Monday, April 26, 2010

ATC No. 3 or The ATC That Almost Wasn't

Or the ATC that made me say things I would be embarrassed for you to hear me say.

The items I received were...


a ticket
a blue paper flower {@%$#@!}
a velvet leaf
a metal butterfly brad
a vintage scrap image
(and the bag it all came in, which was held closed with the pearl stick pin)

And here it is all finished.



The scrap image reminded me of a vintage hankie I had, so out that came to become the base for the front of the card. I hand sewed the hankie piece to a bit of white pillowcase fabric. I then placed the scrap and the leaf and proceeded to stop dead in my tracks.
It was the blue flower that stopped me.
I stared at it and stared at it.
I held it, I touched it, I spoke to it.
It just stared silently back at me.
I accidentally pulled the stem loose.

OH!

I flipped the card over...




I twirled the stem up a bit. Wrote on the back of the ticket. Stuck those two items down and poked the butterfly brad through the pillowcase fabric. I flipped the card back over and stopped dead again.
I pondered and pondered and pondered.
And then I channeled my friend Nina. I took that blue flower and proceeded to drown it in bleach. And it turned a not too bad shade of peach...

but clashed terribly with the golden yellow of the hankie. So back to pondering.

Wait! I have some golden yellow embossing powder!

I used it. And my peach flower turned a sooty sort of yellow. No good.

So I put more embossing powder on it and as I was heating it up for a second time, I noticed an odd odor in the house.
It took me a moment and then I realized... my blue, bleached peach, embossed to sooty yellow paper flower was charring.

Yup. But at least I now knew why it was a sooty yellow. All I had left up my sleeve was paint. So I painted it. However Mellow Yellow didn't look right with goldenrod yellow.

And as I was about to have a tantrum and hurl that little paper flower across the room, it dawned on me that I didn't need to actually use the flower. I had already used the stem... and that counts! I also realized I had the perfect vintage, velvet, yellow posies sitting in a box just a reach away.

And that is the story of ATC No. 3.

13 comments:

Suz said...

You just blow my mind. That s sooo cute.

FILIGREE MOON said...

Funny story! The card turned out sweet after all! ~ Angela

Marianne said...

I am glad you didn't burn your house down! And the ATC looks wonderful, sans blue flower and all.

Little Pink Studio said...

I love this story, and the beautiful work you created. Clever gal, using the stem like you did. The envelope is a favorite!
Cerri

knitterbeader said...

Oh, Alisa, you made me laugh. You gave it your best effort, and ended up with a beautiful ATC in spite of it all!!

Privet and Holly said...

So, THAT is what the working mind of a creative genius sound like! Fun to sit on your shoulder as you created! As always, I LOVE your finished product! Darling. Just...darling!
xx P&H

Anonymous said...

This crafting stuff is just plain dangerous, serious business! LOL!

All's well that ends well, Alisa, and it looks so sweet!

We'll forgive the bad words. ;-)

Diane

luckygirlgifts said...

Well, see you worried yourself for nothing. It turned out lovely. I think it might be my favorite of the three.
Have a fabulous week.
Cari b.

Tiedupmemories said...

Love it Soo Cute! Great job!

Erica Cook said...

Just discovered you through holly and privet. I love discovering a great blog. Will be following. xo Erica

Unknown said...

Teee,hee that's a funny story! Oh I curse every time I create something :) Your ATC is so lovely though. The colors and the Hanky look is just darling!

Sandy xox

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

What a brilliant design from those items!! The back is just darling.

Tania Pelletier said...

I love your little ATC!!! And your story cracks me up... I've had days like that. So I'm curious... did you hurl that stubborn little flower across the room like you wanted?!

Tania