"Charlie Brown" cards

In the old comic strip, Peanuts, every year Charlie Brown has the saddest looking Christmas tree you'll ever see.  Its branches are sparse and it doesn't stand up straight but he bravely decorates it anyway.  DH and I often refer to something that looks a little pitiful as being a "Charlie Brown" and that's how I think about my first attempts at card making.

Over the past 2 1/2 years I've learned so much from reading posts online and checking out posted photos!

 I know now that cards need dimension added to them, inking the edges helps to soften the effect of embellishments as well as sort of giving the eye a "bridge" at the outside edge of a card front.  That way the card doesn't just seem to be floating in the air. 

My interest in using stickers has also virtually disappeared.  Once in a while I buy a pack if they really look like something I'll use.  Stars and American flags are some of my must-haves.

Using a color wheel has really helped me to put colors together that I'd never have considered on my own.  Bright green is still giving me a problem though!  A quilter friend uses a lot of chartreusse in her quilts and it amazes me how well it will blend in with other fabric colors.  Maybe someday I'll get there!  And, I can mix patterned papers now.  In the past, I'd never have been able to put flowers and stripes or checks together. (I can still hear my mother telling me when I was in gradeschool "Linda Faye, you cannot wear that blouse with those plaid shorts!" LOL!

So, here are a few of my very first cards from February, 2008.  Maybe they'll give you a chuckle to start your day!

Can you say "Stickles"?  This was one of my very first attempts at using it.  A trifle heavy handed, I think!

I had just bought my Baby Bug and was so thrilled that I could cut out shapes! Notice, plain edges on card and images are just stuck onto the card front using a glue stick!    I'll bet I used a hundred glue sticks before Okieladybug introduced me to an ATG gun.

An example of glitter gone wrong!  LOL! I did use the Cricut to cut the card out and thought the word needed to be emphasized so it would stand out more.  Boy, did it ever!  By the time I got the glitter to stick to the letters I had more glitter on me than an 80's Disco queen!  LOL!

On this one I was trying to add some pizazz--I think! Not sure why I thought dangling 4 little strands of yarn would do it!

Believe me, these were not the worst ones I made back then! LOL!  I had never done any type of papercrafting so it was a whole new world to me.  I began making cards on my sewing cutting table with some really basic supplies.  Now I have an entire room devoted to paper, tools and supplies and am constantly looking for the newest items to add to my stash.