Yikes . . .

Had the rest of my day gone the way this card did, I would be fit to be tied right now. Luckily, it didn't. There's nothing worse than being in the final stages of making something and ruining it just as you're finishing it. When it comes to its sandability (a made up word) feature, I love CTMH's white-core cardstock. However, there are other times, particularly when I'm using black paper, that I find the white core to be a pain in the you-know-where. It's not unusual for me to run a same color marker along the edge to eliminate the white. Well, that's what I did tonight, and the marker slipped leaving a big, not-at-all-pretty black streak across the Breeze background piece. Were it not for this blog and the fact that I wanted to post something tonight, I would have chucked it and gone to bed. Instead, I salvaged what I could and started from there. It's not a great card anyway. The Stampin' Up Tab punch is one I "had to have" that has ended up being one I don't use. I thought the notebook paper them would be the place for it. Wrong. I don't know if it's the color or proportion or what, but it's ugly. My flower vase, while straight, looks crooked, probably due to the angle of the notebook paper.

This was the kind of stamping experience that would have kept me out of my corner for a week or so 10 months ago. Now, that this blog has become part of my life, however, I can imagine I'll try again tomorrow. My photo is bad tonight, too, which was enough to send me to Amazon.com to order one of those photo tent things. I found a collapsible one that I won't have to look at 24/7 in my small space.

Materials and Tools (like anyone would want to duplicate this thing): White Daisy, Black, and Breeze cardstock; Computer-generated "notebook" paper; Ocean, Carnation Pink, and Black stamp pads; With Love June SOTM and Happy Birthday stamp sets; Black mini brads; Sparkles; Stampin' Up Spiral and Round Tab punches; Cuttlebug w/Swiss Dots embossing folder.

The thing about this card is that experience tells me I'll add it to my "For sale" box at work, and it will most likely be gone in a day or two.

On a brighter note, Marv and I got a lot done today and worked side by side without picking on each other . . . much. We cleaned and dismantled the living room, preparing it for a coat of fresh paint. The draperies are down and ready to go to the dry cleaners tomorrow. The sofa pillows and a couple of throws went into the washing machine with the attitude that if they didn't survive, they could be replaced. A once nice silk ficus tree that Bjorn picked two-thirds of the leaves from three or so years ago finally took its rightful place in the dumpster. I cleaned a curio cabinet, all the while asking myself why anyone with two little kids around so often would have something that has glass on three sides of it. Speaking of little ones, our work came to a screeching halt when Bjorn and Mathias' mother called and asked if we could take them for the rest of the day until morning. I never complain when work turns into fun, and I did manage to get the laundry done after they arrived. Anyway, that was my day. It was nothing exciting, which for the kind of excitement we have when we have some, is a good thing.

I hope your holiday was a good one and that the rest of the week is whatever you want it to be. As always, thanks for stopping by and sharing my corner. I'll be back with a card or something and most likely, more mindless chatter tomorrow night. Take care.