by Linda | Apr 2, 2010 | my creative journal
Hi folks! To kick off national letterwriting month and I consider it also send your cards month, here’s a super simple Mother’s Day card you can make. I am really big on using digital elements because of the ease of being able to download them immediately and also because I can create my own matching designs if I’m missing something. However, I also love the real paper, textures and touchy-feeling elements of handmade cards. So the best of both worlds in my opinion would be hybrid cards! Combining both sides of cardmaking I think really maximizes the potential for all of us to create. To start this lovely month of stationery and card goodness here on BackToPaper.com, here’s a super easy peasy way to use digital elements. The idea is to make a simple card by combining elements digitally for printout, but then adding a real-life embellishment to bring out the handmade feel.
To make the card above I used the free Sketch Tulips digital element from Hero Arts, my own designing in Photoshop and simple embellishments I had lying around already.
- I wanted a distressed style, so I created the faded music paper background in Photoshop and put that behind the Sketch Tulip element in Photoshop.
- Then I added a simple sentiment to the bottom with the basic text tool and added a drop shadow in white – so really it’s a glow to make the words pop a bit more.
- I planned to add embellishments in the middle, so that’s why I left the space there, so now my is ready.
- I printed out onto white cardstock in the size I wanted for my card.
- I cut out the graphic a bit smaller than my white card base and added some dimension by inking and distressing the edges.
- Then I added my real-life embellishment of string with a bright button around the center with a simple bow.
- I glued that whole finished panel onto my white card base and tah-dah! All done!
Really easy, right? You can download the faded music paper background I created below, just click for high-resolution JPG. Feel free to use for your personal projects or paper crafting projects. I know sometimes it can be intimidating to use Photoshop or related programs, but this same card could have been done by simply printing all elements out and cutting them out individually to combine by hand as well. I really like simple hybrid cards like this, especially if you need to make 50 thank you cards, for example. You can quickly print out 50 copies of your design. I hope this will inspire you to use those digital elements out there and make a hybrid card. Enjoy and stay tuned for more hybrid projects like this one 🙂
by Linda | Mar 31, 2010 | DIY printables
So I’ve always loved the look of dip pen handwriting, reminding me of the time when traditional correspondence was the norm. Unfortunately, my touristy-bought Italian dip pen set has been collecting dust in a box. I have really bad hand control and found it so difficult to write anything at all. Perhaps I was too impatient or perhaps I just didn’t give myself enough time to develop, so I want to give it another try. I realize practice makes perfect…the wonderful wisdom we learn from kindergarten.
Printable Airmail Stationery Set PDF (258 KB)
I quickly designed a cute airmail stationery set to get myself into the mood of handwriting a letter. You can see from the photo that I printed on creamy cardstock which was perfect for the envelope but too big and too thick for the stationery writing paper. I reprinted the writing paper on plain paper and that definitely looks better. These were printed at half size to make mini-letters but of course the PDF is full US Letter sized paper.
I thought I would share this printable with all of you, so feel free to download the PDF above and use for your personal writing adventures. Have fun!
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by Linda | Mar 10, 2010 | DIY printables
I’m going through a period of Spring Cleaning because frankly, I need it! When there’s stuff all over the place and it actually impedes your process of working…you know you really must clean up. So now I’m trying to balance this tremendous task with everything else in life as well as my runaway ideas that usually derail any schedule I might have set down for cleaning. Who wants to clean when a fanciful idea pops up and you want to go experiment instead!
I decided to help myself by organizing my runaway ideas into loose notes. I made myself a lightbulb sketch above (feel free to download and use for your personal organization) – I printed it out 6 on a page to make little notecards. Of course, you can just use scraps to collect little sketches or words bubbling inside of you. I’ve put mine in a goodie jar to draw from at a later date. I feel that these types of ideas can often get lost in a big journal or lists, that’s why the loose leaf method is nice. I can save all of them in one place, but pick at random when I’m ready. I also have really crazy ideas at times, so it’s not like planning a painting in my journal. They are things to experiment or one day think more about. I just don’t want to lose or forget about the idea completely and I don’t want to dismiss it just because others might think I’m joking…maybe… 😛 Happy Spring Cleaning!
by Linda | Mar 9, 2010 | DIY printables
Hi folks! This week, I decided to go through the process of making a card from scratch using digital and real elements. I suppose you would call it hybrid and since I’m really looking forward to Spring weather, I decided to use the Tuscany landscape I live in for inspiration. Although I feel like all cardmaking is hybrid, given that someone printed pattern papers or those embellishments you are using…I guess you can say that it is all mixed media. You do and use whatever needed to achieve the look you want, right? Here’s the finish card and I also incorporated a bit of paper piercing given the current digital tuesday challenge.
I started by sketching out a design for my card with simple pencil and paper. Once I decided roughly what I wanted, I went onto the computer and drew the hills and printed on watercolor paper, then drew the sunflower and clouds and printed them on cardstock. I actually wanted to print everything out in color, but I ran out of yellow ink…so I had to improvise. The hills were actually watercolored in but the clouds already had blue when printed. I also added some sparkle via heat embossing to the clouds. The rest is regular cardstock, stamping and embellishing. Although I also spent a whole lot of time cutting a slice of cork and gluing the string to it! I could have added some faux stitching with a pen, but this time around added the paper piercing for the border to add a different look. I think it’s pretty cool to be able to create a card from scratch and that enables you to really match up the colors and elements. I love digital cardmaking, whether all digital or hybrid, because it gives me to the power to create what I need. A digital stamp image, a background or some embellishments maybe? I can print things out in color to match perfectly as well…the possiblities are endless. I hope you will try hybrid card making as well. If you want to use my images, feel free to download below…although that sunflower is pretty tedious to cut out, I must admit!
by Linda | Feb 3, 2010 | DIY printables
Hi folks! Happy Wednesday to you. It’s hump day…middle of the week, you know? I wanted to share a little illustration with you…it’s an illustration I created for the Cool Mom Picks contest, but didn’t get picked in the end. I figured someone could use it for valentines, it’s meant to be printed and colored in by your kids. Hope you enjoy it! I’m off now to prepare some Valentine designs…the days are counting down!
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