The Same Design, But Why Does It Feel So Different?

Have you ever made a card that you really like, changed the colours ... and suddenly decided you don't like it anymore?

It made me think about how much colour influences the way we see a design. The stamps haven't changed. The layout hasn't changed. But somehow, the whole card feels different.

Let's experiment with colour!

If you know me and my blog, you know I do like to push a stamp set or concept into different directions. An easier way to do this is by changing the colours we use. Colours I like may not sing to you and vice versa. This doesn't make the finished idea wrong or naff; we're simply looking at it through our own preferred viewpoint.

This made me step away from my normal go to colours and experiment with my Shady Designs Frame by Frame stamp set. Why choose this stamp set? Simply because the flowers are tulips, and I always think of these blooms as having bold, bright colours.

Soft and gentle colours

My normal go-to for stamping is a white card but for the "soft and gentle" idea, I started with an Ivory card. It already has a slightly warmer tone which after adding my inks to the background, helps continue that feel.

Pale pinks, soft neutrals and lighter stamping make the design feel gentler, perhaps more delicate and contemporary and using them on a softer card colour, helped this shine through.

To keep the softness, the stamped background layers are second and third generation stamping. This technique is about inking your stamp but stamping first on to another piece of card to take away the ink's colour intensity and then stamping on to your base card.

I took the soft look further by stamping my main image with a grey ink rather than black. Automatically it softens the out lines. The image itself has been coloured with more muted tones too.

Vintage and grungy!

To keep a vintage feel, I have used softer toned oxide ink pads: frayed burlap, vintage photo and antique linen. I did use a white card base but because I was adding more ink to the background, this has not taken away from the grungy vibe!

The flowers are stronger in colour than the softer card above but I added a brown base to them which keeps the intensity but adds a richer colour fitting the overall look.

Now this one, I thought would be more me but I surprised myself because although I do like the finished card, the background and the focal imagery look disjointed. I wonder if I had stamped the main image in a brown ink, rather than black, I would feel differently?

Darker and more layered

The darker or probably a better description, multi-coloured background makes the brighter elements stand out differently. Using different stencils has also changed the look too as they are more botanical themed. The design feels more dramatic and perhaps more confident.

The drama of this card has also changed because I have stamped the main image twice using a bit of masking - in this case a scrap piece of paper to cover one image!

Now having double the amount of flowers, creates a stronger overall impact mainly because of how they have been coloured - bold, brighter, spring colours which match the tulips that appear in my garden. 

On a separate piece of card, I stamped out the part with the tulip images, coloured as the background ones & cut them out. These were then layered on top with 3D foam. This then disguises where the two film strips met and makes the design more cohesive.

The sentiment is is where it is to cover the bottom of all the layers and to act as a grounding point.

Looking at these three cards together has reminded me that colour is doing far more than simply making a design look pretty. It can change the mood, the age and even the personality of a card.

So next time you have a stamp or design that you're not quite sure about, try changing the colours before deciding you don't like it. You might not need a different stamp at all — you might just need to see it differently.

Many thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today and each visit is genuinely appreciated.

Until next time, take care,

Lou

xxx