Outside The Comfort Zone

I have been lurking over at Lauren's these days, admiring her paper piecing collage-y creations, something I have never quite grasped myself. So, in this down time between the end of Farmers Market Season and the arrival of my ink cartridges, which will mark the beginning of Scrappin' Season, I have decided to step outside of the ole' comfort zone and try some new things.

First let me say that I am a stampin' snob. Actually, I think I've said that before, but I was hoping you'd forgotten. Anyway, as a card-maker, I feel like I am cheating if I do not stamp something, so a 100% paper-pieced creation just seems unfinished to me. I need to work on this.

Where to begin? Not a problem, since I never put anything away; a pack of Memory Box Provence papers was sitting next to my stampin' spot, taunting me to begin, so I did.

Since I make cards to sell, I need to use images from a stamp or a die-cut or something I can credit as belonging to a source that can be cited, and that (more importantly) allows use of their images for commercial purposes. I cannot use free clip-art or craft magazine patterns or free downloads, as these things are generally for personal use only. Another option: I can make it myself! So I did! I drew a tree on some paper, then cut it out of a scrap piece of cardboard, and voila: trees!

Here is creation #1. For this card, I placed two of the trees (cut from Provence papers) on another piece of the Provence paper. I had to go back and draw lines around the edges of the trees to make them not blend into the background. (I think I see my problem with collage ...). I did stamp the birds and cut them out, so that satisfied a little itch, but I still thought it needed something else, so I set it aside.

This is attempt #2. I tore a few pieces of the Provence paper to create the ground, and placed them plus the trees on a Bordering Blue background to get a sky. This was more in my comfort zone, but not necessarily a way to break out of my groove.

Then, in came BR #2 (Ms. Collage, incarnate) to pick up her SU order, and she wandered over to see what I was working on. She was immediately drawn to these cards-in-progress. Her comments? She liked the first one best (wants me to lose the blue sky on that second one), and thought the torn papers for the ground on the second card could be added to the first one for a really nice look ... ... ... This is why she collages and I do not. If I am to break out, here, I will try that next.

Also, it took every fiber of my being to not add ribbon and a sentiment to either (or both) of these. Every fiber ... my fingers were twitching. BR #2 told me to resist temptation and stick them into sleeves before I succumbed to the urge, so I did.

I am not done yet! These were just my first few steps over that line of mine, and I think it has promise. I'll keep plugging away at it.