Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring a vellum greeting, hand decorated paper and a layered background

My fifth card for the Doily Challenge!!  For this card I started with a large white envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I cut a light aqua layer for my card which left a small border all the way around.  I created a border using blue, green and purple cardstock adding short snippets of the teal doily border to the left hand side to create a bit of a scalloped edge.  I used the off cut of hand decorated paper I used on my last card and trimmed a small strip off of the left hand side and punched the right hand side with an eyelet border punch.  I adhered the strip to the coloured cardstock accent and added the remainder equidistant away.  I tucked my greeting behind this layer and adhered it to my card front using double sided tape where it would be hidden by the focal element.  I adhered the large focal element to my card front.  I added three pink flower die cuts over the gap in the hand decorated paper and positioned two aqua paper sequins in between them.  To finish off my card I added clear rhinestones to the paper sequins.  I will likely add clear glitter to the center swirl of the flowers because I think they need just a "bit of something".  Very happy with how these cards worked out and it was fun to find ways to incorporate the teal doily into my cardmaking!!!     Therese

Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring hand decorated paper, vellum greeting and some paper sequins

This is the fourth card I created for my Doily Challenge.  I started with a large white envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I trimmed a piece of light aqua cardstock to fit on my card with a very tiny margins all the way around. I found a piece of hand decorated glossy paper which was created with a wrinkled wax paper resist and watercolour.  The colours worked well with the dark teal doily.  I trimmed a piece off and used a scalloped border punch on the right hand side after trimming it to size to fit on my aqua layer.  I used a vellum greeting which I printed when I was creating my last card.  After positioning it on my card I created a green strip to hide the double sided tape I used to adhere my vellum greeting.  I added four aqua flower paper sequins to the strip, trimmed four little flowers from my doily and adhered them to the paper sequins.  To finish off my card, I added clear rhinestones to my paper sequin flowers which  was perfect!!  I love the look of the hand decorated paper with the vellum and the paper sequins!!     Therese

Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring a teal doily, a vellum greeting and rhinestones

Card #3 in my Doily Challenge!!  For this one I trimmed some of the center portions of the doily and featured them prominently.  I started with a large white envelope and created a light aqua card to fit inside.   After trimming the two large pieces of doily from the whole I laid them on my card front overlapping the middle flower.  I estimated the size of vellum greeting I would need and printed it on vellum.  I tore the bottom edge of the greeting and trimmed the sides to come just inside of the edge of the doily pieces.  I adhered the top edges of the doily pieces to my card with double sided tape and then tucked the vellum below them adhering it to my card front where the doily would hide the double sided tape.  Next, I added small pieces of double sided tape below the flowers in the edge of the doily pieces to secure those pieces.  I added rhinestones to the centers of all the flowers.  Liked that!!  I trimmed a flower out of the scraps of the doily and added two little hand cut leaves and mounted it just above my laser printed greeting.  Added a rhinestone to that one too!!  Love the simplicity of this one.  Elegant with a monochromatic colour scheme.    Therese

Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring a floral digital stamp (my art), a doily and some fiber

I created this card as part of my Doily Challenge.  You can check out my previous card here. I started with a large white envelope and created a black card to fit inside.  I used a "rubber finger tip" - a stationary tool - to stamp a texture on the right hand side of my card using silver ink.  It turned out quite good  -  similar to stippling!!  I started with some teal fiber and created a layer featuring the colours in it - dark pink, purple and a light teal blue.  I embossed the background with a script embossing folder, tore the bottom edge and layered it with silver paper (gift wrap).  I found this laser printed floral image (one of my own doodles) in my stash which worked well with the dimensions of my background  so I watercoloured it to coordinate.  I added a layer of white to extend the bottom and then tore it to echo the bottom of the layer.  I wrapped the fiber on the bottom of the floral image covering the joint with fiber.  I found a coordinating greeting in my stash so I tore both the top and bottom of it, sponged it a bit with aqua ink mounted it over the fiber using 3D foam tape. I mounted this large focal element to my background.   I trimmed a piece off of my teal doily to layer under my main focal element and then adhered this large element to my card front using double sided tape.   The dark card reduces the contrast of the dark doily which helps highlight my flower image.    Therese

Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring a teal doily, a stamped greeting and some paper sequins with bling

