Hey everyone! I hope you’re having a great weekend!
So, as I stated in this post, I had been trying to give the latest Tuesday Trigger a go, but the card I was creating was totally beating me. I got so frustrated and stuck that it has sat on my desk for two whole weeks, just pointing and laughing at me. Bad card! How dare it get the better of me?!
Here is the inspiration photo we were given:
Beautiful, so mouthwatering! But what to do about how I was trying to execute it?!
So, the card sat there. For two whole weeks. But, not being one to be defeated, and being stubborn/bloody-minded determined, I finally grabbed it today, figured something out that I felt I could do to it to make it work, and ended up with this:
What do you think? Was it worth it? lol.
Let me explain the journey this card has taken, and all the crazy steps until I finally got to this point.
I started with a Sweet Blush card base. I decided I wanted to create an ombre look with glitter, so I sprayed the card with spray adhesive and then added different colours of Martha Stewart Tinsel/Vintage Leaf glitter to it, as I didn’t have the right kinds of pinks in my fine glitters, and wanted to try something with a chunkier look.
It did not work.
The vast majority of the glitter would not stay put, and the result was… patchy, to be kind. So I sprayed it again and added more of the same glitters. …better, but still rubbish. Plus now I had lots of tacky patches where the adhesive had sprayed, but the glitter wasn’t quite taking, still. So to counter that I coated the entire thing with Crystal Fine Glitter.
No longer tacky, but still looked tacky (see what I did there?).
Next, I decided I needed to fix this terrible patchy/messy look, so I decided to dab over the whole thing with Distress Paints. The glitter would remain and create a cool texture, kind of like the cake texture in the photo (or so I told myself). And I could get a better ombre/blended look too. So I broke out the Distress Paints in Victorian Velvet, Picked Raspberry and Spun Sugar and covered the whole thing.
Finally getting somewhere. Sort of. I had the ombre look I wanted, and some cool texture, but how to finish it off?! I didn’t want the card to have no sentiment (might as well have just been just some random thing instead of a card!) but I didn’t want to cover up the ombre effect I’d worked so hard to achieve. I decided to try and stamp and heat emboss a sentiment in gold, at the bottom.
Disaster. As I’m sure you expected! The embossing powder would not behave and sit nicely on my texture, and the sentiment didn’t work anyway, and couldn’t even be read. So I dabbed my Distress Paint over it to cover it and save my mistake! Thankfully a couple of layers of that worked!
And then I gave up.
And thus, there it sat, for two weeks. Then today I decided to use my Hero Arts Life In Your Years stamp to create another card. And suddenly I thought acetate. And this card. Could this be the answer?
I’ll let you decide!
Even this step wasn’t easy though, of course! I stamped on the acetate with Stazon Cotton White ink. Patchy, and dull, to say the least. On top of that went some WPlus9 White Pigment ink. A little better but no cigar. So on top of that went some Versamark (thank God I’d had the foresight to use a stamp positioner!). And then some WOW! Opaque Bright White embossing powder. Annd then ages trying to swipe off stray grains using three different paintbrushes. And then upon heat embossing, deciding it still wasn’t a good enough job, and used a craft knife to scratch off some of the most obvious grains. Before working out/deciding that because of the background it was sitting on, they wouldn’t be noticed anyway. Meh.
I adhered the back of the acetate to the back of my base using my Teresa Collins Mega Runner. And then faffed with the alignment of the acetate on the base until it finally felt acceptable enough to show you all.
I know this card won’t be a winner, but I’m glad I finished it. And sometimes that’s more important.
Thus concludes my tail of woe and struggle, finishing with this card. I would love to know what you think of it! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Supplies:
I know you worked hard on this card last year & it does not go unnoticed,even today! I want to feature your card for upcoming Trendy Tuesday post for the blog at Paper Crafters Library. You can ck out the blog here: http://blog.papercrafterslibrary.com/ The image will credit you & link back to your blog as well. If you do not wish to be featured, just let me know.
I would be honoured! Thank you so much Katherine! Please let me know once it's live! ๐
I was on the edge of my seat (OK, not really, slouching on the couch, but figuratively I sure was!) as I read through the account of your creative process. Love hearing about the dead-ends, and what you tried differently the next time. Great post, wonderful card (how did you emboss on acetate without it curling?!?) And congrats on your win, too : )
You are quite possibly the most resilient and tenacious card maker out there…never give up! The result will be as gorgeous as this card. Love it.
I knew it! Persistency always reward… well, not always, but at least rewards our soul. Congratulations on your TT win!
Total winner ๐ Thanks for sharing the story.
Never underestimate yourself or your talents….see….you won! Congrats!
Congrats on your win…totally paid off ๐
Fabulous card!!! Definitely worth the effort!!!
Congrats on your TT Win! Lovely card!
See it was definitely worth it! Congrats on win!
HUGE CONGRATS on the TT shout out Taheerah – a FABULOUS winner!!!
Wow! It may have taken a long time to get to this final result but the texture and effect is amazing. Congrats on a well-earned TT win!
Congrats on the Trigger win! So worth it, wasn't it? ๐
Wonderful! After all the hard work you deserved to be a winner!
What a BEAUTY, Taheerah!! No wonder it's a WINNER over the TT!
You are much more motivated than I and your end card is simply fantastic! I bet you were tired after writing up that blog post. ๐
Wow! It is so encouraging to know there are others who fight for perfection. Looks to me like you won the battle. The final beautiful texture is worth the fight!
Hey Taheerah! Thanks for linking this up to this week's Tuesday Trigger in the Moxie Fab World. I'm so glad you joined in on all the fun! ๐
OH MY GOSH, this card is a beauty! All that work has to count for something of a winner in my book! Don't think I have this kind of perseverance~but sure glad you do, Taheerah ๐
Seriously, I think it's a winner. The words are so cool, they kind of glow and definitely look to be on a different dimension, at first I thought the big letters might be die cut and popped out. It looks amazing!
I'll betcha this IS a winner! It's a beautiful take on the Trigger, and so worth all the trouble – I hope someone REALLY special receives it!
Oh Amy this is so worth it! Girl…you made something FABULOUS! Love the glitz!!!
Definitely worth the effort. The textured look of the card is amazing!
this turned out absolutely stunning, Taheerah! i seriously would have given up the first try. it's awesome that you went back to it and finished it so beautifully! LOVE!
Wonderfully fun card T! I wish we could of talked on the phone about your sentiment dilemma as white embossing on acetate is one of my favorite things to do! I know I would have suggested it!
Linda
this is gorgeous!!! you did a great job!!!!!!!!!!
Taheerah, this most certainly a winner, in every sense of the word ๐ You also get a prize for a feat of perseverance ๐
Love it! Colors and texture are exquisite! TFS
Gorgeous! Saw your card on Pinterest, came over for a closer look and found the amazing story behind it! You get 10 points for effort and resilience and A+ for a wonderful result!!! Seriously, it would have ended up in the bin (trash) after the 1st couple of steps for me – give yourself a big pat on the back!
Yes, this was totally worth the wait! LOVE the texture from the glitter! LOVE!!
…and your is definitely gorgeous too Taheerah!
I'd say in the you vs card fight that you definitely won! Loved hearing the story ๐ Added to which it's a great card!
Not a winner? After all this adventure? It seems to me you just won!!! Besides, I love that amazing texture and colors!