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Friday 25 June 2021

Rudolph Days - June 2021

Good job I set out really early out to make my entry for ScrappyMo's Rudolph Days Challenge for June - HERE

I got SO VERY over-ambitious and went for a 'batch bake' of eight almost identical Christmas cards - without really factoring in how detailed and repetitive each one would be, with lots of steps at every single stage. I ended up with two times four each of very similar colourways - thanks to using a lovely Altenew 7" wide washi tape called 'Watercolor Nebula'. The repeat of the pattern is predominantly red/indigo sky then turquoise/purple, so that's how I ended up with four of each - the change in colourway does have a fine dark coloured line dividing it so I had to dodge those as well.

It's only fair to say that working with such wide washi tape is trickier than narrower ones - plus due to the 'skyline' size I ended up trimming what was supposed to be a much taller background to make a 4" square. Wasteful perhaps, but needed IMHO, for these cards to end up more balanced.

Here's two of the eight cards I made:

 I used:

- 5.5" x 5.5" white card blanks - side opening

- very slightly smaller square of black card to leave just a tiny bit of the white border showing - deliberately, due to the white writing on the sentiment strips I planned to use

- glued the black panels to the card fronts (in fact I did this at the end after fiddling around with sizing of the the image panel)

- the skyline - which was the first thing I did in reality - was the die cutting, using dies made by Memory Box 'Cityscape Silhouette' and 'Cityscape Nightline'. Die cut the solid 'Cityscape Silhouette' using snippet/s of gold mirri card then topped it with the 'Cityscape Nightline', which was die cut from snippet/s of black card and set the pieces to one side, after assembling them - then giving up for the day

- and that's how the fight started - an expression which always makes me smile. See an example below to get the idea ***

- cut USA sized A2 pieces of white card ready to cover with the washi tape - Altenew's 'Watercolor Nebulus' and after a good bit of wrestling ended up with eight covered rectangles. Remember, this was a bit of a voyage of discovery for me. My tested way (see HERE) of adding washi to a piece of card worked well. It was more a question of trying to place the design to get the best out of it - and also avoid those dark dividing lines between the colour change

- as said earlier - in the end I trimmed the panels down to 4" x 4" as the skyline wasn't too 'high' on the taller card and decided to go for square rather than US A2 rectangular cards - waste, waste, waste - to Altenew it equals profit methinks ☺

- by now I was lying on the floor on my back like a toddler drumming my heels, with Dudley joining in for fun, he's a great little heel drummer to be honest - and it was almost Day Three for goodness sakes!

- once again I walked away in disgust and felt quite dispirited

- totally ignored the mess on my desk in Day Three and fiddled around with grocery deliveries, letter posting and such

- back to work on Day Four and added the Clarity sentiment strips (from Clarity's 'Christmas and Celebrations' word sticker set) - really great if you're in a hurry or contemplating just giving it all up - to the upper left hand side. Had to use red line tape in the end as the washi and Clarity 'sticky' didn't wanna be friends and hug one another nicely

- mounted the image panel(s) onto a one eighth of an inch larger gold mirri card square

- then - finally - added the panels to the assembled card front and called it a day - Day Four to be exact!

What did I learn? Mostly not to dive into a big 'batch bake' without even just mentally listing all the steps first to get a feel for what you're letting yourself in for. In future, I'll stick simpler designs and steps - this almost finished me off! 

I'm also adding this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #27 because it's the first time I played with this particular new washi tape - although certainly not the first time I drummed my heels on the floor in anguish! ☺

And before I forget - here's an example of 'and that's how the fight started':

*** It was a lovely warm sunny summer Sunday so I decided to drive my family to the seaside.

After driving for a while the children started getting restless and asked "Where's the beach daddy?".

I replied, "She is right beside me in the passenger seat"

And that's when the fight started.

I found LOADS of these little gems - many made me cry with laughter - but this one just grabbed me as being a little less personal then others. Happy days!



32 comments:

  1. I love this washi tape and it works perfectly for your skyline. Love the cards :)

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  2. What beautiful cards! I had to laugh though - I've just spent 3 days creating a celestial background from scratch so my ears pricked up when you said you had washi tape that does the job. After reading your account, perhaps I'll stick to making them from scratch.

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  3. Well you've certainly ended up with plenty of gorgeous Christmas cards even if it was a struggle. Had to smile at the 'drumming heels' picture you painted!! Something I often feel like but daren't try in case I couldn't get up again 🤣. Enjoy using any remaining pieces of the washi tape.