A friend gave me a package of teal doilies when I attended her garage sale earlier this year and I thought I would challenge myself to use them in cards.
I started with this card which used just less than half of one of the doilies.  I started with a large aqua envelope and I created a white card to fit inside.  Next, I cut a light aqua layer for the front just slightly smaller and used the piece of doily as a stencil sponging on aqua ink on the right hand side.  I really liked how that looked.  I started layering pieces on the left hand side to create layers on my card.  I ended up with a piece of plastic trimmed from a commercial card that has a white doily pattern, my piece of teal doily, some blue foil and then a piece of silver foil.  After auditioning all the pieces I glued them to my layer one at a time and added the final white doily piece using two silver brads which I applied through all the layers.  I glued this large layer to my white card front and then worked on some embellishments.  I found a stamped and embossed greeting in my stash which coordinated nicely, added a navy blue layer, tuck it under the white doily layer and adhered it to my card front.  I found these light aqua floral paper sequins in my stash, sponged their edges with the same ink I used to stencil and then adhered them to my card front nicely arranged near the greeting.  To finish off, I added clear rhinestones to the centers of the flowers.  It was a challenge to use this colour in that it was quite dark.  I am happy with how this one turned out.        Therese

A large birthday card featuring a stamped & stenciled background, a bit of teal doily and a butterfly punchie

Another birthday card which features the last two pieces from my large teal doily!!!!!  I layered the last two pieces onto a layer of dull gold cardstock and die cut a 1 7/8" opening using my round Nestibilities.  I started my background with a warm leafy paper with I stamped and stenciled  with coordinating colours.  I mounted my background to a large light aqua card and then mounted my accent strip to it.  I found this fun paper that coordinated so I punched a little butterfly (SU) and tied gold cording to it center to create antennae.  After auditioning it on my card I decided to add a circle of gold paper to the opening before mounting my butterfly with 3D foam tape.  I found a little laser printed greeting which coordinated so I flagged one end and tucked the other under my butterfly!!  It has been fun to do a bit of collage, stamping and stencilling!! 

Therese

A birthday card featuring a teal doily, handmade paper flower and a shimmery flourish

I found this handmade paper flower in my stash and thought it would work well with my teal doily so I trimmed a couple more pieces off the whole for this card.  I started with a large envelope and I created a large sun yellow card to fit inside.  I wanted to tone down the card colour a bit so I used a doily stamp(SU) and stamped in a few times on the front using a blue ink.  Did just what I needed it to do!!  I adhered the two doily pieces in opposite corners of my card and the auditioned my handmade paper flower.  It seemed to need something  - a flourish maybe!!  But what colour should it be?  I did a search online to see what sorts of colours would work.  It was suggested that green, orange or gray would be good choices.  I dug through my metallic paper stash and chose this piece of junk mail which I saved because of its shimmery finish.  I cut it out with a large flourish (SX) die and trimmed it into two pieces before layering it under my flower.  Just what I needed!!!  I found this perfectly coordinating greeting in my stash so I trimmed it to size, highlighted the edges in teal and adhered it my card front using 3D foam tape.  Love it!!!!!!!  Very bold!!   Therese

Anniversary card featuring piece of a teal doily, laser printed decorative paper and heart die cuts and a tiny greeting

 I have been gifted a little stack of these teal doilies and decided to see what I had that coordinated in my paper stash.  I had this fun flower decorative paper which is a digital image which I laser printed a while back.  I had started with a large white card and it seemed too stark so I sponged the edges with pink to help it coordinate with the paper.  I added two sections of the teal doily in opposite corners and then added two embossed white heart die cuts which I also sponged with pink to make them less stark.  To finish off my card I tucked a tiny laser printed greeting among the hearts which worked very well.  Those teal doilies have a lot of presence!!         Therese

Valentine's card with a doily, heart focal element and some embossing and thread

It is time to think of Valentine's!!! I am making a few cards for my stash.  I started with the focal element - a vintage heart digital which I laser printed a while back.  I used my Circle cutter to trim it out of the sheet because I did not have a circle die the right size.  Worked really well!!  I layered it onto this beautiful white paper doily and wanted some contrast so I added a circle of gold foil in behind.  The foil is from Ferraro Rocher chocolates!!!  Chocolate is always good and if it provides crafting supplies that is a double good!!!  I embossed a coordinating red card front with a script stamp (SU) and embossed it with gold embossing powder to create my background.  Added gold embroidery thread to create some upward movement in the background adhering the ends in the center where they will be covered by the focal element.  I glued my large heart/doily element to my card using 3D foam tape after stabilizing it with a circle of cardstock on the back.  I found the greeting in my stash, trimmed it before layering it with red and mounting it to my card using 3D foam tape.  Worked out well!!!!!!!!!  Therese

A floral focal element, a white paper doily and a little laser printed greeting

For this elegant card I die cut the flower from the front of a used card using a circle Nestibility circle die.  The image went off the edge of the card so I only got a partial circle.  I mounted it to a little paper lace doily I had sitting on my desk.  It fit so perfectly!!  I embossed the two right hand corners of my black card with a floral embossing folder (SU) before adding my embellished daisy image.  I positioned the image on the edge of my card and only applied glue to the central part which leaves the nice delicate edge free.  I was tempted to trim the doily to the edge of the card but instead decided to just fold it over and glue it down.  Gives a very nice touch to the back of the card.  I added a little laser printed greeting which I layered onto silver cardstock before adding to my card front.  After another look at it I could maybe have made this one an anniversary or wedding card.    Therese

Large cards from my sister's stash!!

