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Hi all...I'm struggling with a card that looked perfect in my mind's eye :rolleyes:
I just can't seem to get it layed out and accessorized the way it is on my brain. When this happens, do you find it's best to scrap the project and come back to it some other time or just scrap it?
It's been about a month now, and every time I pull it out and look at it, I'm stumped! ...but I guess i"m more stubborn than stumped 'cause I can't seem to scrap it. What works for you? Thanks a bunch!
Location: The Volunteer state....beautiful Tennessee!
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Don't scrap it! Some of my cards that folks seemed to like the best are the ones that I almost threw away...LOL! When that happens to me, I go to my favorite place...SCS of course. I take a look at my own Gallery or Favorites to get ideas. That's all it takes to inspire me. I see something and usually have an, 'Oh yeah, I could do this or even that' moment. However, if you need to put down a project to keep from getting frustrated, I think you should. After all, this is supposed to be fun...I think the best advice of all is to just play!
I agree, don't scrap it! Maybe try another layout to get the juices flowing again. You HAVE to finish it or it will haunt you for the rest of your life ;) Can't wait to see it!
I usually keep playing a bit before I decided to take that final step and swipe it into the trash.
Something I think you are doing right is setting it aside and coming back to it. That often helps quite a bit. If nothing is popping out at you as *the* thing that is wrong with it, try to analyze it part by part.
What catches your eye that is making you shrug or cringe? Is it the color combinations? Is it the layout? Sometimes you can turn the card in different directions - even look at it upside down or in a mirror (really!) - and you realize what is throwing it off. You could also try the same layout with a different main image if there is one.
I've de- and reconstructed cards a few times and often the only thing that stays is the main image . . . it isn't always easy to execute what we have in our heads.
I think sometimes the image/accessories/colors, some combination thereof, are of a different style or give off a different impression and just don't mesh. That's really hard to figure out.
I admire your perseverence!! Please take a photo and then show us how you decide to change it!
PS: Do you have any children? My 7-1/2-year-old daughter always seems to have suggestions for me ;)
Thank you for all the suggestions! I'll keep plugging and see what I come up with. I haven't uploaded anything yet, but I will.
No kiddies...just ones I borrow
I have a scrumptious 13-year-old Jack Russell Terrier...and she won't be any help. She hates anything that keeps my hands from playing tennis with her....i use the term loosely.
She no longer feels she has to bring the ball back with her. I hit it, she runs after it, she leaves it and runs back to me with this "bite me! i'm 13 and i don't have to bring the ball back ...and i'm waaaaaiting!" ...a look that I would expect many human 13 year olds give. LOL!
Your Jack Russell cracks me up ~ we have an almost-1-year-old Golden Retriever . . I have lots of tennis ball days in my future ;)
Yep, Valerie, sometimes the only way is to let it go. Isn't the common term nowadays "a do-over" ? Sometimes it's irked me so much to struggle that I get great satisfaction in tossing a card!!
Are you sure you're not being too hard on yourself? What about posting it in the gallery and asking for some constructive criticism ... that's always worked for me!
If you don't want to do that, I'd scrap it ... (or deconstruct it if you can) A month is WAY TOO LONG to be puzzling over a card.
Well, glad to know I'm not crazy for thinking maybe I should toss it. One color is close to a margarita. I think I'll make one tonight, and see if I get inspired!
Yes Nancy...buy those tennis balls on sale when you find them! Almost one year old golden AWWWW! I love how they have gumby legs...loosey-goosey...like they just can't contain themselves.
I used to take my dog and my sister's Dalmatian to the park. We'd always run on the outskirts by the tennis courts. The dogs were as excited as me when we would find stray tennis balls no one claimed. I would only do this if the courts were empty so I know someone wasn't waiting for later to pick them up. The dogs think they found treasure and that's one less ball *I* had to buy. LOL. Many a day, I'd sit at one end of the yard reading a book, and lobbing tennis balls out of a bucket, trying to tire the little buggers out!
If I've given it my best shot and it's still not coming together, I put it aside and try something different. Otherwise, I'm just stuck in this rut and not getting anywhere
Then, later (may be days, weeks, or months) I may go back to it. If I still can't salvage it, out she goes or else it will torment me LOL..........
This may sound weird, but sometimes when I'm stuck I add a little black-either a skinny black mat to something or faux black stitch marks, etc. It seems to ground my design and make things not seem like they are disjointed or floating.
What I do is continue to add things to it until I have not only a truly hideous card on my hands, but an expensive one as well. This has been my system for nine years now.
I have a box of the "OMG what was I thinking". Every now and then I'll get out the box and go through it a see if there is anything I can use. If the ugly sucker stays in the box too long, it goes in the trash.
I've made cards that just didn't click and someone else will just love it. I have to remind myself that not every card is going to be "the one." Some ideas just click better than others. I do this too have fun and when I get obessive, it's no longer fun, so I just step away from the project and move on to something else so I can keep having fun.
Like others, I let cards sit if they're not working for me. I'll come back maybe three or four times. If it's still not happening, I salvage the pieces, toss what needs to be tossed, and try something different.
I don't think I've ever thrown a card away. If it isn't going the way I had planned it, I just go with the flow and see where the design takes me. Not every card has to be a masterpiece. It's OK if they're just plain OK. Some of my best cards have been the result of my "mistakes." That being said, if it is really frustrating you, just chuck it.
I set it aside for a later day. If that day doesn't seem to come salvage the pieces and start anew.
__________________ Design Team Member: Digital Tuesday Challenge, The Cutting Cafe, The Townscrapper, Pixie Dust Studio, Some Odd Girl, Fred She Said
My blog: Jaspere's Little Corner , Fred She Said
This is a great thread. I went to my Demo's house for a morning of stamping and chatting on friday, and I had this GREAT idea in my head for a really cute and fun card... well, to make a long story short, I didn't even add it to my Stamp To Spend totals because I can't cosider it finished... Something is just NOT working for me! I think I'll leave it for a week, even if it's going to be in the back of my mind, nagging me, and then see what I can do with it! Unfortunately, it was supposed to be one I could mass produce for a swap, so now I'm behind in getting ready for the swap, and I need to come up with a new idea!!!!
What do you do when your design fizzles?
