Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Jingle Belles ROCK! (and so do I!)

Yeah, I know... it's WAY either past Christmas or way too early to start. But Phsshh! to you!

If you know me... I am a total bargain hunter. I begin my shopping for Christmas AND the year's birthdays to come the Day After Christmas! That is the best day... sales galore!

And so... those ladies over at the Jingle Belles have begun an awesome thing. Because, heh! They must've known that I was coming. AND! They must've known that procrastinating is my profession. Because... well... I'm SO good at it.

But they decided to create/make a different Christmas card every week, with unique challenges put up on Fridays to do it. And I... since I just found it last week... decided to join in. Now... they were on WEEK 3 for the challenges, but yeah... I decided I could try to catch up. So... I'm posting not one... not two... BUT THREE CARDS!!! Omgosh! Can you imagine that? Whelpers, neither can I... but here ya go!

Let's begin with this week's challenge - to use acrylic paints. But that wasn't the whole challenge... the challenge was based on UPC (Use, Practice, Create!) and that I did!

I created a simple card. And I seriously thought (in my head, of course!) that it would be simple to make. Easy peasy, right? Uh... whatever...

It took me a total of 3 tries to get it close enough to the way I had envisioned it, but here we are:

Attempt #1:
I brushed white acrylic paint over a Cuttlebug folder,
thinking the image would be impressed into the dark blue cardstock.
The Verdict: FAILURE #1!
Attempt #2:
I brushed white acrylic paint over the other side of same Cuttlebug folder,
again thinking the image would be impressed (but) onto the dark blue cardstock.
The Verdict:  FAILURE #2!

AND! The Final Attemp (#3), for Jingle Belles Challenge #3
(hmm... do you see a pattern with that number???)
The trick? Since the other attempts were blotchy and soaked into the cardstock upon pressing... I chose to brush the whole folder with white acrylic paint... and then... I LET IT D-R-Y! Yep! I did... and then the emulsion was pressed through the Cuttlebug onto the dark blue cardstock and very carefully, strategically, even... the blue cardstock was peeled off the folder. I kinda like the end result.
I'm kinda pleased... I then painted glitter glue on the snowy rooftops and glittered the whole night sky. Because... I kinda like glitter.  "Twas the Night Before Christmas" (Studio G stamp) was heat-embossed in opaque white (Ranger embossing powder).

Whew! That was a lot! And so... since it's so late... and I still have to link up to their post, I am retiring for the night and will post the other two cards tomorrow. G'Nite all...

Oh yeah! And if YOU want to participate (or just see what others did for the challenge)... go check it over at the Jingle Belles! Rock on!

9 comments:

  1. I think it turned out really cool! I never would have thought to let the paint dry first.

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  2. Well 3rd time was definitely the charm! This looks great.

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  3. Oh my goodness ... what an amazing effect with the paint ... thanks so very much for showing your first two attempts (I think it helps for others to see what happened because they may have ideas for how to use your first two effects) ... the glittery snow is the perfect touch ... so glad you're joining our little Jingle Belle journey ... love this card.

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  4. apparently, when thomas edison was working on what seemed at the time to be his "CRAZY" idea of an electric lightbulb, he'd made 1,000 non-working prototypes and someone asked if he was not depressed by so many failures. to which edison immediately replied, "what do you mean, FAILURES?! i've successfully discovered 1,000 ways NOT to make a lightbulb!!!"

    by which i mean...and i love that you mentioned it in your post: a big part of this week's brief was not JUST to make an awesome painty card (which you did, btw!!! ♥♥♥!) but also to embrace gina's UPC idea & try out new things and experiment! so BIG BIG BIG points to you for not only doing that...but also showing the results of your experiments so that we ALL benefit! AWESOME! thank you!

    (but yes, let me say it again: i ♥LOVE♥ your finished card, too!!!)

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  5. ps: i just noticed the title of your post...HOW did i miss that??! ♥♥♥♥♥! (you're right, as well!) :)

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  6. You have a great sense of humor and you're not afraid to share triumphs and challenges with the rest of us. Your card is great, I really like the effect - it's artistic, gentle, and serene.

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  7. It turned out beautifully! I like how you add the glitter glue in the sky too.

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  8. HOLY WOW! This is beautiful! I love it!!

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  9. This is awesome!! I love how you didn't give up and it turned out so lovely at attempt #3!! Thanks for the shout out about UPC. You totally got into the spirit of it. :)

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Thanks for sharing the luv! Feel free to look around to other posts. I so appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Love to know you were here! Have a happy day!