Layering it Up w/ Christine Middlecamp and Flea Market!

I have a love for color that goes beyond anything imaginable. When Flea Market made its debut, I felt entirely at home with its color palette. And even though it didn't necessarily reflect the season, there were still parts and pieces that reminded me of Autumn, especially within the "yellow/gold" category.

A couple of weeks ago, my young six-year-old son, Ethan, took to throwing leaves in the air while out with a friend. After having processed the images of the leaf-throwing festivity, the gold leaves brought me the direction of Flea Market. I printed three of the images in black and white, and pulled out this magazine...

and this inspirational piece from Pinterest...

{Image Source: Design Work Life}

I then crafted three cards, each individually assembled and meant for display either in a frame or elsewhere. With the first card already posted, allow me to share with you the other two cards, their close-ups and the supply stash that brought them about.

Lets be honest here - Flea Market's vellum camera is about as cool as it gets. I layered it up with pieces from the Flea Market Ephemera Pack and good old black/white polka-dotted washi tape.

I have a crush on Flea Market's Canvas Polaroid Frames, but I went a different direction in using one of them. I chopped the sewn banner, "love", from the peach/pink hexagon patterned frame and layered it beneath a small black frame with vintage variegated ribbon and dark peach glitter.

Speaking of which, I want to quickly introduce you to a glitter that rates top on my list of "prettiest glitter selection ever"! It's called "Art Glitter" and is available in every color known to man. It's predominantly known within the card making arena, but is big in mixed media as well. I love the stuff - and it matches great with many of Crate's collections :)

Moving along to card number two...

This card has a wee bit more peppiness than the last thanks to the addition of bright, bold pink and an engaging line of round layered embellishments. It's a cute compilation of scraps from Flea Market and Close Knit.

On top those scraps is more washi tape. I want to quickly remark upon the subject of washi tape because I'm a huge fan of it like many of you out there. I store my bundles of washi roles on a large turquoise glass cake platter. They're an immediate attention grabber in my scrapbook room. The cake stand sits front and center on my desk...and for good reason; creating color combos from washi is addictive and fun.

See what I mean? This particular combo was pulled from the colors on the cover of the magazine I shared earlier on. I used it as inspiration for my three cards.

If ever in the market for solidifying the perfect color palette, start with washi first. They're easy to pick up, move around and scatter about. It's the perfect excuse to grow your washi collection, too!

Finally, card number three. What can I say? This is my favorite card of the bunch! The juxtaposition of the curving lines and triangles is poetic genius! The perky yellow clothespin {Close Knit Chipboard} is icing on the cake - a last minute addition. Everything about it just feels right.

Want a hint as to how to draw perfect circles like these {with the arrows}?

If you look closely, the outlining on the SN. packaging is a common theme amongst all my cards. I applied the same type of swooshing to my designs using two very simple items before accenting them with gold splatter.

Curved lines are easy to orchestrate with the assistance of a round cup and a black tech pen {I prefer the '.8' tip sized tech pen - but experiment with all sizes 'til you find one you like}. I placed the cup over the side of each card multiple times in different spots and traced around it's top to create overlapping lines. I then decorated them with hand drawn arrows. The effect is graphic and unifying.

And that brings us to the end ~ what an honor it is to be here, with you, on behalf of Crate Paper. Do consider Flea Market on that next Fall project! Break the norm and go bold! I promise, you won't regret it!