All occasion card featuring a bright collage background, a stamped image and some colour and paper piercing

 This card also started with a dark green card!!  I trimmed the bright collage to size, added some lines of paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and adhered it to my card front. I stamped a bridge (SU) in brown on ivory cardstock, watercoloured it and then added paper piercing after it was dry.  I layered it to a piece of orange cardstock and as a final touch I added several small leaf punchies.  Therese

All occasion card featuring a collage background, stitching, embossed tag and a little chicakee

I started with a dark green card and trimmed one of my collages to fit.  After cutting it I found that the paper I had used as a substrate could simply be peeled off.  I guess deli paper does not take glue well.  There were enough layers that it was mostly still intact so I added a row of stitching all they way around in case the deli paper wanted to let go of everything I had adhered to the top of it.  I embossed the background added a bit of green ink around the edges to highlight the raised areas.  I found the tag in my stash.  I trimmed it, glued it to a green layer and embossed the top piece.  I added a white eyelet and paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel all the way around.  I watercoloured the fussy cut chickadee and added it to the tag. I added coordinating fiber in the eyelet and then added the tag to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  

A few more cards to go!!

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background with an embossed vellum strip layered with fun hearts

I started with a green card and trimmed out a hand decorated background from a large sheet.  I tore a strip of vellum and embossed it with polka dots.   I added it over the backgroun and folded the ends over the edge and secured them with tape.  I added a whole lot of fun coordinating hearts.  I arranged them first and then adhered them into place.  I did watercolour several of the hearts and embossed the yellow ones!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - Card #3 - torn decorative paper background, dry embossed image and coordinating cardstock layer

This quick and easy card was our third!!  I cut the decorative paper 4.75" instead of the usual 5.25" which allowed us to tear it into two across the short side and have a swath of colour below our focal image.  The focal image combined a dry embossed image ( gift, flowers, cup and elephant) with a coordinating background of colour coordinating cardstock.  We simply added our two pieces of torn background to the card front, adhered the two elements of the focal element to each other and then added the focal element to the card front using 3D foam tape.  I added a little clear glitter with a glitter pen to the images.  I had packed the glitter pen but totally forgot to mention it when we made up the cards!!  Dah!!!  As you can see these were easily assembled as either landscape or portrait cards and with the various focal elements were appropriate for a variety of occasions!!  A wonderful way to finish off our cardmaking evening!!!  

Therese

 

Cardmaking - Card #2 - decorative paper background combined with a custom tag featuring a circle punchie, brad and fiber

Our second card had all sorts of options.  I chose landscape images from my stash of digital images and created decorative elements 1.25" x 3.75".  After printing them on white cardstock I cut them apart and married them up with a tag, a circle punchie (1"), a brad and some coordinating fiber.  The tag I created by cutting rectangles and cutting the round end from one of my label dies.  I lined up the end of my rectangle to just cut of the bits on both sides of the rounded section.  I placed my cutting pad so no more would be cut off and ran the sandwich to just cover that area.  Works well for making custom tags the width I needed.   We started by adding our decorative background to our card fronts.  Next, we coloured our images and added our circle punchies to be framed by the rounded section of the tag.  Next, we added our embellished image to be properly framed on the tag.  With that in place we punched a hole for the brad.  We inserted the brad into the hole, tied on the fiber and then spread the tangs on the back.  This large element was then mounted to our card using 3D foam tape.  I just realized that I could have included tall vertical images as well instead of making them all horizontal.  Always, something to learn!!! 

Image credits: Butterflies, Tulip and bees, and Popsicles - Melonheadz, 

Books - Pixabay

Acorns and Ferns - CLKER

Candles - Black Berry Jelly

Leaf Swag - Anne's "Cards 4 You "

Parrot - Clipart Library

Heart Flowers - ???

Therese

 

Cardmaking - Card #1 - double embossed leaf with a ribbon and brad over an dry embossed background

It was a beautiful spring day and a warm evening when the girls came over to make cards!!!!!!!!  

This was our first card.  We started with embossing our backgrounds and adhering them to our card fronts.  After embellishing the two rectangles - one solid cardstock the other decorative paper we adhered them to each other.  We added a ribbon and then a brad.  The leaves were ready to go.  They were die cuts from my stash.  Those that were not coloured I watercoloured and then I embossed them all with the TH embossing folder for the Tattered Leaf die cuts, added a bit of gold embossing ink and then embossed them with gold embossing powder.  Just the right amount of gilding!!!  We added some double sided tape to the back, slipped the ends under the ribbon and pressed them into place.  These large focal elements were added to our card fronts using 3D foam tape.  A great all occasion card!!!  Therese    
 

Collages for cardmaking using hand decorated papers, scraps, tissue, napkins and torn pattern pieces

Needing to start on cards for family for next month I wanted to make up a few collages for backgrounds.  I chose papers that were not speaking to me from my stash and added pieces using diluted clear glue!!  

