Drawing Inspiration from Outside the Card Making Realm

I thought we'd start the week by talking about inspiration and where to find more ideas.  Back a couple of weeks ago I talked about being inspired by Mindy Egan and her Abstract Art for Clean & Simple Cards. I really fell in love with this technique and have made several cards with this technique.  After I'd created a few abstract designs I went down the Pinterest rabbit hole.  I dropped abstract cards in the search bar and found tons of inspiration for layout ideas and color combs.  

Pulling inspiration from somewhere other than your own art niche can bring to light different color combinations, new ideas for design elements, and even new techniques.  While my main focus is on creating cards, I draw inspiration from fabrics, photography, watercolor, tile, home decor, and so many other places.  

For this card, I drew color and design inspiration from a business card design I saw on Pinterest.  To start my design I opted for colored cardstock.  By using colored cardstock I would have the background color without having to blend an entire panel.  From there I selected Distress Oxide Inks in a similar color palette to my inspiration and began to layout my design.  

I started with Salvaged Patina, then layered on Peacock Feathers, and finished with  Ground Espresso.  I choose Oxides for their opacity.  I knew that if I layered my colors from lightest to darkest I would be able to nearly cover the previous color.  Before moving on to the white and gold embossing I made sure my Oxides were dry.  Skipping the drying step will lead to an embossing disappointment.

Now onto the white and gold embossed elements.  For my white elements, I selected stamps from Simon Says Stamp Mom's Meadow and Taylored Expressions Abstract set to add the white heat embossing.  After adding the white heat-embossed image I was at a loss for sentiment placement and felt the design needed something more.  

I pulled my flexible curve ruler out, added a thin line with my Ranger Embossing Pen, then shook on gold embossing powder.  After adding the gold line I added the sentiment and choose to heat emboss it in gold as well.  To complete the card I trimmed a minimal amount of the sides of this panel to get a thin white border from the white card base I mounted the panel on.