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