CASology # 52 Neon + Summer Card Camp 2 Reflections

I have a nice big mess in the office, working on a few different projects. It is one of those days when I can't decide what I want to do, so work on bits & pieces of everything and finish nothing.

I'm taking a break to post these cards. The deadline is rapidly approaching for the CASology Neon challenge. I don't really have neon inks or paper, but a couple of packs of brightly colored crepe paper come very close.

I love the texture the crepe paper gives to the balloons - the strings are hand drawn and a simple sentiment finishes everything off.

This second card is my attempt to CASE (sort of) a mini-window technique from Cristina Kowalczyk  for the Summer Card Camp 2 online class.

This Wplus9 Quilt Prints stamp is the only stamp in my collection that could work for this technique - the result isn't what I wanted but I am glad I played around with it and have added a couple more stamps sets to my ever growing wish list.

As I made these cards, I kept thinking about the 10 Minute Card Challenge that was part of the online class. The birthday card above was a 5 minute or less card - three runs through the Big Shot to cut the balloons and a single stamp. The second card took WAY longer to make as a I agonized over which pieces to cut and which to color.  For me the 10 Minute Card Challenge really became a 10 minute assemble a heavily preplanned card challenge and I think that is why I didn't enjoy it very much. Given the fact I had just watched Jen Rzasa's overlapping die cut technique and was determined to use it didn't help the frantic race against the clock feeling I had.

I am the kind of crafter that usually starts with a reasonable idea of what I want to create and often ends up in a very different place - know what I mean? I am leaving the 2-4-6-8 card as is (because everything is glued down LOL), but if I didn't have the stop watch on, I know I would have cut some more stars in different colors or maybe rearranged the colors in the numbers (I really don't like the big orange star close to the orange 2). I would probably have tested a couple of different colors for the embossed sentiment. I know I would have taken way more than 10 minutes to make this card (and I really did if we count the planning).

It was definitely an interesting challenge, but I really enjoy puttering around in my office and rarely (fortunately) have to make something under pressure.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie