Wednesday 2 April 2014

Making the best of it!


I was reading the brand new blog of an online Two Peas friend, Craft Nerd Creates. Her post was about making a mistake on a card element and soldiering on, changing up the design, and getting the card completed.
As I was reading her post, I felt myself nodding my head. I was thinking about an image I had stamped and coloured, only to manage to go outside the lines on the last strokes...with RED copic ink. Yes...Red!!! No amount of blender pen work would budge it back into place.

I was fairly upset and determined not to give in, so I fussy cut the image, carefully cutting off the offending stamped ribbon bow and tails, leaving 3/4 of the image intact. I then filed it in my coloured images photo album and forgot about it. I have pulled it out a few times but it always seemed too small to sit alone and looked forlorn on a card.


Got it out today and suddenly thought it might work if it sat on an ornament die! Once I had that issue sorted, the rest of the card just seemed to fall into place. Right beside the photo albums of my coloured images, are more photo albums of diecuts. Green albums for Xmas themes and black for everyday.
Rolling dies through my Big Shot can leave my hands aching for days so I often get DH, or the girls, or grandkids to roll a few dies through for me. Now that I have the magnetic platform, it is easy to load it chock full of dies before they roll it through. I then file them in the albums for those days when my hands are too sore to roll thing through myself.

All the dies on this page were from those albums...so once I chose an ornament diecut from there, it was only a matter of flipping through and pulling out what other dies would go with it.

Just as I finished the card, I decided that I needed to place that circular journal spot behind the ornament. As I carefully prised the ornament forward to tuck it in, I managed to mar the image with a bent mark. Arrrgh! I decided to try a thick coat of stickles over the whole image, hoping it would hide the bent mark.  Thank goodness it worked. Added just a hint of stickles here and there over the flourish leaf die cuts and finally it was another card done and dusted!

Well....after the inside was finished up, of course!


Recipe:
Card and base from my stash
Card stock - snippets of light and dark aqua card
Patterned paper -  Pink Paislee Hope Chest journal tags
Dies - Memory Box Ornament die; corner dies are Spellbinders I think...I have mislaid the brand new label before I got it added in my book; Impression Obsession word tag; Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourishes
Stamp - PSX Xmas Heart Wreath
3D stickers - K&Co bird (the last of these yellowy ones)
Wood embellishment - Basic Grey 25th & Pine wooden stars
Sentiment - inside sentiment is an old Christmas card; outside Noel is a Marah Johnson Impress On

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets
2. Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - must be Christmas but Anything Goes
3. Two Peas Moodboard April Challenge
4. MFP Inspirational Challenge - #56   I chose the first image. The blue and white inspired the colours used and the twine legs and arms made me remember the twig wreath languishing in my drawer.
5. Sparkles Christmas Challenges - Inspired by a Song (mine is Deck the Halls)

31 comments:

Sue said...

I'm always covering my mistakes up Maureen LOL but as they say they are happy accidents!!!your card is lovely lots of huggles Sue xx

Karen Petitt said...

Mo this is gorgeous! And you would never realise you had made a mistake with it - we are awful at doing that lol! Stunning card, as usual I have die envy. Have a good day Karen x

wannabcre8tive said...

A beautiful Christmas card. I like how you used the stamped image on the ornament. Thanks for joining us for the Speedy TV Inspiration challenge.

debby4000 said...

Oh what a beautiful card.
luv
Debby

Peanut said...

Crafters NEVER make mistakes, Maureen. Those the smudges, blobs, wierd colours, holes, tears, burns - they are all very deliberate well thought out actions in order to create a unique one-of-a-kind masterpiece... just like the one you've got here! I say: WELL DONE!
hugs, Asha

Di said...

Great save and a gorgeous card Mo!

Hugs

Di
xx

Redanne said...

Two happy accidents and still you made a card that is absolutely stunning! Well done for persevering because it was certainly worth it. Anne x

Sarn said...

Cor I was just about to say EXACTLY the same thing as Di! Great minds and all that!

Looks GREAT now Mo. Well done.

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Sassy Raggedy said...

I have also covered up so many mistakes...lol But goodness Mo your card is just lovely. I love all of those dies, I am just so impressed with this wonderful card. Hugs, joann

Kathleen said...

