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Saturday, August 20, 2016

August Leading Lady Nina-Marie Trapani | Take Three

Our August Leading Lady, Nina-Marie Trapani, is back for is back for her triumphant third performance!  If you missed her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE or her sensational second performance adding a personal touch and artistic flair CLICK HERE. Nina-Marie
 shows her mastery of design principles today with a showstopper of a card!

Without further ado, Nina-Marie....

Hello friends! Welcome back to my third guest post for Winnie and Walter's Leading Lady feature... I hope you are having as much fun as I have so far! :)
  Nina-Marie_Trapani_august2016 
Today I want to share some inspiration on creating appealing card layouts using Winnie and Walter's In Bloom: Addie's Garden and In Bloom: Anna's Flora stamp sets. The reason I chose these floral images for today's card is because floral images are a great example of building a good layout; a poorly arranged flower bouquet isn't as pretty as one that was more thought-out. These floral stamps are some of my most favorite because of the beautiful detail and larger size of the images. This allows you to get creative with your coloring, which is so much fun! For this card I used a combination of Zig Clean Color markers and Copics to color the flowers and leaves.

  Creating Floral Arrangements_2

When building a good floral arrangement, I like to make sure I build with a few things in mind:

Rule of thirds: It helps to balance a design when there are three elements grouped into your card. For instance; I maintained this rule by using three frames in the background, three daisies, and three pink floral clusters. The odd number sits better in your mind believe it or not!

  Creating Floral Arrangements_5

Visual triangle: See how all of the major elements on this card all can be connected by a visual triangle (imagine overlaying a triangle to connect like objects together)? This helps draw attention to the more prominent elements and allows them to take center stage while still maintaining a good balance. Examples of the visual triangle are the layout of the frames in the background as well as the placement of the daisies and the pink clusters.

  Creating Floral Arrangements_1

Balancing Large and/or Bold Objects: This card features two heavy (large/bold) objects; the largest daisy and the strong colors of the sentiment strip. These two items can be balanced out on the design by placing them at polar opposites. In this case, I attached the daisy at the bottom left and the sentiment along the top right of the card. By placing them apart from each other, rather than close together, this helps keep the design from being too heavy in one area.

  Creating Floral Arrangements_6

Odd Numbers: Remember the rule of thirds and how odd numbers helps the design of the card sit better in your head? Well the same applies for numbers greater than three! I scattered a total of 7 clear sequins around the floral arrangement, as well as having a total of 13 larger elements on the card (12 floral elements and 1 sentiment strip). Having that odd number really ensures a good layout! 

Mixed Sizes: You'll also notice that I varied the size of almost all of my elements on the card. This helps add a bit more interest to your design, as it keeps everything from becoming too boring and repetitive. If you can vary the size of the elements on your card, this helps keep the visual attention of the viewer.

  Creating Floral Arrangements_4

This may seem like a lot of work and thought to put into a card, but remember you don't have to incorporate them all into your card all at once; I wanted to make sure they were each included in the design so I could best show you how they work together to create an overall appealing design. And trust me; the more you practice these design tips, the more you'll start doing them automatically. This is how I started; I had to remind myself of these things as I created a card, but now it's just part of the design process for me and I do it on "auto-pilot" so to speak! And I know that the more you practice these things, the more you will start doing them automatically too! 

Before I go, I'll quickly touch on the rest of the card process: 

I stamped the images onto watercolor paper with a waterproof ink and colored the images with Zig markers. I then went back in with a couple of Copic markers and added in a bit more extra detail. I layered the flowers and die cut frames onto my card base using liquid glue; I added the sentiment (heat embossed on dark brown cardstock in white embossing powder) using foam tape. The sequins were then tucked in and around the florals using some Glossy Accents

I hope this post has helped you learn some new tips and tricks on creating good layouts on your cards! Thanks for spending some time with me today, I will see you again next week! :)  

GIVEAWAY!

w&w_30giftcard

Before you go, I want to tell you that Shay was SUPER generous in allowing me to giveaway a $30 gift certificate to one of you, which can be used in the Winnie and Walter store! How cool is that?? BIG thank you to Shay for being so sweet!

