Kerri Bradford Studio: Die Cut Background & Handwritten Script Cards

I was so close to putting together a blog post last night, and then just got caught up in watching a few of my favorite shows on the DVR. The kind of shows that I have to actually pay attention too, as there is so much going on. If I were to work on a blog post while watching, I would have to watch the show all over again tonight, as I would have no idea what had happened.

For my April project for Kerri Bradford Studio, I thought I would make a few cards. I've been creating lots of layouts lately, and wanted to work on a smaller canvas. Of course, when I say I'm going to make a few cards, it usually means that I'm going to mass produce a bunch of cards. If I'm die cutting pieces for a card or two, my thinking is that I might as well cut extras while I'm at it, so that I can have extra cards on hand. So making a few cards often takes WAY more time than if I would have just made a layout.

I picked out a few sentiments from Kerri’s new Happy Stuff kit that would be perfect for making some cards. I’m always needing birthday cards, love to send out “hello” cards, and I thought the “that’s kind of cool” would be great for a congratulations-type card.

I did use all Stampin' Up cardstock for these cards. I haven't really used their cardstock in my Cameo before, as I try and stick to using mostly American Crafts cardstock for all of my die cutting. The backgrounds cut just fine, but the sentiments didn't cut quite as well. I should have thickened them up a bit. Mental note for next time :)

I also cut a variety of backgrounds to create the card bases from cardstock. I think the chevron was my favorite, found in the Life Additions #2 kit. I also both a circle and a wave background for a few of the cards, found in the More Background Basics kit. 

I had picked out some sheets of patterned paper from a variety of 6x6" paper pads that I thought I would incorporate into the design somehow. I ended up cutting just the negative shapes from these papers, thinking I would piece them into the cardstock backgrounds. So I had cut some circles to fit into the circle background, some zig zags to fit into the chevron backgrounds, and some waves to fit into the wave backgrounds.

I did end up using some of the pieces, but not quite as many as I had planned. I was working with just blue, pink, and green cardstock, and soon realized that some of the sentiments wouldn't show up that well if the backgroud was too busy. So I added a few pieces in here and there and even left them entirely off some of the cards.

I wanted to keep the cards fairly flat so they would be easy to mail. By sticking to a background piece, a sentiment, and a few enamel dots, I was able to create simple cards that still have plenty of interest to them.

If I'm being totally honest, these four cards are the only ones that are finished. I have backgrounds, sentiments, and extras all put aside for 8 more cards. We'll see if I ever finish them. Lol.

Comments

[Diana Waite]

what GREAT cards Laura--SO inspiring!