Thursday, May 20, 2010

Cardmaking - May - Zentangles

Zentangles!! I created a variety of them for the class I taught at the school so I printed up a bunch to use as accents on these cards!! Used pretty much the same layout as these - varied the border punches (5 in all)!!
The right hand side is embossed with the SU dots embossing folder. I love it because it is larger than some of the others and it does the whole card front at once!! Added the black border punched layer that has a little piece of fiber double knotted to it in the middle.

Quick and easy design! We all need some of those!!

Therese

Cardmaking -May - embossed vellum

Embossed vellum!! I am always using Splitcoast Stampers as inspiration when I am cardmaking!! So many cards and wonderful ideas!! I made a little sketch when I was perusing the site - I think I got pretty close to the same look as the one I found there.
Embossed vellum and trimmed it to the edge of the design. Layered that onto coloured cardstock and attached it with with four silver brads. Added the ribbon and attached the ends to the back. Love the way my greeting came together - an oval ribbon slide (CB) with a large oval punchie (SU)!! The large oval punchie fits perfectly into the slots in the ribbon slide to make a wonderful layered greeting!! I colour printed the greetings and just punched them out. Added the layered greeting over the ribbon using 3D foam tape. Had the inspiration to add a punched circle below the bird on the left hand card but thought of it too late to add those to the kits!! I think it would add "a bit of something" to the card.

Therese

Cardmaking - may - Paperclips

Found these cool paperclips in my travels in the last month and had to incorporate them into my cards this month. They are called Regal Owl Paper clips!!
I colour printed the greetings on the white cardstock just far enough apart to place the 1" strip of decorative paper in between. I glued this to my card and trimmed to the card edge. I used a SU word window punchie to create a tab by folding it in half and inserted it on the solid side of the clip and attached it over the decorative paper using a brad. Then threaded ribbon through the other side and glued the ends to the inside of the card.
You might even have some scraps or small strips of decorative paper in your stash to easily create a few of these cards. Use a different paper clip for a different look.

I will use the clips again. Next time, standing up, so you can see the "owl" in them!!

Therese

Cardmaking - May - corrugated card

The theme for May cardmaking was masculine cards! We all have guys we like to make cards for and we are often challenged to come up with ideas that will be suitable!! I have only a limited number of stamps for guys so I am always challenging myself to come up with new card ideas with them!!
I used four different images on these cards - lighthouse, train, tree and vintage grapes collage. I coordinated the cardstock to work with the different images. Most of the images could be coloured and then were trimmed to fit on the corrugated card!! This element was then layered onto the card front and the trimmed colour printed greeting was stapled on with a bit of ribbon added on the right hand side.
I like the way these cards came together. Not to complicated or fussy - like most guys!!

Therese

Thank you card

A thank you card I created for my friend, Sherry who has been so helpful with the house. I brought her back some cardstock and a cute little stamp so she can get started on her Christmas cards early this year!!

I watercoloured the rose and cut it out. Attached the handmade paper to the card front and then mounted the rose with 3D foam tape. Added a ribbon with a layered coordinating greeting on a ribbon slide!!

You can check out the cardstock I have for sale here:
www.tmalakrsc.blogspot.com

Email me at bmalak at cogeco dot ca if anything there catches your eye!!

Therese

Exchange cards

Created several of these for my card exchanges this month - Canadian Card Exchange and my card club. Stamped the boat image (ink on left - bleach on right) on black and mounted it to a coordinating layer. Cut a 2.75" circle from decorative paper, cut it in half and mounted it on the card front behind my image. Added some paper piercing for more interest and texture.
Got the sketch for this card somewhere on Splitcoast Stampers when I was searching for inspiration for cardmaking this month - masculine cards!!

Therese

Christmas card challenges



I combined Tracy's challenge from last month - using patterned paper as the main element in your card and this month's colour challenge to create these cards. Life has been busy and I have been away for a bit so I did not get to the April challenge at all. It worked quite well to combine the two challenges!!
I chose the cool snowflake paper which had some of the colours from the challenge which are red, cream, kraft and chocolate. I ripped the bottom of this layer, added a knotted ivory ribbon and glued it to the red layer which was embossed with the Sizzix snowflake embossing folder. Stamped the greeting in red on cream and punched them out with the small SU oval. Layered them onto chocolate punchies (large SU oval) and added them to the card front over the ribbon using 3D foam tape!! Made eight to sort of make up for the ones I did not get done last month!!
Very happy with my cards!! I know I will be happy when it is time to send them and they will be ready!!!!

