IT'S COMING READY OR NOT!

I've finally finished my father's day cards! Yeah!!! I chose to do some that were kind of involved this year. In case I hadn't mentioned it to you in an earlier post, my moto for 2010 is "USE WHAT YOU HAVE"! My goal is to use the supplies I have and to stop clinging so tightly to them. A lot of time I will create cards, if not specifically for someone or for an event already, and sit back and look at them and want to just hold on to them or I'll have a wonderful element I SHOULD use on a specific project and just can't seem to part with it. I know, I know, I can't take it with me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a selfish person or a greedy person, but a lot of the supplies in my arsenal I've had for years! Some were passed to me from my mother who is now gone. Some from my sisters Rachel and Susan, never to be found in the stores again and some are simply great finds of my own.

My goal for this year though, is to use what I have NO MATTER WHAT! I've actually been doing really good so far.  I've also decided to challenge myself more this year by trying techniques I've seen and have always wanted to do but just never did. Well, with all of that said, here are my father's day cards for this year. The DVDs in side them are old stash from probably more than three or four years! See what I mean? I hope you enjoy what I've done with them and as alway... Thanks for stopping by!

You've seen Dick Tracy in the previous post.

I have an 8x8 stack that has some old newpaper print

pages in it and the articles were about elixers, caskets, hangings, etc

and I thought it was perfect for this western theme dvd card.

I actually cut each article I wanted to use loose so that I could

place them randomly on the card and also pop up a few.

I unfortunately came up with a better sentiment for the

inside of this card well after it was finished. LOL! Oh well,

isn't that how it goes some time?

Already signed... Ooops!

Wow! Is that Ronald Reagan???

This is actually a copy of the sketch I did for the front

of this card. I wanted to keep the original. Anyone remember

this show? I do! I watched it every week! LOL!

I wanted to do some dimensional things with this one, so

I raised the sketch and then raised the die-cut letters

twice as high.

Finally, this is the dvd that's inside. I'm satisfied with the

cards in this post okay. I know they could be better but,

perhaps next time. I am my worst critic.

PRECISION VISION!

So, I decided deep within myself that I just had to do this! I wanted to work on my father's day cards (motivated by my sister) and I had an idea to use some dvds that I purchased a while back. As soon as I looked at the Dick Tracy dvd cover I knew I had to duplicate it! My sister said I was crazy for doing it and we just laughed about it. I showed the card to my daughter and had trouble convincing her that I hand cut this image. Funny thing is, she was here at my home while I sat and worked on this card! I decided to take photos of, not just the card but of the steps involved in it's creation so all of you could see my process. I will let you all know that I do have an art background so challenges like this one make me feel alive! I'm normally happy with the outcome and interested in what others have to say about them. When I challenge myself like this, it helps me to know that I am still here, that the gifts GOD gave me are still intact, and that the 4 years I had art as a major was not a waste! When I look at something and it speaks to me... this is what happens. Thanks for stopping by! Bethann - aka - PawwPadd

PS. I must say, after I put this much work into a card or any craft item I plan on giving away, it's hard for me sometime to know whether or not the recipient will appreciate it for what it is and that makes parting with it that much more difficult. Do any of you ever feel this way?

                               After MUCH trial and error I came up with this as a template. I just

                                                 used a scrap piece of paper I had (thank you).

In the beginning. I really had trouble finding a tool to transfer the image onto the

black cardstock with. I ended up using a plastic canvas sewing needle. It's chunky

enough that it gave me something to hold on to and yet it has a blunt tip so I didn't

have to worry about it tearing through my template.

Very delicate at this point! Yikes!

Even more delicate! Coming to life though!

Test fit! I was very thrilled at this point. There were some areas I

wasn't happy with, but overall I was pretty happy.

I had to pull out my Sizzix SideKick to die-cut the letters. This was a

very long process. I had to cut the name Dick Tracy out three times!

Once in black, once in red and once in yellow.

The card itself is wider and taller than the dvd so I had to improvise

a portion of his body and the top portion of the card because of it.

I made a pocket to hold the dvd on the inside of the card. It's drab,

but by this time I felt as though I'd been worked over like a

punching bag in a gym! LOL! My finger tip went numb from

all of the cutting with the x-acto blade and my eyes were watering

for relief! LOL! It will eventually say "Happy Father's Day"!

Another look at the two side by side. Wish I'd had a darker

purple paper but... Hope you enjoyed this process as much as I did!

Thanks again for stopping by.