I recently participated in a demonstrator swap featuring stamps from the new July-December mini catalog. I really enjoy swapping with others – it’s a great way to get samples in styles that I would never create and it allows me to have samples for stamp sets that I haven’t purchased. Also, the deadline to get swaps in is a great motivator to get some creative time in so I don’t let down the other swap participants. I love swapping with this demonstrator group because the participants consistently create good samples and I’m proud to show them off.
For the swap I signed up for the Heartfelt Wishes stamp set, and this is the first card that I created. I say first because I actually didn’t use this for my swap – I created another card that I’ll share here soon. I feel ok with how this card turned out, but it felt a little too busy for my taste. Also, I realized that all of the elements that I included – coloring of the snowman, punching the snowman pieces, embossing the background and highlighting the embossed ridges with Wink of Stella, combined to too much work for mass production. So, all of these factors together made me decide to start over and create another design for the swap. I’m sharing this with you so that you realize that it’s ok to not love everything that you create. The important thing is that you enjoy it, and keep doing it. There will always be creations that are “meh” and others that you are super proud of. It’s all good!
I used this old sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as the layout inspiration for my card. I’m pretty sure that I’ve used this design before, and I can totally see myself using it again in the future. The strip across the front for the sentiment seemed perfect for the greeting images in my swap stamp set. In fact, as I type this I’m thinking of using this layout for something a little different with a Valentine’s or Fall theme since there are greetings for those occasions in the set too. My creative gears are turning – stay tuned here to see what I create! 😉
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