Chatty Sunday: Card Set 1 (Avery Elle)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I'd been wanting to make a few card sets for my stash - things I can give away as a gift or have on hand when I need to send a bunch of cards. I decided to warm up with a simple set of cards using just one stamp set - Avery Elle's Woodland Wonders. This adorable stamp set features several critters and sweet sentiments.

I decided to keep my cards super simple and use the same supplies and layout. The variations were subtle and came from the critters, colors and sentiments.

I used warm colors and very simple patterns, figuring these cards would be great for baby occasions -- baby showers, thank you cards and congratulations.

I colored the critters in quickly with Copics, adding fairly subtle colors without too much contrast. This means the images stood out, but not too much.

I wanted to add just a subtle touch of embellishments, so I opted for enamel dots.

I didn't use a whole lot of dimension for the cards, as I wanted to make sure they could be easily mailed.

I packed the set with matching kraft envelopes and tied it with a pretty piece of ribbon.

Even though the cards were simple, creating them still took a bit longer than creating a single card. My biggest obstacle was deciding on what kind of layout to use. I think this is one of the occasions where a card sketch would be super helpful, so that's what I plan to do with the next card set.

All in all, I really enjoyed creating this set and I'm looking forward to jumping into creating another.

Thanks for reading,
~Elle~

Chatty Sunday: Card Sets and Stash Cards

It's time for another chatty Sunday! This week I want to talk about card sets and stash cards.

When I sit down to make cards, I generally make one-of-a-kind cards. This makes cards great to share and write about on my blog, as each card is different and unique. I also often send batches of these unique cards to friends and family for everyday use (and from what I can tell, it's appreciated!).

But sometimes I'd like to gift someone a small set of cards - maybe a set using their favorite colors, or a special theme that's meaningful to them. And that's where "one-of-a-kind" type of card that takes too long to create -- and multiples are just not feasible.

I think a key to card sets is to have a lot of unifying elements -- things like same color palette, similar stamps and similar card design/layout. In addition, I think it's important to plan everything out in advance. That way, the process can be broken into steps that are easier to manage.

One of my biggest inspirations for card sets is Kristie Marcotte's 6x6 paper pad tutorials. If you're not familiar with Kristie, she has several tutorials for making cards out of a complete 6x6 paper pad. I love her concept! Not only does it use up supplies, but she provides readers with measured sketches and a video of the whole process.

Another thing I've noticed is that my "card" stash is dwindling and in serious need of replenishment. I've got no sympathy and no birthday cards left - which is a bit alarming! And my "thank you" card batch is down to 3 cards...

Since I've been bit by the organizing bug, I'm going to spend a little time coming up with a "card stash basics" plan - things like "birthday boy" cards or "elegant thanks" cards will be very useful and I can tailor them to fit with my circle of family and friends. For example, there's a lot of boys in my husband's side of the family, so having a good stash of masculine cards will be great.

I'm super excited about both of these projects, as it should get me to really make use of my stamps. I'm going to aim to create several cards with each stamp set - something I tried with Mama Elephant's Charmed set recently.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~