I know the feeling well, it's always the last thing on the card that seems to go wrong, wouldn't mind if it was the first thing.
Great card and I think you have covered everything up beautifully.
Well done you.

Kath x

Bonnie said...

What a great save! I often end up fussy cutting because of coloring outside of the lines. I would have never known that this wreath was missing anything! A lovely card!

cotnob said...

This is a gorgeous card Maureen, so much tinkering and effort, but the end result is well worth the time you spent and your perseverance certainly paid dividends. I love your fabulous image and die cut details.
Pauline
x

nwilliams6 said...

So pretty! Love the colors, and all the fun details you added. Sorry I am so late commenting, but I am super glad you joined us in the MFPSpeedyTV Inspiration Challenge.

Anonymous said...

That was a super save :)

I opened your post and my eye was taken by the card. It is great.

Well done, once again!

(your) GAT

Rita said...

Wonderful card. The colours look fabulous. Hugs Rita xxx

Rocky said...

Putting it on the ornament definitely worked well, it looks like it was meant to be there. Thank you for sharing it with us at CHNC.

Carol L said...

Take a bow Mo! What a save!! I'm proud of you - and what a stunning card you ended up with! Sometimes those mistakes end up being the prize winners! Well done!

Darnell said...

It's so true about the misbehavior of some cards, and part of what makes it fun, right? Otherwise it would be boring if all the cards went together without giving us any trouble (not that we don't LOVE it when that happens!) I think your routine is very clever and efficient, Maureen, and I love that this little orphan piece found a beautiful home!! Have a great weekend! Hugs, Darnell

Tracy said...

Your card turned out beautifully.
Great idea to get the grandkids to run your dies through for you..I am sure they think it is a toy :)
Hubby bought me the TH Vagabond so my hands don't get sore.
I like to use everything I create…if there is a flaw, there is always a way to fix it :)

Cathy said...

Another lovely card Mo, I keep die cuts in plastic sleeves in a folder so I think we're on the same track! I need to get into the habit of die cutting while I'm watching telly, I could have a huge stash ready to go!
Cathy x

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful Mo, I'm glad you saved it. Love the little bird in the corner. (Official hat on now, lol!). Thanks so much for sharing your lovely creation with us at Sparkles Christmas challenge this month, good luck and hope to see you again.

Hugs
Brenda
Sparkles DT

Greta said...

I've done the same thing--ruin an image with the last bit of coloring, but wow--what a great save! This card is beautiful!

Pia S said...

Wow, nice save, Maureen! I would never have thought the image had cut out parts, and you're right, it does sit beautifully onto that die cut bauble!

Jenny Marples said...

Well done you on persevering. You have no idea how many times I've had to completely change a card when it has not gone to plan. This looks beautiful. Jenny x

MaryH said...

I'm sure not seeing any bent places! Loved reading about your red save too. That is the worst color of copic to mess up, and it's very easy to do so. I always do reds first, in case I get a bad boo-boo - then I haven't wasted my whole effort. But sometimes that can bite too, if you've got the image, then do the background (non-airbrush). You did a fantastic save on this one, and with layering on your pretty ornament, all the gorgeous dies, this is one wonderful card. Enjoyed reading your adventures, and seeing this pretty card. Well done, my friend. TFS & Hugs

Miriam said...

Stunning card and a wonderful colorcombo!

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Oh my! I think we can all relate to the mistake making and trying to make it work thing. You've done a great job with this card. If you hadn't tattled on yourself we'd never know where it all went wrong.

Mrs A. said...

Glad you found a workaround for the red ink and that is a splendid idea to cover up with stickles over the bend mark. I have done that so many times cos I just couldn't leave things alone and ended up redoing!!
Hugs Mrs A.

Sandra H said...

Hello and welcome to our challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Inspired by Christmas Corol/Song...........Your card is gorgeous and l knew from the image which Christmas Carol you used .............Good luck and hope to see you again Next time Dt Member Sandra H xx

Debbie said...

What a gorgeous card and such a lovely choice of a carol.Thanks for joining in with us over at Sparkles Christmas.Good luck.Hugs Debbie x

Anne said...

Thank you for popping in to April CHNC Challenge Extra to share your card with us. Hope to see you back again soon. Hugs, Anne (April Guest Designer)