Saturday, March 26, 2011

Just Us Girls {3-D/TEMPLATE} Challenge #77

Happy Saturday morning, friends!  I'm back with another edition of Just Us Girls challenging YOU to create!  Today, the oh-so-sweet-and-ultra-talented, Dana, is our hostess.  Leave it to that girl to show us a way to make a new, beautiful flower.  Today's challenge is to make a zipper flower for your project!  I gotta tell you, I'm STILL addicted to the burnt edged flowers that Dana challenged us to do, and I use those beauties everytime I need a pretty focal point.  I think these new zipper flowers might rank right up there with the burnt edged blooms though!  I bought several zippers, so I'm all set for a while :] 
So I decided I would share what I like to call a series of unfortunate events that I encountered yesterday in preparing and actually creating my card.  First off...I had no zippers and I couldn't think of any discarded clothing items that might have an old one I could salvage (plus, I had my color scheme all planned out...I needed choices, people).  So, before lunch, I ran downstairs to Target (yes, it's in our building at work) to see if they had any.  Nada.  Ran home at lunch to tend to my pup, but popped into Michaels first to grab a zipper.  No dice.  Finished my work day and decided to run to JoAnn's...but at one of the first stop lights, I decided to take a right and check out AC Moore instead since it's closer.  Of course they don't stock zippers!  So, back on my trek to JoAnn's...where I found the mecca for zipper sales!  Woot woot!  Mind you, it's almost 6 at this point and my card isn't even started.  I finally get home after 6, make dinner, take care of my pups, and eventually get started on my card. 
Looking at my card, it seems simple enough, right?  Just a little extra effort to put the pretty bloom together, but other than that, pretty basic.  Yeah, I thought so too.  My sentiment and the cut file it is layered on are an early sneak peek at the MTME April release where yours truly is the designer of the stamps and the label cut file :]  I cut the pieces on my Cricut, stamped my sentiment and embossed the label.  I set those aside while I sat downstairs and assembled my flower and my card.  I was ALMOST finished getting everything ready to adhere, only to drip a HUGE glob of water on my sentiment and label!  AARGH!  So...well after 11, I had to go back upstairs, recut my files, stamp, sponge, and emboss, before I could try to finish up.  I did that and assembled the rest of my card.  FINALLY!  I was finished...ready to photograph.  Or so I thought.  I picked up my finished card and opened it.  This is what it looked like:
So, easy enough fix...just completely unnecessary.  I cut the card in half and adhered the front panel to another piece of cs.  Ugh.  This all might not seem like a lot of "unfortunate events", but trust me, it was.  I didn't even touch on the zipper flower and how I butchered that! 

Let me start by saying that Dana has a wonderful, easy to follow tutorial on Want 2 Scrap.  I stitched my zipper as Dana recommended, using white thread.  She recommends using Fabri-Tac and not hot glue to adhere the flower coils.  Unfortunately, I didn't read her tutorial until I started making my card.  So, not only did I have to call my sweet friend Lisa while I was at JoAnne's to figure out what length of zipper to buy, I didn't know I needed to pick up some Fabri-Tac.  No worries though, I'm a big hot glue fan, so I figured I would just use that and be careful not to burn myself like I normally do.  I was successful in not putting a blister on my finger this time, but boy did I overload the glue!  It is EVERYWHERE!  Oh, and I couldn't figure out how to adhere it with the glue without some sort of base, so I punched a circle and adhered it to that :[  That's why mine is sort of flat.  Either way, once the flower resembled a bloom and was glued together, I admired my craftsmanship.  NOT.  I could see white thread all over that flower and glue was at every turn!  UGH.  No way was I starting this one over.  I pulled out my Cardinal (R59) copic and colored the thread AND the glue!  LOL  Hope you can't really tell in the photo!!  Ha ha

Anyway, that was my crazy night.  All for the love of a pretty bloom!  I do love this technique and the resulting flower, so I definitely will be using it again and hopefully perfecting my application of the technique :o]  Some of the other goodies you see on my card are the Beautiful Beech Leaf cut fileBorder Builders Elegance Scallop cut file, my Fluttering-by text paper, my Cherry On Top paper recolored to match the palette of our very first My Time Made Easy Pretty Palette Color challenge (MTMEPPC01) that Lisa is heading up. 
My layout was inspired by the Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO183).
So, with all that craziness, I hope you find it MUCH easier to whip up a pretty bloom and play along with us this week!  Can't wait to see the beauties you all come up with :O)  Be sure to swing by our fab DT's blogs for a lot more inspiration.  Don't forget to visit Alyssa Scritchfield, our very talented guest designer this month!  This is her last challenge with us :[  So sad to see her go...but I hope she'll still be a regular with us!
That's all I have for you today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a fantastic weekend :]

9 comments:

Lisa Kind said...

OMG!!! When I saw that picture upside down, I thought I was going to lose it! That is so FUNNY!!! Sorry for your trials and tribulations, but you really made me laugh! I love the outcome of your card! It's really very pretty! The flower looks awesome! Thanks for using the Pretty Palette colors!

Monique said...

Oh My goodness... What a day you have had... I am lmbo with the upside down card... you know how many times I have done that.... Regardless your card is just beautiufl as always Kristin.... Thanks for making me smile!!!

Tammy Hershberger said...

OMGosh, girl... you have me cracking up at your escapades! It was all well worth the effort... that flower is AWESOME!!! I think I'm heading to Joann's after work today!

Andrea M said...

ROFL!!!!!! Hilarious!!!! You poor thing! Lemony Snickett indeed! When you showed the pic of the upside down card, I laughed my butt off! I'm laughing with you (or at least I hope you can laugh about it!) mind you, as I have done this before. After carefully constructing a masked background, I go and put the embellies on and paste it to the base upside down! I feel you pain! Your flower is GORGEOUS!!! Way to go Copics!!! It worked perfectly! Bonus points for thinking on your feet!!! It is a STUNNING card despite your tribulations!

Elise said...

I laughed, I cried, I commiserated, and I WHOOPED, out loud! What a WILD ride! YOU should have zipper flowers eating out of your hands, by now! {Heh heh} But, I have to say, the end result was TOTALLY worth the wait! THIS is one, positively STUNNING card, my friend! ME-OOOWWW!

Btw, if you've never played with Fabri-tac : get ready for addiction! It works SO similarly to hot glue and doesn't show through ribbon: me LIKEY! ALSO, I saw a super cool offering from PLAID at CHA! They have a hot glue gun kit that includes some silicone tools and a finger cover to keep your digits SAFE! I can't wait to get MY hands on some - just in case!

Anyway, sorry for the enabling! But your story brought it out! xoxo!

Dana Gustafson said...

Ohhhhh noooooooo! I somehow feel responsible for this series of unfortunate events!!! It must help though to now gaze upon your gorgeous creation, now that it's all done! Thanks for sticking it out for the sake of crafting! loves ya GF!

Susie W. said...

On my!!! Isn't it unbelievable what we put ourselves through in order to make a card "just right"? The upside down thing? Been there, done that :(
Anyway...your card is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing your adventures in making this card, I loved reading it!!!

Kathryn B said...

Oh I'm sorry but this was too funny Kristin! What we go through for the perfect card! Your zipper flower is beautiful as is your whole card! I can see no glue or thread! LOL! Like the sentiment and cut file, can't wait to see your stamp set! Yippee!!!

Alyssa S said...

Hee Hee! I laughed my butt off (I wish literally!!) when I read your post! Sorry you had so many trials and tribulations but your card came out gorgeous in the end!

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