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A Closer Look

Valentine's Day is my second busiest holiday and one of my favorite holidays to design for. I love the classic imagery and color schemes. I also love trying to come up with new and exciting looks for the holiday. I'd like to share with you a closer look into some of my cards and what careful planning went on behind the card.

This lovely card used classic valentine sayings in a crisp and clean monochromatic color pallet. I used stamps to create the background. The words may look randomly placed but they were actually thoughtfully chosen. Notice how there is some repetition and yet none of the same words appear right next to each other. I made a few of these cards and each one has a different background. Another way to differentiate between cards is the bow. One has a straight, clean cut. The other is a little bit fancier and cut in a "V". By making these cards a little bit differently it keeps each one special.

This card also keeps with Valentine's Day tradition. In this design I used a more elegant approach rather than the graphic approach in the previous card. The flower embellishments add a unique texture. They are made from up-cycled dryer sheets which are hand cut and dyed. There are a lot of layers to each flower. To reflect that in a more abstract way, the different papers are also layered. Layering different pink papers allows for a level of sophistication. All the paper used in this card are hand stamped or colored.

This hearts and hexagons card uses some classic valentine themes and incorporates some non traditional colors and patterns. The colors used in this card are a variation on a primary color scheme. The yellow is tinted a bit warm, the blue leans close to a teal, and the red is a very deep shade. The background is dry embossed and then highlighted with a shimmer ink pad in the same color as the paper. The blue paper is stamped with white letters. The final touch to this card was hand drawing tiny hearts inside some of the hexagons. Just like in the first card, these were not placed entirely randomly but rather in a carefully spontaneous way.

All three of the cards we took a closer look at are available for sale at my shop.
http://jlibdesigns.storenvy.com/

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Positive Change

There have been a lot of changes around here with the New Year. I have been reflecting on my business plan and making changes in the areas where I want the business to grow the most. One thing that will never change is my commitment to using unique images.

I was looking through my cards and I noticed that some of the original ones could use a makeover. I have a number of cards that feature my flower illustrations. These were the perfect cards to spruce up a bit. Rather than just have a print of my illustrations I wanted to design with them and create some unique compositions.

Here are the before and after photos of some of the cards. Let me know what you think of the changes by commenting below.

Original lily illustration done with watercolors. Purchase online here. Like on Facebook here.

Original poppy illustration done with markers. Purchase online here. Like on Facebook here.

Original illustration done in Adobe Illustrator. Purchase online here. Like on Facebook here.

Spring Fling

On Saturday, JLiB kicked off the new season of craft shows at MMS's Spring Fling. This show was a rain check event for the Valentine's Day show which had almost a foot of snow fall on the weekend of the event. Each year MMS hosts two shows, one near Valentine's Day and one near Halloween. I love going to these shows because the group of vendors are great, the coordinator is awesome and I do well at them!

My table display! My sign is made of individual parts so it can be hung different for every show.

Some close up shots. The card display on the right is made from an empty drawing pad. Its light weight and  the colored background is easy to swap out for different occasions.

Step By Step Easter Illustration

One thing that makes my business special is how unique my products are. Most of my cards feature original illustrations. For Easter I was really excited to draw some adorable, fuzzy animals. Here is a look at how I created the image for one of my Easter cards.

First I start by pulling some photo references. I used a number of photos of rabbits and baby ducks along with an old book of animal illustrations I have admired since I was a kid. Drawing from photos helps me to keep the realistic anatomy of the animal. I start sketching the largest animal so I know what size to draw the ducks. These sketches are loose and far from perfect. In fact, the final illustration is far from perfect but that's the style I wanted. I start inking the drawing from the foreground and work my way back. After erasing the pencil marks I begin to add color in the form of chalk pastel pencils. I like to be creative with color blending and for this Easter illustration I had lots of colors in mind. Once I'm happy with the illustration I scan it and from there I can print out as many as I need.

And here is the card I made to feature the illustration:

Gotta have it? Purchase this card online, here!

New Year, New Supplies

I was very fortunate this year, as I am every year, to receive such thoughtful gifts from loved ones. I'd imagine that I am pretty easy to shop for. Everyone knows to get me craft supplies :)

This is just a highlight of some of the craft supplies I got this year. After spending month on Christmas crafting it was a nice break to play with some of my new toys! I got a three pack of birthday themed embossing folders so I thought that would be a good place to start. I also got some birthday stamps, new ink and some awesome patterned paper in fun colors.

