Room In A Cupboard...

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Through The Window, Notelet Card, Brickwork

Do any of you recognise this scene peeking through the window?

Well done if you do...

It was also used on one of the larger sentiment tags I made earlier on this year...

I wonder if you can figure out why this stamped image was kept to one side?

Yep, you guessed it. I did a craft 'boo boo'...
... and I don't know about you but most of my craft 'boo boo' moments come right at the end of my craft make.

In the spirit of saving the environment and/or my sanity after spending my time on this 'mistake', I decided that the best thing to do was to keep it to one side for a few months, moved on to some other projects and then revisit it.
It's amazing what a pair of fresh eyes and some perspective can do when salvaging a project that's gone wrong.

So...

The part of the image that was still usable was cut to fit into this window frame that's been layered up by gluing three die cuts together. (The tiny inked vellum butterfly and dragonfly were already attached from the last project, but this time the dragonfly needed to be a darker brown so I carefully removed and replaced it).
Then it was simply a case of adding a branch at an angle (also layered up for strength/durability), mounting on to a card front that's been stamped with a brick image and then heat embossing using Distress ink and powder.
One final butterfly as a finishing touch and I was done.

I made that sound simple, didn't I?

Please, Please... If you can DO NOT throw your 'mistakes' straight into the bin. Put them to one side (out of sight), move on to something else and just give it some time. Then have a look and see what's salvageable.
I won't mention names, but I know of someone who throws her watercolour backgrounds out if they don't look 'right'. She also throws things away because the paint splatters don't go where she wants them to.
What I'm saying is just because it doesn't work for one project doesn't mean it can't work for another. If nothing else, I'm sure they would have made beautiful die cut butterflies...

Supplies Used:

Stamps:
Inkylicious 'Whispering Winds'
Bo Bunny 'Wall To Wall Textures'

Dies:
Poppystamps 'Grand Madison French Doors'
Memory Box 'Grove Branch'
Impression Obsession 'Cattails and Dragonflies'
Die Namics 'Flutter of Butterflies' (Lace) - I altered my dragonfly to bring the wings closer together and then glued on a butterfly body to hide the join.

Inks:
Tim Holtz Distress Marker 'Tumbled Glass'
Tim Holtz Distress Marker 'Stormy Sky'
Tim Holtz Distress Marker 'Forest Moss'
Tim Holtz Distress Marker 'Peeled Paint'
Memento (Tsukineko) 'Bamboo Leaves'
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink

Other:
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder 'Walnut Stain'
Martha Stewart Pop Up Butterfly Punch
'Crafter's Companion' Watercolour Card
Foundations Card 'Deep Cocoa'

Challenges I'm Entering...

CAS Mix Up
(I've gone for Stamping, Die Cuts, Heat Embossing and a Craft Punch - Not sure if CAL is allowed or not. Loll/Bonnie - can you let me know?)

Time Out Challenges

Challenge #58 - Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration

(Inspired by the window, the brickwork... and Nonni's DT card)

Pixies Crafty Snippets Challenge

Simon Says/Monday Challenge

Summer Garden

Allsorts Challenge

Week #366 'The Great Outdoors'

Addicted to Stamps and More

I still have plenty of half done projects I'm working through right now. I wonder if you have any hidden away that you intend to get back to one day?

Enjoy the rest of your day...
... or your evening.

Donna.

'#91 Donna@Room In a Cupboard – Marzena says: This project is absolutely fabulous. I adore the summer night scene. Love the view through the window and bricks around it. The dragonfly has stolen my heart :-) Beautiful CAS card. I’m really impressed. Great job, Donna!'

Thursday, 26 May 2016

Faux Aperture, Butterflies, Woodgrain

I wonder if you have any dies in your collection that you like, but barely use...

...and if you barely use them, I guess the question must be 'why'?

My card today uses one such die.

My Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings' die, to be exact.

It's a gorgeous die... don't get me wrong. But in terms of design I've found that my tastes are changing. I'm slowly (and yes, I DO mean slowly) finding out what works for me. What 'I' want to create essentially... and that's different from when I just started out by buying every pretty die that I liked and could afford to hoard.

So either I get this die to 'work' for me or off it goes to my 'For Sale' pile.
That was the plan.

This is what I came up with...

It's not as 'girly' as some of my other craft makes... and it's certainly not cute. But it still has a touch of my much loved nature theme.

So I guess the question is this...
Do I like it?

I think so.
I like the layout for sure and I'll definitely use it again... and I like how the tiny butterflies are folded out and in. It's visually more interesting - and I like to make things that are a little bit 'different'.

But I am wondering if this aperture panel is unnecessarily too busy for the card?
What do you think?

I like it enough to try again... so this die gets a reprieve for now, at least.
What I'm trying to do is to use this die in such a way that it looks 'less busy' than it really is.
It might be a labour in vain, but I need to be sure...

Supplies Used:

Dies:
Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings'
Memory Box 'Blissful Butterfly Border'
Memory Box 'Woodland Branch'
Spellbinders/Nestabilities 'Circles' (large)
Impression Obsession 'Tied Line'

Embossing Folder:
Crafts Too 'Cherry Blossom'

Other:
Linen Cardstock
Altenew 'Woodgrain Bark' Paper
Foundation 'Rich Cocoa' Cardstock
Brown card from Stash (Tim Holtz)
Mirri Card
Vellum
Foam Pads

Challenges I'm Entering...

Butterfly Challenge
Challenge #55 'A is for Aperture &/or Apricot'

Simon Says/Wednesday Challenge
(Anything Goes)

Make My Monday
(In The Garden)

Just before I go, I should probably mention that I used a LOT of foam pads on this card to stop the butterfly panel from being squashed. That way the butterflies that are folded 'in' stay folded 'in'... as opposed to getting flattened!!!

Hope you are having a good day...

Donna. x

Monday, 23 May 2016

Baby Card, Panda on Vine, New Arrival

When is a CAS card not a CAS card?

Well... When it looks like this, of course!

I wonder who agrees with that statement? I would certainly say that this card has a CAS 'feel' to it... It has that all important 'white space' after all. But then... I did add an extra layer, a smidge of 'paper piecing', white twine as well as Dew Drops... Do you get my point?

Perhaps this best fits Loll and Bonnie's CAS/Mixed Media Challenge style? (If you don't know what I'm talking about then all I can say is 'where have you been')? I know others use this style, too... but kudos for them for coining the phrase. Or was it already coined? If so, I hadn't come across it...

Or maybe this best fits a CAS with layers category? (Another challenge blog ran this for a while... Not sure if they are on a break or whether they closed that challenge down).

Or maybe I should simply rephrase the question and ask, 'when does CAS stop being CAS'?

These are just my thoughts on the topic. Feel free to let me know yours... if you want to, obviously!

Anyway... enough rambling...

Here's the inside...