Embossing

I'm back again after a short emergency break. Work is exhausting and May has been way too much, with me ending up in the emergency room at some point. On the bright side, there was nothing *really* wrong with me in terms of tests and labs, on the other side, all I got was the suggestion to check into the psych ward if I'm "too lazy" to function - after telling the doctor multiple times that I'm barely holding on while having to juggle too many things at once. Oh well. 

Anyways, I tried to prepare something for the "Dancing" challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog, but to no avail. I managed to glue the embossed silhouette of a dress onto a window card base that I embellished with a patterned piece of vellum. Fun fact: the dress is actually a leftover from an iris fold card that I made waaaay back in 2018 when I was still managing different pastimes alongside of living quite a normal life.

I then added a border made of tiny white pearls, but I never made it past that point before the challenge started. With the "Embossing" challenge being next, I decided to keep on working on my project. I added a couple of paper flowers to the pearly border, and then placed a few shimmering rhinestones onto the vellum background. 

By doing so, I managed to complete the motif, but I couldn't help thinking it looks like an island on its own: with the white embossed dress all isolated from the plain white background, the pops of colour didn't quite end up the way I planned. As I was looking for solutions, I remembered my sticker stash. I couldn't really think of a sticker that would match the vibe of my card, but I figured  Icould at least try to find something suittable. And I did: I took a golden floral border and placed it atop of my card layout. As the sticker wasn't long enough to cover the entire width of the card, I elongated it by adding bits of other stickers, making the transition as seamless as possible. Once that was done, I added a couple of golden vertical lines. Those tiny border stickers might seem weird at first, but I like to imagine them as some sort of garlands, or even fairy lights. 

In the end, I like how the golden elements come together, especially when you tilt the card in a way that makes the stickers shimmer. I think I can now consider the card to be complete, even though I have no idea where it will end up. For a wedding card, there is a very prominent lack of another partner. A birthday/prom card maybe? 

challenges:

- krafty chicks: ATG

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "for a woman"

- as you like it: favourite way of embossing (I prefer dry embossing by far as I don't own any embossing equippment, and there are many ready-to-use embossed papers which I can buy in single sheets or bundles. I've never seen wet embossing papers on sale, though. It's a very simple and practical reason on this one, no crafting preference, no deeper meaning.)

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: ATG with optional twist "lace/pearls"

- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "feminine"

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- love to craft: ATG 

- nachteulen: for the girls

- pennys papertake: ATG paper

Cars

Hello, Friday! With the beginning of the weekend, we start our new challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. This time, we'd like to challenge you to the letter C, which stands for "cars". My DT inspiration for you is a combination of yellow and green, as well as cars and flowers. 

I can not exactly point to the inspiration for my card, but please join me for a ride through my creative process.

First, I used a half-made card base from ages ago. I had once glued the strip of F1 cars to a green piece of cardboard, and placed it onto this embossed sheet of yellow paper. Since the embossed motif depicts fireworks and confetti, I figured it would be a match to the fast cars, making the card suitable for a birthday celebration, or as an acknowledgement of some other success. 

However, my crafting then came to a halt as I switched to other projects, and the card remained in my stash until recently. I have now taken it from my pile of half-finished things, thinking about how I could transform it to a proper crafting project. Since the main motif was already glued to the card base, I'd have to work my way around those cars. I started adding paper flowers as a trial, and somehow, I liked this unusual combination. I decided to go with white and yellow-ish blooms to match the colour scheme, and added some punched leafs for background greenery. I then added pearls in different shapes and sizes, until I realized that I've piled up an unusual amount of pearls - especially as a car-motif would indicate a masculine card. Oh, well... 

Once that was done, I was still under the impression that the card was missing something. I had a look at my sticker stash, and opted for a tiny golden border which I placed on the green background paper right beside the car image. At last, I had the feeling that my project is done. Still, I'm not sure about whether I like it or not. Is it too floral, too colourful, and too pearl-y for a male card? Do male cards always have to be some generic geometrical CAS thing? Could it be that it's a feminine card after all, featuring a car motif, because why wouldn't cars be suitable for women/girls? Growing up in what I now realize was a weird family combination, a car gave my mom the opportunity to get to work, earn her own money, and gain her independence. Being disabled, my car gives me the chance to go to medical appointments whenever it's necessary, whereas without a car I would only be able to see my doctor(s) if I could make it there on my own - which is not often the case. 

This challenge certainly challenged several gender stereotypes for me, and I can't remember using a car motif ever. Maybe that's the tricky part of the story? And what could possibly be a fitting occasion for this floral car card?

challenges:

- 613 avenue create: ATG with optional twist "splash of colours"
- a place to start: ATG with optional twist "flowers"

- as you like it: soft or bold colours (I like to create with both options, however I'm recently working on the bold projects in terms of colours. I guess the strong, vibrant colours are a great match for the spring season, as they can be found everywhere in nature. Using stronger colours in spring/summer somes natural to me as it's so good to see them after the bleak winter period.)

- can you handle the pressure: embossing with a twist "feminine"

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "summer"
- crafty gals corner: ATG

- creative inspirations: ATG with optional twist "feminine"

- do-all kreatives: ATG

- fabnfunky: embossing

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- love to craft: ATG 

- morgans artworld: ATG
- moving along with the times: flowers

- nachteulen: anything you like

- pennys papertake: ATG paper

- sparklesmonthlychallenges: April showers bring May flowers

- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide crafters and colorists challenge: ATG