round two

technically speaking, this the FIRST round card* i made. but since it was destined (rather embarrassingly belatedly) for the lovely stephanie severin's birthday, i posted the birdie one whilst i waited for this to arrive at stef's!

this is also one of my favorite things i have ever made. not to be conceited, but there ya go. you are looking at one of the rare occasions where, if an artistic fairy godperson were to materialize next to me, proffering a magic wand able to effortlessly change any aspect of my finished product, i would politely say, "no thank you".

(conversely, you know that i will always be the first to point out whatever flaws or shortcomings i can see in my work. to me, part of the process is to be able to look at finished items and assess them realistically; noting both the bits that have gone well AND the things that i'd like to do better next time. afterall, that's the only way to learn and grow, right?!)

(8" ring sticker: memories complete; patterned paper from a japanese language workbook; swirls cut from vintage sheet music (using fancy pants chipboard scrolls as a template) clipart: anahata katkin & michaels decoupage butterflies; gem flourishes: prima; inks: colorbox; the quote around the edge of the circle reads, "happiness is a butterfly, which when persued, is always just beyond your grasp; but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you" --nathaniel hawthorne)

like many of my favorites, this came together quite quickly; un-like 99.9% of my projects, i started off with absolutely NO PLAN! i had just purchased the lovely black crystal flourishes & knew i wanted to use them...i found the infamous circle stickers when i was flicking through the sticker file...i had had the idea of tracing chipboard flourishes to make a low-key but fancy background a while ago, but hadn't used it yet. the quote led to the butterflies...the butterflies needed a place to perch...the whole thing needed a background. and voila it was done! i was about to say, "i wish they were all this easy!" ...except...that wouldn't be nearly as exciting, now would it?! so i will settle for 100% satisfaction being a rare and treasured treat!

*i made it about 10 days ago; coincidentally, around the same time, the bonus sketch by joke posted at 2S4Y was also for a rather FABULOUS ROUND CARD!!! (which i only saw at the end of last week) how funny is that?! clearly this is a great idea whose time has come!!! :)