Inspirations and Ideas...

So I am a HUUUGE fan of Pinterest and it is amazing for collecting weird and wonderful tips and tricks for all things crafty!!

I have a massive collection of Sharpie markers so I was wanting to use those in some way (I already decorated wine glasses with them for people's christmad presents last year, they went down a storm!) and Pinterest has loads of tutorials for stuff like that. But aside from what I want to do eventually, I have been looking for card making tips. Unfortunatley there are not many pictures that I have come across that shows the exact thing I want to make. In some ways this is a good thing because it means not many people want to do it the way I want to; using heavy use of photogaphy rather than lots of things stuck to a card. However, I somehow got to looking at scrapbooking. Which is something I have no knowledge of myself, other than the craft supplies used to make them (I used to work in a stationary shop), and some of the examples I came across looked very very good, by someone who has probably been doing it years, but they seem a bit too extravagant on a card. Here are some of the ones I spotted which I love myself but a bit too optimistic right now. The photographs and the things they are depicting are not mine, and full credit goes to the artists.

So this first example, although lovely, I think if I were to fit 3 photographs and 3 dividers I would just not have enough room. A plan would be to do 4 maybe? And I would lose the writing on the front, and put it on an insert inside the card. I also think the grey background is rather boring, though the pop of colour in the top 2 cut outs brightens it up a bit.

The one below also has everything quite spaces out which, like the one above, is not space I have on a greetings card. However, the colours go well with the subject matter. I would probably stick a small shell on the front as long as it wasnt too heavy, or a bit of real sand for texture. I do like the quotes, although again I would put the writing on the inside of the card again.

The one below is probably the one that I like the best, but it is far too busy for a card. Again, I dont get the brown and cream colour, looks rather boring considering tehe subject matter here.  But I love the photographs tucked behind each other, the paper clip to give it a rustic, thrown-together look and the small embellishments around the frame of the picture in the bottom left corner.

So those are the ones that got my creative juices flowing and put the idea of simple scrapbooking on the front of a card. I realise that scrap booking is a deeply personal thing, and you want to stick down your own photographs and ticket stubs and napkins, but I think if done properly, this would still be a really creative and personal thing to give to someone on a birthday, or as a note to say you're thinking of them.

Another post with the ones I could actually do though I think!