I recently posted a video on Instagram of a cool little project I did. I took the 5th card I ever made, all the way back in July 2019, and I recreated it the way I would make it with my current skills.
The only reason I even have that top card is because I was so excited about it at the time that I made a copy of it to keep for myself. And I’m so glad I did because now I have that physical comparison of how far my skills have come.
The bottom picture is from December 2023, so there are 4.5 years of additional learning and practice between the two cards. Not to mention much better tools and supplies! When I made the top card it was the first time I ever tried ink blending – you can see I used just one color on each thing and had not yet learned the art of blending multiple colors together. That card also had the first-ever “scene setting” dies that I bought, the stitched rectangles and hillside borders. And I remember marveling at how much of a difference it made on a card.
I still have lots to learn and plenty of skills to develop in my card making but it’s really nice to look back and see the progress I’ve made so far. There was a very long period at the beginning of my card making where I was frustrated with my lack of skills because I could see better examples of card making by others and I just couldn’t make my cards look the way I wanted them to. And part of what helped me grow was not just practice but actually investing in better tools and supplies. I’m a pretty thrifty person so I resisted this at first, but having more copic marker colors and different dies to work with really made a huge difference. And hopefully in another 4.5 years I’ll be even better!
Making this card inspired me to make a lot of other underwater themed cards. I used the same basic layout and switched up the sea creatures in each one.
Materials used:
- Large Stitched Rectangles
- Rainforest cardstock
- Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables
- Small Stitched Rectangles
- Simple Stitched Hillside Borders
- Slimline Tropical Leaves Border
- Stitched Hillside Borders
- Bayou Backdrop
- Large Stitched Square Stackables
- Outside In Stitched Square Stackables
- Small Stitched Square Stackables
- Stitched Square Frames
- Distress oxide inks: Salvaged Patina, Evergreen Bough, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire, Lucky Clover, Mermaid Lagoon
- White copic paint
- Sunray Stencil
- Yeti ink
- Hillside Stencil
- Everyday Sentiment Banners
- Black Licorice cardstock
- White embossing powder
- Mermazing Mermaid
- Shimmer cardstock pastel
- Shimmer cardstock gemstone
- Sparkle cardstock holiday
- Sparkle cardstock spring
- Fintastic Friends
- Clear embossing powder
- Nuvo crystal drops in Morning Dew
- Seahorsin’ Around
- Stickles Stardust
- You Are Sublime
- Mermaid For You
- Mermaid For You Flip Flop
- Anglerfish Flip Flop
- You’re So Narly
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