My sister visited a few years ago and left a bit of her stash behind so I have been making cards for her when I get a chance.  Knowing that I would be seeing her I set about making a few cards for her.  I have been enjoying these large format cards - 5.5" x 8.5".  

For the first card I started with some large images which I printed when I was working on another project.  I usually fill a half sheet of images or greetings while I am at it when I am colour printing.  This little bear with the balloon (Pixabay) is one of my favorites from La Petite Femme on Pixabay!!  I started with a red card and mounted a fun scrapbooking paper to it.  I added a strip of brown cardstock about a third down from the top.  I added  short pieces of coordinating ribbon to the back of the image and added a line of faux stitching before mounting it to a dark red layer and adhering to my card front using 3D foam tape.  The colour printed greeting I found in my stash and was just what I needed.  I trimmed it, layered it onto brown and flagged the right hand side.  I mounted it below the image to the left hand side of the card.  Love it!!
For the next card I used a dark pink card and mounted this fun background paper to it after cutting it twice to made four different sized pieces.  I added a length of pink polka dotted ribbon about one third down using double sided tape to keep it in place.  I layered the colour printed balloons (CLKER) onto yellow cardstock, trimmed it and mounted it over the ribbon on the the top of the card using 3D foam tape.  I added another length of the ribbon to the lower portion and mounted the laser printed greeting which I had also mounted to yellow cardstock over it!!  A fun birthday card!!

For the next card I started with a light pink card and mounted to it some beautiful shimmery pink embossed decorative paper.  I found the two halves of a paper doily in my stash and cut out the centers with a doily thinlit die (SX).  I embossed the dark pink layer for my rose image (CLKER) using a lace border die (SU) on top and bottom and fussy cut the edges.  I mounted the lace doily pieces to the back of this piece using double sided tape.  I inserted the lace between the paper doily and the rose layer before mounting this large element to my card front.  I adhered the ends of the lace to the inside of the card using double sided tape and added the laser printed greeting to the rose image to finish of my card.  Thinking it still needed " a bit of something" I added two clear rhinestones to either side of the greeting.  Done!!

For my next card I started with an off white card and mounted a layer of this fun striped scrapbook paper which I had backed with a layer of brown cardstock.  I layered the colour printed image of the brown coffee cup with blue cardstock and mounted on the top portion of my card.  I layered the laser printed greeting with the same blue cardstock and adhered it below the cup image using 3D foam tape as well.  Thinking it needed a bit of something I stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder a little coffee bean from one of my stamp sets.  I fussy cut it  and mounted it to my greeting!!  Much better!!
For my next two cards I used that same little bear image from Pixabay - la petite femme!!   For the first one I created a card using red and black embossed cardstock by just taping together the pieces I needed.  I added a strip of shimmery pink embossed paper which I flagged on the left hand side.  I added the laser printed digital image of the little bear with a balloon onto the red section of the card and added the laser printed chalkboard greeting overlapping the image and the pink strip.  Love how it worked out. 

Very pleased with how the first one turned out I decided to use the same colour scheme for my second one!  The triangle is what I had trimmed off the black layer for my first card so I mounted it to the top of a red card so it would highlight the greeting.  I used a polka dot border embossing folder to emboss a strip of dots on my card front before adding my bear image and the chalkboard greeting.  Love this one too!!
So a few cards for my sister made in one afternoon of creating!!                 Therese

A couple Mother's Day cards with reused elements

I made a couple of Mother's Day cards to add to my stash!!
For the one on the left, I started with a pink card front.  My next layer was trimmed from a used card.  I added half of a white paper doily and covered the edge with a strip sitting on my desk that was trimmed from a used card which I stitched in place with my sewing machine.  I added this beautiful collage element tag which was a RAK in a previous swap on a light blue organza ribbon gluing the ends to the back of the layer with double sided tape.  I added a couple pieces of tape in behind so it would stay in place.  I glued this large element to my card front and finished my card with a round watercoloured circle punchie greeting (Desert Diva).  I like the shabby chic look of the vintage image with the lace and ribbon.
For the card on the left I stared with a trimmed layer from a used card which I embossed only on the left hand side avoiding the beautiful gold edge on the bottom.  I layered it onto pink and then onto a light pink card.  For my focal element I started with a small colour laser printed floral element (Pixabay) to which I digitally added a greeting using a font.  I layered it onto green and tore of the bottom.  Added a little piece of white fiber which I tied on the front with a double knot and then layered onto pink which I also tore on the bottom.  I glued this on my card front on the left hand side to cover writing from the original card.  Pretty happy with both of these cards!!
Mother's Day will be here faster than we expect!!

