Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Craft Barn's latest alpha challenge


I thought the "S" challenge was bad, but Jane came up with the most ridiculous twist for the latest Craft Barn challenge.  It may have been a bank holiday for those who live across the pond, but for me, it was simply horrible.

I kept thinking "how can I possibly justify adding a DRAGONFLY to a word with the letter J?"  Then it hit me that JUSTIFY is a J word.

How ironic that I could ask the question and hit on the answer in the same instant.

I only have ONE dragonfly, at least I hope this is a dragonfly.  It is a foam stamp I bought on clearance years ago, but never used until today.  Did you notice how I embossed the letters using copper embossing powder (EP)?  My secret, since I'm NOT a stamper, is to print the words using the "best" print format.  The ink takes time to dry, and I'm able to add the EP to the still wet ink.  I can then take my time going from my office to the craft room, where I can heat the EP.  I tried this technique years ago, and having found it worked, use it when I need a bit of bling on a printed page.

I had my copper leafing pen primed, then it ran horribly.  It was the last thing I did on the page, so I couldn't redo the entire page.  Hopefully you can read why I chose this word.  BTW, Jane I forgive you now that this challenge is in the bag.

Originally, I had planned to circle the J, but since my copper leafing pen wasn't acting right, I decided to not make the page any worse than it already was.

Materials I used were a sheet of blue printer/copier paper, software and printer, copper embossing powder, a foam dragonfly stamp, copper pigment ink, stickers, definition from my Merriam-Webster dictionary, and a copper leafing pen.

Thank you for looking and visiting.  I was once again able to visit everyone for our last challenge, and I plan to do the same this time.  I'm really curious as to how others treat this unkind Craft Barn twist!

22 thoughtful remarks:

pearshapedcrafting said...

Jeanious! I love how you used embossing powder on your printing! The colours you have used here are perfect for a Summer day by the pond! We actually have some sun here at the moment and went for a walk by the river yesterday! Hope the weather is improving for you too. Hugs, Chrisx

froebelsternchen said...

Genius Elizabeth! A fantastic page!
oxo Susi

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely page, great stamp. I often use that way of embossing too, but I use normal print and glossy paper, which has the same effect. I love how you managed to get round the Craft Barn twist with your clever idea, well done!
Have a lovely day, I need to put my feet up, had my walk, a visit to the doctor's and physiotherapy, so I am KO! Hugs, Valerie

My name is Erika. said...

Clever using your wet printer ink to emboss. It came out great. And I agree- the letter J and a dragonfly is a tough mix, but you did it! Hurray! Has your weather improved and the storms moved out? I heard the the Carolina's and Virgina was getting some bad weather, but haven't heard anything lately about Kansas. Hope its a great day!!!!

~*~Patty S said...

Your embossing is WOW E!!!
Great use of ink drying time that for sure.
Challenges are good for taking us out of the box and stretching us aren't they.
You rose to the occasion with your lovely dragonfly creation.
oxo

Jeanie said...

Very clever! And the dragonfly works!

Elaine said...

Fabby page and I love how justify rhymes with dragonfly - perfect. I've never tried heat embossing on print but it obviously works!

Anne O said...

Hello,
How your blog made me laugh! I too go though mental hoops to come up with something. What a great twist to the problem. I will try your embossing tips as I've never done this before and am really impressed with the results. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Anne O

thassos456 said...

That's brilliant. Made me smile big time. Great page. Well done :)

thassos456 said...

That's brilliant. Made me smile big time. Great page. Well done :)

Meggymay said...

Well you did justify this page its awesome and your embossing solution is certainly one to remember for non stampers as well as stampers.
Yvonne xx

ionabunny said...

Never thought to emboss on wet printer ink. Great way to tackle this challenge. Fab page. Hugz

Margriet said...

A great and original solution for this difficult challenge! I chose my word very wisely, I did a flower and you can always sneak in a little dragonfly with a flower ;-)

kaybee said...

Brilliant! Your page really made me smile as I had the same thought about the dragonfly! Love your embossing too - fabulous tip!

Scrapmate said...

LOL I LOVE THIS! Yes I was shouting. Totally agree with you the dragonfly is an absolute pain.

Lesley said...

I just love the way you have gone with this fortnight's theme! I couldn't justify a dragonfly with my chosen word so just used them as embellishments! xx

Crafty Claire said...

Brilliant idea to print using best and then emboss. I shall definitely remember that for the future xx

Craftyfield said...

You made me laugh! I was thinking very much the same re this dragonfly twist and treating square on like you did is just hilarious.
Very ingenious too...

Sybil Grieco said...

Love the page and the story on how you got to it. Funny I found the twist very easy but I'm glad everyone was able to it out.

Julia said...

Brilliant idea! Totally inspired, I love it.

Jane said...

Oh I did laugh at what you wrote but wow you made it work fantastically!!!!! Thank you for joining in The Craft Barn Challenge.
Jane x

maggie said...

An ingenious choice of word to incorporate that pesky dragonfly on your lovely page.