Thursday, March 18, 2010

365 Cards Day 18 - plentiful patterns

Now this challenge took a little thought - and a LOT of digging. They asked you to choose at least three of the following patterns to use in your card:
  • houndstooth
  • gingham
  • plaid
  • paisley
  • toile
I wasn't entirely sure what each of those patterns actually WERE so I had to look them up on google to make sure I knew. In case you're not entirely sure either, here's an explanatory link complete with pictures - What's the difference between the checks. In short, gingham is a simple coloured/white woven-style check. Plaid is another woven check but it's more elaborate and often involves more colours. Paisley is the 'fish-shaped' design based on Indian art. Houndstooth is the funny 'stretched' check that comes in one or more colours at a time. And toile is an elaborate repeating design (usually white) of scenery, flowers, milkmaids etc. printed on a plain coloured background.
Now that's straightened out, on to the next step - digging around in my papers to find suitable 'sets' to use! I started pulling sheet and trying to co-ordinate them, and I came up with a couple of different colour families - green, blue, yellow, pinky, and brown. I didn't have perfect matches for some of the options, and I could only find two houndstooth papers (I don't really like that design)... but there were a lot more in general than I would have expected and I had plenty to play with!
And here are my cards... I photographed them all together and numbered them for the purposes of explanation. (click on the photo to see a larger version of the cards...)

#1 uses papers from the Joanns 'Spring' stack. The center piece is from a mini-mat-stack, and while it's not strictly toile, it IS an elaborate repeating white design... I finished it with a diecut tag, a sticker, some tiny buttons, and a flower made from a tutorial somebody shared a few weeks ago. It's really easy - punch out four identical flower shapes and fold them in half, Then interlock them like you were closing the flaps of a cardboard box and glue them onto a round base. Fluff up the petals and you have a flower that reminds me of either a water lily or a chrysanthemum or a carnation depending on how fluffy you make it!

#2 is made with a pre-printed base from My Mind's eye. I added a wide strip of houndstooth and plaid... and since toile is such an elaborate pattern and I didn't want it to fight with the paisley,  I punched out some small  flowers and used them to frame the sentiment like a medallion.

Cards #3 and #4 were made exactly the same way. I cut simple strips of each paper and lined them up on the card, one with a straight edge and one with an overlapping zigzag. The background doesn't need any extra decoration, so I added a sentiment and those cards were done.

Lastly, card #5 showcases an elaborate (but very beautiful) floral paisley from Basic Grey. I just adore this paper and never want to cover any of it up! So I matted it diagonally with a little houndstooth and laid it on top of a simple plaid background and the card was done.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

i love that u looked all that up! your definition of 'toile' really clarified it for me lol! and your cards are beautiful!!! thanks again for doing the hard work...i was googling toile myself!!!

Cheri said...

Boy you out did yourself. I love all the cards but I think #5 is my favorite. I love Basic Grey too.

Anonymous said...

wow... it takes me a half day-1 day to make a card (newbie) but u did all that in a day or less! .. great!.. I love no. 1 and 5 the best. Nice work!