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  4. Wow Di fabulous cards so creative your a natural enjoy your day x

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  5. These are worth the effort Di...they are lovely and I bet when it comes to the crunch parting with them may be hard too! Haven't seen this washi tape before but it sure makes for a stunning sky.x

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  6. Wow, love these! That Watercolor Nebula washi is really amazing and just perfect with the skyline and the gold gives the perfect festive touch!
    I'm sure you will try a way to recycling the washi remained after your cutting. Waiting to see the fabulous results! ;)
    Hugs and cuddles to Dudley

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  7. Beautiful Christmas cards. I love the city buildings. The washi tape is beautiful too. [Bunny]

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  8. Beautiful cards, I never thought to make skyline and galaxy background into holiday cards, Thank you

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  9. Glad you persevered as the results are marvellous. Now go have a little lie down to recover!!!!

    Happy Rudolph Day.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  10. Your cards are gorgeous, Di. I love them and your story of how you made them. I hope Dudley helped restore the calm and you both deserve a hug from me and Willie.

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  11. Stunning! This washi tape with the skyline is so striking! I have this washi tape and love it, but it was a pain to peel off it’s roll.
    Hope you are doing well. Hugs, Trina 💙

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  12. These are brilliant Di and I had to laugh at how difficult they turned out to be but the washi tape makes a wonderful background to the nighttime citiscape die cuts, and the black and gold frames suit them perfectly and coordinate really well with the sentiment strips. x

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  13. Marvellous cards Di, I do admire the fact you did 4 of them, I would think a lot of patience involved, the result is gorgeous and worth the work.
    I did laugh at the joke.
    Faith x

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  14. Really super and very different RD card, the background are stunning.

    Kath x

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  15. Fab cards Di and love the background sky colours. The buildings are perfect too. Love it!! Hugs, Carol S.xxx

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  16. Gorgeous batch of cards, the black silhouettes are outstanding against the galaxy washi tape. Glad it all worked out for you.

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  17. Definitely worth all the angst Di, they are gorgeous!

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  18. Wow, these are gorgeous Di! And to think you did 8 of them...again wow! It was a lot of work with this bake batch, but so well worth it in my humble opinion. Absolutely gorgeous cards! I'm totally in love with that washi tape. Hugs, Brenda

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  19. Beautiful! Your tape sure made wonderful backdrops for your cityscapes -- well done

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  20. I'm glad you persevered because this is a fabulous looking card! That washi tape looks amazing as a night sky with those buildings in the landscape! Beautiful! Love that beach joke too LOL

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  21. I hope yours and Dudley's heels are not TOO sore after all the drumming Di but what stunning cards you ended up with! I may not be investing in this particular washi though (!) but I'm wondering whether a similar result could be achieved with a bit of ink blending and a spattering of white acrylic paint. I may have to CASE. Thank you so much for the 'and that's when the fight started' example - I had such a laugh at that! Have a great weekend, Vicky xx

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  22. Beautiful use of that gorgeous washi tape! I love the buildings with the gold showing through the windows, and then the very narrow gold border around the focal panel ties it all together.

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  23. Gorgeous cards Di - love the cityscape - they are so versatile. Will have to drag one of mine out when I do my Randomly Using Dies. LOL! Have a great week and stay safe - Maurs xxx

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  24. Such beautiful skys you've created for your Christmas town cards Di, I love them. Thanks you for taking part in the Rudolph Days challenge this month.

    Sue xx

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  25. I Like silhouette cards very much and this one is stunning. You made a wondeful background!!
    Lia xx

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  26. They are absolutely stunning, Di. Well worth the effort xoxo

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  27. You are doing great things with the washi tape and these are no exception - lovely cards.

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  28. These are breathtakingly gorgeous Di! Love the touch of gold through the windows and the around the edges of those spectacular night sky panels! Hugs, Kate!

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  29. Hi Di,
    Happy Rudolf Days.
    Oh I love these gorgeous designs.
    They look so pretty and that washi tape is such a very beautiful skyline and what a fab find.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

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  30. LOVE these cards. I think I am going to have to buy that washi. tape! It is amazing.
    You did very well to create so many cards, Di.

    Thanks for taking part in the June Rudolph Days Challenge.

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  31. I love the washi tape skies but I feel your pain. I do a lot of batch-makes but nearly always make just one first to see if I really want to keep doing it!
    Sorry i am so late commenting. Another week has flown by and blinked and missed it!
    Kate x

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  32. These are absolutely gorgeous Christmas cards! Sorry it was such a nightmare for you getting them done but the results are so worth it, for the recipients anyway!!! I did laugh at the 'how the fight started! Take care my friend xxxxxxx

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