I developed three different card ideas using almost exclusively my new products. After looking through everything and getting a feel for what I wanted to use, I sketched out some layouts.

Next I used my embossing folders for my focal points on my cards and also a background for one of the cards. After the papers got embossed I used some of my new ink to add a shimmer to highlight the raised edges. I used this technique for the celebrate and the candle card. By doing this, I am accentuating the texture created by the dry emboss and also making plain paper look special. 

As for the balloons, I used my Prismacolor markers to add some extra color to the card. The other cards have a green and orange theme so I wanted this card to be a little different in it's color pallet.

I had fun background paper for two of the cards but I needed to create a background for the candle card. I used my new ink and stamps to create a typographic background. I started by stamping the word "celebrate" in different colors. Positioning the word in lines. To add excitement I have the word in different colors and positions on the line. I added the dots to fill in space between the lines of text. They add to the linear quality I was going for and also add more variety. I inked them with all the colors "celebrate" is found in to create a nuance from orange to green.

After some cutting and embellishing, here are the finished cards.

I stamped "wish BIG" and used a 3D mounting technique to pop it off the card. I added star confetti to the celebrate card for some added sparkle. You can really see the shimmery ink on the candle card.

Gotta have one of these birthday cards? They are all for sale at my online store, here.

Finished My ABC's

For the past 26 days I have been making a card a day inspired by a letter from the alphabet. Most of you have been following along on Facebook but for those of you who haven't, read here for how my journey began. 

This is my recap of the Alphabet Challenge. I have all the cards I made posted here. Some of them are for sale! There was a sweepstakes to win free cards, but that is over now. Thanks to all those who entered and thanks for reading now.

Alphabet
This card is made from
school supplies.
NFS

Buttons
Buttons are handmade from clay.
Background is embossed.
NFS

Chevrons
"Life of the party"
One of a kind
$3.00 Purchase online here.

Diamonds
Background made from diamond
stencil. Balloon is 3D
NFS

Emboss
Black card stock is embossed
& colored with metallic ink
NFS

Flowers
Original illustration printed on
card stock.
First 4 are FREE!
$2.50 Purchase online here

Green & Glitter
Hand stamped colored turtle.
Glitter accents added by hand.
NFS

Hearts & Hexagons
Background is embossed.
NFS

Ink
All one of a kind paper.
"make a wish!"
$3.00

JLiB
Original graphics.
"May your birthday be filled with enough
joy & smiles to last the whole year."
NFS

K-card
Sentiment spins as card opens.
"I'm here for you... just as
you've always been there for me."
NFS

Leaves
"our roots say were sisters, our
hearts say were friends."
NFS

Marriage
Woven ribbon with bow.
M is also for Mr & Mrs.
NFS

Numbers
3 & friends are 3D mounted.
Extra large size, 5x7
NFS

Ocean
Real shells!
"Gather Life's Little Treasures"
NFS

Peacock
Background is embossed. Gold glitter
card stock and metallic ink on feather.
$4.00 Purchase online here

Quilt
Baby blanket created with patterned
paper and drawn on stitching.
$3.00

Ribbon
Fun patterns & textures
"happy birthday"
NFS

Stars
Handmade button stars along with
some bling on handmade paper.
Signed & numbered, one of a kind
$4.00

Thanks
Hand dyed lace is one of a kind.
Sentiment is designed & printed.
NFS

Umbrella
"You make me happy when
skies are grey."
NFS

Vellum
"My heart skips a beat"
Heart vellum over entire card.
One of a kind.
NFS

White space
Blue music paper is hand made.
"Congratulations" is stamped
NFS

X's & O's
Football themed card with
handmade chalkboard paper.
NFS

Yellow
Fun & funky with hand done
glitter accents & one of a kind
handmade flower.
NFS

Zebra print
Embossed neon zebra paper with
metallic zebra ribbon!
"go WILD"
NFS

Purchasing Directions:
Not sure how to purchase cards? Click on the price below the card you wish to purchase. A new window will take you to my online store powered by Storenvy. Payments go through this website which uses Paypal. If you would like to claim a free card, simply click on the word free under the card. You will go through the check out process but will not be charged for the card. If you get multiple cards, shipping rates may apply. If you have any questions, please email me at jlibdesigns@gmail.com