
