Layer it up

Hope you all had a nice Easter.

Hubby and I have been slobbing about, hanging with family and friends - in amongst some packing!

As you know, I have been talking about wanting to experiment using different patterns and colours together. I've seen a lot of cards around lately that are using this idea, they are also layering up using different shapes. They are all so nice and you need time, which I have...so here are my attempts!

The main photo today is my interpretation of an idea I saw. I thought that if I kept all the tonal values the same that this would prevent the card being seriously busy.

Thank You Butterflies Close-up

I think it's a really great example of what I have been trying to achieve. Using cream as the main colour, has toned the card down a bit. I matched the ink to one of the colours in the patterned papers. The backing paper was a freebie, the stripy paper is American Crafts, the butterflies were die cut, then embossed with a small dots folder.

The next cards are actually the finished versions of the layouts that were on my desk during WOYWW last week.

Layered Birthday - Blue

I pretty much stuck to the layout that was on my desk during WOYWW. I made 2 changes - I embossed a pattern into the cream card background, to lift it a bit and added x2 more label die cuts, so there was a place for a sentiment.

Layered Birthday - Pink

I hate to have favourites :) but the one with the pink & purple tones is my fave - I think the patterns work much better. I am glad that I got to use the chipboard flowers, they are from the Range and come in a strip of x5 flowers for £1 - bargain!

Along with layering and playing with patterns, I am also currently obsessed by birdcages?! I have no idea why. I remembered that I have a Lettering Delights set that has a birdcage, so I dug it out and the card below shows you how I used it.

Happy Birthday birdcage

The birdcage stamp and the bird were separate and colour, so I converted them to b&w, then merged them together, so you can see the bird without me having to cut out teeny little white boxes (NO). I hand coloured and glittered the leaves. The backing paper and the stripy paper are by American Crafts and the yellow spotty paper is by Pink Petticoat. The little green dot is from a random sheet of weird bling from Paperchase.  I am very pleased with this card, I think the colours and the patterns all work really well together. Ma has her eye on this card :)

My final card is one I made ages ago, that has been hanging on my drying rack! I saw a similar idea, using a bingo card. I have a bingo card digital stamp, so I modified it so I can have a month instead of bingo at the top.

Bingo Baby Girl

Once I had the background and the bingo card in place, I was at a bit of a loss over the sentiment. After many different options, I settled on the one you see and it works well, as it's not too busy. I have just noticed that this card might have some subconscious message..my SIL is expecting her second child, it is due in May....do you think I want a Niece?

I really enjoyed making these cards, it's also a great way to use scraps.

So ladies, what do you think? Do you think I've finally got the hang of this pattern / colour / shape layering thing? All advice welcome :)

I am most excited about tomorrow - JT and I are spending 2 days together, we are going to have our last London playdate and pack my shoes (gulp), go and play bingo and get really drunk so we can say farewell for now. Hurrah!

Cx