Friday 24 August 2012

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...But Won't Complete This Quest!

There is not a lot you can do in ten minutes. You can't, for instance, play an entire board game or feed all the hell hounds or go to the market and back or wrap Super Mario Bros.....actually...wait...I do believe you can do that in six minutes or less - AT ANY RATE...ten minutes is not a lot of time - certainly not enough time to create an entire card! When presented with this crafting quest, I was skeptical it could be done, but I am never one to hit the decline button when presented with a quest.

Mistake #1 - Not having any sort of plan. My plan consisted of "I wanna use this stamp".
Not a great plan when working against the clock. So I got out that stamp, my ink pad and a piece of paper and started the timer.

Okay okay...think think....only got ten minutes. That is clearly not enough time to fight through the entire paper hoard and choose something for a background...what to do what to do....damn it...I've already wasted like 30 seconds. Hastily I grabbed the nearest Dylusions spray ink and gave the blank card a spritz. Hey...that'll work. I grabbed a few more colours and sprayed those on the paper as well. Luckily my heat tool was already plugged in. With one hand holding the heat tool, drying the sopping wet card front, I used my other hand to flip through my stamp book to try and find something else to use with this image. 

BAM! Found it. From the "Say What You Mean" Dylusions set. OH! ....and what was that? A Skull from the "Dependable Dotty" set. PERFECT. I removed those with my right hand (left hand still drying the card which was so wet it's now in the shape of a "u" after being dried). Yipe. That won't do. "Hmmm..." I think. "If I put that through the Cuttlebug it might flaten it out. Ya not so much. Ok....that wasted how much time?!? ARG. Plan B....finding an embossing folder to use so it will hopefully flatten the card out. 

Mistake #2 - Not having a plan {lol}.

Looking through alllllllll the Cuttlebug folders trying to make a decision probably wasted a good minute. I finally decided on a border folder and ran it through. Didn't really flatten it out. Oh well - not enough time left to think of a new plan. I just assembled the card front and tried not to worry about it.
After everything was stamped and glued on, I decided the embossing was hard to see, so I went over it with the "white picket fence" Distress Marker. Much better. Buuuut...the card was still a "u" shape and all crinkly. A quick glance at the timer revealed I still had enough time left to cut some paper out to glue on the inside, thus stabilizing the entire card. Did that. Then decided the inside was too plain, and quickly stamped some images.
BAM! Hit the stop button. *pant pant* I did it.....I managed to create a card within ten minutes!
Holy crap. I didn't think it could be done. Not my greatest creation, but not the worst either. If I had HAD A PLAN things would've gone a lot smoother. I earned +1200 speed exp points from this quest and leveled up my speed TWICE! I felt like a crazy person rushing around my craft room over the nine minutes.  

If you know me, you know I like a matching envelope to go with my card, so after cleaning up the mess from the whirlwind which was me, I made a matching envelope.
See...messy...just like the card. Now they match and everyone (especially my ocd) is happy. Lol.

This crafting quest was for 10 Minute Craft Dash Challenge #1.

It will also be entered into the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: No Rules! and the Divas By Design Challenge #49: Anything Goes.
Even though it was stressful, as I'm not used to working under that kind of pressure (especially with no plan in mind), it was still enjoyable and I look forward to conquering the next crafting quest for the 10 minutes craft dash!
QUEST COMPLETE!

~ Guild Master Crystal ~

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow you did well! Thanks for playing with us at Divas this week x

Ginny Larsen said...

you.are.HILARIOUS! hahahaha, i just about died reading your post! i TOTALLY know what you mean about having a plan... first card i made i think i may have hyperventillated a bit :D no joke.

but seriously, i LOVE your card... it's so bright and wonderful in it's messiness (i'm actually in awe of your level-headedness in getting all of that done in 9 or so minutes!)

great job, we're so glad that you joined us for the 10 Minute Craft Dash! we hope you'll come back and play again!

Sandra said...

Great job on the 9 minute card! Love the inky sprayed background. And it was so funny reading your post! Thank you so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. Hugs, Sandra

Wendy said...

Fabulous...Thanks for joining us at Divas by Design this week.
Wendy xx

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