Therese






pab plus a font
desert diva greeting

Be you card featuring a colour washed paper doily

A "for any reason card" embellished with a graphic from a sheet of Adorn It scrapbook paper. My sister gave a selection of them to me for my birthday a couple of years ago and I am working on using them up.  They are very beautiful and the paper is good quality so they take watercolour very nicely!!  I trimmed the image, watercoloured the flowers and words and layered it onto a decorative paper that featured roses and pearls which I have always thought was very beautiful. I embossed my dark green card front with a corner embossing folder (SU) doing it twice to get both corners that would be showing once I glued on my colour washed paper doily.  I have some smaller pieces from broken plates for my Big Shot which allow me to selectively use certain areas of an embossing folder or die and in this case allowed me to get both corners embossed with two passes without debossing any of the other area.  Fun!!  I glued my paper doily in place and trimmed off what went over the edge of my card.  I added a length of shimmery organza ribbon over the doily gluing both ends to the inside with double sided tape.  I then mounted my focal element using 3D foam tape which nicely finished off my card.    Therese

Digital images, lace doily and some embossing for a get well card

A fun get well card!!!  I laser printed the image (Pixabay), trimmed it then added a piece of a paper lace doily to the bottom edge.  I embossed the top edge of a blue card using a dots border embossing folder then glued my image element below it.  I stamped the greeting on the lower right hand corner with blue ink.
The doily was rescued from a plate when we were out a while back and I knew I would find a place for it!!

Therese

February card exchange cards with hearts

I made these two cards for my February Card Exchange.  I started with an alcohol ink background that I had stamped over with black ink.  It is on the top of the pile here. I added a few more images to fill it out and then cut it in half.  I layered each piece onto black cardstock and added a slim strip of black cardstock across the middle.  On the left hand card I also added a length of black 1/8" ribbon tied with one knot.  I created the hearts using scallopped die cuts I had received from my Secret Sister that were covered with Sookwang tape.  I added the little hearts in the center of the tape and applied red glitter to the rest of them.  That worked out very well.  I mounted them to the alcohol ink pieces using 3D foam tape.  I worked out my designs, stamped the red card fronts in black with a script stamp, added two quarters of a little white doily to each card and then mounted my main alcohol ink elements to my card fronts.  It was fun to create one portrait and one landscape!!  

Therese

Card with watercolour background

I found this watercolour background in a box on my desk and decided to turn it into a card!!  I had created it in the process of finding ways of creating fast and easy crafts do with my grandchildren using markers, coffee filters and a spray bottle.  This was a piece of white cardstock I used to print off of a coffee filter that was saturated with water and colour.
I added half of a paper doily.  The other half was included in the making of this card.  I added a piece of coordinating vintage seam binding and decided to sew it to the layer capturing the doily in between.  I glued this layer to a blue card front, added a watercoloured birdhouse image (Beccy's Place) and a double layered printed greeting.
I created the corners on my birdhouse image using a half inch circle punch.  I turned the punch over so I could see the paper, inserted the corner until it was a quarter of the circle and punched it.  Nicely done!! I like using my tools in different ways.
I am really liking these handmade backgrounds!!!

Therese

Square anniversary card with doily

This month's card swap on AFTCM is to make a square card that includes hearts and a doily.  Again, I went looking in my stash to find the doilies I knew should be there.  Yeah! I found them in the second box I looked in!!
I cut the paper doily in half and found the background paper on my desk.  It is a colour printed background I created when I was working on these wedding cards.  I found some cardstock that coordinated and cut it to 5.5" x 8.5", scored it at 5.5" and folded it.  I cut a scrap from the other piece, laid it butting against the back flap, placed double sided tape over the joint and added a square of white on the inside for writing on.  I trimmed the decorative paper to 5.25" square and glued it to the front of my card after I had sponged the edges just a bit.  I sponged the edge of the paper doily as well and used double sided tape to adhere it over the decorative paper.   I found a piece of grosgrain ribbon in my stash that was the right colour, flagged the ends by folding it in half and snipping diagonally from the fold to the corner and adhered it in place over the edge of the doily using double sided tape.  I punched two hearts (SU), sponged their edges and embossed them with a vintage floral embossing folder (SU). They seemed too plain so I went looking into my "hearts bin" and found these printed hearts (3peas font) that would be perfect.  I trimmed them to their edges, watercoloured them with pink Distress Ink (Victorian Velvet) and glued them to the embossed hearts.  Much better!!  I adhered the two hearts over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I sponged the punchie greeting (SU Large Oval) and layered it over an oval I cut with a small oval Nestibility.  I like that it is an uneven layer below the greeting.  I added the layered greeting to my card front with 3D foam tape.
Very happy with the way this card worked out!!  I don't often think to use paper doilies. I have the other half on my desk and should make a point of incorporating it into another card soon!!

Therese