Crafting Doesn’t Have to be Perfect

When I was making these cards, I thought once again I had destroyed them before really getting started. The watercoloring was blotchy, the colors weren’t mixing the way I wanted and I was about to throw these in the “you know where”. Then, I just took a break, breathed and told myself, “no more throwing cards in the trash, make this work!” So, after the watercolor had completely dried, I put them in my box that I keep all my new products in that I plan to soon use. This way I don’t put newly-bought items away out of sight. I needed to take a break and it helped.

I went back the next day and looked at the cards. Then, I prayed and it came to me to use my Nestabilities Iron Elegante die (my favorite!) from Spellbinders and my Quick Release Diecut paper (this stuff is the bomb for die cutting intricate dies!) I bought it on Amazon and it comes two in the pack, this vintage pattern just drew me in by Couture Creations, I love it! I’ll have a link to all the supplies I used at the bottom of this post.

After diecutting on top of my Neenah 110 lb. cardstock, I adhered them to the watercolor backgrounds which still shows the colors but covers up the mistakes!! LOL! Then I heat embossed the sentiment, “Have a Wonderful Day” by Avery Elle with Simon Says Stamp’s Ultra Fine Gold embossing powder and cut them out on Simon’s sentiment die strips that came in the mail the other day. The gold letters just made the cards pop and take notice! I went from hating these cards to loving them!

An important lesson I learned is don’t be so fast to give up! I have a tendency to do that when something isn’t perfect to me but since I need to watch my spending more closely, I have to stop being wasteful and go with the flow. Some of my best work over the years came as a result of an accident, unplanned design or totally off the cuff inspiration. That’s what makes art fun…you never know what you’ll get. It’s frustrating but at the same time, rewarding because you’re created something that hadn’t existed before.

Using my foam tape, I put them on top of WPlus9 Kraft paper. It’s nice to get away from the white cardstock every now and again. And… now, I have two new cards ready for sale! Love how they turned out!

List of Supplies (some of these are affiliate links which if you purchase using any of them, I’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you). Your support is greatly appreciated!

• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks – https://amzn.to/2IxmPcW
• Tonic Easy Craft Mat – https://amzn.to/2PmwW5g
• Spellbinders Nestabilities gold – https://amzn.to/2XN0EmR
• Wagner Heat Gun – https://amzn.to/2GoM7Xv
• Neenah Solar White 110 lb. Cardstock paper – https://amzn.to/2DoZBlj
• Kraft Cardstock (Wplus9) – https://www.wplus9.com/kraft-cardstock/ 
• Coulture Creations Quick Release Diecut paper – https://amzn.to/2XEdFik
• Ultra fine Gold embossing powder (SSS)
• Embossing Powder Tool – https://amzn.to/2Dz0sQC
• Versamark Clear Ink – https://amzn.to/2XCQzsC
• Misti Stamping Tool – https://amzn.to/2XCQGEy
• Foam tape (The BEST for adhering to the card bases especially with watercolor cardstock) – https://amzn.to/2DpfrfF
• Teflon bone folder – https://amzn.to/2VcfC8a
• Scor-buddy – https://amzn.to/2Xpletl
• Sizzix Big Shot Express – https://amzn.to/2Go3zeK

Next time, you think you’ve destroyed a card, give it a second or two and if possible find a way to either hide it or sand erase the area, but don’t give up!