Sunday 2 October 2011

Crafting Mishaps #4

Yes, again!
I've finally started making the Christmas Cottage - even though I've a few other projects that need finishing off right now. I seem to be getting bored very easily - and there's nothing to distract me up here in my little craft room... so I flit from one project to another, and keep making excuses to go downstairs and look at the kittens, fuss LilyDog, and cuddle CallieCat. Anyway... back to crafting. I thought I'd just start with a basic square-ish cottage shape, and play around with how I would decorate the roof. The original idea I had of using raffia to make the roof look thatched has really stuck in my mind... and it was an idea I couldn't let go of.
Out came the raffia (after rummaging around for fifteen minutes in the wrong drawer... I really shouldn't tidy up my craft storage, because that's when I lose everything!), and I had to decide on what would be the best method of attaching said raffia to the roof. A strip of good double-sided sticky tape through the middle to hold it in place seemed a good idea... and after looking at what adhesives I had available, I grabbed the ModPodge. I figured I could stick the raffia onto the roof, and then sew it into place more firmly - it would possibly look quite decorative and nice. Raffia isn't very good. It's horrid stuff that doesn't do what it's supposed to. It falls on the floor. It attracts the cat (oh, she LOVED it!). AND it unravels into a huge mess over lovely new craft desks.
Oh, how I perservered with that darn raffia. I tried quick-drying glue, hot glue, clear glue, school glue... if I had it, I used it! Nothing stuck it. The raffia remained, for the most part, unattached to the roof of my little cottage. Then I had a brainwave... I remembered that if I used a covering of ModPodge over a surface, for some reason any glue then sticks down much better when used on that surface. Out came the tatty old paint brush... and I slathered ModPodge all over my little cardboard rooftop.
This is when the mishap occurred. Now, firstly, I should explain something:
My left hand and I had a fight with a stairgate... and the stairgate won. My left hand is a mass of swelling and bruises right now - so this may account for my slow reaction to what happened.
The ModPodged roof started slipping from the table. I reached out to stop it falling to the floor, and instead of stalling it or stopping it... I managed to flip it. High into the air it rose (well, I say 'high'... it was about six inches), turning as it came towards me. I think I managed to say "Oomph...argh...errrr" or something similar. I will not divulge what I said next as the roof landed... on me. It stuck quite well to my top, and my hair.
Raffia does not stick well to ModPodged cardboard. My hair, however, DOES stick... very well indeed.
Ooops.

I'll NOT be using raffia for my Christmas Cottage roof.
*lol*

3 comments:

Sian said...

Lol! And there I was thinking your run of crafting bad luck was over. Raffia is strange stuff. I can remember being very disappointed in school because I couldn't turn it into the basket I had in my head

Di said...

How evil of me laughing here but I could just picture it, so well described :) Just had a peek at the roof in your next posting and it's adorable, but man, that hand looks sore. Thanks so much for the email info - I'll be replying but I have about a ton of ironing leering at me and the day is galloping away :( Take care chick! Di xx

misteejay said...

Oh dear **giggle** at least it wasn't glitter.

Hope it didn't make too much of a mess to your hair (visions of chunks cut off to get rid of sticky mess).

Toni xx