The Problem With Perfection

By | April 9, 2017

First of all, I want to wish our nephew Sam a very Happy Birthday today!

I’ve been thinking about Sam’s card for weeks now, mulling over how to make the perfect card for him. The problem of perfection is that if you go down that rabbit hole, chances are you won’t get the card made in time. Ask me how I know!

All right, here it is, in all its coolness:

I had an idea of what I wanted to do with this card, and it started out pretty much like I expected. Sam plays the guitar, and while I was fussy-cutting one out from the Designer Series Paper, I thought, “Why not a sombrero, too?” Then, “Sam also has a girlfriend; we need a flower behind the other llama’s ear.” And then, “Why not fussy-cut out a pair of maracas for her; they can make beautiful music together!” This project was morphing into something far more detailed than I had anticipated, but I was powerless to stop myself.

At some point I decided that this should be a shaker card. Perfect, right? After rummaging through my supplies to find the clear acrylic sheets that I hadn’t used since the Christmas Window Cards, I finally found what I was searching for. I also had some Fancy Frost Sequins left over from the Holidays that I thought would work great. I took a pinch, tossed them into the open space and – voila! The first thing that landed there was a cat’s hair! Sam is allergic to cats so I quickly got rid of that. I created all of the barriers with foam strips to keep the sequins in, but while shaking, one of them got hung up on the little flower behind Ms. Llama’s ear.

So rather than tearing the whole card apart, I took my Piercing Tool and poked through the foam layers until I could dislodge it. It left a minor blemish at the top of the Crushed Curry cardstock base – this card was no longer perfect, but I was going to finish it, no matter what.

Yes, Sam’s birthday is today, April 9th, and the Fiesta Birthday Card is still sitting here on my desk, waiting to be carefully wrapped so that it will survive the cross-country trip to its recipient. I think all card makers need a rubber stamp for the back that says, “Better Late Than Never!”

What was lost in speed and timeliness was made up for in creativity and craftsmanship. And that’s practically perfect, right?

 

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2 thoughts on “The Problem With Perfection

  1. PaperPuff

    I second you on the ‘better late than never’ stamp idea! Love this – such fun and so colourful. Also I think rather ‘cool’, right? Although I am past the age where my opinion holds any credibility!

    Reply
    1. ValoryDegree Post author

      Yeah, I’m past that age too, but we have so much experience now, we are the experts! Here’s a little fact: Sam’s girlfriend’s name is Gillian (Ms. Llama with the flower!)

      Reply

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