Hello my Stampin' friends!

I can't believe how quickly time is passing these days. Life has taken me for a bit of a crazy ride this past week and it seems now to be slowing down to a manageable pace. For this I am very grateful.

Anyway, no challenge today! (Actually, there is one that has my interest, but it can wait another day). Today's card is very clean and simple. Of course, this is by design!

My card base is a 4 1/4" square cut from Very Vanilla cardstock. I punched three 1 1/4" circles and three 1" circles from some Designer Series Paper and layered them on a strip of Very Vanilla that measures 1 1/4" X 4". My sentiment banner is hand cropped and stamped with Midnight Muse ink.

Okay! It's time for another design tip, but first, let's review the first two from my previous two posts. 

My first design tip concentrated on some color management with the "Gallon/Quart/Pint" rule. So, let's take another look at today's card…my "gallon" color is, of course, Very Vanilla; my quart is Midnight Muse; and my pint is Crumb Cake. I know…my quart and pint are very close, but look again and you'll see that Midnight Muse wins the "quart" title!

My second design tip concentrated on the "Focal Point". Okay, ready to take that really quick look at this card to see where your eye goes first? Look now. Yep, it's the strip of circles on the left side of the card and specifically the middle circle. Oh, I sure hope this is what you see first!

Now for my third design tip…

DESIGN TIP #3: THE RULE OF THIRDS: (So now you know why I chose to create this very clean and simple square card with three circles). Take another look at my card and imagine it divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. (picture a tic tac toe game board). You can imagine this grid on a square card, a standard A-2 card, a 3" X 5" card and even a 3" note card. I have three circles (my elements) evenly spaced along my first column. 

For good card balance, you should always use this "imaginary grid" and think "3".

Now, I could place my circles horizontally across the card, vertically on the right, diagonally across the card, horizontally along the bottom, and on and on…I could create lots of different designs using an element (in today's card, a circle) and my imaginary grid.

I could even place my circles directly on the imaginary line…or I could have one circle at an intersection of a vertical or horizontal line.  One large circle with a sentiment stamped on it strategically placed on my imaginary grid will be a beautiful card with good balance. (We'll talk about my sentiment placement tomorrow).

Take a quick look at my card from yesterday's post. Now draw the imaginary grid on this card. My embellishment is at the intersection of a horizontal and vertical line.

So cool, isn't it?

Good design and composition loves the number "3".

Happy Stampin' and do it "by design"!

Stampin' UP! Supplies Used: Cardstock – Very Vanilla, Print Poetry and 2012-2014 In Colors DSP Stack; Ink – Midnight Muse; Stamp Set – Friendly Phrases; Tools – 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches; Embellishment – Linen Thread.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP MY ONLINE STORE AT STAMPIN' UP!