101 Creative Card Sketches

As someone always on the lookout for inspiration, I came across a book by Gloria Pouch called 101 Creative Card Sketches and thought you might find it helpful if I shared my review of this book.

Background

Gloria is a keen card maker.  But one day she had the card maker's equivalent of writer's block, finding she was completely out of fresh ideas.  She had sat down to make a birthday card for her sister but had zero inspiration and found herself in a bit of a quandry.

As a result of this somewhat panicked moment, Gloria started searching for a solution to her lack of ideas and found that card sketches could be a great source of inspiration.  Since then, she has gone on to produce many sketches which can be used as a template for card design.  These sketches feature in her book along with some sample cards so you can see how the sketches can be used to create a variety of finished designs.

Content

In some ways, 101 Creative Card Sketches is a bit of a manual for card making.  It contains over 100 sketches which the card maker can then use to lay out their design.  Personally, I think this book is inspired and of great benefit to the experienced card maker and beginner alike.  There are some really neat ideas, which when you read them, make perfect sense along the lines of "why haven't I thought of that before?".  And the beauty of this book is that you can use the same layout template over and over again but create a fresh design each time just by varying the cardstock or embellishments used!

There is help for the complete beginner as Gloria breaks down each element of the card layout explaining how these work together and what sort of impact you can have by which design elements you choose.  For example, "the background of your card design will set the tone for the overall card".  Kind of obvious when you think about it.  But it's the sort of pointer that is of great benefit to a newbie, who might be keen to get going with the decorative elements and not pause to think about how the background is key to how the card will turn out.

The sketches provided by Gloria in this book are extremely versatile, with each one being capable of being used in a multitude of ways.  Gloria gives a worked example of this, demonstrating how one sketch can be executed in different ways and thus give completely different outcomes.  If you take a look at the picture below, you can see the template sketch (in the centre) she has used to create the two different cards.  If you were just looking at the finished cards, it would take a while for you to work out that they are essentially the same design!

 

The great thing about the sketches given in Gloria's book is that they are intended for you to use whatever craft supplies you already have to hand.  There's no reason why you can't treat yourself to some new stock, of course, but the idea is that you don't have to buy anything special to complete a project.

To get you started and inspired to make your own cards, the book contains several sample cards along with the instructions on how to make them.

Overview of Contents

Included in 101 Creative Card Sketches, you'll find:

• 30 Horizontal Card Sketches
• 30 Vertical Card Sketches
• 30 Square Card Sketches
• 5 Long Horizontal Card Sketches
• 5 Long Vertical Card Sketches
• 1 Surprise Card Sketch
• Over 25 card samples based on these card sketches, plus instructions
• Handy summary sheets to see all the sketches at a glance
• Tips and techniques for making the most out of the card sketches

How to purchase 101 Creative Card Sketches

You can buy your own copy of Gloria's 101 Creative Card Sketches from her website which you can access here.  It's priced at $17 and there is a 60 day money back guarantee if you are not completely happy with your purchase.

In addition to receiving this book, there are some bonus elements included for free, such as the Envelope Making Guide (including 6 patterns), Adhesive Guide for Card Makers (providing information on the best adhesives to use with which materials) and 17 Money Saving Tips for Card Makers.

And finally ...

We'd love to hear from you and see your brilliant designs made using the templates supplied in Gloria's book.  Please get in touch using the Comments box below so we can feature your fabulous creations on this site!

The article 101 Creative Card Sketches is courtesy of CraftyBug