Gallery Idol goes to the garage...

I knew it was coming - the challenge to make a masculine card using anything you would find in a garage, in only 3 days.

Materials or themes...I wanted to go graphic, so I went the materials route. I spent a good chunk of time in a Long Island hardware store on Saturday afternoon, with my cousin Janice, searching for materials. Janice is creative, too, so she was a big help in the product selection. Right off the bat I knew one material that was going to be on my list:

A great big roll of drywall tape. (The mesh kind - apparently, there are 2 kinds).
This material was introduced to be my Julie Fei-Fan Balzer in the ink class I took with her last month. We used it as a mask under distress ink. It's an awesome, low tack, repositionable tape with what I can only imagine are thousands of uses. Thank Julie!
Here's the rest of the loot I grabbed at the hardware store (I wanted to be prepared for any creative impulse that might hit):

My fave by far was the screen material. Love that stuff. I used it on every card I made.
I made 3 cards. Squeaked my entry in at around 10 EST this morning. (I work well under pressure but that was a little close for comfort for me!) I had to choose between 2 faves and it was hard. Had to enlist the hubby since I am not good at picking winners when it comes to this kind of thing. I've said before on my blog, things I've made that I thought were not my best effort have gone on to be published and win prizes. I had to put this out there - let someone else decide.
Here's Dan's choice, the card I submitted for Round 2 of Paper Crafts Gallery Idol:

(Image removed for publication)

Materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Studio Calico; letter stickers: American Crafts, October Afternoon;

staples: Tim Holtz; punch: EK Success; misc: screen patches, sewing.

So here's what my thought process was for this card: I wanted it to be graphic and modern, while still conveying a nice Father's Day sentiment. I knew I wanted to feature a garage-found material as a focal point. I used the screen patches to offset the type and to make a sort-of photo corner at the upper left. That checked paper adds a much need pop of color and echoes the grid pattern of the screen. All of the patterned paper here is Studio Calico. (The floor plan is Home Front, the checkered paper is Anthology. The word 'Best" was cut from an Anthology paper, too.) Used my favorite grey Thickers, my Tiny Attacher for the staples and the photo labels punch. I tried so, so hard not to sew on these cards but I could not resist. I kept it simple and light colored so it didn't stand out.

Here's what I learned making this card: 1) I've got to stick with what I know and be true to my style through this competition (which becomes more obvious to me with every challenge) & 2) The hardware store/garage is an amazing source of potential craft material and inspiration!!

Here is my runner-up (and also the card I was planning to submit):

Same thought process. More symmetrical. More found material. This one features my beloved drywall tape along with the screen patches, and a little Stampin Up wood veneer. What do you think? Did I made the right choice?

Guess I'm about to find out.....so, now it's time to vote again. If you've already registered, you can zip over and cast your vote for your favorite. If that fave happens to be my card - even better! Thanks so much for having a look at my blog today and for being a part of this fun competition!