Me + Patterns = It's Complicated

Happy Monday Crafters!

I spent my weekend working and making bunches of much deserved Thank yous. Did you get any crafty time in? My sleep schedule is all crazy so I actually got in some bonus crafty time this morning. I spent it fighting with patterns lol

I see so many gorgeous cards with all these patterns that just fit perfectly together. Me? I struggle with patterns and I don't know why! But after looking through my gallery and seeing that every card I've posted in the past several weeks has a plain white card base I knew I had to do something to get out of my rut. So patterns it is :)

This card uses the colors from Play Date Cafe. I'm also entering it over at A Blog Named Hero where the challenge is windows. The layout is based on one of the sketches for Hero Arts monthly contest.

Before we start I just wanted to mention all the stamps are Hero Arts :)

I started by stamping all my paper strips (see bottom for colors/stamps used.) I then stamped the clouds, kite, and fence and trimmed them out. The fence I used my craft knife to get out the middle pieces. I adhered the strips of green, blue, and red down before cutting out my circle window (nestibilities).

I traced the inside edge of the window then opened up my card and stamped the kite inside. I added the patterned kite on top with foam tape. The clouds were also added with dimensional adhesive. Lastly I added my fence so it overlapped the window and stamped my sentiment. I felt like the window needed something to define it so I added some faux stitching then decided to add it to the bottom as well to make everything more cohesive. My need to have everything "framed" is a sickness :) To add some extra shine I gave my kite a coat of glossy accents.

Thanks for looking, Your visits really make my day!

The blue was stamped with the Zig Zag using Soft Pool shadow ink. The red was stamped with the chevron from My Happy in Punch chalk ink. The fence was stamped in poppy chalk ink using the wood grain circle from My Happy. Lastly the green was stamped in grass chalk ink using the Leaf & Floral background. The Kite, Fence, and Clouds are from Right at Home. The sentiment is from Essential Messages.