I have been looking at lots of real estate lately, ranging from stunning 70-80 year old Art Deco homes in Maryborough, to 120 year old Federation homes in Castlemaine, to 50 year old homes on big blocks in the suburbs to spacious older apartments closer to town, right through to stunning light filled brand new townhouses in various places, and it struck me that great building and great papercraft projects do have a couple of things in common.

a)  Great Design

b)  Good Structural Bones

And it's true that they certainly don't make buildings like they used to - take a look at these couple of snaps for example.

How stunning were the substantial buildings erected in Central Victoria following the gold rush era? Can you imagine anything like this being built today?  This town hall is in Clunes, between Ballarat and Maryborough.

And the finishing touches are beautiful too, as this lamp-post opposite the town hall shows.  So what has this to do with papercrafting?

Well, a card can be a card, or a card can have structure. It might be in layers, or unusual folds, or maybe even in it's simplicity.  The longest part of making a card is often in the time it takes to come up with a design.  I love this part of card making, especially when it all comes together at the end. It's the same with scrapbook layouts, I pick the photos then spend ages over the card, ink, stamps etc that will compliment them, arranging and re-arranging until I think the design works.

I am working on a structured card at the moment, it's actually quite a simple design, but I want it to look really balanced and not too overdone, even though I am going for a vintage style this time, which traditionally has lots of layers and textures.

Here's a sneak preview - and I'll be back in a day or two with the finished one for you!