Saturday, July 12, 2008

The pinkie...

I am always thrilled when I have a completely free weekend - no need to go to work for extra assignments (without extra pay, mind you) and not a lot of housework to deal with.
First thing I do on such weekends is oversleep :D and the second one is make a card or two.

** Speaking of making cards, here are two questions I have for you, if you'd care to answer:

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- How much time does it take for you to craft a card?
[A "medium" one, or whatever YOU call it --> neither the simplest nor the most complicated, just a card with, let's say, some paper/cardstock layering, a few embelishments, a bit of stamping]
- Do you always have the card planned in your mind or it 'creates' itself, so to speak, while you're working on it?
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I think it takes me a very long time to do a card from start to finish and always think I'm doing something wrong and most probably everybody else is doing it in half of the time I need, or less.


In my defense ;) I will confess to having a very small area I can use for crafting and not having very many crafting tools that might make cutting and gluing easier. I cut everything with a scissor or crafting knife, measuring card and paper with a ruler and using my cutting mat as a guide. I use regular double sided tape, on a roll, and I don't know how but it seems to take me "ages" to apply it on every bit of paper I need.


My crafting *strip* :) is in front of my computer, on the table I keep my keyboard and mouse on. And to have most of my supplies at hand I keep boxes and boxes perched on a narrow shelf on my right.
Here's an old photo of my computer corner. I wasn't crafting at that time (spring-summer last year) so everything could be kept tidy.
I wouldn't DARE to show you how that space looks today
but I just wanted you to see how big my table is. And on the right, where the CDs/DVDs used to be now there are all those boxes I told you about, crammed one on top of the other. And there is much more stuff on the table too.


I am sure many of you don't have special crafting rooms, but maybe you have a bigger table and more storing place near where you craft. I'd love to hear a few words about your crafting space if you're willing to share it :)

Now let's get to the main subject of this post - my PINKIE.
Here it is...
I made it today, trying out more of my new TAC stamps. It took me a bit more than 2 hours to finish it [yes, it's a shame, I know it :)] and it isn't what I had in mind when I started it.

While I was taking out the supplies I needed, to have them all handy, different ideas started to haunt me and the original design I thought about has nothing in common with the outcome, except maybe for the pink base card and the twig stamp I wanted to use.

The twigs are heat embossed - stamped in pink ink and embossed with holographic powder. My scanner doesn't show it, maybe I should start using a camera for getting my cards into the computer.


So this is where my above questions came from :)

Thanks for looking and reading!
May you all have a fabulous weekend.


6 comments:

MichelleO said...

Thanks for the kind words on my blog! Your card is precious! Love the pink!

As for the questions....hmmm. well some cards take me more than an hour, and then some fly out in 15-20 minutes. I usually have a plan in my head... and then it turns out nothing like it in the end! LOL
HUGS
MichelleO

2 Worlds said...

MAda some people use sketches, i think its a great way to start
so you dont have to think a lot, and you can modify to your style,go to pagemaps.com you have cards sketches.
Also dont think too much.
and have fun !
Great CArd !

Ila said...

Hi Mada for the kind comments!
Your Pinkie is Beautiful!! I have enjoyed browsing through your Gorgeous creations!!

I'm really not sure how long it takes me to make a card..I color a # of images when I color. When I make a card I sometimes I like to use a sketch from a challenge...sometimes I just like to play with it.....It takes me longer to finish a card with accents..than anything else...I guess I would have to say an evening. But I tend to be interrupted continuously.....

Anonymous said...

Funny you should bring up the question of how long it takes to make a card...I was just thinking last night to ask you that very thing! The only reason I hesitated was because I thought perhaps I had already asked you that before, so I figured I'd 'sit' on the thought for awhile and see if an answer came to me. It did, but not in the way I expected! LOL!

You wouldn't dare show us a photo of your computer table now? Aw, come on! Be brave! Be daring! ;-) It certain can't look any worse than mine...and I don't have card crafting to use as an excuse! :-) I'm glad you mentioned that that was an old photo of your computer. I have to admit, I was a bit concerned to see that you haven't changed your desktop wallpaper in over a year! I thought I might have to have a little chat with you about that! ;-)

P.S. Pinkie is very pretty!

mel m. m. mccarthy said...

It's a gorgeous card! The long layout is lovely & I love the way the branches and the ribbon follow those lean lines. I hear you about things taking a long time. I don't know how people make things quickly. It takes me hours & hours to make a card. No exaggeration! I throw out (well, put aside) a lot of elements & I get side-tracked a lot, but one card can take me 5/6 hours. And that's with a paper trimmer! I don't know how you do it with scissors! :0) That takes real talent!

My space is my dining-room table & I use tape on a roll like you--pain in the tushie! ;0) I dream of an atg gun & a table that's 20 feet long, so I never have to clean up! LOL. I'm tempted to take a picture of the horrid mess i make, so you'll feel tidy! You'll have to trust me on that one. (Sorry for using up so much space!) :0) mel

Mada said...

Thank you everybody for posting and for such nice words.
I think pink is a sure bet - it doesn't mater what you put on it or how clumsy you craft ;), when people see PINK all is well and beautiful :D

Michelle - I am so happy to hear I'm not the only one ending up with something else :)
I could never do a card in 15-20 minutes, my personal record is 35.

Jana - I am having so much fun making cards that I'm able to quit my job and do nothing but craft - too bad I cannot afford it :)
I know about pagemaps.com, I've saved everything that was available in there and I've used some for my cards. I'll be definitely using more of them.

Ila - That's a great idea! Coloring a few images at once and have them ready for when the mood strikes. Excellent!

Hausfrau - LOL! I did change my wallpaper, I do it quite often. Currently I have an awesome Kagaya design, my zodiac sign.
As for the cards and the time they take, the quickest I did was in 35 minutes and the 'laziest' in approx. 4 hours. The 'medium' ones, as I said, take 2-2.5 hours.

Mel - For me it's no wonder you need 5-6 hours to finish a card. Yours are works of art.
I'm totally with you on the 20 feet table and especially on the "never cleaning up" thing :D