Teapot Tuesday 53

When I saw the teapot of the day I knew pretty much what it was that I wanted to do today. I actually pulled Cindy's glob up at work (shhhhh, don't say anything!!!) and started planning in my head. Since school is not in session now I was going home for lunch and I thought (silly me) that I could get this done during my lunch break. Well, it almost happened.


I fixed my lunch and while I was eating I was collecting my supplies. The stamp I wanted to use was upstairs, so I ran upstairs (well, not really - let's say I moved as fast as I could up the stairs) and then went over to the stamping table (my dining room table) and got out the colors of paper and markers that I wanted to use. Then I ran the paper through the Big Shot with the oval scallop die.

Since this image has to be colored with markers it does take a little time - tick, tick, tick. I colored the stamp, huffed, and stamped. Then I ran the image through my paper crimper. THEN I decided I didn't like the way the blue flowers looked - tick, tick, tick. So I decided to throw everything in a bag and take it back to work with me and finish (no one else was in the office today - remember I said SHHHHHH!)

When I got back to work and sat down to finish the card I quickly realized that I had forgotten a few things........... like the paper crimper and the mat pack for the paper piercing. This is when it occured to me that I would have to improvise if I were to get the card done. You'd be surprised what you can use in the place of something else (and what money I could have saved by using these makeshift tools) (Hey Dana - are you reading this?).

I recolored the image and stamped it again. The blue is still not quite right, but better than it was the first time. The little butterfly is actually two half butterflies glued together at the body. I stamped each side separately, cut them out and then glued them together. Just a little hint here if you do this - take your marker(s) and colored the white edge of the image after you cut it out - it blends in so much better that way!

I work in a school, so there's lined paper available. I took the lined paper and some post-its and was able to use the lines in the paper as guidelines for the scoring (since I forgot the crimper). I had a metal ruler in my desk and a letter opener which doubled as a bone folder. Putting the paper on my mouse pad gave just the right resistance for the scoring. I did one side of the image and then turned it over and recentered the lines so that when I was done with both sides the paper would have hills and valleys (like it would if it were properly crimped).

Then I got out a push pin and my mouse pad and did the paper piercing. Next was the bow. I didn't like how bulky it was when I tied it normally and just wanted to gather the center. I did have some white cotton string in my hand and then remember the brass brads. I took a brad and trimmed the ends before I opened it as wide as I could without breaking the ends off. Then I wrapped the brad around the gathered center of the bow.


Everything was taped and glued in place and I was happy. I had to wait to get home to take the photo. This was delayed even further because I had a haircut appointment right after work. Then when I did get home I got involved in something else that needed my attention.

One of these days I'm going to be able to get to the tea party on time!!!

So - you stampers out there - what do you think of my tool improvisation?

Oh, btw - the image is Pretty Petals a retired SU background stamp and the colors are Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, and Whisper White paper. The flowers are colored with Garden Green, Ballet Blue, Rich Razzleberry, and Melon Mambo markers. The ribbon is polka-dotted Melon Mambo grosgrain. It's all SU except for the brad.