Flower Power

9/6/2012

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Recently I had my very first order of cards, and more keep coming in. I am so flattered at this, especially as customers tend to give me a lot of freedom to be creative. This must mean they like what I do, surely. It also means I can use the opportunity to fit in with a few challenges. This is one of those cards.

I was inspired by the idea of making your own paper flowers, and had seen a few different techniques which I wanted to put to the test.

Crafty Calender Challenge of 'Flowers in Bloom' seems a perfect challenge to enter for this.

There's also Craft Your Days Away with their Bingo Card. I always find those difficult, I must say, but this time it worked out well on the diagonal from left top to right bottom: flowers, ribbon/lace, and gems. In this card they just formed a natural part of the build-up.

And on a completely different, and very summery note, the Allsorts Challenge is focussed around 'ice cream colours' which appear abundantly on this card as well.

So I would like to enter these three challenges, and keep my fingers crossed the teams like my work. Do you? Please leave me your comments, I love to read what you think.
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Butterflies

31/1/2012

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So here's this morning's make, entirely inspired by the Fab'n Funky Challenge . This is so far from my usual style, and really challenged my creativity, but I am happy with it.

It has a few firsts, my first bit of distressing for starters. I tried earlier on, but made a bit of a bosh of it. Today it seemed to work. I would love to get some feedback from people who know about distressing, whether this is done ok. I have purposefully kept from posting a close-up for know, as really it is the overall impression that matters.

It is a small thing, maybe, but it is also the first time I have curled the paper. I was quite amazed how much difference that made. Those butterflies really came to life, and I regretted having left those two at the top flat, just plain raised.

I used sticky ribbon for the body of the main butterfly, so I am entering the Do You Stack Up Challenge  again. That too is a first: the first challenge I have entered more than once.

Entering the Sweet Stamps Challenge  is another. Stamping in itself still scares me so much. I only tried it once with a sentiment, and that's a while ago now. I think this sweet stamps blog and their challenge may well give me that extra push. Watch this space... 

In any case the challenge is shaped cards, so this should be perfect. Would the distressing be considered a form of stamping? 

Apart from the stamping itself, I also have an enormous threshold for using the promarkers. I feel I need my hand held and taken step-by-step through it. If anybody feels they wish to do that, and have the patience (!), please let me know.

Another new one to me is the Try it on Tuesday Challenge . I am always interested to make cards that are textured, touchy feely, as my son and my father and other males in the family have a visual disability, of which I am a carrier. I had our boy, who is now five, feel his way across this card tonight. He went from the ribbon in the middle, with the smoothness of the gold, and the roughness of the fabric to the gems and the butterflies themselves with his little fingers. He was asking particularly about the gems, I guess they are the most obvious protrusion. On the other hand the intricacies of the black butterfly sticky ribbon, eventhough that is relatively flat, seemed to fascinate him as well.

That's it, I'm off to make some more, now, hopefully. Please do leave me your comments, ideas, feedback.
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