Front Flap Birthday card featuring decorative paper, colour printed light house and round laser printed greeting

I need cards for the special occasions in my family in the month of June and have decided to follow a sketch I found on Splitcoast Stampers for a front flap card.  It has a tutorial but I am just working it out as I go along with what I have on hand.  

For this card I chose a large envelope from my stash and cut a blue panel card to fit inside.  I found a piece of blue foil decorative paper in my blue paper stash envelope that coordinated so I trimmed it to size and glued it on the front.  Next, I found the lighthouse image in my stash of coloured images. It is a photo of a lighthouse I took when we visited in PEI a while back.  I printed several sheets of images for a class and there are still a few around.  I layered the light house with brown cardstock and then distressed its edges.  I found a coordinating piece of blue cardstock in my stash to create my flap.  I scored the top edge at a half inch and folded the flap to the back.  I hooked the flap to the panel card and trimmed the bottom edge.  I found a piece of decorative paper that coordinated, embossed it with a leafy embossing folder and then adhered it to my flap.  I added two small pieces of double sided tape to my flap, added glue in between and adhered it to the back of my panel.  I found the round greeting in my stash and gave it a very light blue colourwash and then used a brown colour pencil to colour in the knotted wreath before layering it onto a dark teal circle.  I positioned my light house and greeting on my flap before adhering them in place.  The greeting overlaps the flap by half  and I positioned the light house just to the left.  I double wrapped and tied a length of kraft brown fiber to the top portion of the flap which adds more texture and interest to this card.  I cut a piece of white bond paper just smaller than my flap and adhered it to the panel card to provide a writing area for my message.  It is a versatile sketch so I think I will make a few more while I am at it and get the cards I need ready to go!!         Therese

Birthday card featuring a photo, a layered greeting and some ribbon

For this stash card I started with the photo of the zebra which I trimmed from a photo calendar that my sister gave DH last year for Christmas.  She is a photographer and puts together several photo calendars every year for sale and we are always blessed with one each every Christmas.  Making cards with the images gives them another life and reduces waste. 
The photo was trimmed to be just less than 4" and I then glued it to a black layer which fit on an A2 card with a bit of a border all the way around.  I added a strip of green scrapbook paper below the photo and put a length of black ribbon over where they met.  I dug through my stash of laser printed greetings and found this round one (Netty's Cards) that would work perfectly so I layered it onto a black scallop circle (Nestibilities) and added a embossed green circle to the middle and attached them with a large black eyelet which I set with my Cropadile.  I layered the large element to a kraft card front and then used 3D foam tape to adhere the greeting to the front.       Therese

Reused some images from a photo calendar to make a set of cards

 Made up a set of cards for a friend using photos from 4" x 6" photo calendars from my sister, Sylvia.
She is a photographer and produces several photo calendars every year.  She offers them for sale on her blog and also has several locations where she sells them as well.  DH and I are blessed every year to get one each for Christmas.  I love using the images from the expired calendars for making cards.  I used nature and tea related images from several of her calendars in this set of cards.  


 I trimmed the images from the 4" x 6" calendar pages and layered them onto coordinating card stock which I had embossed on the bottom edge using border embossing folders.  After adhering the photo to the layer I added a length of ribbon adhering the ends to the back of the background using double sided tape.  I glued these large elements to the front of white cards.  These are just a slight bit smaller than A2 cards and are perfect for notecards.  I left them without greetings to make useful for any and all occasions!!                 Therese

Handmade cards using images from a 4" x 6" photo calendar

I was in need of a set of cards as a gift and decided to see if I could create a set from used calendars pages I have received from my sister, Sylvia over the last few years.  I chose two tea images, a close up of a rose bud and this cool one that maybe ice on a window.  I trimmed the images to 4" x 4" and created coordinating greetings using a digital frame for the Modern Label punch (SU).  I simply added a greeting in a coordinating colour in the oval in the frame, laser printed them and punched them out.

I adhered the images to the top of a coordinating card, added a strip that coordinated and mounted the punched greeting over the strip using 3D foam tape.  I am very happy with the way they turned out and gives me another layout for using these calendar images.  I made this set of cards with these images a while back.   These images are so beautiful I am happy to be able to give them a second life!!