The bright one (T,L) was a swap item which had writing on it which I covered with scraps.

Brown one (T,M) was a colour printed image.  I added watercolour all the way around, torn bits of pattern instructions and tissue and two strips of paper napkin.  

Scrappy (T,R) started as a sheet of scrap paper to which I added a whole variety of paper scraps from my stash and then I added several strips of white tissue to soften the edges and keep them all in place.  

Blue collage (M,L) started with a scrap piece of paper to which I added some deli paper.  I added torn pieces of paper and some little squares.  Over that I added some torn pieces of white tissue.  It has a dark line because I had already cut that one apart so I just laid the piece next to each other.  

Rose tissue (M,R) started with a subtly stamped piece of decorative paper in browns and blues and I adhered a large piece of rose tissue paper over it.  

Motley yellow (B) started with a piece of hand decorated paper and I overlaid a piece of paper napkin which I had used to wipe up some paint in yellows and browns.  There was less see through than I expected so it may get another layer or some stamping before I use it.  I have not made some of these in quite a while and I am looking forward to making cards.  Therese

 

Birthday card with LOTS of candles made from rolled paper with gold flames

 I made this great card for my oldest grand daughter's birthday - 18 years old!!  I so remember their birth and so many memories as they grew up and it simply does not seem like that much time has passed!!!  

I rolled hand decorated papers onto a wooden skewer adding a little glue just inside the beginning edge so that they would not stick to the skewer but start adhering right away.  I just kept adding glue and rolling until I got to the end of the paper (3.5" or so tall and 3"-4"long).  I slipped them off the skewer and left them to dry and made 18 in all!!  I punched 18 flames (bird's wing - SU punch) and adhered thin strips of black paper to the backs to create wicks.  I created a large card and adhered the candles with double sided tape trimming them to angle at the top.  Once all the candles were in place I added the flame/wicks combos by inserting the wick into the angled opening at the top and adhering the flame with 3D foam tape.  I tore a strip of vellum, stamped the greeting and the birds, added paper piercing and then folded the end to the inside of the card securing with double sided tape.  I have been wanting to make these candles for a long time but I almost always mail my cards which makes it impractical. Fortunately, I was able to hand deliver this one at a family get together.   They are off to University in September!!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a cute little snail over a fun strawberry background

What a fun little card this one is!!!  I started by creating a card to fit into a small envelope (6.5" x 3.5") onto which I mounted a piece of realistic strawberry paper.  I watercoloured the snail, paper pierced its edges and added a green layer before mounting it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I love how this one turned out!! 

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background and floral elements

I created this card for Mother's Day!!!  I created a pink card and added four strips of hand decorated paper for a background.  I dug through my stash of flowers and found the three smaller ones which are die cuts cut from decorated watercolour paper.  I added three little other flowers I found in the same stash to give them centers.  The leaves were cut from a green scrap.  The large flower was created using several layers - first a watercoloured die cut (TH), then a scrap of embossed vellum and a fussy cut flower (Jane's doodles) which I watercoloured to coordinate.  I adhered this large flower to my card using 3D foam tape.  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a cute little daisy with little ribbon flags over a hand decorated background

Another Mother's Day card!!  I started with a terra cotta card trimmed to fit in a large envelope.  I added a hand decorated background and then added a strip of paste paper on the left hand side.  The little potted flower was watercoloured, paper pierced and then layered onto an embossed background to which I had added some ribbon flags.  A fun card for a special person!!

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring little squares of decorative paper, a doodled vine and a layered photo of a flower

Another card I created for Mother's Day!!  I started with a very light dusty pink card and added some little squares leftover from my last class.  I doodled a vine in between using a green gel pen adding leaves as I went.  I went back and added three little dots here and there to simulate flowers.  I added paper piercing to the 4" x 4" photo which was trimmed from a photo calendar I received from my sister, Sylvia, last year for Christmas.   I love her photos and they always make wonderful cards.  I cut a pink square of cardstock, punched the two corners and then added the photo into it.  Love those colours!!

