Monday 25 February 2013

Wish Upon a Star

This week's challenge at CD Sundays is "Hugs and Wishes". I thought it would be a perfect challenge for a first outing for the Forever Friends Black  & Gold CD that was free with Simply Cards and Papercraft a year or so ago - I think it is a taster of one available from Docrafts.

The trouble is, I've never made  a digital card before. Using the design tools was quite a steep learning curve, but this is what I came up with


However I tohught it looked very flat, and I didn't like the way the edges of the star had pixellated (I think with hindsight they were menat to look distressed) so instead of treating it as a purely digital creation, I printed it out and mounted it on an A5 card then added some glitter.


However I still wasn't happy with the lack of dimension - the shadow of the star just wasn't enough  to create the illusion. I also couldn't work out how to flood the frame around the text with white space in order to make the text show up (any tiops welcome!). So I  decided to print out the elements I wanted separately, framing the main image first and cutting it out in one piece. That would give me chance to raise the inages from the background and give it some depth. At the same time I reduced the size of the background a little to give a white border, to give the whole card a little lift, and reduced the size of the main image and star to keep the balance. I made the resulting design up into a card and defined the border with peel offs.


Just for comparison, here are the two finished cards side by side


I'm just taking my first baby steps into the world of digital crafting. I think I still have a long way to go (and anyway, what good is crafting if you don't get messy?)

9 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Such a sweet image and I love the colours you have used. Thank you for joining us at CD Sunday this week.
Jocelyn x
CD Sunday DT

Beryl said...

A lovely Teddy image and two great cards. I'm a bit like you - I love to use the digital programmes but somehow it doesn't feel as if I've made the card unless I've printed it out and put it together in the usual manner.Thank you for joining us this week.
Beryl xx
CD Sunday DT

sue-b said...

Hi Jane , your cards are lovely, I like to use digital and i use craft artist as they do have lots more tools to get the effect you want, i have just had a go with the docrafts as i have this cd as well. If you want to add dimension with shadow, click on apply shadow then use the Distance slider, this gives you some lift and then use Angle button to set it where you want it, i apply shadow to most things i add, sometimes just a little, i find it great to it digitally if you are posting as everything is flat but as you say you can't beat getting messy . Thank you for joining us at Cd Sunday.
sue-b xx
CD Sunday DT

Christine said...

Lovely cards Jane and a super image. I am still on a learning curve with digital too.
Well done on peservering and thanks for joining us at CD Sunday this week.
Christie xx
CD Sunday DT

Jane Willis said...

Thanks for the tips, I still have a lot to learn!

Margarets designer cards said...

Great image, great card
Margaret

starcyl said...

Super card and a lovely image. thanks for joining in with us at CD Sunday htis week.
Jenny x
CD Sunday DT

Wynn said...

Sooooooo sweet. Love the image
Wynn x

Carol said...

Hi Jane. Both great cards but I must own up here to being a fan of 'real' cards and would always prefer to print out and make up. Glad you had a try both ways and thank you for joining in with our theme.
Carol
CD Sunday DT