Punch Happy!

Before I begin with the other cards, I thought I’d start today’s post with a warm up since it is so darn cold everywhere right now!

Feeling warmer? :) :) Summer Sunrise is such a warming color, isn’t it? I wish all of you readers with cold weather a snuggie and a hot cup of coffee! I have to say though that it is pretty darn cold here in Florida too…55 is the high temp for tomorrow, which is unusually cold for us.

I stopped in at Michael’s the other day to pick up something small and as often happens, something else jumped out at me. I noticed the punches were all 40 percent off so picked up a few. 

All I have to say is, why did no one ever tell me how awesome punches are? I already know about using punches for tags and punching out stamped images, but I had no idea the potential they have all on their own as a focal point. That is, until I started playing around with them. What fun! I am officially *punch* happy. 

The cards I have today are small (2.75x2.75) and super simple. I already have some ideas how I might take the punch designs even further.

Here is today’s first card: Happy Birthday.

The cute cupcake punch is from EK Success. It's a great cupcake to use for a focal point on a birthday card. I love the simplicity of the white. It pops and provides an abstract silhouette against the red. Another option for later, could also be to punch the cupcake from patterned paper.

Here's another card, Many Blessings. 

I started to realize how fun it can be to begin a card with the sentiment first, and then find a supporting image to match. Usually it seems that we begin with the image and then find the sentiment. Why not mix things up and make a card that is sentiment-focused?

The next card, Sending My Love, uses nested punches. 

I bought several of the same image in different sizes so I could layer the punches inside one another. By punching images out of other punched images, the possibilities are endless! It is very simple and fun to get creative with this.

Here is another card using nested punches.

The nested stars are cascading out from one another, which gives them movement and energy. The yellow background twinkles in the negative space within the stars' centers.

 The next card uses nested punches, but takes it a step further by layering the punches.

By adding the yellow layered punch in the middle, it makes the whole card shine and pop a bit more. It could be fun to take the layering even farther and create a whole background of layered and nested punches!

And here's the last card, Believe.

This could work as a Christmas tag to attach to a gift. It also uses the same concept of layering the images within the other images and the yellow makes the star twinkle a bit.

Here are all of the cards together! :) It can be fun mixing it up a little every now and then by using punches as a focal point and pairing it with vivid sentiments. Sometimes it's nice to get very basic and to really think about the message and feeling you're getting across.

Thanks for stopping by! I will have more posts this week, which will include challenge cards. So I would love for you to check back soon.

I would be honored if you’d follow my blog by clicking on the Google link to the right. Thanks for your comments. They make me smile! :) Wishing you a sunny (and warm) day!