Liquid Bliss

This month's challenge on MercyTiara's Youtube channel is called 27-Day Challenge for March: Hoard-Not Your Pretties! As the name suggests, the challenge is to use pretty things we've been harding or haven't yet figured out how to use. Here is my entry:

When I watched the challenge video, my first thought is how much I really covet this month's prize.  Lots of goodies, and unlike last month's where I could take it or leave it, I loved everything Tracy Banks was offering.  She is so generous!  My second thought was wood veneer.  I have a whole drawer full of it, and I do use it, but usually only 2 or 3 on a layout.  I've been looking for an excuse to use a bunch at once.  And coffee themed ones had yet to be touched because I hadn't had a good layout idea.


This layout initially was going to be messier (I'd had visions of coffee rings and splatters on a mixed media background) but evolved into a clean white background. I was rather proud of my restraint considering I like splatters and don't like plain white backgrounds. But then the idea of a crisp menu at a high-end cafe sprung to mind. I spent all day working on it: meticulously lining things up, glueing the 15 pieces of veneers, getting the journaling written neatly after 4 practices, erasing the practice journaling and lines, blowing every speck of eraser lint off... I was so happy with the results.

And then, at 2 am just as I was stamping the date, the unthinkable happened. I didn't notice as I accidentally laid it on the black stamp pad.  The ink bled through to the front on the top left corner.  I wanted to cry. :'(

Instead, I posted on The Scrap Gal's FB page, having only recently become a member, and received a ton of sympathy and ideas on how to fix it.   I ended up brushing white gesso over the stain and am very pleased with the results.  At a casual glance, it's perfect.  Hubby and Foxlets could only tell there had been an issue at all after I held it up at an angle and pointed out the spot.  It really is only apparent if the light bounces off just so.  

I'm going to call this a win.  Now I just hope my luck holds and I win the challenge!