by Claire_Wolfe

Created on: August 03, 2011

Have you ever sat down to make a card or a scrapbook page and found you are completely stuck? You have no idea what to do or how to do it? Well don’t worry, it happens to everyone, but there are several different ways that you can get some inspiration.

A good place to start is by looking at work made by other people. This is not cheating or copying, it is merely getting some ideas to help you with your craft project. The internet is a brilliant source for pictures and there are many craft forums and galleries where people post pictures of their work for others to see. Try and look at the pictures for designs you can use and fit them around what you already have in your crafting stash. You may stumble upon one design that you really like and adapt it to fit with the images and embellishments that you already have.

Another source of inspiration is magazines. There are plenty of them around at the moment that cover both card making and scrapbooking. Some may also have projects in them which you can follow if you are unsure of what to make. Sometimes the projects are made using items that you don’t necessarily have but the beauty of being a crafter is that you don’t have to follow them exactly. Look at the components that are used to make the project and if you don’t have that exact item try substituting it for something you do have that is similar. For example, the project may feature a lace border punch which you don’t have but could you use a border punch that you do have instead?

Magazines will also have information about new techniques that you could try. There is always something new to be tried in card making so if you are stuck for ideas then why don’t you try out a new way of creating images or background papers to make your cards even more personal. If you try it and like it then you could have hours of fun trying out different ways of creating cards and scrapbook pages with this new technique. Often magazines have step by step instructions to help you and once you master it you can use some imagination and bring your own stance to the technique.

Sketches and layouts are a brilliant way to try out new layouts on your projects. You may have stamped and coloured an image, or found the perfect picture to scrapbook with but you are not sure what to do with it now. A sketch is a black and white line drawing which gives the layout of a card or page that you can follow with your own items. They also don’t have to be followed exactly and can again be adapted to suit what you have in your craft box.

Designs can be reversed and turned through 90 or 180 degrees in order to obtain completely different looks. If you find that on your cards you are always putting the image at the top and the sentiment and ribbon at the bottom then why not try turning it around 90 degrees. Place your image on the right or left hand side of the card with the ribbon on the opposite side. The sentiment doesn’t always have to go square on to the card so why not turn that 45 degrees and put it on at a slight angle instead.

There are so many things you can do with card making and scrapbooking that the possibilities are endless. There are no limitations and you can let your imagination run wild. Sometimes you just need a little bit of help to kick start that creativity again but hopefully the methods outlined above will help with that.

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