Is there anything more classic than a bike with a balloon! I pulled out my colored pencils for this card – I love the look of pencils on kraft :D I’ve linked all supplies at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used.
I started with a Stitched Rectangle of Toned Gray paper and stamped the bike from Beautiful Ride with a balloon from Cuddly Critters and then set about coloring. I’ve got both Prismacolor and Faber Castell pencils and I used my favorite colors from both sets to color the bike turquoise with a hot red/pink balloon. To add more interest I used a white gel pen and glitter pens to give some sparkle and shine :D
For the sentiment I cut a white Love using the Hey Love die set and then stamped a sentiment from the All My Love set on patterned paper and trimmed to a banner. I added both elements of the sentiment with foam adhesive and finally embellished with a few sequins.
LIME LIGHT UPDATE
I often get asked about the backgrounds I use to photograph my cards and how I have everything set up. I’ve a few posts on photographing cards if you’ve not seen them before which I tag under the heading Lime Light. Things have changed somewhat so I’m planning on an update coming soon. I want to do a video to go with the post which I need to find time for. In the meantime, while I get that post together, I thought I’d share a quick update.
I have lovely light at my craft desk – a rather uninspiring long Ikea table and I have lovely antique furniture elsewhere in the house where the light isn’t as good. So since I started taking photos of my cards I have been collecting different items to photograph my cards on. I started out by using patterned papers (Simple Stories have a great set currently) and also finding a lovely wooden cheese board with a nice grain pattern.
I moved on to using large pieces of white foam board as a backdrop and then I discovered the local DIY store. There are so many options in your DIY store such as floor tiles – I picked up a lovely slate one I used in this photo.
Or wooden panelling such as this photo.
I also used some click together flooring too.
I’d built up quite a collection of options but they could often be heavy and bulky to store. Just recently I’ve found a fabulous alternative. I’d taken a photography course previously by Lyndsey James and was on her email list when she announced last year that she was starting a new venture producing realistic Photo Boards. I’d only ever seen the big rolls of paper backdrops before that professional photographers use for portraits and such. Lyndsey spotted the hole in the market for a small, lightweight board to photograph items which would appeal to makers and creatives. I think I was one of Lyndsey’s first customers as soon as the site went live and I’ve been testing these boards for the last few months. I have indeed found them to fit my needs perfectly and have gone on to purchase a range of boards. Here’s a few examples of photographs I’ve taken over the last few months. In addition the pictures for today’s card was taken with the White Washed Wood photo board with the Splash Grey photo board as the backdrop in the upright photograph.
White Washed Wood with Splash Grey
Original Post Drift Weathered Wood
Original Post White Washed Wood
Original Post Farmhouse Wooden Floor
Original Post Farmhouse Wooden Floor
Original Post White Washed Wood with Splash Grey
I hope you’ve found this update helpful if you take pictures of anything be it cards, jewellery, food, sewn goods …. there are a myriad of options both in your home and DIY store. Equally, Photo Boards provide a lightweight, photorealistic option too. I’m delighted that having contacted Lyndsey she is sharing a discount for my readers for the next month use code WINTERDOODLE to get 10% off.
Photo Boards™ are 1:1 scale, high-resolution, small photography backdrop boards that make product, food and lifestyle photography easy for Designers, Makers, Artists and Bloggers.
I aim to video my different backdrop options and how I set up for taking card photos soon for a fuller update.
SUPPLIES
You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or wording to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I truly appreciate your support.
PIN ME
Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo :D I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest :D
Stunning card! Don’t even know know where to start. Mint bike and red balloon – who’d think these two colors look so gorgeous together? I like a bit sketchy coloring you did and on kraft it looks amazing!
And thank you so much for sharing this photo boards resource!
Fabulous card Debbie, with gorgeous coloring and LOVE the shading under the bike! Thank you for the update on photo backdrops pieces, they’re all so lovely! I’m pretty “time constrained” when it comes to photo taking (aka lazy) – ooops!
I ordered my boards over the weekend. Hope I like the colors I chose as much as I like yours. Wish I had read this first,
All the boards are lovely Maureen, but the test is to actually take photos with them. I use the white washed wood one a lot as it’s so light and neutral but have found that I really like some of my photos on the boards with deeper colours too :D
So many amazing creations Debby. WOW. I absolutely love how you used pencils on the kraft. That balloon is out of this world.
What amazing colouring on the bike and balloon … and love the watercolour flowers too.
The coloring on kraft is so pretty and I love those photo boards. I need to spice up my photos a little!
Would love to see this on a video