October 3, 2015

CRITIQUE TIME

When I was in college as an art student, I used to both dread and look forward to Critique Day. On that day, a piece or two of our recently assigned work would be tacked up for all to see -- all of my fellow students, as well as the professor. 

Of course, at this time, we were <doomed> to find out just how bad or good our work was, at least on this assignment. It seemed it was rarely the professor who spoke up at this time. After all, he had the power of the GRADE. The students were the ones to give and take on each work of art. And we were all expected to use "art" words, not just, "It looks great." or "That stinks." We actually had to establish what was right or wrong about what we had produced. 

Recently, as I was changing my kleenex box for a fresh one, I took a good look at the one that was destined for the dump. (Not really. If you know me at all, no kleenex box EVER gets thrown away. They are all saved for future papercrafting projects.) Well, this one screamed "autumn" to me. So I was determined to use it for an autumn-flavored card. I mean, don't those orange blobs -- if you squint and use your imagination -- look just like leaves wearing their fall colors? 

I had the incredibly incredible idea to use them as such in conjunction with the new Stampin' Up! Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (page 39 of the Holiday Catalog). 


After cutting off a section of the kleenex box to use in my card, I ran it through the Big Shot inside that embossing folder. Since a kleenex box is somewhat shiny, I carefully sanded just the tree portion of the embossing. After the sanding, I used a Sponge Dauber with Chocolate Chip ink to gently color in the tree areas. (I realize these are meant to resemble birch trees, which are predominantly white or cream, but, hey, I used my artistic license.)

I also embossed my background piece of Whisper White with the same embossing folder to expand on the tree-textured theme.


A strip of Washi Tape topped by a thinner strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock formed the basis for my sentiment, stamped in Chocolate Chip.


Now, while I do appreciate certain elements of this card, I am not completely pleased with the overall look of it..

How would you change what I've done? Would you have deleted something, added something? What? Or was it just a bad idea in the first place, and the kleenex box should have been sent to the dump without any further fanfare? C'mon. Your time to critique!

Anxious
Smiles.

5 comments:

  1. So beautiful . No box of kleenex ever gets thrown away - I am like that with the cereal boxes. Thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like your card. I wonder if chocolate chip makes the trees stand out. You can never tell by a picture. Sure wish I could see it in person.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like the overall effect of the card, however, the ribbon looks orange to me and perhaps it might be more effective if it were in the rust family or reds. However, having said that, the card is gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks absolutely amazing! Pinned and tweeted. You always bring the most amazing creations to our party. Thank you! I hope to see you again, this Monday at 7 pm. It wouldn’t be a party without you! Lou Lou Girls

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a neat idea with these tools! LOVE it!!

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

    ReplyDelete