To qualify for the giveaway, make sure you leave a comment on any of my Winnie and Walter blog posts (commenting on each Saturday post this month will count as extra chances to win the giveaway). After the last Leading Lady post at the end of the month, I'll draw a random winner from all the collective post comments.

PRODUCTS


39 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous, bright, cheerful, incredible arrangement, Nina Marie! I have a bit of trouble putting two or more things on a card ... you make it seem 'do-able' for even me! xx
    =]

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  2. Your card is definitely gourgous., love your Watercoloring and your layout. Very creative. What a great tips to arrange cards element. I learned much from this post . Thanks for sharing with us.

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  3. Gorgeous card! Love the dimension and coloring! Addie's Garden is one of my favorite sets! Thanks for all the tips on building a beautiful floral card!

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  4. What a fantastic card showcasing all the rules and elements you discussed.

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  5. Gorgeous card. I love the floral images in that stamp set!

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  6. Beautiful card and great tips.

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  7. Picking my jaw up off the floor, this is AMAZING!!!

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  8. An absolutely amazing card, so many elements and lovely colours yet so balanced.

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  9. WOW Nina, you NEVER disappoint! This is a beautiful card and Thank You for the tips you generously share, your work is most inspiring!

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  10. Hi Nina, I love this set and your coloring is beautiful. Thanks for the tips and always inspiring.

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  11. Hi Nina ~ Your card is incredibly lovely. Sunflowers happen to be my favorite and you've totally rocked this one. You continue to inspire through sharing and I truly appreciate it. I hope you're enjoying your weekend. ~HUGS~

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  12. Love these pretty sunflowers on your beautiful card! Thanks for the design tips also.

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  13. Beautiful card, so vibrant and pretty

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  14. Amazing card, Nina! Love the coloring you've done!! I am starting to think of mixing mediums after watching you try them! :D And thank you so much for so many tips!!

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  15. What a beautiful card Nina and thank you so much for explaining why you do what you do.. I so have to try this as I have no idea when it comes to where to put the sentiment or when is it too much.

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  16. Gorgeous!! Thanks for the technique reminders! Always love your cards!!

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  17. WOW this card is GORGEOUS!!!! Love it and Winnie and Walter:)

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  18. This is sooooooo beautiful! The coloring work and layering work are super fabulous!

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  19. Gorgeous card,
    loving all the
    layers and such
    beautiful colors!
    Carla from Utah

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  20. Absolutely gorgeous!!! I love those flowers are so beautiful!!

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  21. Beautiful layers! This is such a bright, happy card!

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  22. Awesome card! Love colors and design;)

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  23. Awesome card! Love colors and design;)

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  24. Oh wow! Simply adorable! I love so much sunflowers! <3

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  25. What a beautiful card. Simply gorgeous.

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  26. Love your coloring of that sunflower! The delicate pink sprigs are the perfect complement.

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  27. Wow. Beautiful. I love this stamp set

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  28. Pretty card!! Love yellow! Thanks for the design tips-the zig markers look like fun!!

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  29. This is a very interesting card! It has a lot going on, but I'd not overwhelming. I love it!

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  30. This is a very interesting card! It has a lot going on, but I'd not overwhelming. I love it!

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  31. Wow such a gorgeous card! I really enjoyed reading your excellent advice on card design so thank you.

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  32. This card is STUNNING. I love all the tucked elements and the vellum. Your eye just flows through the card!!

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  33. This is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE the color choices you made for all of the different design elements. They are perfect together!

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  34. Sunflowers are perfect for this time of year, and yours are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

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  35. DELIGHTFUL card!!!
    LOVE the design, LOVE the colours, LOVE the layers!!!
    THANK YOU for sharing your CREATIVE INSPIRATION and tutorial :)

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