This started out more as an experiment rather than a card I will actually send. About a year ago my favorite art store was having a going-out-of-business sale (sob!) and I felt it my duty to help them out. Got some really good deals! One of them was a sheet of this crumpled gold handmade paper. I was really intrigued by it. There's always a soft spot in my heart for needy paper. And this looked like it really needed a friend.
When I got it home I realized I didn't think this through. It fools you by looking really elegant and user friendly. NOT! For one thing it was rolled up...hard and tight. I could see that unrolling it and keeping it flat in order to cut it was not for the faint hearted. Thought I would have to put a heavy book on one end of it to hold it while I rolled it out. Then I would put another heavy book on the other end. Then I would cut a rectangle out of one corner. It's a very dimensional heavier weight 28 inch square paper and has an additional paper attached as a backing. And it's very stiff. (All very nice if you want to wrap it around a pole!) I found that if I tried to put a heavy book on the one end, the corners would curl up slightly...enough to cause the edges of the backing paper to crack against the book and tear, quite grandly in fact. Several books were needed across the whole end. Heavy books were placed right near the other end ready to be rapidly pulled onto the outstretched paper. I found I needed two hands just to hold the corners to keep them from folding in toward the center. How would I get even one of the books moved onto one of the corners? I tried putting my arm along the edge of the paper to hold it, but the one corner still curled. I reached for one of the heavy books with my free hand, but with my arthritis I couldn't lift it to put it on the paper corner. I tried to slide it onto the paper, but because the paper had an uneven thickness to it the book caught on the edge and tore into the brittle edge. Brittle probably isn't the right word, but it was definitely very touchy, easy to tear...especially the backing. Now what could I do?
Well, my little brain finally kicked into gear. It said to me, "Why don't you just go back to the other end and put one of the heavy books on the paper against one of the books holding it flat on that end, and ease this book gently along the coiled roll of paper to the other end? Then add the other books on the corners." One might ask, "Why not ask your dh for help?" I have no answer for that. I guess I was too involved in my dilemma to consider anything outside of my particular dilemma area. Or maybe it's because he might have said when I bought it, "Why did you buy that? Looks like it's going to be hard to work with!"
Anyway, this is what I did with it. Stuck it down to an A2 card and put a metallic gold frame around it, raised up with foam tape and added: tada! My favorite Penny Black Die, the Sun Fire.
Thanks for looking.
Date: Monday, November 2, 2015 GMT Views: 1166
Favorited:3
Registered: April 13, 2011 Location: Midwest Posts: 178
Mon, Nov 02, 2015 @ 2:41 PM
Reply to Wavejumper: Thank you for sweating it out with me. You know, I did not cut anymore....that really wasn't very smart, was it? But it was such a hassle just getting the one done, for me it was One and Done. And NO...it will never lay flat...ever! It just went S-P-O-I-N-G, right back into it's original roll. And if I tried to roll it back on itself it would be destroyed. It just cracks up too much.It was fighting me the whole time I was cutting it...curling in on itself and even slicing my finger a little. Pretty but deadly. Thanks for your interest. Ellen
Registered: September 12, 2007 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 61357
Tue, Nov 03, 2015 @ 6:15 PM
Let's see if I got this right: So now your brain is talking to you? What's it been doing in the past? Not talking, not bringing forth wisdom (like what kind of paper to purchase, etc.) Yours was quite the story, I will tell you. You've now proven to me, without question, you are a trouper and not someone to take anything from anything (I used the word 'anything' because we're dealing with an inanimate object versus person). Well, the end result looks like it was worth all the trauma you experienced. I think it's so you and so dramatic. It's actually stunning. Note to Ellen's brain: you can iron paper, even metal paper. :p
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Art Neko and Prickley Pear DTs
Former DT Dolce Designs, Rubbernecker, StampItCrazy,
I Brake For Stamps
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"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there
is no path and leave a trail." ... Ralph Waldo Emerson
Registered: June 4, 2009 Location: Deatsville, Alabama Posts: 81975
Wed, Nov 04, 2015 @ 7:15 PM
What a fun adventure! Love the look of this. Very cool! Sorry for the loss of your LSS! Hugz
------------------------------ Nancy Williams - Hope your day is Spirit-filled and ink-filled (in that order)!DRS Designs-DT, Punchkateerforever, Dirty Dozen Alumni
Registered: September 21, 2006 Location: In the beautiful Sequatchie Valley, Home of the Paper Clip Project - The National Cornbread Festival Posts: 26563
Registered: September 21, 2006 Location: In the beautiful Sequatchie Valley, Home of the Paper Clip Project - The National Cornbread Festival Posts: 26563