I'm baaaccckkkkk....

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". 

http://craftysahmiam.blogspot.com/2011/02/trifold-punched-hearts-card.html

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...

Junk Paper!!!

So, a quick one today. I have spent the last 2 1/2 days trying to configure our new router and various devices in hopes of maintaining an internet coneection for longer than 3 minutes. No luck yet...and it's Monday, the day to pay bills, order inventory, write paychecks, make bank deposits, but while sitting at lunch today, with the lovely ladies from the office, the Stampin Up owl punch that I ordered came to me via UPS.  We opened it and my husband, just messing around, started punching the owls from junk mail laying on the table. The ladies from the office started stacking the pieces and assembling these cute little junk paper owls. I ran to get glue and inspiration struck me (over the head, mostly). After lunch, and after another couple of hours of desk work, I sat down and punched a few more junk paper owls, assembled them and ran to my table of craft "crack" ie. supplies for those not hooked yet. The result was this little card.

The angle (and the "artistic" smudging over the top of the test, which actually looks really good on the card...but you can't tell it here) makes it hard to read the outside sentiment - one of these things is not like the others ...- the inside sentiment- one of these things just doesn't belong... (I was channeling Seseme Street today)

Aren't the junk paper owls cute?

The inside is also pretty cute. See the blue owl's little owl face expression in the photo below, he is shocked.. and the others are too. See how they have moved away?

What fun it was to make this card. It was a spot of sunshine on a day pouring rain. Did I learn anything? You bet. Inspiration can strike under the most banal circumstances, junk paper can make an excellent craft supply, and television has sunk deeply into my subconscious, maybe too deeply! Oh, yeah, I know the beak was assembled upside down, but once started, best continued in the same way.

Variations on a theme...

You can expect to see a few cards made with the Spellbinders Cut, Tuck and Fold dies in the upcoming days. I am just facinated by them. The card below is what I think of as a suitable color palatte for anybody and multiple occations ... and I look forward to completing the inside when it is needed. I am not certain how the colors will translate to the web, but the card base is black, to which I have adhered a peacock front, a black mat, a yellow mat and the folded medallion. Along the bottom of the black and peacock mats, I use a MS edger/embosser combo. I also slid a strip of the yellow cardstock under the lower edge of the peacock mat so that it shows through and it livens it up a little.

This medallion technique is the "cat's pajamas" and what I learned today is to use a unbent paper clip and the cricut spatula to carefully remove the cardstock or paper from the die. The die cuts well, but it is a real "bear" to remove without tearing. I also learned to sloooow dooown and enjoy the trip, ie. the entire card making experience.

Some days things just work out...

Today I was playing with some cool new cutting dies from Spellbinders. They arrived hot off of the press (or forge or whatever), anyway, the box was smoking when I opened it yesterday. These are the Cut, Fold & Tuck dies and they are soooooo neat.

There are several different designs and each package contains 3 graduated sizes. The one pictured is called "Spectacular Spin". These are very reminiscent of the "Lysee" or "Geo-Dies". I have been eyeing this type of die for 2 years after seeing a picture of the technique in a card-making book. I will say that the Spellbinders iteration is really economical in comparison to the other dies of this type. If you want to use dies like these and techniques like this, remember to look for double sided paper and when you find it, write the company and thank them. It is getting harder and harder to find, as companies are eliminating it as a cost-cutting measure. This is from a K & Co. paper pad called "McKenna".

But....what really worked out is that, while assembling this card, I had a dear friend call and in the course of conversation mention that today is her birthday. Yayy, now I knew how I wanted to finish this 4" by 4" card.

So, what did I learn today? I learned that some days, it just all works... techniques, colors and a special occasion. Happy Birthday, Jeanne.

In & Out of the Corner...

I have crafted myself into a corner again... and out and back in, and hopefully, out again. I am still contemplating easel cards and Que Sera/Cricut Flower Shoppe paper flowers. (I have made a lot of flowers. I am going to have to put some away).

