More "Mini" Love...Retro sketches #100, The Pink Elephant #236

A crisp Friday morning here once again; perfect day for making Valentine cards!

This week, the talented team at Retro sketches are celebrating their 100th sketch; a most impressive accomplishment.  When I first started crafting, just a snippet over a year or so ago, RS was one of the first challenge sites to pique my interest, and it was  through playing with their challenges that a 'reality' appeared for me: I. Need. Sketches.  No sketch means I'm lost. So, thank you RS team for providing me with weekly inspiration!!

I've also become quite the fan of Arielle Gordon, the originator of the challenge and one of the four creative geniuses - along with Kasia, Laurie and Wanda - who shares the stage of talent and inspiration.  Arielle's cards, whether showcased at RS or elsewhere, are delights in every way, but what I find especially amazing is her ability to transform sketches into 'mini' versions that translate so well onto small canvases.  Many sketches have me running the other direction; I see too much complexity, which results in a serious case of the willies, and a decision of 'nope, can't do that.' Arielle, however, has the unique ability to see the 'simple' within the complex, and by scaling things down, she achieves the most remarkable results.  Let me show you what I mean...
Here's a recent Deconstructed Sketch, that I find intriguing, but don't have an iota of a clue as to where to begin navigating my way through...

Arielle,  however, through her unique lens of creativity, sees the sketch from a completely different perspective, and winds up with this gem:

All the sketch elements are evident...in 'little'!  Seriously,  how COOL is this!  Indeed, if you have a chance, go for a wander on her site. I guarantee you'll find treats and treasures galore, as I have.

My card today is inspired by three sources: the first is, of course, RS 100

and paired with that, the inspiration of Arielle.  In keeping with her 'small, but powerful' technique, I've tried to follow her style with a little card of my own. Of course I* had* to add an extra challenge to the existing challenges by making my card smaller than her usual size; mine is 3 X 3 (see what I mean about how I 'complex-ify' things even more than is 'normal'?), but hopefully, I've done 'justice' both to the sketch and to Arielle's influence.  

The third inspiration is the lovely collage of love-themed images over at The Pink Elephant #236

Red and white...

Here's my mini; another card headed for my niece or nephew's day-card teachers...

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

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