Good Technique Gone BAD...and I'm organized again

Well, here it is. A good technique gone bad... This one just did not turn out how I thought it would. I was going for a very textural, lacy, almost spidery effect, and ended up with this blobby-holey thing (that is a technical term!).

I was attempting to duplicate a gorgeous technique that I saw demoed at a stamp convention. The technique directions called for Fusible Webbing. I was excited, because I thought: "I have some of that and I have never used it! Here is my chance!!"

So I pull out all the supplies: Starburst Stains from Lindy's Stamp Gang, Moonglow duotone embossing powders, my heat tool, the cardstock and Fusible Fibers. Anyone see anything wrong with that? Fusible Fibers and Fusible Webbing are NOT the same thing. Not at all. When I heated the fusible fibers, they were great at adhering themselves to..... themselves.... Not to my shimmery cardstock! Back to the drawing board.

So that is how I came to this technique. Again, my thoughts went here "OHHH! I know! I have some of that Heat and Bond stuff! I can use THAT!" So off I go -- sprayed the cardstock (okay, I admit it, my fingertips, too), adhered the Heat and Bond, dumped on duotone EP, and heated it...and these huge, ugly holes erupted. ohhhh... Heat and Bond is not the right stuff either...and although this is kinda cool (notice, it is kinda with a little "k", not a capital "K"), it is not a technique suitable for the Technique Junkies!

Why not, you ask? Well, mainly because I have a few criteria for what I include and what I do not. I have been producing newsletters for 5 years; I think my formula works MOST of the time. Of course, I have made a "few" mistakes. Beaded Toothpaste cost me alot of subscribers (everyone has a lapse in judgement SOMETIMES).

Each time I consider a technique I ask myself a few simple questions:

1. Does this have appeal to a relatively large audience?
2. Are the supplies easy to get, or can I offer substitute ideas?
3. If not, is this a product that is new/fresh/hot on the market?
4. Does this have a quick and easy appeal?
5. Is this something that I would be proud to send to my own family and friends?

Let me tell you, this mess failed #1, and most certainly #5. I did end up making two ATCs and a card from the blobby-holey paper (that technical term, again!), but I am still not using it. I love the idea for ATCs, but I wouldn't send a card using it. Would YOU? By the way, I did find the correct product in my stash yesterday while I was cleaning, so the "real" technique will be filmed for a future newsletter. Just in case you want to go shopping : )



Although the card at right isn't something I would send out, the "A" was a cool discovery. That happens sometimes -- one failure leads to a cool idea.

Don't you just love the saying on the card? "Art is not what YOU see, it is what you make OTHERS see." Isn't that appropriate?

Stamp credits:
Dream ATC: Stampland, Rubber Cottage, Stampers Anonymous
Predict the Future ATC: Club Scrap
Art card: Innovative Stamp Creations



Finally...my room is clean!

Chaos Reigns!

Wow, this is just not pretty. This is the top of my desk, and to the right, the floor behind my desk. Well, I think it is, anyway. It has remnants and vestiges of the last three projects I worked on piled all over it (see the snowflake stamp, glitter and paper from yesterday?). The floor has all kinds of plastic containers filled with paper (remember, I just can't stop buying it!). There is "stuff" everywhere in my stamp room. I vowed to clean it up yesterday, and I have made tremendous headway -- I am almost done and will finish tomorrow and actually show you where I work. In "Clean" mode. I am not a slob -- although you can't tell it by the pictures! I just had too much to do, too little time, and had to make some sacrifices. I filmed 15 techniques in 4 days, and then had 50 cards to finish -- that would be enough to send the best organized person into a tizzy (except, maybe, for Barbara E!).

I have a project to tell you about tomorrow, too -- a technique that didn't quite work out -- one that the junkies will never see, but I will show you here. There is a fine line between art and garbage sometimes... and this isn't art! It will give you insight into how I develop techniques and what criteria I use before I publish something in the newsletter, though, so some of you may find it interesting.

In the meantime, I am off to a barbecue tonight with my family -- we have some fireworks and some apple pie, and I am taking the hostess some beautiful sunflowers. How much more American can that be?