21 May, 2021

Dragons or dinosaurs

Please don't ask me what I was thinking when I picked "Dragons or dinosaurs" as the task for the current Alphabet challenge, because I honestly have no idea. 
Looking back, I thought it would be nice if I could challenge myself with a masculine dragon card. As I expected this specific theme could be a challenge to many of you, I decided to add the dinosaur-option to make it a bit easier. However, once the theme was set, I just couldn't find the proper masculine dragon digi. 
Next on my list was this fantastic TP dragon freebie - however, the whole toilet paper hoarding thing is almost forgotten by now and I couldn't wrap my head around this image either. I began to lean towards a fun project for kids featuring a cute little dragon, but it didn't really resonate with me either. 
For the record: yes, it was me who has chosen the dragon theme. And yes, I had no idea what to do. Time for an emergency exit!

In my despair I began to explore dinosaurs. Again, I began looking for digis and stuff in my stash. I found a cute scrapbook paper featuring dinosaurs, which would be a perfect match for a children's birthday card. But somehow, I didn't feel like creating a card. As I searched some more, I remembered a specific napkin I had: a pair of dinosaurs in a desert-like scenery. 
Slowly but surely, things began to fall into place: mom has saved some flower pots from the trash recently, and I have already reserved some for my plants. However, I didn't like the colours and planned to upcycle them some time in future. As I needed to come up with a dinosaur project soon, I figured I might as well use some napkin decoupage on one of the pots.
I covered the weird mud-yellow base with several layers of white acryllic paint, and cut the motifs from the napkin: a pair of dinosaurs, as well as some cacti and stones. Once I decided on where to place the cut-outs, I glued them on the pot using a mat varnish. 
Naturally, I made sure to seal the most important motif first, meaning I created a rather ughly tear in one of the dino's comb before I realized it was one of those napkins that are especially nasty to work with: super thin stuff that is ripping at every opportunity. Not to mention the wrinkles!
Nevertheless, I managed to decorate the pot without further accidents, leaving the varnish to dry overnight. Next day, I added a couple more layers to make sure the decoupage will sustain scratches and else. 
And somehow, I think my little Yucca palm fits quite well to the world of dinosaurs. 

challenges:
- krafty chicks: CAS
- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT
- craft-alnica: animals
- crafty calendar: masculine
- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "cute as you like"
- crafty sentiments: ATG
- friendship challenge: wild animals
- love to craft: ATG 
- path of positivity: change your environment (I'm changing my micro-environment currently by adding plants to my apartment. It's not that bad yet, but I think we can talk about "more than the average number" of plants here. As I still try to present them in an orderly manner, I find myself looking for pots, swapping pots or creating "new" pots by upcycling old ones - which again is a change for the actual environment as usable things don't end up at the landfill.)
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07 May, 2021

Chocolate or coffee

Chocolate or coffee? What seems to be an existential question to many, is the title of our task at the Alphabet challenge this fortnight. I don't consume any of the above in huge amounts, and while I do enjoy chocolate here and there, I never really got used to coffee. At all. Ever. 
I guess I'm an atypical med student here, as the brown magic never kept me awake before exams: I could drink a cup and go straight to bed. Needless to say, I didn't stick with something that doesn't seem to work for me. I have my cappucchino every now and then, but it's mostly for occasions when I'd like to have something warm and sweet - and the amount of sugar I'd add makes my coffe-loving sister roll her eyes in disbelief (and probably in disgust, too).

Anyway, I wanted to create an elaborate card for my DT inspiration, one that would include some sort of chocolate cake with lace and pearls and papers in different shades of brown. But since I had little time to prepare the project, I turned out to be something very different in the end. 
To make it quick, I decided to work around a focal sentiment. I've opted for a coffe-themed one as I think it will be a short note for my sister eventually. I printed it on white cardboard, and placed it on two kinds of background paper: one with a brown-ish swirls, and a plain brown one. 
The cardbase is one of those mini-cards that don't leave much room for embellishments. Still, I decided to add a bit of an eye-catcher by using an edge punch and a couple of pearls. 

challenges: 
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