Here we have an easel card base. The little orange tabs were the product of a desire not to have the ubiquitous brad or button on the bottom of the card that supports the back. However, as I looked at the card, the orange tabs looked more and more ugly. I couldn't think of a small embellishment that would work with the location, the size and the theme. (Now I am in a design corner) SO.... I punched a fence to attach to the tabs for the back of the card to brace against.

I liked the fence (out of the design corner for a minute), but the dark green wasn't doing much for the look of the card. I punched another border in vanilla card, added just a little TH distress ink and layered it over the dark green fence. Then I threaded a diecut vine through the fence here and there. Now I liked the fence brace and it laid flat under the card body when folded (or will the next time I make this type of card). The photo below shows the front of the card and what it would look like when folded (if it would).

It needs some Stickles in a couple of places, around the green button (to hide the hot glue leakage) and on the green vine on the fence (just to bling it up a little). I am still undecided about the treatment on the base of the card (back into the design corner) ...a mat, as in the photo below ... OR

...tied twine, like this photo. I'm leaning toward the twine (out of the corner?). Oh, and I need a butterfly or three on the top and some distress ink sponged on the edge of the orange base.

So, here we have an unfinished card, but it's close to done. I did this project because I wanted to find a different aparatus to brace the back of an easel card and, boy, did I learn some things. I learned that it is a lot better to have an idea of the steps I want to follow before I start (I'm pretty old, ok...upper middle aged; shouldn't I have figured this out before? ...well, truth be told, I have in most areas of my life, just not on fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants paper projects). I want to make this card again. I will think of this one as a template. I learned that when you add an element that folds back flat (like the fence), knowing what the element measures and making certain that the scoring/folding is extremely accurate is of utmost importance. "Almost" doesn't work out well on this project. The fence element is about 1/32 inch taller than it should have been, and the back fold is the littlest bit off of 90 degrees with the edge so the card binds in the back fold just a little bit (but not terribly). This card is truly a learning process and I am the lucky holder of a "Learners Permit".



My first easel card...

Here it comes...my first easel card, the finished version. But, first the journey to the finish.

So, I started with these cute paper flowers, cut from K & Co. Que Sera paper and the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge. Then, I folded the easel card from kraft card stock and layered more Ques Sera paper on the bottom platform portion and a nice deep navy card for the upright. The green vine is cut with one of my favorite dies, Memory Box Madera Corner (I cut 2 and pieced here and there to fill out the background a little).

Now, what to add?

I punched so many butterflies trying to find a base and layer that complemented the flowers. I ended up with a light green patterned base and a layer cut from a gold shimmer paper.

I have a cute dragonfly brad and a GIANT patterned area and no ideas. I liked the upright, but needed something to balance the colors and weight of the large-ish flowers (and hide some of that patterned paper, just a little).

Out came the Cuttlebug and a Nestabilities die. Distressed, stamped, antiqued and generally messed with a while, just to find something the right size and color.

So here I am last night, pretty sure that this card was finished...

and here I am this morning at 6 AM, absolutely certain that I do not like that little stamped card piece, not even one little bit. I thought maybe some more green vines, some ribbon, some charms...but, what made me happy was this Making Memories Charmed Quotes metal plaque. I felt it had the right size, an inobtrusive color and a good weight.

This is it...my first easel card, finished (for my friend's birthday). 

So, what did I learn? When it is all said and done, if I want to use flowers of this size again, I think a 6 inch card, rather than 4 inch, will look better balanced. I also learned that I love patterned paper a little too much, and should limit the amount that I use on a project.The last thing I learned is the most important lesson...until it is adhered (and even after, if you have some fishing line to do the removal) it is never to late to rethink the elements. Go dig in the stash!

One word....

One word today... Stickles. Very few things in life cannot be improved with the application of Stickles or ice cream (different modes of application, of course).

Yayy, Stickles!

Good enough little flower.

After the application of Stickles, a highly improved little flower. Yayy, Stickles!

So, what did I learn? Earlier, right before Christmas, when I was making a really detailed step card, I learned that Stickles take a long time to dry. What I learned on my little flower here, was to remember what I learned last time I used Stickles (rather philosophical, no?).