The Card that Almost Was

"The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry," wrote Robert Burns in a poem back in 1786 - and ain't it the truth! Many times I have started a card and then been interrupted by a more pressing deadline or project or by life itself, only to put the pieces of that card put into scrap months later without ever finishing it. This card was almost one of those. I ended up finishing *a* card with the supplies intended for this SC608 sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers:

but it's not quite the card I had in mind. I used the pieces I had pulled together so far to create this card a few weeks later (mostly to get the parts off of my desk!):

The tree is from a new-to-me Stampin' Up! set called Thoughtful Branches, while the trim is gold embossed from a stamp in Catherine Pooler's 2015 Holiday Magic Stamp of Approval collection. The sentiment is from a wood-mounted SU! set I've had for years and years, and the DSP is also SU! from years back. Add a little Soft Sky ink and a punched scallop circle (to create the sky) along with a Garden Green card base - and that's how far I had gotten toward creating the card I originally had in mind. It would have taken some more stamping and finessing to finish up, so I went with what I had. Everything came together rather quickly to create this square card (unusual for me), bringing me one card closer to my goal for this year's Christmas cards. A decent save, don't you think?

To be completely transparent, I had two card bases and DSP squares since my plan at the start was to make two cards with the sketch challenge. I've put the remaining pieces with my 2016 Candy Cane Lane Stamp of Approval (still untouched at the moment) in hopes they'll be put to good use rather than retired to the scrap box.

Do you ever get taken off-course once you've started a card? If so, I'd love to hear in the comments how you handle it and what you do with your unfinished pieces.

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This coming weekend, September 30 through October 2, StampNation will be celebrating World Card Making Day in style with challenges galore, live chats, and even prizes. Rumor has it that Catherine has something up her sleeve, (we shall see), and I'm happy to say that I have a secret, too! I can't wait to announce it!

Revealing nothing (giggle),

Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce