Sometimes...

…you’ve just gotta let it go and know when to fold.

*As this is a blog about learning (so to speak) I have to post not only the work I’m proud of, but the not- so-nice stuff as well. This is a post about one of those not-so-nice projects!

I began this card in anticipation of entering it for Challenge #23 over at Jackson’s Digital Expressions. *Just so you know, that challenge began on September 18^th.* I finished the card… drum roll please… yesterday! Why? Because it became urgent. It’s a card for my BFF whose birthday was September 22^nd. She will be arriving on a flight from L.A. in a little over two hours from now and it occurred to me that I should give it to her before her next birthday.

I was thrilled with the card until I stamped the sentiment on the front. Ya know that if you rock your stamp just a little too much, you get that dreaded line from the edge of the stamp. Yep…I got one of those.  I then heat embossed the sentiment and that didn’t come out very well. I think it was the paper’s fault. Then…to camouflauge the “dreaded stamp edge” line, I went over it with Stickles. Didn’t like that, so I covered it *almost* with a strip of rhinestones. Can we just say ughhhhh? By then it was almost 11:30 p.m. and I was tired. Decided to leave it, go to bed, think on it and do something with it in the a.m. Honey asked me if I was going to re-do the card. Ummm…I dunno!

Anyway, we are at 6:25 pm today and you’re probably wondering if I re-did or otherwise doctored the card. Nope, the card is still sitting here with no inside sentiment. So…it’s time for me to end this post and put a sentiment inside before the plane lands. Gonna put some cash in there too which will surely detract from the mishaps on the outside!

So this is what I learned:

1. Sometimes those little lines from the edge of the stamp aren’t so bad. Leave ‘em be. If you’re giving the card to a good friend, they probably won’t notice anyway and will be grateful that you thought enough of them to make a handmade card.
2. I am a firm believer in fixing crafty mistakes and not having to start all over. But sometimes, you have to know when you’ve done enough fixing and leave well enough alone!

Thanks for reading and putting up with my mistakes!

Karen

Scraps and Sticky Ribbons

I got a chance to participate in another Friday Night Challenge over at SOC, this one hosted by our very own Classygirl. We were given three card sketches *y’all know I was ALL over that* and were required to post our creations prior to midnight ET on Sunday. This gave me a little time and breathing room. I was able to get started on Sketch #1 Friday during the chat, but had to leave not too long after to take care of other things.

So, when I came home I threw the sketches (but no paper or cardstock) for the other two cards in my bag *determined to get started on them*, along with about seven or eight layouts in varying degrees of doneness. Even though my crop time was going to be short, due to having to go to a meeting first, I was determined to be productive while I was there.

I did as much as I could with the layouts I had brought with me, and then pulled out the card sketches.  I looked through my layout folders and pulled scraps from several of them. I had gotten this idea from Tiare (Classygirl) who once said that she doesn’t really have scraps because when she finishes a layout, she immediately makes a card(s) from the scraps that are left. I was able to make a good start on laying out the cards and would wait until I got home to add the sentiments and embellishments. Good thing too… cause I took out the clear stamps for the “Happy Thoughts” card and lost the matching sentiment (it says, “are coming your way.”) for the inside. It has to be here on my craft table somewhere but I’ll be darned if I can find it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……

While I was at the crop, I got a wonderful idea from one of the ladies there. She works with ribbon a lot and said that she often uses her Xyron to put adhesive on her ribbon. Having tried different kinds of adhesives for ribbon, including the ribbon glue made by Hobby Lobby *it dries out too quickly*, I thought I’d give it a try. I used my trusty Xyron “X” to adhere the ribbon on all three of my cards. The application was so smooth I wondered why I hadn’t tried it before. Thanks for that helpful hint Susan!

Anyway… here are the three cards I submitted for FNC…

Sketch #1 - Used scraps from my drawer and a flower from  Petaloo found at Tuesday Morning.
The ribbon and bling are from my stash.

Sketch #2 - Scraps from layout (coming soon) and flowers from  Petaloo.
The 2-in-1 punch used for the border is from EK Success. Ribbon and fiber from my stash.

Sketch #3 - Scraps from layout (coming soon) and flowers are Color Me Crazy  from Petaloo. Used  Glimmer Mist and Stickles on them as well as pebbles (small flower centers) and the Epiphany Shape Studio for the large epoxy pebble.

My tips for today…

1. Take your leftover scraps for a layout or other papercrafting project and make one or more cards. Eventually, storage of scraps will cease to be an issue.
2. Try using the Xyron for ribbon application. Makes ribbon go on nice and smooth.
3. When using those itty, bitty clear stamps, take out one at a time and put it back when you’re done. Then, hopefully you won’t lose any like I lost mine!

Thanks for visiting… I am Still Young and Croppin’!

Another Entry for "Anything Goes" with Optional Sketch - Challenge #20

Somehow, I managed to get another card completed for the challenge going on over at Jackson's Digital Expressions. 

I used mainly scraps from my drawer and a Robert Jackson digital image, "Courting II." I knew I didn't have  time to color an image if I wanted to submit this by the deadline, so the silhouette image is perfect for this anniversary card.

I did use the provided sketch, but oriented my oval and rectangle differently because of the size and orientation of the image. That's the wonderful thing about sketches; they can be used as a starting point when you're stumped for layout ideas. You can use the chosen sketch as is, or as you progress with your project you may find that it works better if you rotate it, flip it, stretch it, or shrink it to accommodate the elements you're working with. Those who have been following me for awhile know that I am the QUEEN of using sketches 'cause they make my crafty life so much easier! And if you click on the "sketch" or "sketches" labels  here on my blog, you'll find lots of posts referencing them.

So the lesson for today? Sketches!!! *Need I say more?*

Well, today is Labor Day and I must go now and labor on something else!

Thanks for looking!

Anything Goes" with Optional Sketch - Challenge #20

I swear... I spend more time organizing my craft supplies than I do crafting. This week's organization project was doing something to more adequately store my cricut cartridges to make them easily accessible since MY GYPSY IS DEAD and I refuse to replace it! Last summer Okieladybug made this post about cartridge storage on her blog. I was all ready to go to work and use this storage idea. I even went so far as to buy the Really Useful Boxes. I decided I didn't want to do the work required and ended up returning them a few days later. Fast forward to this week when my friend Helen lit a fire under me and convinced me to do it rather than buy those pricey cartridge storage boxes they sell at Michael's and JoAnn's.  *I would have needed eight or nine of them which would have cost me a pretty penny.* So I bit the bullet, made the little individual boxes and got it done. And it really didn't take me as long as I thought it would. So I said all that to say, that instead of crafting I've been doing more organizational stuff. If I could manage to stop buying crafty stuff, the need to continually organize would probably disappear.

With the help of a simple sketch posted over at Jackson's Digital Expressions, I did manage to make a card  this evening, naturally using scraps out of my scrap drawer. *I will be so glad when they're all used up!* This will be the second time I've participated in a challenge over there.

I've been wanting to use these CTMH sentiment stamps and found that the birthday cake digi stamp in my digital stash would be perfect. The outside reads: "You know you're getting older when..." and the inside reads: "the candles cost more than the cake!"

Quick lesson today: If you quit buying stuff, the need to continually organize will diminish. Less time spent organizing means more time spent crafting. *Ask me how that works out for me in the coming months!"

Thanks for looking!