Monster Love

 Jumping back into that perfect creative zone was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. Although I've focused almost entirely on work, holidays and family over the past few weeks, I had so many creative ideas brewing in the corners of my brain. I thought that getting back into card-making was going to be a breeze, and then I sat down to create...

It felt a little bit like sitting on a bicycle after not riding for years. In theory, you know how to ride, but there's that initial wobble and tipping that makes you second-guess your ability. And that's exactly how it was with cards. Those brilliant ideas were still there and I've still got all of my skill and mastery of different techniques. Yet, I kept second-guessing every creative decision and over-analyzing everything from placement to stamp choice, color combination and more.

This eventually led to me hating the cards so much that I threw two of them straight into the trash bin and started over. The card you see above is my third attempt, and one I'm much happier with. Why do I mention all of this? All too often, we get hit by creative blocks, with being too harsh with ourselves and with feeling that other people seem to just have it together all the time. Then to top it off, we feel like we're the only ones to feel this way. Well, I want to be candid and say that I struggled with this card and that it took extra work to create something I liked. And that's just the reality that happens to all of us. Sometimes cards come easy, other times we just can't seem to pull it together. The important thing is to keep trying and creating until we create something we are happy with. :)

Now onto this card, itself...

I started by creating a standard A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2) out of Navy cardstock.

I cut a piece of Fog cardstock to measure 4 by 5 1/4". I grabbed the coordinating Fog ink and inked up Wide Stripes background stamp. This gave a subtle tone-on-tone background to the front panel. Simon Says Stamp dye ink is the same formula as the Hero Arts shadow inks - where it will initially stamp splotchy, but even out over time as the ink soaks into the cardstock. So, I set the panel aside to dry and got to work on the rest of the card.

I stamped the adorable big-eyed monster from Monster Hugs and stamped him onto some marker paper. I wanted the monster to look really subtle, so I used the Steel Blue hybrid ink. I quickly colored him in with my Copics, using only one or two colors to show some minimal shading. Although this stamp set has coordinating dies, I did not purchase them, so I cut the monster out using a sharp pair of scissors.

I wanted to add some color, so I die-cut a stitched flag shape out of a Kaisercraft Sprinkles journaling card. While I had my Bigshot out, I also cut a stitched circle out of Mint cardstock, the word "love" and a small heart out of cotton candy cardstock and a slightly larger heart out of doll pink cardstock.

I adhered all the elements using a combination of my standard adhesive and foam squares.

As a last touch, I added a few white enamel dots around the front.

Since the theme of this card is Love, I'm entering it in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Work It challenge.

Supplies:
Simon Says Stamp - Monster Hugs stamp set
Mama Elephant - Type It dies
Simon Says Stamp - Large Holiday Shapes dies
My Favorite Things - Stitched Flag STAX and Stitched Circle STAX dies
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Steel Blue
Simon Says Stamp Dye Inkpad in Fog
Simon Says Stamp Heavyweight Cardstock in Soft Navy, Fog, Mint, Cotton Candy and Doll Pink
Copics (E33, E17, C2, C4, R20, BG18)
Kaisercraft Sprinkles 4x6 Journaling Cards
My Mind's Eye Charmed enamel dots (white)
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares
Tombow Craft Adhesive Runner (pink)
EK Success Honey Bee scissors