It is not too late to get started!! Join a Christmas card challenge today and be ahead of the game!!

Therese



Collage art - vision board

My vision board!! The girls and I from my book club decided that we would create vision boards for our lives!! It has been a subject that has come up several times over the last few months in the discussion of the last few books we read. The idea that you create your life - draw into it certain things depending on what you think, say and do!!
So we spent an evening envisioning what we would like in our lives - making a few notes and the next time we got together we brought along magazines (from our own supply and some gathered second hand from Freecyle or Kijiji). Armed with scissors we started going through them cutting out anything that we were attracted to and/or represented something we wanted in our life. Early on in our discussion about vision boards I thought I was going to have trouble picking out "stuff" I wanted (has been my pattern) but as we discussed it more and after spending some time thinking about what I "wanted" I realized that what I wanted had less to do with "things" and more to do with relationships and experiences. Cutting out images was such a fun process!! We had magazines from a wide variety of subject matters so we were challenged to think outside the box!! Some in the group gathered only a few images and words and had their vision boards made that night. They were focused and clear about what they wanted!! It took me the better part of two days to create this collage!! I did like the way theirs looked with no white spaces in between their images so I did that on the outside of mine. I laid out my images according to areas of my life - home, DH, family, retirement, etc. I was amazed at how almost all the images that I had grabbed from the magazines found their way to my board and fit in!! Totally fun to cut out words from different places to say what I wanted to!!
So now, to draw these things into my life, I need to spend some time every day focusing my attention on what I want. That gets you thinking about it, puts you in a mind set of talking about what you want and a lot more likely to actually doing something about making it happen. You need to do all three - think, say and do!!
It is really a process of becoming clear about what you want.
This is poster board size so I am going to print off some smaller ones that I can have around to remind me of what I want in my best life.
There is no wrong way to make a vision board and you can make a new one anytime you like!! I totally enjoyed the process and will certainly be doing it again. Maybe a smaller one that deals with only one area of my life!! Created on 8.5 x 11 cardstock they could easily be stored in page protectors in a binder and would be easily availabe for review!!
Try it!! It is for sure that your thinking will get you a life - why not choose it more consciously!!

Therese

KN - Handmade paper card gift sets

More handmade paper card gift sets!!! I made up a few more of these gift sets for the store because it opened the weekend before Mother's Day and these would be perfect for any Mom!! These have been featured here on my blog several times. They are totally fun to make and love the way they feature handmade paper so nicely!!

Therese

KN - Sticky note books

These are always great for little gifts for almost anyone!! I created them using decorative cardstock, added a button and some fiber for the closure. They fit right into a yarn store!! Brought a whole bunch in a wide variety of colours and designs to suit everyone!!

Therese

KN - Artsy notebooks

Cyndi mentioned that knitters are always keeping notes about their knitting projects - where they are in the process, new projects, changes they are making to patterns, etc so I made up these artsy notebooks to make keeping their notes more fun! These feature hand decorated papers I made myself!! Several are paste papers - the others are created with acrylic and fabric paints. I added glitter to the spines of some of them for a little bling and fabric tape corners on the fronts to protect the corners.

You can check out my products at Knitting Nimrod Collective!!

Therese

KN - Handmade paper cards

I created these cards for a new venue - Elacyn Designs - a new store contained in the Knitting Nimrod Collective yarn store - a very cool place with LOTS of very cool fibers!!
These feature handmade paper shapes which are sewn to handmade paper sheets sewn to the cardstock fronts!! The hearts have been stapled to the shape before sewing. The middle one features a leaf paper cast done in white handmade paper! I love sewing handmade paper and am planning to do more of it!! I brought a selection of cards which featured handmade paper which you have seen previously on my blog.

The next few posts will feature product I made for the store!!

Therese