Funky flyers make funky cards!

I know I said I was going to do my beercan art next - soon, I promise! I just had to show you these flyers first. Living in a student area I get loads of flyers - many are low-quality with boring images, but just look at these! Contemporary yet accessible, floral yet energetic. If you can't make out my er, wonderful photography, there's a sort of floral explosion in various pinks, with accents of women's faces silhouetted in black. Very stylish, and at this point I must give my thanks to the designer www.myspace.com/syrupphotography who designed them for a club night - see www.myspace.com/beatjuicemanchester for details. You can also see the flyer more clearly there. They are talented and helpful people - very kind to let me hack about their work and put it up here, and full of creative energy and originality.
So what to do with the flyers? I tend to work in colours and textures. As regards the colours, the preponderance of pink is saved from tweeness by the classy black, and I decided to use the same colours for the cards (as I had some of the right colours). As the design is so strong I decided to do a couple of cards with very little input from me other than creating a background; plus one more adventurous one with a contemporary, funky feel. TIP: If a good flyer arrives through your letterbox, go and smile and your neighbours and ask for theirs too. It doesn't harm the person who made the flyer, as your request may well make your neighbour actually look at it for the first time!
As regards textures, I decided to help the explosive image jump out even more by attaching the layers with 3D foam to give depth.
So - card 1 is for my eldest sister's birthday, which is coming up. As you can see I've let the image do most of the work, simply matting and layering in suitable colours, trimming the edges of the black card with decorative edging scissors for a bit more style. If you're wondering what font I've used for her name, it's my own invention and called Random Struggles with Arthritic Fingers While Swearing A Lot. Expect to see quite a bit of it.....
Card 2 is a funkier card suitable for a young person (or young at heart). I drew freehand retro swirls for the layers, and cut out the lettering from the flyer itself to make the word 'cutie'. The words on the flyer were 'beat juice'. I had a few of them so I could use letters more than once. Fortunately (TIP) I remembered to use another useful free internet tool, the anagram server at wordsmith.org/anagram, so I put in 'beatbeatjuicejuice' and hoped for the best. Ok, I can't imagine that I'm ever going to put 'tie abject beau juice' on a card, but it gave me helpful ideas - 'beau' and 'cutie'. I decided that the latter was more in keeping with the young theme of the card. If only it had been 'beat music' - then I could have written 'mum'!
Anyway, card 3 is again a simple one, letting the image have full play, and this will probably end up as a birthday card for my funky friend Sarah in April. As you can see there's a little black cat on the envelope just as an extra bit of detail.
So if you get a funky flyer through the door - get more from your neighbours ; use lettering as well as images if possible; try different themes and styles; and thank the designer, and ask his/her permission if you're going to show the card on the internet or anywhere.
Best wishes and more soon,
Jehanine x