"Ask the Designers" Sunday

Hello dear friends! This week we've been asked about order, as in, what order do we create our projects?

From Paperpapier: "I am always having problem with coordinating the coloured image with designer paper. Do you select the DP first then only colour the image based on the colour in the DP? There are so many papers, what determine your choices if you choose the DP first before colouring the image? I really really need tips on this. Thank you so much for sharing."

This is a great question, and one that trips everyone up at some point or another. Here's what we do:

Susan says: In a perfect world I work in this order: 1 - Pick sketch/theme/challenge; 2 - Pick main paper; 3 - color image to coordinate with paper. Most of the time I'm up against a deadline (whether a challenge deadline or personal one that prevents me from dallying in the studio), so I have to be organized.

Gini says: I really should pick my DP before I color...but, that doesn't always happen. Usually I have an idea of what type card I am wanting to make, so that helps me narrow down my DP choices. Sometimes, I have gotten some DP that is so gorgeous, I just can't wait to make something with it (Like the MME Lost and Found Line!). But sometimes, I just start coloring and then have to look through mounds of paper to find what looks right with it ( I never like myself when I do this!)

Patricia says: I some times do both if I have a theme like a specific holilday like Halloween I usually try to see what paper I have on hand then color my image to match the paper. But if the challenge is just a simple one like add bling then I usually just find an image I really like and color it. If I don't have much designer paper to match I will just use plain colored card stock and let my embellishments do the matching to my image. But with my stash of designer paper I usually have something that will match.

Jamie says: I almost always select my images (photographs for scrapbook layouts) FIRST, then match the designer paper to something in that photograph. The most obvious --and most simple to decide--choice would be theme. For instance, if it's a Christmas page I will most likely choose some type of Christmas patterned paper. However, there are lots of other ways to pick as well. Often I try to match the colors of some element in my photo to the paper-- it might be the clothing worn, the background or even the color of someone's eyes. It all depends on the story I am trying to tell and what I want to stand out. An example of this would be the girl layout I posted on October 1, based on the current Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge. I chose the brown toned Echo Park papers because my daughter was wearing brown clothing and then for the highlight colors I picked the same pink and green that were in the flowers she was holding-- this ties the paper and the photos together nicely.

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie