My goodness me it's been a while since I blogged here; April 2020 to be precise! A lot has happened since then. We've been in and out of lockdown, we've now got a vaccine, but we also have various new variants. Which brings me onto my card. Variants. Not of the virus kind.
Given all we went through in 2020, I expected to be feeling a lot more positive coming into 2021 with the vaccine, but another lockdown, another round of home schooling, bubbles bursting, and just more uncertainty has taken its toll on me since January. I've really struggled mentally this year so far.
One thing that has been getting me through various trials are the recent Marvel TV series on Disney+. From WandaVision, to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. My latest obsession and by far my favourite, however, is the recently finished, Loki. If you're a fan, you'll get the reference to variants...
It's polarised quite a lot of Marvel fans, but with some fabulous and very engaging performances by the main characters, Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino and Owen Wilson, a brilliant score and writing, I loved it. Thankfully there will be a Season 2 sometime in the next 18 months, so the cliff hanger ending will get resolved - I hope... I highly recommend for some escapism in trying times, even if it at times isn't so cheery!
I was going through my card making stash, and having a bit of a clear out - some eBaying may be on the horizon - and found in my scrap box, this image of an MFT Viking that I stamped onto some watercolour card ages ago. The stamp is no longer available by the look of things, so I will be hanging onto it. Given Loki is from the Viking myths and legends, it was clearly a sign to use him up at last.
I got my Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils out and spend a happy few minutes colouring him in. It's not quite the fine Asgardian leather that Loki wears in the TV series, but you can't have everything, right? I don't have the die to go with him, so I simply fussy cut and kept him very simple on a green card base with a white background. With coloured images I find simple is best.
I made the card base out of some lovely green cardstock from Stampin' Up, and I ended up with two card bases, so I just carried on and made another simple card with a wax seal I bought from my lovely Etsy buddy Karen. She makes and sells wax seals that you just have to peel and stick to your card - I can get embellishments without the added need to buy more crafty paraphernalia.
Simply done, with some added sequins from Lucy's cards - I have so many and it was hard to part with them, so I'm using them up! - and I have two cards and had a very enjoyable session whilst the children played outside. A win win for everyone.
I hope you have managed to stay sane as much as you can since last April when I last posted, and I hope to be back here a bit more regularly, as I've found card making at least once a month, can really help. Keep going, it's all we can do!