Therese
 

Sewing - - Bag #2 - tote using scraps of corduroy and medium weight poly cotton

Bag #2

This is the second bag I have created for my grand daughter to decorate and sell to their friends once she heads to university this fall.  This activity should keep them in a bit of spending money while they are going to school.  

I started with scraps of brown corduroy and a few scraps of coordinating floral corduroy and some almond coloured poly cotton (pant legs).  I decided to make this one a bit smaller ( 18" x 33" - with 21" handles) and used a neutral poly cotton for the lining and the inside pocket.  I incorporated the shirt pocket into one of the sides as well.  I triple reinforced the handles within the 1/2" seam allowance at the top so they should be fine for anything but a bag full of text books!!  

I used the floral, the almond and a black poly cotton to create the "piano key" accent and added 

some of the leftovers to the handles as well.  I did have to stitch the main light panel (where the artwork would go) but it should be fine once it has been painted!!  

I added one strip of the floral fabric to the bottom of the shirt pocket and then another scraps of brown to make it the size I needed for this side of the bag.  I added a black/brown corduroy bottom.  

I created the lining from a neutal poly cotton and created a zippered pocket from the same.  I added a tab in brown to the edge of the pocket.  

I am really loving the fun of making fabric with scraps and mixing and matching pieces to make the whole assemblage work.  

Totally fun!!!  

Therese

 

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background, an embossed &layered rectangle and two embossed fussy cut hearts

Our oldest daughter and her DH are celebrating their anniversary soon and I made this card for them!  I started with a navy card, added a hand decorated background, a layered embossed rectangle under which I added four little strips of silver metallic cardstock.  After all these pieces were in place I added two fussy cut embossed hearts which we stamped on a piece of decorative paper.  Therese
 

Card featuring birthday cake, layered stripes and a hand decorated background

A card for my second oldest grand daughter featuring some hand decorated paper I made a while back!!  I love the colours and the letters in this paper!!  I trimmed a large pink card, added paper piercing to the background before adhering it to the card.  I layered some embossed pink strips to the green ones and then added those to the card.  I watercoloured the birthday cake (Melonheadz) to coordinate with the background, added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and then layered it with pink then a distressed green rectangle.  I mounted the focal element to the card front using 3D foam tape.   It is on its way!!

Therese
 

Card kits - Mother's day card kits featuring a flower created with hearts and a hug inside

I made a large set of these for my sister.  She owns a daycare and was looking for card kits for one of her classrooms.  I started with a bright card - yellow in this case.  Added three hearts laid out to make a flower - they will be free to do as they wish.  I used two scalloped circles over each other for the flower center.  I included a scrap of green for the stem and two little scraps for the leaves which they can trim themselves.  All of this gets glued to the blue background and then to the card front which ensures that nothing is sticking too far out to fit in the envelope.  

For the inside I sent along instructions for using the child's hand to create a heart and hug for Mom!!  Found the idea on line somewhere!!  You start with a folded 8.5" x 5.5" of white bond paper.  Fold in half the short way.  Place the hand with the thumb and forefinger touching the fold and trac the hand.  Once it is cut out it creates this fun heart graphic!!  

I hope they love the cards! Therese

 

Sewing - Bag #1 - denim jeans and decorative denim accents with a floral green and yellow lining

I have decided to make up some tote bags for my oldest grand daughter to take to university in the fall.  They have been decorating denim with acrylic paint for several years now - Jean jackets, etc. for the kids at school and several of their friends with a variety of designs custom to the person who wants the work done.  The art is something they really enjoy doing and is very good at so I figure it will be a win/win situation to have a bit of extra money coming and keeping art in their life.  

This is the first bag I made.  It is large (37" x 21" with a 40" handle) and will certainly accommodate almost anything that a student might need to carry - would even do as an overnight or weekend bag.  

I created a white front panel where the artwork would go and then framed it with a strip of decorative denim and other denim from a pair of jeans.  I added some of the jean patches to create some interest!! The other side has the jean pocket and a "piano key" accent created using scraps of different denim scraps I had on hand. I added another belt loop and the Levi's tag on this side.  The lining is this fun grey, yellow and green cotton to which I added a zippered pocket and another tab.  Always good to have a secure place for keys and your wallet and phone.  It was really fun to make and because of the denim has some heft to it!!!  It is a good start to the project and I hope it will be successful this year and providing a bit of money towards what they need over the school year.    Therese

 

An all occasion card featuring a little bird in a nest, blingy mesh, star brad and green ribbon

 This card is off to my daughter for her birthday!!!  I started with a little bird (spring has sprung here) in a nest and after watercolouring it I added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  I trimmed a large green card, collaged a blue background and embellished with a bit of background stamping in blue as well.  I added a layer of blingy mesh using double sided tape.  I added a star brad to the image and tied on a length of green ribbon before adhering this large focal element to my card front.  Therese

Fabric Sale was a success!!!!!!!

