Sweet girl's birthday card

Our youngest granddaughter is one!!  How fast a year goes by!  We were fortunate to have the chance to visit with her this summer - she is a sweet happy little girl who is content to entertain herself as long as she is included in the group.
This card is a bit larger than the standard card.  I used white cardstock and stamped the edge with a handmade stamp that has little circles on it in light green ink.  I added the plaid bordered decorative piece and then overlaid the coordinating decorative ribbon on the left hand side gluing the ends to the inside of the card.  The cute little image is one I received in a swap so keeping with the green and pink colour scheme (my favorite) I watercoloured the cute little bugs.  I created a layer using pink & green cardstock, added my image, punched the bottom with a scallop punch (SU) and then I punched little holes in each scallop.  I mounted the image over the ribbon on my card front using double sided tape.  I added a length of vintage seam binding in green to the birthday greeting tag and mounted it below the image using 3D foam tape.  The very last thing I did was add some pearly dimensional paint to their wings which I will leave to dry overnight.  We will be seeing her again later this year and look forward to seeing her walk and being her fun little self.

Therese

Sympathy card

My uncle passed away last week.  He had just recently had his 90th birthday.  I made this sympathy card for his family.
I started with a light blue cardstock which coordinated with my image - a off cut from an invite I had in my stash bucket on my desk that I thought was perfect in colouring for this occasion.  I stamped a circle background stamp all the way around the edges on the front using Versamark ink which was exactly what I was looking for in intensity.  I added a large rectangle of darker blue which I embossed with a floral embossing folder (Darice) and then I added a length of coordinating green ribbon across it and glued both ends to the inside of the card.  The ribbon  slides into a slit on the spine of the card which I cut with my slot punch (SU) - works perfectly every time.    I adhered my image over the ribbon using 3D foam tape on the right hand side and double sided tape on the left to accommodate the thickness of the embossed layer.  I punched out a laser printed greeting, layered it onto a Modern Label punchie in a coordinating green and mounted it to the front of my card using double sided tape.  Very happy with how it worked out and I hope it will be a comfort for those who are grieving.

Therese

"Some bunny cares" fabric postcards

I created these fabric postcards the other day from a thrift store find that had bunny lace and these two little embroidered bunnies!  I ironed the fabric and discovered that because the pieces were rounded these little guys would need to have additions in the corners to create a 4" x 6"postcard.  I added triangles of yellow that coordinate with the bows around their necks and then cut them to size leaving a half inch on each long side so I could fold them over to the back and adhere them in place using fusible hem tape.  When I cut the backs I left them a half inch longer on each short end so I could fold them over to the fronts and thereby creating finished edges all the way around my postcards.   I added some batting between the two and fused my edges down.  This worked very well for finishing them off nicely.  I stitched all the way around the edge as well to get all the layers nicely connected.  I added a line for the to and from and then stitched in some grass with green embroidery thread.  I had been experimenting with fabric labels for my next project so I had two of these little "some bunny cares" labels so I applied them to the bottom of the postcards.  I will be sending these as RAKs when I feel inclined to.

Therese

A large fabric collage created from small strips of scrap fabric

I created this fabric collage background fabric piece the other day by simply sewing small strips of fabric that coordinate loosely onto a substrate fabric.  It is 6" wide which will be just perfect for making fabric postcards for swap I have coming up later this year.  The pieces on the right hand side were tightly woven before being sewn down.  The darker middle section was much more loosely woven before being stitched into place.  It was fun to play with these small pieces of fabric which I found at a thrift store a while back.  Once I have made projects with this piece I will come back and them them here.  

Therese

Large birthday card with a layered flower embellishment

A card for my oldest daughter who is having a significant birthday this weekend!!!  

She loves autumn colours so I chose a piece of scrapbooking paper that reflected those colours with attitude.  I added a strip of brown grosgrain and a length of lace using double sided tape and tucked the ends to the back.  I created the coordinating embellishment using a large yellowish silk flower, a smaller brown one, a green sequin and held them all together with a dark brown brad.  I glued the decorative layer to a large deep red card front and adhered the embellishment over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I punched out the laser printed greeting using the Decorative Label punch (SU) and punched another in dark brown.  I cut the brown one in half lengthwise and mounted both halves to the back of the punchie using double sided tape.  I mounted the greeting to my card front using 3D foam tape!! 

They will all be here for the day tomorrow!!!  It will be a wonderful day of celebration!!

Therese

Tutorial - laser toner resist & watercolour cards

I made laser toner resist cards a while back and this time I decided to take a few photos and prepare a tutorial to show the process of making them.  I used free digital images from CLKER for these cards as well and created my layouts in Corel Draw.  I created backgrounds and layouts with the images - 4 per 8.5" x 11" and laser printed them onto white cardstock.  I trimmed them apart to 4.25" x 5.5".

