A Yen to See New Vistas!

I'm finally BACK home!  It was certainly a longer vacation/ visit to California than expected!  My plan was to head home right after Mother's Day, but about that time, my husband surprised me with the decision to head south himself.  So, we extended our stay almost two week to makes visits to his family and some friends in the Sacramento area, as well as mine in Redding.  He was also able to accomplish my mother's honey do list.  He was a big help, replacing electric switches and replacing worn-out fan controllers and even her battery in her car, which decided to fail while he was there!  

Toward the end of my planned visit, I began thinking of summer coming and wanting to take a vacation to see scenery other than my regular stomping grounds in Washington or California.  I'm thinking that is what made the Tim Holtz Texture Fades Eiffel Tower embossing folder by Sizzix so attractive!  

I bought a 4-card making kit from the Rock, Paper Scissor store in Redding with one of the four cards a "bare bones" set of three papers:  a cream card base,  a piece of black card stock, and the straw-colored embossed card stock.  The challenge was to make and embellish it to your own liking. . .no sample or ideas provided.  I looked at the papers included and decided it would be very plain without something more even if I tried cutting and layering the papers into different sizes. It needed some color and pattern added to liven it up and some ribbon and embellishments were a must.  I tossed the cream card base and decided on an Antique Gold instead.  I also decided to enlarge the card size just a bit; it ended of 5" x 6-1/4."  I kept the black card stock to use as one of the background mats and added a black/ gold pattern from the Graphic 45 Birdsong collection.  I tried a little black sponging on the embossed piece to help bring out the Eiffel Tower/ Paris patterns.  This was my final design that I came up with.

After making this card and because I have a daughter-in-law who loves everything "Paris," I decided I needed to purchase this embossing folder for myself.  Now, that took a bit of doing to actually acquire it!  It took up over five visits to the Redding JoAnns store, who normally have it in stock,  and two visits to other stores in different towns.  Several weeks into this wanting to make this purchase, and after much conversation and questioning on my part, I finally found out they actually had not ordered more to re-stock.  It was not clear if that was intentional or not.  The "cards" remained on the wall as though they were in stock, but to get one, you actually needed to do a special order.  This information was finally forthcoming on my fourth visit after lots of questions!  The entire process took over four weeks!  I'm determined if nothing else. . .like a dog with a bone!  I will certainly treasure this embossing folder. . .it turned out to be a whole lot of trouble! (As you can probably tell. . . there is a lot more to the story.)

Recipe:  Papers: Bazzill Starburst, Blackbird, Straw; Graphic 45 Birdsong Joy Luck (back). Extras:  Sizzix TH Eiffel Tower Emb. Folder; Recollections Black pearls, Fleur de lis; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (sponging/ distressing); Trims: 1" black lace, 3/8" gold sheer/ satin edge ribbon, 1/4" Black satin/ Metallic Gold edge ribbon.