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WELCOME to my little arty world! Trying to make art is a huge part of my life ... love nothing more than messing around with inks and sprays and generally making a mess!

Wednesday 29 February 2012

ALL NEIL'S FAULT !!!

Yes, Mr. Neelz Expressionz I mean YOU!!!!!
There you go - posting photo's (keep 'em coming PLEASE) of your FaBuLoUs work on your blog and then being very helpful indeed by answering my Email query and then posting step-by-step instructions on "how to emboss and paint acetate" with barely a mention that not only would my experimentally-embossed-acetate would not be the only thing covered in paint!


I was covered!  
My craft-mat was covered!
The laptop was covered!
The house-phone was covered!
My mobile was covered!
And there was even paint floating in my coffee!!!!!


And I wasn't at all pleased with the results either!!!!
BUT - at least I stepped out of my comfort zone and Had-A-Go!  
The result was this card:




Oh but what a disaster!  Once the mess was cleared up and I could see the crafting for the paint I went to bin the acetate.  Then Anna Griffin's words popped into my head ... "there are no mistakes in crafting - only layers" and I figured I must be able to salvage it somehow.  

I'd just not worked fast enough to remove the paint from the acetate before it started to dry and so had tried to "encourage" it off with a craft knife blade and then my pokey tool but, of course, this just scratched into the acetate ... duh!

Ha-ha! I thought, determined not to be beaten ... Stickles!  I dibbed and dabbed a layer of Diamond Dust Stickles all over the back and managed to disguise the scratches just fine.  BUT the stuff would not dry - at least not fast enough for me.  I decided, after several hours waiting for it to dry, to go to Plan B.  Stickles is glitter GLUE right?  So why not use it to stick the acetate to a backing card?

Because that won't work either.  Took another few hours and leaving it pressed under three heavy hard-backed books to find that out.  SOOoooooo - pealed non-sticking acetate from the tag and wiped off as much of the Stickles as I could.  Mmmmmm ... actually quite like the effect of that so further salvation from the bin.

I left the backing card (which I had distress-inked already) with the blobby bits of Stickles on as these would still "match-up" with the acetate once I put them together again ... clever thinking, huh?

Eventually the acetate dried.  Eventually the backing card dried and with the help of that "red" super-sticky-double-sided-tape-stuff I managed to get the acetate and the card stuck together ... and the tape doesn't show through!!!!!

Finally I had something I felt was acceptable(ish) and chucking it in the bin might not be necessary after all.  I decided to go ahead and finish it and then Make-A-Decision on whether it would be good enough to use.

Cut two little hearts and embossed them - even they went wrong though as I wanted them dotty but got the Texture Fades embossing folder the wrong way up so I had debossed dotties instead.  Happy mistake as it turned out ok.

Bit more dabbing of the Stickles and distress-ink dying ribbon to match and printing out a little message and I actually think I have got away with it this time!

It is a card for my friend whose baby daughter died at nine months old and each year I send a remembrance card.  Sarah would have been 25 now.  I am worried it is a little too pink and sparkly for such an occasion and have never actually put Sarah's name on the cards before ... always just put "thinking of you" or "remembering" or some other such sentiment so am quite nervous and unsure about sending it.  Will have to think on that one.

SO Neil ... see what trouble you caused me?  Can't wait to have another go mind you and see if I can get into more of a mess this time!!!!!

25 comments:

  1. ah this is so beautiful Bette you have done a stunning job! well rescued Shaz in oz.x
    PS Pray you make the right decision.."if any man (or woman lack wisdom let him ask of God God.." James 1:5

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  2. Hi, thanks for blaming me! I'm glad you had a go and I think that it looks pretty good from here! Next time try to curb your enthusiasm and then you may find the paint stays a bit closer to home! Have fun though......

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  3. oh well done you, it's looks fantastic to me, I still haven't had a go as i don't have any inky things YET! Glad I could comment this week, thank you for my snoop have a great crafty week, Lyn ((woyww!!

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  4. I love it, and well done to neil for sharing this project!! I think Sarah's parents will love this tag and the fact that you handmade it for them and made it more personal to for them, Hugs May x x x

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  5. Well I think it all worked out well and we get in a mess even if it doesn't so you are winning.
    Great fun reading all about it..
    Love joZarty and thanks for visiting

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  6. uh oh, watch out Neil! It was a hard journey but the out come is stunning, so sorry to hear of baby Sara, but this card is beautiful just perfect.

