Pick a Pattern- any pattern!

 

Hello, friends! It’s good to be here again!

My blog hiatus is still not fully over, but I wanted to swing by today to share something with you all.

Over the last several months, perhaps even the last year or so, I’ve felt this blog growing a little stagnant. For several reasons, I guess. One of them being that my heart wasn’t in it. It felt like a chore to blog. Like something I HAD to do. I felt that something had to be done. Either I was going to spend the time making this blog into what I wanted it to be, or I was going to quit blogging altogether. Go big or go home, I guess.

I have to admit that for quite a while I was in the quitting camp. I just didn’t know if this blogging thing was really what I wanted to do. I felt like I desperately needed a break. From blogging and from crafting commitments, like design teams. I felt a kind of burn out from doing what was expected of me. I really don’t know how people manage to serve on several different design teams for long periods of time. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve LOVED the design teams I’ve gotten to be a part of, and I hope to be a part of more teams in the future, when the time is right. But I felt like I had to make this my time. To really focus on my blog and where I wanted it to go, or didn’t want it to go.

A little while ago Angelica and Jorge from Market Street Stamps told all of us that they were restructuring their team, which wasn’t a surprise. All of us had been serving on the team for quite some time, longer than any of us could have expected, and I totally understand why companies desire to change things up every once in a while. To me, especially with the move and everything else I had going on, it felt like it couldn’t have come at a better time! Like it was meant to be.

I felt like this was the time to take a break. To focus on the move, my family, and to really think hard about what I wanted to do, and more importantly, what God wanted me to do. Was this whole blogging thing really in His will for me to do, anyway?  I knew that I wanted to make more time in my schedule for spending time in the Word, getting to know Jesus better. Making the time to fall deeper in love with my Lord. I know I don’t want blogging to take center stage and consume me.

I still don’t have all the answers, but I think I do know that I’m not ready to quit. Instead, I feel ready to go bigger. Get better. To take this old blog in a new direction. I don’t know all the particulars, like when and how and what. But I’m thinking and planning. Mapping things out. And I’m excited!

I’m hoping to fund my new blog makeover entirely from my income from my published work, so I have to keep working hard at that. So I can make things happen.

That is why I asked you last time what kinds of things you like to see in a blog. I appreciate the feedback you gave me! Thank you!

So, here are some ideas I’ve been contemplating for my blog going forward:

1. Tutorials. Simple, but fun techniques and ideas for you to try. Who knows, maybe even a video now and then?

2. simple posts with simple cards and scrapbook pages

3. tidbits about me. I don’t think I have anything particularly interesting to share about me, but like some of you mentioned, I enjoy getting to know the person behind the blog too.

4. more crafting. My head is bursting with crafty ideas I’d like to share. Not necessarily paper crafting, but other kinds of crafting. I thought it would be fun to share those kinds of things from time to time.

5. What’s inspiring me lately.

6. sketches and how to use them.

Got anything to add? See anything on that list that really doesn’t appeal to you at all? Like you’d totally stop reading my blog if I did THAT? LOL! I’d love to hear your honest opinions, really!

So, this Pick a Pattern thing? This is the type of thing I imagine I would like to incorporate into a new blog. Techniques, tips and ideas, like this one, for you to try out yourself.

This idea came to me when I had a little pile of scraps lying on my work space. Some of my favorite scraps that I planned to turn into a card. When I sat down to create, I noticed that all the papers were striped. Was it even legal to make a card using all the same pattern like that? Surely that’s breaking all kinds of design rules, right? Well, call me a crafting rebel then, because I like breaking the rules. Making something work that really shouldn’t. And so I did. And you know what? I think it’s my favorite card to date!

So…Pick a Pattern and use it many times over in your design! 

I really think the mix of stripes works here. The color palette is simple and refreshing, keeping the design fresh and trendy, and not too overbearing. The stripes vary in color and scale, and I placed them going in different directions. 

The glass button helps keep the design looking fresh and light and not too heavy and serious. A few playful ink splatters keep it fun as well.

so, now that we know this can work with stripes, how about combining some other patterns.

How about some floral patterns? Can they work too?

 

I’m glad you asked, because I think they totally can! Here I used a mix of old papers and new. Notice the difference, though, from the first card to this one. With the stripes I chose all different colored stripes, but all had a neutral background in common. For the florals I chose a color scheme to work with and chose patterns in those colors. They all are flowered patterns, but they have different colored backgrounds, the scale of the designs vary, and not all the designs incorporate all the colors.

 

To make this work, choose a color scheme to work with and pull out patterns that fall into that color scheme. Vary the scale of the patterns and try mixing the background colors. For instance I don’t think it would have worked nearly as well if all my designs had a brown background. Mix it up.

OK, let’s try one more. How about Polka Dots?

 

I love the playfulness the mix of polka dot patterns lend to this card! I broke it up just a tiny bit with the arrow patterned dots, but I think it would have worked equally well had the pattern been solid dots. Again, vary the scale of the design, some small dots, some in between, and some larger. Notice also, how all the patterns have a colored background with white dots, except for the large circle, which is a white background with dots in the other colors incorporated on the card. This difference allows the large circle to become the focal point since the difference is what draws your eye there.

 

I chose embellishments on these last two cards that further complimented the overall pattern choices. Here, the enamel dots work so well with the polka dots, and the ink splatters fit right in.

So, go ahead! Give it a try!

Chose your patterns- dots, stripes, florals. arrows, chevron, triangles, damask, etc. etc. and see if you can make this concept work for you! Some things to remember that might help you out:

vary the scale of the patterns

Chose a simple design with backgrounds that coordinate, like multi-colored chevrons on white backgrounds.

On more complex patterns, chose varying backgrounds, but keep the color scheme in mind.

Allow the patterns to be the focus of the design. Too many other things going on are a distraction. 

Chose embellishments that further support the design

All rules can be broken! Even the ones I just listed here. Have fun and enjoy the process!

I hope you’ll give it a try. And if you do, I hope you’ll tell me about it. Above all I hope you can take away a different way of looking at things. Maybe try something you hadn’t thought of before. That is what inspiration is all about!

Thanks SO much for stopping by today and sharing part of your day with me.

 

-BRENDA