So, do you know that if your router goes down and you are administating a hybrid lan/wlan with 7 computers, 2 network printers and an enormous number of wireless devices, it can take 7 to 10 days of concentrated work to make everything stable again? That's what happened to me. I replaced the dead router with the latest and greatest and then decended into "network hell" where everything would be working at 7 p.m. in the evening and by 7 a.m. it was in shambles. After 7 days, I actually found the destabilizing agent, and then another couple of days to reassemble the system, all complicated by the necessity to do any disruptive procedures during noon hours and after business hours, while trying to also target the hours when a post-menopausal, busy woman still has working brain cells. After that, my mother had many appointments, requiring a driver/assistant, the grass began to grow (a month early, I would point out) and needed 6 hours of mower attention each week, and both of my daughters are trying to "give birth" to master's thesi (sp?), one at the "labor" stage and one in the "morning sickness" stage. I like to help, if I can, in any way I can, even if just by listening on the phone. Normal work and housework, and when I lifted my head, an entire month had gone by. Whoa. Slow down, life. But, during this whole period, I found time to craft, my sanity-saver.So, I worked on some new cards, and finished some that had me stumped.
A few months ago, as I was "Pinteresting", I found this blog ( craftysahmiam.blogspot.com ), and this great card. I was saying "Wow, wow, wow, I MUST do this".
So I started. The angle cut and zig-zag fold were pretty easy, and the punched hearts were just time consuming but not difficult. It was the "what do I do now" portions that followed, that made this "Valentine" remain unfinished. So, I threw the kitchen sink at this card. I stamped, and double stamped.
I adhered matching hearts on both sides, so that the heart border was the same regardless of how the card was viewed. I decorated 5 of the 6 possible surfaces. I also inked all 6 surfaces with a random pattern.
I die-cut with with a Memorybox die,
And, I hand cut the heart with a key hole.
I cut the keys with a Sizzix die. I embossed one key and background stamped the other. They both got ribbon.
So, do I like this card? I don't know...I think there are some nice parts, some nice techniques, but, there are places where I wish that I had done some things differently. In particular, There was a great wood mounted, rubber stamp sentiment that I love (the once-in-a-while stamp), I like the location and ink, but because exact placement is difficult with wooden stamps, it is about 1/8 inch from the best location. Does it matter? In this case, yes, it does. The misplacement put the sentiment right up against the fold. One of the things that this card taght me, was that I will be planning on unmounting my wood-mount stamps and using them with acrylic blocks for more accurate placement.
Still learning...
