I love mixing and matching. Using a little bit of this and that. Combining and altering things to make them my own. Essentially that is what freestyle creating is all about. It's now being defined as a style but really... it's just a bunch of design elements that make you happy.
Freestyle designs can be put together with premade embellishments and layers and can be very quick and easy. As I love to get inky, I wanted to make my own layers and the Pink Paislee Artisan Papers are just the ticket to be altered and inked into any color combo you can dream up.
The Artisan Papers are white embossed prints on white paper. You can ink them, paint them, mist them ...basically you can color them with almost anything. for today's card, I decided to ink them with Distress Inks for a fun color pop that's just perfect for summer.
To ink each paper, just dab a sponge onto the Distress Ink Pad color of your choice and sponge it right onto the paper. All the prints you can see in this project were originally white on white. They can be left that way for a subtle card design but I love it when adding color...magic seems to happen.
I've seen lots of great chipboard embossed pieces in the crafting industry but did you know it's super simple to make your own with these papers?
Ellen carries her fabulous craft-a-board which is PERFECT for this.
Simply...
- Adhere the resist paper to a piece of Craft-a-Board.
- Place the die over the chipboard.
- Run through your die cut machine.
- Sponge ink onto each piece to personalize it.
Premade chipboard pieces can also be customized. A plain chipboard frame is colored black using a Copic Sketch Marker. Also, a fabric Thicker Feather is sponged with coordinating Distress Ink to color the feather to match.
Quick Tips for Freestyle Design
- repeat shapes or design elements for continuity
- plan your color combo...too many colors are confusing so pick a max of three
- freestyle design is usually assymetrical or offset
- stamped images are usually small images or simple patterns
- layer elements into clusters
- move elements around until you have a look you love
- remember there are no hard and fast rules...this is a fun eclectic style.
Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a fabulous weekend!
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