A Colourful Life

The Importance of White Space

White is a glorious colour dontcha think?  It's clean and easy on the eyes.  Which is why I always go back to my mainstay style -- simple, clean lines.  With lots of white.  There are some cards that are so full of embellishments and colour, so jampacked with doodads and detail, that the eye doesn't know where to rest.  It's too confusing.  Empty, white space on your card is actually an important element in card design. One you learn the importance of white space and embrace it, you will know it's a good thing!

Sometimes, less is more.  These cards below are simpler than most, but they are easy on the eye and have a clean, sleek look. 

 

You need to use white space effectively by not "trapping" it within your project.  Keep white space from being trapped by pushing it into the outside of your card. Try not to leave a block of space between elements. Move the elements closer together and let that block of space lie on the outside of the elements as in the whale card above.

 

In this card, I've grouped all my elements together and used the white space as a frame.  The eye immediately focuses on the central image.

I must say that white space doesn't have to be white. Colored backgrounds are nice, too. But leaving an empty space on a card is always a good idea. When you fill up a card with embellishments and colour, it's hard to look at because there are so many elements competing for your attention. Whitespace, sometimes called negative space, describes the open space between design elements.  I just happen to love white so usually in my cards, the white space is actually WHITE!

One More Class Before the Madness Starts

What madness???  Olympic madness!  The Olympics start here on Feb. 12 and I know that mostly everyone will be either watching the events at the venues, watching at home on TV and others have opted to go out of town during all this hoopla.  One thing for sure....I don't think anyone will be taking classes....so this will be the last one before the games start....then the next ones will be after they end. 

Flower Fun Class - $20

Sunday, Feb 7   11 -1 PM
Monday, Feb 8   7 - 9 PM

Here are pics:

 

 

You will learn how to do the faux tile technique and create a flower pot card.

The classes are held in my studio in Richmond, B.C.  If you cannot attend but would like to buy the kit, you can do so.  Details on the kit purchase can be found here.

Doodling.

I played a bit yesterday....it's the final two weeks before I have to go back to work downtown and it will be right smack dab in the midst of all the Olympic craziness....so I am relishing these last 2 weeks of calm and laziness.  February will be a different story altogether. 

Yesterday I made this card.

 

As you can see, I doodled.  Doodling is a fast and easy way to add detail to your project.  I like it cause you really can't go wrong.  Just take your pen and squiggle away -- straight, curves, flourishes,dashes, dots.....it's up to you.  I used a white gel pen here, but the any shade you choose is fine if it matches your project.  

 

You can get as crazy as you want.  In this picture you can see how I progressively added detail with my pen.

And here the finished card:

 

See how I also added a row of dots underneath the hearts? It completes the card nicely. 

Have a great Tuesday everyone!
 
 
 

New Year's, the Olympics and Hearts!

New Year's:
Well, it has come and gone.  The holidays.  Fast,huh.  We had a fantastic New Year family party at the Marriott.  Here are some highlghts:

 
Here's my family in front of the Xmas tree.  I am now officially the shortest one in the bunch!

 
The buffet was fantabulous, featuring baron of beef, salmon, chicken, rice, potatoes, salads to die for and spectacular desserts.  Yummy.

 
As usual we played musical chairs with a twist...the ladies are seated and when the music stops they find themselves crushed and pushed as the guys scramble to sit on a lap!  Super fun!

 
We also played this game called Musical Price. All the girls are worth $1 and the boys are worth 50 cents.  When the music stops, a price is called out and everyone had to form clusters totalling the price.  There was so much screaming in this game!

 
Of course, we danced well into 2010! We all booked rooms at the hotel and the party continued on and followed through to breakfast as we had booked the same room for breakfast the next day.....a fun family annual event!  I can't wait till next year's party!

Olympics:  Just one month away!
 
The Olympic banners are up! Thousands of bilingual banners boasting the motto "with glowing hearts", taken from our national anthem and featuring 18 different sporting motifs are now all over the downtown core and on major streets like Granville, Cambie & Hastings. COOL!

Hearts:  One more Valentine Card
 
This one is classic.....simple and understated with sleek lines, no clutter!  It's hard to see in the picture above, but the silver charm says"XOXO"....see below.

 
 
I used the stamp and punch below to make the card.
 
  

Baskets, Anyone?

I've been busy the past few days making these baskets.  I used the Stampin' Up! Bigz XL Baskets & Blooms Die.  You can order the die here.  The die is used with the Big Shot.  So much fun!  When cut, you will need to adhere sticky strip to each of the scored edges of the basket as you see below.

 

When glued together, it will look like this.  It's easy enough to slip the bottom piece inside and glue to the sides.  The bottom piece is also included in the die.  I usually have glue already lining the bottom of the basket so when I slip the bottom in I just put pressure on all sides of the bottom so it sticks well.  

 

And here are the finished baskets!  I've filled them with chocolate, ready for Valentines!

 

 
  
   

New Class and Kit!

I have a new class and kit available.  Check out my kit blog here.  Meanwhile, here's a pic.