Guest Post: Easel Cards by Kerry-Jean Watson (Part 2)

Ed’s note: Make sure you check out Kerry-Jean’s post from Wednesday where she talks about why she loves Easel Cards and shows us two of her masterpieces–a Butterfly Easel Card and a Steampunk one.

I used to feel that masculine card were a little terrifying to come up with, but these days it’s a totally different feeling. I use darker tones of colour usually, or in this case earth tones and creams. I find a motif that fits the person I am making the card for, or just something more generic and common; clocks, gears, and hot air balloons tend to work. The main difference is really no flowers or butterflies, however sometimes simple leaves are appropriate. Something fun to do with cards is to add some visual texture, the stencil and texture paste technique from mix media is a great way to break a paper pattern up a little.

This final card is a variation on the easel, the twist easel card. It is super easy to do and can add a new dimension to your design. Using a bit of acetate again gives a wonderful silhouette of an embellishment and remember to try and compliment your anchor with the design of the card.

A few extra tips!

When choosing the paper that goes on the inside of the card, keep in mind that writing needs to go there so make sure that the design or colour is light enough to allow someone to inscribe a personalised greeting.

To enhance the effect of ageing in your design, distress the paper. I distress the edges of my paper all the time. This is just how I roll. It gives a vintage and rustic look that cannot be achieved any other way. This effect can also be enhanced by inking the edges after I have distressed paper, which you can see on the Happy Birthday card (above).

I want to take a moment to thanks Scrapbook Creations and Ellen for giving me this opportunity to talk about my creations and I hope I have helped inspire you. If you would like to check out more of my work, head over to my blog, and I can also be found on Facebook, instagram (@kerryjean), pinterest (@kerryjeanwatson). If you have any questions please feel free to come and find me.