A Lesson in Simple

This week Card Patterns is celebrating their 2nd anniversary by having a blog hop. What I like about their blog hop compared to others is that you only have to visit one blog a day. Usually on a blog hop by the time I hit the 4th one, I'm scrolling down and looking quickly (like when I am in Google Reader, I just scroll with my finger on the down arrow until something catches my eye). So with their blog hop I am actually taking the time to read the entire post and look at the card. A card that DT member, Tracy, made particularly caught my attention. It was a clean and simple card with bright colors. Here's what caught my attention and really got my wheels turning -- she put three buttons on her card. She only tied twine onto one of them. I seem to think that if I do something to one element on the card, I have to do it to ALL of them. Apparently not. Who knew. Add to this "stunning" realization an article that I read on the Paper Crafts blog by Go-to Gal Jessica Witty and I was ready to tackle a card. My card is still not perfect. It's still actually a little busy. But let me show you a short list of what I would have done originally.

1. The background of the card was originally the words "sweet pea little peanut" across the whole thing. Talk about BUSY
2. I was going to replace the background with patterned paper (instead I opted for a solid piece of cardstock)
3. I was going to stitch around the whole square with words, instead I just did zig zag stitches in the corners
4. I only added two scalloped circles instead of doing all 3 that way
   

So, even though my card is still not quite where I pictured it to be and is still a little bit too busy...I think I can call it a cleanER and simple card...or a not quite so busy and simple card...or a not quite as much card vomit on this and simple card. Take your pick. And thank you to Tracy and Jessica for getting me back on track!

Supplies Used: Little Me by Unity Stamp Co., Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, We R Memory Keepers Ribbon, Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Sewing Machine, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper Pin It Now!