Today, I want to share some of my Epic Fails with you. Making busy books can be a bit of an experiment, and sometimes the experiment fails. Anyway, I hope it will be an encouragement to know that we all make mistakes. A blog is generally full of all the good things, and usually the mistakes don't make it here. In fact, it is easy to hide mistakes by careful photography, and I have been guilty of that as you can see below if you are a Faith and Felt Obsession fan.
Epic Fails may make a comeback in future posts, but for now, here are the first 5 that I am willing to share!
1. Hot Glue Gun Epic Fail
Whilst this page remains one of Tahlia's favourites, I still count it as a fail. I was trying to cheat and make a quick and easy page with hot glue and a few old lids from baby wipe packets. The hot glue has not worked very well and the page threatens to fall apart every time we use it. But the idea is LOVED. You have to guess which door the pig is hidden behind. One person looks away while the other person hides the pig. Loads of fun to a child. I may have to make a better version out of felt some day, but for now, this will do until it finally does FAIL completely.
2. Speckled Felt - for Speckled Eggs Epic Fail
This was my attempt to make felt with a bit more character. In Australia there are not many options when it comes to buying patterned felt. Of course there are more options if you buy online, but I still don't see the options I have seen available in the U.S.
I wanted to make speckled eggs for a hen quiet book page I was making (will link to it once published). Now my felt just smells like bleach and did not turn out speckled at all. Thanks to Murphy's Law the bleach did not work when I wanted it to, but no doubt it would work very well if I spilled bleach accidentally on a finished page.
I tried using a spray gun to apply the bleach and left it overnight. That didn't work, so I tried wetting the felt first so it would soak into the felt better instead of sitting more on top. I dabbed it on in larger spots. That also didn't work. So I ended up with no change in colour, but a definite change in smell. I wanted speckled fresh eggs and ended up with a FELT FAIL that smelled more like century eggs!
As I spoke about in my Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test post, I finally got around to purchasing a heat press so I can transfer sublimation prints onto felt. Actually this was the second one I bought. The first purchase was an EPIC FAIL too. I first bought one from AliExpress, where I buy a lot of craft supplies such as buttons, beads and ribbon. Apparently the postage was too great and then there were taxes etc - the supplier kept asking for more money. After expressing my dis-satisfaction they agreed to refund the purchase and gave my money back, thankfully.
My second purchase was from e-Bay. It was not much more expensive than the Ali-Express one and was coming from a company based in Australia, so it would be easier for me to make arrangements if there were any issues. It also included delivery. I thought I was doing great this time, but when it arrived I found more problems...
I stared at the box for months. It looked complicated to put together and I didn't have the mental energy to approach it. I was scared. Then when I finally opened the box... I found it was already put together and I only had to change it if I wanted a different attachment. But, it was too heavy for me to lift!! Now I felt I would have to nag my husband to move it for me if I want to use it 😁.
This was my attempt to make felt with a bit more character. In Australia there are not many options when it comes to buying patterned felt. Of course there are more options if you buy online, but I still don't see the options I have seen available in the U.S.
I wanted to make speckled eggs for a hen quiet book page I was making (will link to it once published). Now my felt just smells like bleach and did not turn out speckled at all. Thanks to Murphy's Law the bleach did not work when I wanted it to, but no doubt it would work very well if I spilled bleach accidentally on a finished page.
I tried using a spray gun to apply the bleach and left it overnight. That didn't work, so I tried wetting the felt first so it would soak into the felt better instead of sitting more on top. I dabbed it on in larger spots. That also didn't work. So I ended up with no change in colour, but a definite change in smell. I wanted speckled fresh eggs and ended up with a FELT FAIL that smelled more like century eggs!
3. Quiet Book Binding Epic Fail
I like a good finish, but I am willing to cut as many corners as I can to get there. I had seen Irina Sorokina's YouTube tutorial on how to bind a quiet book, but I was still feeling intimidated and overwhelmed. But I liked the finish so started thinking about how I could cut a few of those daunting corners off. Pun intended.
I decided that I could get a similar look by sandwiching the pages and wadding between a folded ribbon and sewing that down. You can see my efforts in my blog posts Easy Peasy Pocket Page 8"x8" Material Quiet Book, Puzzle Quiet Book Page Swap, and Post Binding Quiet Book Closure.
You may notice that I didn't post many pictures of the completed book. That is because I didn't want to show off my epic fail. I didn't allow enough ribbon in the spine for the book to open properly, so when it lays flat, the pages overlap instead of laying alongside each other.
Honestly, I still find the traditional binding method daunting. And that is why I keep trying to share alternatives with you all. Why not give some of them a go:
- Ribbon Quiet Book Binding Method
- How To Ring Bind Felt Quiet Books - Free A4 Buttonhole Guide
- Hand Stitched Quiet Book Cover
4. Buying a Heat Press Epic Fail
As I spoke about in my Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test post, I finally got around to purchasing a heat press so I can transfer sublimation prints onto felt. Actually this was the second one I bought. The first purchase was an EPIC FAIL too. I first bought one from AliExpress, where I buy a lot of craft supplies such as buttons, beads and ribbon. Apparently the postage was too great and then there were taxes etc - the supplier kept asking for more money. After expressing my dis-satisfaction they agreed to refund the purchase and gave my money back, thankfully.
My second purchase was from e-Bay. It was not much more expensive than the Ali-Express one and was coming from a company based in Australia, so it would be easier for me to make arrangements if there were any issues. It also included delivery. I thought I was doing great this time, but when it arrived I found more problems...
I stared at the box for months. It looked complicated to put together and I didn't have the mental energy to approach it. I was scared. Then when I finally opened the box... I found it was already put together and I only had to change it if I wanted a different attachment. But, it was too heavy for me to lift!! Now I felt I would have to nag my husband to move it for me if I want to use it 😁.
After he did lift it out for me, I have discovered I can move it from one place to another, so ling as it is already at bench height. So it is now in my garage on a shelf and I can get it out onto a bench if I want and put it away. although I am still yet to order any sublimation printed paper from Digitextiles as planned and am now considering getting a sublimation printer too so that I will actually use the heat press... watch this space.
5. Sewing Pleather to Felt Epic Fail
Okay, so this one is rather embarrassing.
I completely massacred this death mask. I guess that's a little ironic. At least it makes for a good Epic Fail post. I hope you can see all the tiny stitches from the pleather not feeding through my sewing machine properly, and all the skipped stitches which resulted in me going over the same area several times in an attempt to save it.
Stretchy pleather is a nightmare to sew. That is all.
I was able to do an acceptable job by using glue to secure the pleather to the felt prior to sewing, which helped a lot. You can see the results in my Genesis 50 - Joseph's Bones Quiet Book Page post.
I'm thinking I might buy some glitter felt for the next gold project...
