Early Cards

After I finished my second blog post last night, I realized it sounded like I only made cards based ideas I found in magazines and on the Internet. Actually I started making cards that were totally unique. They were so unique, I could only make one of each kind!

Through my window treatment business I offer a variety of beautiful fabrics for my customers. Over time, the fabric samples will be discountinued and I'm left with swatch books. About 3 years ago after the schools I donated to had their fill, I decided to use some of these fabrics for crafts just to see what I could do with them. I had made a couple of cards using pattern paper and figured I could substitue patterned fabric.

These cards were fun to make and a great creative outlet. It felt good to be using up something that would just be discarded. The only drawback was the time. Most fabric samples are small and I'm lucky to have one full flower or other design per sample, per color. (Apparently I only had half a flower on the one below.) So for every card, I had to locate companion papers or fabrics and arrange the text I would print in Word to work with the placements of the fabrics. It often took an hour just to make one card and I had nothing left to make a duplicate!

So one of the things that really attracted me to stamping was the ability to take an image and use it over and over with subtle changes or use it in a totally unique way. Stamping has given me the best of both worlds. I can create a quick card similar or just like one I've done in the past. Or I can combine my stamped image with other embellishments and fancier techniques to create that extra special work of art.

I still sometimes create fabric cards or use fabric along with my stamped images and chipboard. The beauty of cards is that just about anything goes.

(The card here uses some discontinued printed fabric with leaf designs, sheer fabrics, and leather strips glued to a card printed from Word.)