Hi everyone!
I'm posting this a little early so that you get a kickstart to your creative plans for 2020! ;)
(OK, so the real reason may be that I'll be a tad too tired tomorrow morning to get up and switch the computer on....)
Anyway, the handmade card challenge is back for a new year and decade - all with the aid of inspiration found on Pinterest.
So here's how the 2020 card challenge will work:
- On the 1st of the month, I'll share a Pinterest prompt here on my blog.
- The prompts will include many elements - you can interpret what you see in any way you like: design elements, colour combos, words, patterns, objects, layout... so many possibilities! Whatever inspiration you take from the image, incorporate it in your card! As always I will try to come up with a list of what immediately springs to mind when I look at the image to give you a few ideas if you're stumped.
- What about Christmas cards? As we reach the end of 2020 the prompts will become more festive and wintry themed, but there's nothing stopping you from creating a festive card from the images posted each month. In fact, you might welcome the challenge to get ahead!
- How many cards you make is totally up to you, but the more the merrier!
- All prompts past and present for this challenge can be found here on my blog and you can find them easily by clicking on the 2020 card challenge tag over there on the left.
- Speaking of tags, if you're also on Instagram then I'll be using the hashtag #2020handmadecardchallenge for any posts related to this challenge, feel free to use this tag on Instagram too!
- You can share your cards by linking them up here on my blog - just add a comment to the relevant monthly prompt - or by sharing them in the dedicated challenge thread over in the UK Scrappers card forum.
- If you are ever stumped about the layout of your card, then definitely check out the sketches I pin to my Pinterest board here, hopefully there will be something there to inspire you!
- What if you don't have time to start now or play along every month? No problem! Just dive in and out of the challenge when you feel like it. :D Do as much as you want or as little. It's always lovely to have lots of people sharing their makes, but real life doesn't always allow for crafty time as we well know!
Now with all the formalities out of the way, it's time to get on with the show. Here's your Pinspiration for January!
There were a few things I wanted to focus on in the January prompt:
- A fresh and clean start to a new year (helped by the neutral background and minimalist look)
- Playing homage to the Pantone colour of 2020 (Classic Blue)
- I also liked the inspiration from the Wabi-Sabi world view (celebrating the imperfect, incomplete, and impermanent) – I think it's a good reminder to be kinder to ourselves.
Crafters can often be perfectionists and are rarely 100% happy with their finished projects. That's certainly my experience and it doesn't help that I'm a naturally wonky stamper and can't line things up straight when gluing them down.
Well, we need to be kinder to ourselves and simply enjoy the creative process. I think this is why cardmaking has been a constant in my creative life. I enjoy the process (and the shopping for supplies), but I can also give away these little creations once they're made. Receiving nice mail is such a rarity these days, I just hope others like receiving cards as much as I do.
So now that you've seen the image, here are some initial ideas to get you started:
- The new and untried - a new year is a great opportunity to try something new, whether it's a technique or design idea you've bookmarked to come back to later or new products you've simply not managed to open and use yet. There's no excuse now...
- Feeling blue that it's January? Well you might as well focus on using blue tones. Whether blended inks, background patterns, multi-step monochrome stamping, or just a light wash of colour, give blue a go.
- Repeat patterns or waves - I love the patterns shown in the photo. They remind me of a lot of past scrapbook collections that have featured something similar in patterned papers but perhaps different colours.
- Let there be light - the lanterns can be interpreted as sources of light, think a night sky with a glowing moon or stars, candles on a cake, strings of lights, the sparkle of glitter...
- Japanese design elements - the fish, pagodas, cherry blossoms, origami paper, and anything else you may have that fits the bill.
- Heat embossing light colours on dark backgrounds
- Washi tape/strips of paper
- Tags/pouches
- Twine/lace trim
- Clips/pegs
Happy New Year and happy crafting!
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