~Always On My Mind~
February 23rd, 2008 by Holly McMillen
Good Morning… sorta. Note the time…. 3am. I sent my youngest two off to camp last night for the weekend. I was so excited to be able to stamp at any hour I wanted… even 3am… even if it is just for a day :). I’m a hopeless insomniac.
Anywho.. so at 1:30am I jumped on Splitcoasters to find out if the Inspiration Challenge had been posted. Jackpot! The inspiration piece… which you can see HERE….is a gorgeous ad from Country Living Magazine. I squealed at the colors. I adore blues and greens together. No problem, I said to myself. HA! Famous last words.
I really wanted to title this “The card from Hell”, but decided not to at the last minute. This baby took me over an hour to get even remotely close to right. Several times, I tossed my paper in the air and put my head in my hands… but my muse wouldn’t let me quit. You see, I started out with Cool Caribbean as my blue instead of he Bliss Blue. I had it cuttlebugged in the birds & swirls folder.. put it with my other pieces and decided .. it was just wrong. Too much blue..too much texture… back to the drawing board. When I finally let go of my beloved Cool Caribbean, I settled on the Bliss Blue. It worked much better, but had to go sans the embossing as it was just too busy. Then my image. Oy! I stamped it about 8 times before I got the one I liked. I had some wild hair tell me to UTEE emboss it to make it shiney.. Not too happy with that effect, but it was done and I wasn’t going to make another change. I also used a gorgeous piece of Memory Box DP that has swirls and birds and the perfect colors…. but somehow I managed to cover most of it up! LOL
With all the pieces in front of me, I resigned to the fact that it wasn’t my best work, but I was going with it anyway. I carefully assembled the pieces and when I was done…. I decided I liked it afterall. Thank God…. I’m so glad HE doesn’t let me do what I want most of the time … heehee.
So… here’s the deets:
Stamps: Always (SU!) – bird, always circle and sentiment
Colors: Old Olive, Bliss Blue, GP White, Memory Box DP (a gift from Kim@ MFT…. thanks KIM!)
Ink: Bliss Blue, Versamark, White Craft
Accessories: brads, ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches
TFL!~
Quite lovely I think.
Wowza — I love it! NO really, I do. That card is just BREATHTAKING!
Sometimes the process is exasperating, but the results are rewarding! This is a very pretty card! Sorry you had such a difficult time with it.
ROTFLOL…you are so stinkin’ funny!! I totally love that you shared your drama with us. When I am in the throes of a card that is not going the way I planned I often think “this certainly does not happen to fabulous stampers like Holly:)” Now I move confidently forward with the knowledge that it happens to the very best of us at least sometimes. The card is absolutely wonderful BTW!
Have a fun weekend in your quiet house!
Laura
I had a good laugh reading your woes behind this card. Reminds me of at least 75% of my card making experiences!!! — having just one creative gene isn’t the easiest thing to live with but I press on toward the goal of being able to put cards together more quickly and with less frustration 🙂
I love your final result. Enjoy the quiet house and being able to stamp till whenever.
Oh my gosh Holly! Your story cracked me up.. I think we’ve all been there before. But for all your trouble you ended up with a gorgeous masterpiece. Love it!