Here is what you are going to need:
quarter sheet laser printed images/backgrounds
watercolours
water
a large round brush
and a waterproof work surface

Wet your watercolours so they are really juicy. Choose an image/background.  I chose this hexagonal background for my first one.  I started by adding several splotches of yellow, added several blue splotches and where they mixed it created some green areas. I ran blue all the way around the edges to make sure that there would be colour to the edge all the way around. Keep adding colour until you are happy with how they look.  Don't mix too much - we don't want mud brown.  That is it!!!  Set this one aside and create another one.

For this one I tried adding plastic wrap over the wet paint to get a cool pattern but because the cardstock is very absorbent I was not able to get much of a pattern.












This one is a floral background. In this case I was a little more careful.  I painted all the centers yellow first, then I added colour to the petals and finally I painted the background green.  I found the large paintbrush worked well and helped me resist being really finicky with my application of colour.
So a different brush and a different colour palette resulted in a bit of a different look for these cards!!
It it worth your while to make a few while you are at it.  I would advise having a few blank images/backgrounds on hand for last minute cards!!

Once they are dry they may need to be pressed to flatten them.  You may also consider wiping the surface with a dry cloth to remove any watercolour that remains on the laser toner which will make it pop a little more.  Once they are pressed flat, it is time to make cards with them!!  Trimmed to 4" x 5.25" they are perfect for the front of an A2 sized card. They can be embellished with greetings, ribbon, bling - whatever you are inspired to add.
Have fun and leave me a link in the comments with your creations so I can go take a look!!

Therese

Laser toner resist/watercolour cards with layered greetings

Another set of laser toner resist cards!!

For these ones I used all over backgrounds from CLKER which I watercoloured with bright colours. Really like how they worked out!!

Once they were dry, I trimmed them to 4' x 5.25" and glued them to black card fronts.   I added a 1/4" strip of black cardstock and black & white punchie greeting to finish them off !!

You can check out the other ones here and here. Just another option for this quick and easy technique.  Give it a try and leave me a comment with a link to what you created!!

Therese

A couple larger fabric collage heart cards

These fabric collage hearts were a bit bigger than the others I made so they did not work well for A2 sized cards which I what I usually make.  So I dug into my envelope stash and found a couple envelopes that were just a bit larger and created my cards to fit in them.
For my first card, I created a white card which fit in the envelope I had chosen. I created a background by adhering a strip of green cardstock to a piece of blue cardstock, trimmed it to fit on my card front and embossed it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder.  I had to put it through twice so I was careful the second time to position my top plate so it lined up with the last row of dots so the end of the folder would not crush what I had embossed the first time.  Worked perfectly!!  After auditioning my fabric collage heart I felt that the background needed a bit of something so I went digging in my lace stash and found this one that worked well.  I cut off the length I needed, applied a very thin layer of glue on the embossed green strip and positioned the lace over it.  I folded the ends to the back and adhered them with double sided tape.  I added my heart and machine stitched it in place using coordinating thread.  I added a handmade paper heart punchie which I tied on with pink embroidery thread.  I added a layered greeting below my heart and glued this embellished layer to my white card front.  After a bit I thought maybe the handmade paper heart needed a "bit of something" so I outlined it with dimensional pearl fabric paint and added a few dots as well.  To keep the thread ends out of the paint while it dried I positioned the card upside down on a shelf and held it in place with a little weight. Perfect!  The paint dried perfectly and the thread remained clean.
For my second card, I created a navy card to fit in my envelope then cut a yellow and green layer each a bit smaller than the other.  I embossed the green one with a heart embossing folder, added my fabric collage heart and machine stitched it in place.  I embellished it with a large brad which I coloured with a Sharpie marker to make it the right colour and then slipped four short pieces of soft tulle between the tangs on the back of the brad before inserting it in a hole which I made with awl so it would be big enough.  Really like how that worked out!!  I colourwashed a punched laser printed greeting with watercolour to coordinate, highlighted the edges with a black permanent marker and adhered it below the heart using 3D foam tape.
I am really liking these cards! They are artsy and unique!!  You can check out the others I have made here and here.

Therese

Another batch of laser toner resist cards

Another batch of laser toner resit cards!!  I have reused some of the images I really liked from the first set and added a few new ones.  Several of these required a bit more detail in the colouring with the watercolour - the butterflies and the flowers.  The other two I was able to apply colour to highlight the greeting which worked out really well.
Pretty happy with these cards!!

Therese