Sunday, March 15, 2015

Anything But a Card Challenge 45-Green with Envy

Hello and happy Ides of March!! " Et tu, Brute?" (My high school lit teacher would be so proud that I remembered this!) It is time for Week 3 of the Green with Envy challenge at Anything But a Card.    The team has shared some wonderful versions of green and envy, and we would love to see what makes you go green!  I have to say that this challenge stretched my mind creatively (happens quite a bit with these amazing ladies!) since I really couldn't come up with anything for 'envy' and while I like green, it's not my 'go to' color.  So I went to my trusty Pinterest search box to see if something there would inspire me.

If you want to be completely overwhelmed and wowed at the same time, try typing in 'green art' in the Pinterest search box!  There were a lot of amazing creations, but this one really caught my eye!



It's made from glass bottle bottoms!! Isn't it fantastic?!  Now, I am nowhere near skilled in glasswork.  I would either shatter the pieces or slice off a finger in the process!  I did like all of the varied shades of green and the round shapes.  I also knew I had a lot of green scraps that could create a similar design.  I decided to make a scrapbook page, using the greens to make a background pattern.  I set out with all of my circle and scallop punches and a bunch of green papers. *Bragging moment- I did not cut any whole sheets of paper for my page!  Everything was scraps, except for the green base!*

After punching a lot of shapes, I started to lay out my pattern, and this is where it all went downhill fast.  I was totally stressed out over their placement.  First, too many of the same size, then the same color, then colors that didn't look great together.  Grr...  So I took a break, made lunch, and did a load of laundry, and during these tedious jobs a thought struck me.  This is supposed to be fun and I'm not having fun.  I'm choosing laundry over creating...  So I went back to the pile of circles and reminded myself that art is process not product.  Rather than attempting to lay out the entire page, I started in a corner and worked my way out.  Interestingly enough, it became easier once I was committed to complete what was already glued down!


To add interest, some of my circles went off the page and were trimmed.  I then reused the cut off pieces to fill in other edges.  Truly a 'scrap'py page!  The photo I added was from a craft day that my daughter's Girl Scout troop sponsored, so all of the green ended up being quite appropriate for the scouting page.

I hope you will join us with your green with envy creation!  We would love to see what you do with the challenge!  It's a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's day too!

Page Recipe: papers of almost every shade and pattern of green, various circle and scallop circle punches, perfect polka dots embossing folder


8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing that bottle-bottom mosaic - it is amazing! And I love the layout you were inspired to create - fab!
    Alison xx

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  2. Just popped back to say I've just been having a lovely time with Green Art on Pinterest - so thank you for that hint!
    xx

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  3. Loved seeing the process you used to create this. Brilliant result too.

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  4. Love your page and inspiration piece, Margaret ! Good job using up some more of your scraps to make a fun page, perfect for the photo.

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  5. What a wonderful way to use the inspiration of those wonderful bottles Margaret! A fabulous layout. Jennie x

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  6. Margaret this is a great layout and perfect colors for the Girl Scouts. Great job !

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  7. I'm so happy you decided not to play with glass! I think saving your fingers is a good thing and I'm so happy that common sense overcame and you ended up having fun with your project. I love those post on Pinterest that show what people do with glass. I enjoy them from afar and leave that to them too. Your layout looks INCREDIBLE and I love the cut off circles on the edges too.
    hugs to you my friend,
    Lisa x

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  8. I too at time get stuck and forget that my craft time is play time. So glad that you released the process and found a wonderful layout in the end!

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