Transformation Tuesday

Good morning, friends, and welcome to this week's Papertrey Ink Transformation Tuesday. This week I thought it would be fun to take a masculine/rustic project that I created last November and give it a more feminine spin.

Here's my original card (click HERE to see the original post):

I created it to introduce the Direct Messages stamp set and I really liked how the ginkgo branch pointed directly to my greeting, highlighting it nicely. I also really liked the patterned paper stitched to the bottom edge and the stamped background with soft blending around the edges of the card base. I thought these were elements that would translate well to a softer, more feminine design so that's the direction I decided to go.

I wanted a branchy sort of image to highlight my greeting again, but I didn't want to use the same set. I opted for the dogwood branch from Warm Regards instead. I love that the flowers snuggle around the sentiment and add a splash of color. I blended Pale Peony and Berry Sorbet inks on the petals to create depth and give them a realistic appearance. We recently planted a Cherokee dogwood and I can't wait for it to bloom next Spring and show off those lovely pink blossoms!

I also wanted to incorporate that same background treatment on the new card. I used Spring Rain ink around the edges of my white card front to give a soft, dreamy quality and stamped the gingham pattern rather than the birch background from the original. The gingham pairs nicely with the dogwood images and it gives the card a homespun feel that makes me happy.

I chose to use a swiss dot patterned paper to embellish the bottom edge and stitched it on using the same zig-zag stitch as the original. I also used the same sentiment and bow, but this time I used white crochet thread instead of jute twine to give the card a more polished appearance.

All in all, I think this challenge to myself worked out quite well! I know some of us have a hard time with masculine cards. If you do, maybe look at the two cards side by side and see if you can get an idea of how you can "reverse engineer" a more masculine design from a feminine one (even though I did the opposite here). Sometimes just seeing two versions of the same card next to one another makes a world of difference.

Thank you so much for joining me for this week's Transformation Tuesday! I hope you'll head over to the Team Blog to link up your own project for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate!

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