breaking the rules

Today I made a card that is rather different from what I usually create. It's also the first card I've blogged that does NOT use a pre-coordinated line of materials ... See? I CAN do it! :) This is a card that's been in the works for a while now and there's a little bit of back story. So...

It all started with Kristina's Five Items from My Messy Desk challenge. I have an extremely messy desk. But I've been working on Mother's Day cards made with various collections of patterned papers, so I didn't think that would be fair. Plus, I've been meaning to clean my desk (which I did, and now it's a mess again!).  I have a box that sits next to my desk that has materials that I've purchased but haven't used yet. The rule is, I can't put any new item away in my materials storage until I've used at least part of it. So it goes into the box. The box has been rather neglected lately with more new stuff coming into the house (bad!), so I thought I'd found the perfect opportunity to dig into it! So I asked hubby to pick 5 items out of the box. (I asked him not to purposely pick out things that clashed.) BUT when I was ready to get to work, he was not in the mood to go through craft supplies, plus his aesthetic taste is terrible even on a good day! So I sat there looking at his pile for a while and then decided to pick my own items from the box! That's fair, right? :) Actually, the twill pleats and the brad were in his original picks.

Recently, Kimberly Crawford reviewed Pink Paislee's Queen Bee line on her blog. Check out the original post - her stuff is so lovely! She made the cutest flower out of the Ribbon Pleats (I LOVE them!) and I wanted to try that myself. Mine didn't come out nearly as clean as hers, but once I added the cork (just a piece of 12x12 cork from my LSS, even though I'd love to get my hands on some of PP's cork buttons!) it looked so much better.

The paper ended up getting glued on a little less than 1/16" off of square. To me it's glaringly obvious and totally driving me nuts! That's why I put the flower on the right and a little higher than I had originally envisioned. I hope it sort of camouflages it! I also considered putting a sentiment of some sort in charcoal ink at the top left, but I thought it might be too busy. What do you think...?

Anyway... Thanks for looking! I'd love to hear your comments/feedback!

Materials: Pink Paislee Queen Bee Ribbon Pleats, Sassafras Translate paper (I used their 6x6 Wee Bundle), October Afternoon Skyline Motor Inn and Vacationer Motel papers, Sassafras Cameo brads, Basic Grey Simon paper