Therese

Reuse photo calendar pages to create cards

 I have reused photos from a 4" x 6" calendar created by my sister, Sylvia.  She creates several different ones every year for sale and I am fortunate to get one for Christmas!! I trimmed the white frame off the photos which left them at 3.75" x 3.75" so I created a backer for them using Corel Draw using several vintage labels (Graphics Fairy) to which I added font greetings in a coordinating colour.  After laser printing them on white cardstock I trimmed them to 4" x 5.25", adhered my photos and then glued these large elements to a coordinating cards. When the photos are beautiful there is very little else you have to do!! These definitely deserve a second life!!    Therese

Tea themed photo birthday card

A card created using a photo from a tea related 4" x 6" photo calendar created by my sister, Sylvia.  This was from last year's calendar which I got for Christmas in 2016!!  Love this photo of a beautiful green heart shaped tea cup with a small pink peony on the saucer over a battenburg lace doily.  This is my favorite colour combo - pink and green!! 
I trimmed the photo to 3.75" x 3.75" and mounted it onto a green layer which I had stamped at the bottom with light green ink using a textured background and a leaf (SU).  I mounted this large element to the front of a dark pink card and added a laser printed birthday greeting (Birds Cards) punchie (SU) which I sponged with green ink all the way around and a bit of pink in the center using 3D foam tape.  Love how it turned out and relatively quick to put together!
If you are photographer/scrapbooker consider taking some photos that would work in your cardmaking and getting creative with them!!

Therese

Mother's Day cards reusing calendar photos

Both of these cards feature my sister's photography!!  She creates 4" x 6" calendars every year that feature her photos and I always get one for Christmas which sits on my desk all year long.  These photos are both from one of her flower ones from several years ago.  I trimmed the photos from the calendar pages and mounted them to coordinating cardstock layers which I had embossed with border embossing folders (SU).  I used the coordinating border die to cut the bottom edge of the pink one.  I could have done the same on the other but I had not left enough room to make that work.  I added coordinating ribbon across this layer gluing the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I added a little sponged tag greeting on the blue one with a silver brad and tied on a piece of white fiber which I tied in a bow.  On the left hand one, I used a punched greeting created using a digital frame (SU) with a font greeting in the center.  I punched a circle to fit the circle size and sponged some pink ink into the center after placing the hole over it.  I placed the punchie over this area and sponged green ink all the way around the edges.  I added some clear rhinestones over the circle then mounted the greeting over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I glued these large elements to coordinating card fronts.  Love how these turned out!!  

Therese

Greeting cards with photos from a calendar

 My friend gave me this calendar to see if I could make greeting cards with the photos.  She had seen this post on my blog where I had used photos from my sister's calendars to make cards and thought maybe the same could be done with the ones on this one.  The photos are awesome and I really preferred to not cut them if possible. After a conversation with my sister I realized that if I chose to make larger cards it would be possible to not cut the photos.  I went looking in my stash for envelopes that would be suitable.  I was very happy to find a little stack that would do perfectly.  I laid out the words for the front and the credits for the back in Corel Draw and printed them on letter sized white cardstock.

After that it was simply a matter of trimming the cards to size, folding them in half and I was done!!
So a little stack of beautiful birthday cards for my friend which I am sure she will appreciate!!
Therese

Simple Sentiments - quick and easy cards with images from a photo calendar

I was needing a gift for an exchange and thought I would work with calendar images from my sister's calendars.  She produces several every year - this year she created a nature, black and white cityscape, owl and tea one! They have wonderful photographs and it seems a shame not to reuse them.  I used photos from the past two years from a Nature and Alberta Road Trip calendars that I received for Christmas.  You can check out her Simple Sentiments cards sets with a similar format.  She also has several sets listed here.  

I started by downloading frames - the scrolly one is from Clipartkid and the oval one is from Graphics Fairy - which I positioned at the bottom four quarter pages in my layout program, added the greetings with a nice font and printed on white cardstock.  I laser printed the letter sized pages and trimmed them apart to be 4" x 5.25".  I trimmed the images from the 4" x 6" calendar pages to fit above the greetings leaving an even margin.  I glued the images to the greeting layer and then added a bit of watercolour to the greeting to coordinate with the image and then glued this larger focal element to the front of a coordinating card.  Quick and easy greeting cards and a environmentally friendly reuse project!!   I am off to get them packaged for the party!

Therese

Christmas gift - a "Love is..." calendar

Calendars are such perfect Christmas gifts - they last all year, are useful and everyone can find a place for one!!
I created this one this week for a special person on my gift list.  I did create one like it last year so it was fairly quick to get it made up because all the work had already been done.  I laser printed the images onto heavyweight paper and trimmed them to size.  I glued them to the top sections of six 8.5"x 5.5"pieces of red cardstock.  I printed a calendar which I downloaded from on line and trimmed out the months and glued them below the images.  There is a month on each side of six pieces of cardstock which are held together with a little red bull clip.
Easy to hang or can be positioned with a magnet and it is a simple matter of flipping the pages as the new months arrive.
This image is of my hands holding coffee beans!!  I love it!!  The other photos were downloaded from The Morgue File.  
I will be planning on making calendars this coming year for giving next Christmas!!

