The Evolution of a Swap Card

In my last post, I showed you some swap projects that I made for Stampin’ Up! Regionals. I also made some general swap cards- although since I’m a helper, I don’t know how much swapping I’ll get to do. But I thought I’d bring around 25 or so and keep them in my apron pocket to swap when I can.

I wanted to keep them simple since I’ll be making so many of them, and I can’t use TOO many accessories since I’ll have to have enough for all the cards.

Many of you ask where I get my card ideas. Most of the time, they evolve. My unsuccessful card attempts lead me to better designs (or at least I hope).

Here’s an example…

I saw a scrapbook page on the cover of Creating Keepsakes the other day. The page had a sunflower and denim accents and it inspired me to create this card…

It turned out okay, but it wasn’t quite the look I wanted to do for my swaps. I really didn’t like inking the edges of the circle – it makes it look uneven.  And stamping with Vanilla craft ink was a PAIN! I had to heat set it to let it dry and I don’t really have time to do that for all those swaps!

So I scrapped that idea and moved on to something else…

I saw a pretty card in another magazine that was stamped right on to patterned paper. So I picked up a sheet of Soft Sky designer paper and stamped a flower from the Garden Silhouettes stamp set that I really like with Basic Gray ink. I also wanted to use my sewing machine on a card, so I came up with this…

But stamping the baroque background on the soft sky paper looked too dark against the main image. And I couldn’t find a ribbon that I liked to tie through the hardware piece…plus, I didn’t have enough hardware pieces to make that many cards.

So I scrapped that idea and tried this one:

I added some glitter to the flowers and some Pretties pearls on the bottom piece. I kept the sewing, but decided to eliminate the soft sky background piece. I also clipped the corners to add a little shape to the card.

But I still wasn’t happy with it. For one, it used too many pearls for that many swaps. And It was just a little too busy with the baroque background and the patterned paper. Plus, the flowers didn’t look as delicate as I wanted and I didn’t like the ‘cherish’ font with the rest of the card.

So I scrapped that idea and moved on to this one…

This one I liked for my swap! It includes the colors I wanted but with fewer accessories – plus, I don’t have to sew each card. I used a different flower stamp from the set and kept the glitter. I also used the flower stamp as the background instead of the swirl. And I liked the font of the ‘lovely’ sentiment. I kept the oval, but without the hardware – and I used less ribbon, too.

So if you see me at Regionals and you’d like to swap for this card, come find me! I’ll be the one with the black Stampin’ Up! apron… 🙂