Transitions in Life & Cardmaking

Giveaway threads are located below: "Friendships & Book Giveaway", and "Do You Piggy Tales?"
Transitions are a part of every journey, and sometimes it is difficult to face them. Today, for example, is the last day for both the pastor, and the intern at the church for which I work. Last night, as I was creating digitally, I knew I should have been working on farewell cards. But I wasn’t sure exactly what to say, and put it off.

Instead I created a layout for the “Creation” Scripture Challenge at FaithSisters. When I saw the challenge I immediately thought of a photo my sister, Teresa Earleywine, had taken and sent to me. She has always been the family photographer, has the great equipment, and recently she has been having fun with her newer digital Canon Rebel. In the photo used in “Creation” I loved the contrast of the rustic post and chain, combined with the delicacy of a butterfly. It seemed a good illustration of our old self being made new in Christ when we ask Him into our heart.

I wanted to use white space in the photo to ground my chosen scripture verse on, and wanted the butterfly to fall to the right side of the page. In the original photo the butterfly on the post head was nearer the center of the image. In order to offset it to the right side, I duplicated the photo layer in Photoshop twice, each time linking up the chain, and using the blended eraser tool to make the seam line disappear. This, of course, is not possible with all photos, but given the right subject and composition it is something to consider doing in your photo editing software if it will facilitate a more balanced layout design.

I kept the layout design simple. All elements are by Eressea Designs at FaithSisters, using her Autumn Walk collection. While I worked on this and other layouts for Faithsisters in July, I had fun using Sunny Kohler’s “Road Trip” collection, as well as Lori Imel’s “As For Me and My House” kit. Last night I was really taking note of the cool elements in “Road Trip” and realized they be excellent for farewell cards.

This morning I awoke early and the words for inside of the cards just came to me (thank you Lord!). Before the kids awoke I was able to digitally create the core designs for my cards. It was easy to select colors that each person shows favor to and really customize it for their own life situation. On pastor's card I was able to edit the map and include the name of the town to which he is moving.

The intern will be returning to seminary for her last year. I selected a photo I had taken a while back, to go with Psalm 119:35, “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.” The message inside the card can just as easily apply to a graduate you may know – so feel free to jot these words down if you find them helpful. May the lord continue to direct you on your journey, bring you joy along the way, and guide you as you follow the servant path He has led you on.

I printed out both card fronts, trimmed and inked the edges and adhered them to green cardstock. I knotted a ribbon to add to the watch on pastor’s card. I must say that I feel the cards turned out wonderfully. I could not have made such detailed cards in such a short time if I had created them traditionally, plus the appearance of dimensional elements does not add bulk and extra postage to the mailing envelope. Consider that a plus of hybrid card making! It just might be a way to make the transition and ease into, and explore the world of digital design – I think you will enjoy it!