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  7. From what I can see there the card is no disaster, maybe its just not what you planned it to be. I keep lots of bits of twisted wire from my jewellery making, to show me what not to do next time. 3 pots of it and growing.

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  8. Thanks for passing on the Liebster Award to me. I will be sorting out who I shall pass it to this week. xx Maggie

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  9. I'm exhausted from reading this post, but applaud your perseverance. I'd have tossed it all the bin and washed my hands of it long ago. The finished project is fab though!

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  10. Lovely project ! I like all the muted but warm colours ! Thanks for stopping by earlier ! Enjoy a crafty week ! Ali #65

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  11. The card is beautiful, no matter how you got there! I think your friend will like it. Happy WOYWW!

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  12. Wow, whatever you say about the trials of getting there, Debbie, I think this card is absolutely stunning. It is so delicate and beautiful with its muted colour scheme and gorgeous textures, and what a truly beautiful way to remember a little baby whose life was so tragically cut short all those years ago. A loving sacrifice indeed, to put so much effort into producing something that has ended up so beautiful!

    I think Sarah's mother will be really touched. So many bereaved people say that one of the hardest things to bear is that their loved one's name is never mentioned. They love to hear it, and it keeps their memory alive. I think you may be surprised at the response!

    Neil - if you are reading this - I would love to try this technique!! I'm prepared to make a mess if I can end up with results like this!

    Not surprised you got the texture fade upside down. Those embossing folders are a pain! They work the other way up from all the other ones, and you have to remember every time to use them upside down lol!

    Thanks for visiting my blog! Lol at your comment! I think being an artist/crafter makes one look at ordinary things in a rather different way from the "normal" population lol lol!!!

    Happy WOYWW,
    Shoshi #38

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  13. You are one patient lady. It is such a nice story of how you salvaged this.
    Such a wonderful thing you do to remember that anniversary so your friend is not alone with her memories that day. Truly touching!

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  14. Wow this is just lovely! I think your friend will be touched, I think it's just perfect. x

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  15. yes indeed start a journal, go for it and use the online freebie guides - till you feel comfortable doing your own thing - I may run a free tutorial on line course over the summer if enough people are interested...

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  16. This is quite fabulous- I know exactly what you mean about trying everything you can think of to rescue a project- and the silly thing is, I think we are the only one who sees the imperfections- everyone else thinks it looks great!

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  17. What a lovely thing to do for someone. I would be blown away if someone remembered every year like that as most people just want to pretend it never happened. Experimenting is good - we always learn something ;-)

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  18. I love your story..your determination is amazing. What you had were very happy accidents and the results are true art. How sad to loose a child, it's sweet that you remember and I think your card will be perfect. I'm sure there are happy memories that the sparkle will bring out and sad memories that will be made better through the beauty you created. I'm going to have to check out Mr. Neelz's blog.

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  19. Funny how we have a perfect picture of our project in our heads and then the hands and project seem to take on a life of their own and turn out to be something very special and not what we started to do at all. Seems you just did that. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet comment.

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  20. Funny how we have a perfect picture of our project in our heads and then the hands and project seem to take on a life of their own and turn out to be something very special and not what we started to do at all. Seems you just did that. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet comment.

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  21. Oh this turned out beautifully! I would say definitely give it to your friend as it is lovely!
    Okay, the ATC's I threw in the recycling bin I have now dug them back out and will try again. You are an inspiration!
    And I love your header as well! Ours are very similar to each other!
    Thanks for the visit earlier and Happy WOYWW!
    xoxo Karen

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  22. Hello!

    This is really beautiful and what a lovely effort to make on the part of your friend. Wishing you a happy day!

    Hugs,

    Barbara Diane

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  23. Such a story! I think we've all had that sort of project and I'm glad yours turned out so nicely.

    Cheers,
    Susan#140

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  24. a wonderful post and story! Love your makes and that you got good dirty! Thanks for calling by ...Sarah at 1 having a late WOYWW peek and blog nose on Friday!

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  25. What a beautiful Tag i love it Hugs Elaine , PS.nice story

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