Vintage advertising with now-seemingly smug looks.

Disaster will strike no matter how vigiliant you are - or how cautious.  Just when you think it couldn't happen to you because you take steps to minize risk and try to keep a firm grip on risk management, you'll eventually find yourself having to deal with an unplanned disaster.

With all this disaster floating around - you think you could mitigate it before it happens, right? Wrong, even the best laid plans can go asunder to an unplanned event.  You may find yourself, tear stained and holding onto the last remains of a once beloved project, all gone awry by a misplaced samba step or in my case - attempting to rearrange markers.

Ok - so what's this all about?

After months and months of remaining vigilant of not putting drinks on my craft desk - I did it.  I got lazy and put a drink on my crafting desk.  It was there for only 5 minutes before it was knocked ACROSS my card I was making with the October Afternoon 9 to 5 collection, and emptied 90% of its contents onto my desk.

It took ages to clean.  It was in every nook and cranny.  My circle cutter needs to be thoroughly washed as it hid in between the slots of the rotating plate.  It sandwiched itself between my glass cutting mat and my craft sheet, waiting to unleash another flood as soon as I lifted the glass.

So, how did I deal?  Luckily I had napkins on hand (and used them all - soaked thoroughly) and salvaged what I could by using my heat gun to dry up some odd spots that landed on papers.

What did I find?  

You get the picture.

• I really can't be trusted with a drink anywhere near my craft desk. 
• Splatters of coke in a spray pattern looks like aged paper from an ancient library where everything is liver-spotted and moldy.  No need for expensive inks or mists.
• Having napkins on hand, on top of the desk at all times is a must.

What will I do now?  Be thankful it didn't ruin all of my new paper and new items - as most of it was still in its wrappers.

Is this a cautionary tale?   You bet.  I could have damaged about $60 worth of paper and embellishments in one fell swoop, as I was listening to Julie London's smooth 60's stylings to get me in the mood for a retro card.

Thanks for reading!  Remain vigilant against crafting disasters!