It's a SNAP!

ODBD Shining the Light Challenge #108

Tomorrow we celebrate Mother's Day- since most have already made cards for their moms, the Our Daily Bread Design's Challenge Team wants you to use one of the photos to inspire your project this week.  Please let us know which photo (by number) you used.

And why should you play along? For starters, there's the chance to win an ODBD gift certificate. And, if you're using ODBD stamps, your project just might be spotlighted as one of our Shining Light Award winners. For complete details, visit the ODBD Blog. The deadline for submission is Friday, May 18.

Please take a bit of time to visit  my fellow challenge team members blogs, you'll be blessed!

Sabrina Jackson  * Debi Southard 
 Lori Ulrich *  Rosemary Dennis  *
 Jan Keen * Kathy Roney

It's a SNAP! (and a tip, too!)

There are some who can sit down at their craft table and come up with a gorgeous card in a matter of minutes. There are others who spend spare moments drawing sketches of their future card layouts and have their next masterpiece all planned out ahead of time.

Then there are the rest of us. . .who usually have very little idea of what the end result will be when they sit down at their craft desk. A piece here, no there, wait over there . . and over time it comes together. What I want to share with you (those of you who are camped over with the "rest of us," that is!) is a little trick I've found that helps me not only make decisions about where things should go, but helps me remember where all the parts go when assembling a detailed, multi-layer project.

Gold or B

That trick is a really a tool and that tool is my digital camera, or in a pinch, my phone! Just how does it work? Well, first step is to get your digital camera out! It doesn't have to be a fancy one! The main thing is to use something that enables you  to view the photos within moments after you've snapped the shot.

Next up, pull out something to start with. . .I really liked combination of blue and brown and the new Spellbinders Romantic Oval Dies which frame perfectly this scripture from the ODBD Scripture Collection, so that's what I started with.

Don't you think  these ovals need to be tied down somehow or like balloons they will look as if they're floating off the card? A panel! That's it! But should what side of the paper to use? Click! This side. . .or  (click) this side? As you can see it doesn't really matter if your photo is blurry because the whole point is to give you a quick visual to help you compare and decide.

The orange has it! Don't you agree it provides a nice contrast?

 But wait! There's not room for this luscious silk ribbon I've pulled from my stash! May it never be! Solution:  I'm going to have to go with a bigger size card base, and the blue panel needs to go under the die cut, the Spellbinders Lattice Rectangle die that is. . .and if one is good, two are better!   There all done. . click! Or is it? It looked finished on my craft room table but under the cold eye of the camera lens, it looks a bit barren.



So it's time to rummage around in an embellishment drawer. There we go: a few flowers from the stash. . .spritz them with a bit of gold glimmer mist so they match the ribbon, add a glimmer brad and a pearl for the centers and we're all set!   




 Oh, but now another dilemma!

Click! Should the flowers be bunched together in the top corner? Click! Our should they be separated?

  Click! I think they look best grouped in the bottom corner, don't you agree? But what about that bare spot in the upper right hand corner?

A butterfly! That's just what is needed to fill the void.

 

 But a (click!) a blue butterfly or a (click!) gold butterfly? Blue, don't you think?

And with all of that. . .here's the finished card. . .outside and inside!

So with the help of your trusty camera, you gain an extra set of eyes to aid in arranging the elements where they look the best. And, for those times when your project is precariously perched on the desktop perfectly assembled but not glued down. . .get out that camera and CLICK! Quickly before the cat hops up on the table, you sneeze or some inevitable paper crafting adventure occurs that scatters your project across the room and you are left with only tales of the great project that got away!

Project Details

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs 2 Step Butterflies, God's Love & Scripture Collection 8
Inspiration Photo #5

Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso, Bashful Blue; Versamark

Paper: SU Early Espresso, Bashful Blue

Designer Paper: SU Paisley Petals

Accessories: Spellbinders Lattice Rectangle and Romantic Ovals Dies, EK border punch, satin ribbon, Zva Creative Pearls, Stampendous Sapphire and Champagne Pearl Lustre Embossing Powders, Prima flowers, gold shimmer brad. 

Challenges:

•  Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge 108 ~ Inspiration Photo #5
• Word Art Wednesday
• Little Birdie Blessings Scripture Thursday
•  

Blessings! jme ~ SDG