We have worked hard to get all the fabric ready for the sale and the notions and yarn too!  It was down to the wire but we got it done!!  It was a beautiful day and the line up at 9am was all the way up the street!!  Our shoppers were all in and stuck around for a bit more time as I am sure they have felt the need for more shopping now that there is no large fabric store though we do have several new quilting stores  (Blackfalds and Bentley)!!! The rush that usually lasts an hour went on for 2.5hours and created a bit of a long line up but no one complained and we were soon getting ready for the end of the sale and the stowing of the leftovers to be picked up by our friend, Jen!!!  We had such a good team and in the end it was our highest fabric sale ever!!  Our volunteers also got to check out and buy which helped the numbers as well.  Therese

 

Card featuring a background of squares, glitter pen embellishment and a framed flower photo with a little bow

I created this card for my sister for her recent birthday!!!  It was fun to create this background with little squares leftover from my last class.  I added a squiggly row of clear glitter using my Sakura gel pen.  I framed the 4"x 4" photo (from the calendar by sister Sylvia gave me for Christmas of her own photography) with yellow, added some paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel and added it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I tied two short pieces of yellow ribbon to each other and added it to the corner of the photo to finish off my card!!!  

I hope her birthday went well.  I have been working 2 days a week for the fabric sale and it is challenging to stay ahead of the to do list.  

Therese

 

Birthday card featuring collaged background, hand cut handles with "bird wing" flames, greeting

DH is having a significant birthday and so I made him a special card!!  I made a collage background with some of his favorite things and adhered it to a large card base.  I added hand trimmed candle with "bird wing" flames from golden yellow decorative paper.  I added the greeting which was stamped and embellished with paper piercing.   

It was his first party and he really enjoyed the family time!!

Therese

 

Sewing - a tote created with blend fabric with a quilted star and a front three pocket panel

I have created this tote bag to highlight the flexibility of the cotton/blend fabric donation that we received for our Fabric Sale which is happening in a couple of weeks.  This fabric was used to make scrubs for health care professionals and is of very good quality though it is all solid colours.  I used white, red and navy for this bag and lined it with a cotton fabric featuring scenes from London.  This is my first star block made with half square triangles and solid squares (2").  I added two pieces of navy to each side to make it the width I wanted and then added a piece at the top to make a nice finished edge for my pockets.  I added a piece at the bottom as well to make it proportional to the bag but on hindsight I should maybe have increased the size of the top section to center the quilt block.  I cut a large layer of red  (16" by 32" or so) and stitched the bottom edge of the pocket panel in place after folding the edge under.  Then I stitched on each side of the quilt square which created three pockets.  I created two handles (1.75" by about 18"long) using red on one side and navy on the other.  Next, I created my lining using the London fabric.  I had to cut two pieces so I could get the graphics to be in the upright direction.  I added some navy and red strips to make an accent on this piece as well and stitched the bottom and two sides leaving an opening on the one side so I could turn it inside out.  I put the outside into the turned in side out lining and inserted my handles in between the two and then stitched the top edge all the way around - triple stitching at the handles.  I turned it inside out and pushed the lining into the bag and stitched a couple more times all the way around the top.  I turned it back to inside out and stitched box corners (2") on both the bag and the lining.  Turned it back to right sides out and tucked in the lining and stitched the box corners together with a few little lines of stitching which makes it reversible!!!  I hand stitched the opening on the lining closed and pressed it well.  I am happy with how it turned out.  My quilt square could have been more accurate but for my first one it was good to go.  It will be featured at the Fabric Sale next to the quilt I made with the same fabric to help people envision what can be created with these fabrics.  We will be selling these scraps for $2 for a 2lb bag.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - butterflies and flowers with thinking of you greetings on coordinating tags with a crystal brad

 I made up these cards from a set of tags I had tried out as a card for my March Card Club.  In the end the combination of the four layers of cardstock and the embellishments ended up making the card not suitable for mailing to I abandoned the idea.  So to use the elements I had assembled I cut the tags apart, replaced the fiber with a crystal brad and then mounted them to coordinating card fronts.  I printed some "Thinking of you" greetings, punched them with the large oval punch (SU) and then layered them onto scallop ovals.  I had already added butterflies and flowers to the decorative paper layer so they will go into the IWIN card stash for the fall!!  I am glad I was able to work the tags into cards!!!  Therese

