Finding Inspiration

The challenge this week on the Hero Arts blog was interesting. The theme was "inspiration." Just how do you choose to interpret inspiration? Some people designed cards inspired by other cards they had seen and loved. Some used techniques they were inspired to try. Some were inspired by things that make them happy or by certain layouts they found eye-appealing. Me? I am inspired by iced coffee.


Okay, maybe that is a bit of a simplification.

Many things inspired me to make this card. First, I loved the now defunct Rubber Stamper magazine. They used to do an article where there would take a picture of an everyday item and then use it as inspiration for a card. I think this is such a cool idea! Second, I decided to make a clear card because I have been enjoying my acetate cards so much and really wanted to make yet another one. Finally, it was hot as heck last week, and I drank a TON of iced drinks. Coffee always does inspire me!

To make this card, I spelled out "Thank" and "you" out of two different alphabet sets. I used two sizes because I wanted it to reflect the font sizes of the original inspiration piece. I stamped the letters using Versamark ink and embossed them with white embossing powder onto black cardstock. I rounded the corners with a corner rounder and then cut a greenish brown piece of paper little bigger than the black cardstock. I wanted to use the same colors as those I found on the cup. I rounded the second set of corners as well to finish my replication of the McDonalds graphic. To continue the coffee theme of the inspiration piece, I stamped a coffee image and then punched it out with a circle punch. I layered it onto a darker brown circle and then added the latte saying at the bottom of the greenish brown paper. The "a latte" words are actually part of a longer clear stamp that says "I like you a latte." I cut the words apart and only used what I needed. It is REALLY scary to cut a stamp apart, but you can still use it in its original form by reassembling it onto an acrylic block. To finish the card, I attached the black cardstock to the front of the card and the greenish brown cardstock to the inside so that I could hide my adhesives.

My coffee card sure was a fun card to make, and it really has me looking at the world differently. Every time I look at a product, I keep thinking about how it could be made into a card. Weird!

On an unrelated note, I just want to ask if anyone has any great ideas about taking pictures of clear cards. It isn't easy! My pictures aren't bad, but it is kind of hard to see them. Imagine that...the clear cards look clear. I tried taking pictures with a black backdrop, but it made the reflection worse. That seemed counter intuitive to me, but I could actually see my reflection in the cards. Ideas?