Thursday 6 March 2014

Retro card & a rant.

 


Font:KG Call Me Maybe - skinny
Die: Stitched Mats Squares (Lil' Inkers)

 
New kitchens seem to be the trend around here at the moment.  It's a bandwagon I'd love to jump on, but won't be happening for a few years yet.  So I'll just have to live vicariously through other people!  Above is a card I created using Silhouette Studio software to celebrate the completion of my friend's kitchen.
 
This card was based on some kitchen art I found on a trawl around Pinterest, using colours from a Design Seeds post.
 
color crawlFlippin' Awesome Spatula Kitchen Art by CoriNicholsDesigns on Etsy, $10.00

I love that you can just plug the hex code numbers into the colour box in Silhouette Studio to reproduce the exact same shade.

I found a simple spatula shape on line & used the trace function to get the outline.  Having filled one with colour, I copied it, filled with grey, moved the copy slightly down & to the left & put it behind the original to give a shadow. 

The retro background is a freebie paper from Mel Stampz altered to suit this palette.
 
And now for the rant.  Please feel free to stop reading here.
 
I have finally purchased some Lil' Inkers Stitched Mat dies.  I have been lusting after these for many months now & finally manged to justify the expense (to myself if no one else...).  They weren't cheap, but no matter, I'll get a lot of use from them.  P&P was reasonable from the US, even got a slight refund from the company.  Great service.  Had to pay customs charges.  A bit of a bind, but the law IS the law.  What I object to, dear listener (I say listener, because in my head I am talking at you, possibly quite loudly, & jabbing my finger around a lot to emphasise my indignation), is the whopping £8, yes £8, international handling charge from our own dear Royal Mail. 
 
And what do I get for this enormous sum? 
Does my postman don a footman's uniform & present my purchase to me on a silver salver?  No he does not. 
Does a slightly more buff postman appear, wearing slightly less (& I'm not talking about the regulation shorts...)?  No he does not.
Does he rush around with the parcel at my earliest convenience?  No he does not. 
Having tracked the order, I know the Royal Mail got their sticky mitts on it on Saturday.  I had a delivery, nay, ransom note (can you tell, I'm warming to my theme?) through my door informing me on Tuesday.  And having sold a child & a kidney to pay the charges, I was then informed that they couldn't deliver until Thursday.  I guess they had to toss it around the office & handle it a lot to make sure I got value for money.  In short, what did the handling charge provide to me, the customer?  Sweet Fanny Adams as far as I can tell.
 
Phewww.  Thank you.  I feel better for that.

It's safe to come out from behind the sofa.  I'm sorry for shouting & pointing.

3 comments:

  1. What a fun card.... The colours work so well :0)
    I totally agree with you about PO handling charges....... What really bugs me is when they are more than the import VAT charge!!!!! 'Money for old rope' as my Mum would say..
    Jenny x

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  2. I absolutely LOVE your card and it's colouring.

    As for the rant, dare I say it wasn't much of one, should have been in capital letter, with a copy to the Royal Mail, shame a private company can still be thought of as OUR mail service, Oh! I'm on a rant, better stop me NOW!.

    LOVE your card, did I say> :)

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  3. I love your flippin' awesome card Jenny (did you see what I did there?!) and enjoyed your beautifully written rant too. It is ridiculous in these 'global village' days that there are still all these charges but such is life. My own SU charges are enough (I have to charge flat fee of £4.95 regardless of weight) but at least you get me turning cartwheels on your behalf (if required!) Vicky x

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