March Card Club - Card #3 - quick and easy with embossing and ribbon

 For our last card we made this quick and easy card!!  We embossed a layer of white, ivory or metallic and added ribbon before layering onto a coloured card front.  The one on the left was not as effect as  I expected it would be - very reflective and therefore very bright.  I added four lines of paper piercing after embossing with the little floral stems (Quick Kutz).  I used double sided tape on the back to secure the ribbon ends and then tied the remainder to the front using a single knot to simulate a bow!!!  It was then mounted to a navy card.  For the other card I used the Manhattan Flower (SU) embossing folder and then trimmed the right hand edge following the edge of the embossed flower.  Added the ribbon in the same manner and the other one and mounted the layer to a black card front.  I provided a few different colours  of ribbon/seam binding in case the girls wanted a non monochromatic look for their cards!!  It was a great way to finish up our evening and so good to see all of them again!!  Therese 

March Card Club - Card #2 - colour blocking with strips of cardstock and fun images for every occasion

 As it happens these card kits were very much the same - envelope, white cardstock and a extra background layer!!  It was not planned that way but when I was making up my instructions I realized how similar they were!!  For this second card we glued strips of cardstock to a layer to create our background.  I had cut strips for my scraps so there was a variety of widths and well as colours!!  Again, they chose their images first so they could make coordinating backgrounds.  Once the strips were all glued to the substrate we simply trimmed to the edge to create our background.  We embossed the backgrounds and then applied Versamark ink to them to get some contrast without adding any colour.  We adhered our backgrounds to the white cards and then fussy cut our colour printed images.  Some of the images did not require any trimming so they were just added using 3D foam tape.  The little truck is from CLKER and the butterfly is from Pixabay.   These were all very unique and looked very interesting!!!  Therese

March Card Club - Card #1 - decorative paper squares and embossing for a background with a fussy cut focal element

 We had a wonderful time making cards again this month!!  The weather was nice enough for several of the girls to walk over!! Spring is on its way!!

For this first card we created a background using 1" squares of decorative paper in a variety of colours to coordinate with each person's chosen image.  We used a ruler/straight edge across the 4" x 5.25" scrap layer and used it to set our first line of squares overlapping the sides.  The next row was added by eye and then the third row as well.  Some of the girls had more rows and one even made her landscape so had longer rows.  No problem!!  Everything works!!   Once that was done we trimmed our squares to the edge of the layer and we were able to use some of them to fill in the little spots that were missing.  After that we embossed the area that was free of squares to add some texture.   We glued this background to our white card fronts and then fussy cut our images - some right to the edge and other leaving a white border which simulates a die cut image.  Then the images were coloured and mounted to our cards using 3D foam tape.  The cupcake and wreath are both from Melonheadz and laser printed.  This is a very versatile sketch and the squares really can be glued on in any way you wish!!  It is also a technique that uses up your scraps and provides a large variety of colours for very fun backgrounds.  I fussy cut the cupcake right to the edge and ran a black Sharpie along the edge to remove the white line created by the cardstock.  Makes it pop!!  I left a margin of white on the wreath because of its very wavy edge and it worked really well.   Therese

Cardmaking - cards from card kits from my January Card Club which feature used Canadian postage stamps

I have really enjoyed making up these cards!!  They are all different colours to coordinate with the postage stamps featured on them.  You can check out the details and the other cards I made here.  These will be going into my card stash for later.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - cards made up for January card kits - fun backgrounds with a bookmark on the front

 I have just got around to finishing up the card kits from my January Card Club session!!  These 

ones have bookmarks tucked under the strip on the front which is a gift in a card!!!  You can check out the details and the other ones here.   Therese

Cardmaking - cards from kits featuring a wobbly line of embellishments

 Just got to the kits left over from my January Card Club.  These ones feature a wobby set of embellishments which are mounted on a thread. Totally fun and it is not often you can get movement 

when you are creating handmade cards.  You can check out the details and the other cards here.  Therese

Sewing - reusable make up remover pads from a donation of new flannel

In the donation that we received the other day was a ziploc bag of small flannel scraps.  I decided that they would be perfect for making up make up remover pads.  I used two layers of flannel sewn with good sides out (3"square) and then pinked the edges to preven too much fraying.  I washed them after I made them and they get really all scrunched up so I have indicated that they should be washed by hand after use and laid flat to air dry.  I have packaged them in fours so buyers can pick the colours they like!!!  Therese