Therese

Digital art for my home

My DH made this beautiful room divider for me years ago and I am finally getting family photos into it.  The spaces are 11 3/4" square so they are easily accommodated by 12x12 decorative paper and I was fortunate enough to find a pad of paper in my stash that would go with the colour scheme in the living room.  It always amazes me when that happens - I feel called to buy something but I am not sure why and then months (sometimes years) later it is the perfect supply for a project.  I went looking on line for a "We are family" layout and found one that I liked but the resolution was too low to allow me to print it 8.5"x 8.5" without a lot of jaggy edges so I decided to recreate it.  I used the original as reference and created the label outline, added a dotted line just inside that one and then added a coloured radial fill using Corel Draw.  The benefit of making my own was that I could use colours  that matched my paper exactly!!   I then used fonts to create my words in the sizes that fit the label frame I had created.

I printed it in colour, trimmed it close using scissors and adhered it to my decorative paper!!  One of the twelve openings filled!!  Each opening has magnetic holders so it is really easy to make changes.
Here is a photo of the room divider.  I filled all the openings with paper.  I have added photos of my parents, my inlaws as well as each of my daughter's with their families.  I will need to a get a good photo of my son to add there as well.  I think family photos with our siblings and one of me and my twin will go in next.  Not sure what will go in the others but it is a work in progress and I will figure it out as I go along.

Therese

Gifts of Imperfection - Authenticity

I have finally found the time to search for a photo for my week two exercise!!  I was not sure how many photos I had of myself as a child but I knew I had an envelope that Mom had given me of old photos which were left over from her scrapbook.  This morning I went looking - we have moved since I last remember where it was located - and was fortunate to find it fairly quickly though not were I expected!! I had more photos that I expected!!  The assignment was to pick one - but I chose three!!  The largest one is a photo of my twin and I over thirty years ago!!  Love it!  We often take fun photos of ourselves when we are together.  The top right photo is of me pregnant with my son - days before I delivered  - with my oldest daughter.  I so loved being a Mom and so loved her cuteness!!  The black and white is of me when I was 5 years old.  We (my twin and I) had been ice fishing with Dad & Pepere (a huge privilege) and had each caught a little fish that we were showing off.  It was really special to me to have the opportunity to spend time with my family in the great outdoors!!
For the layout I cropped the photos and arranged them over a scan of some fabric paper I made and added the word "Authenticity" in a font I like!!  I have colour printed it and will journal over it in white gel pen!! Going back and looking at photos of my life has been so fun and encouraging.  So often we remember so little of the richness of our experiences and photos help us to remember more!!
So dig through your photos and see how much more you can see in them!!!  For me, it has been a life expanding experience in that I have been able to add to my remembrance of events - enrich my memories of the past.  It is also a reminder to take photos often to keep building that resource for myself and future generations.

Therese

Steampunk fat book page

I have been crafting in my new room!!!  It is wonderful.
Here is the project I was working on today - a Steam punk fat book page.  I created this for a swap on AFTCM.  I created a steam punk wind screen using items that I picked up on my walk the other day and a few add ons.  What did I pick up??  The base - a clear plastic with holes in it and the rusty washer.  I added the central piece (inside of a foam brush) from my desk, the little washers and the electronic bits were discovered during a raid of DH garage and the butterfly charm, the rhinestone and the copper piece are from my stash.  I wired all of them into place using wire which I had pulled out from ribbon a while back.  Thinking about it - most of these elements have been upcycled!!  I ended up painting the back of the clear piece after I had started wiring elements into place so I used a variety of mediums until I got the look I needed. On hindsight, it would have been better to sand and paint it beforehand but it sort of evolved so I had to make it up as I went along.  I really like the way it looks!!  Once the windscreen was finished I started looking for a fall scene, a flying machine and a pilot.  The pilot and the windmill I found at Graphics Fairy and the fall scene I downloaded off the internet.  I love how it all came together.  I had to add some details to the pilot and also created the outside of his flying machine.  The back of the page has the fall scene with some verse I wrote about the colours and flying!!  I added some coordinating fiber on the right hand side and my page was done!!

The colours of fall are so awesome here.  I grew up in the west where fall colours go from green to yellow and if we were lucky brown but more often than not, we would get a hard frost in September and all the leaves would fall regardless of what colour they were!!  Bare trees for Halloween and very often snow suits too!!

PS - If you have been waiting for more photos of my craft room - I have uploaded them into the original post - here!!

Therese

Happy New Year!!

The gift of a new year!!
As you can see from the photo, we are welcoming this year with mild weather and today has brought the first "snow day" with lots of ice and very little snow!!  With no snow before it started and the prediction of above freezing temperatures for the next few days I expect there will be none to speak of again!
We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family in many different places so we are happy to be back home and getting back into a routine.  Though, with saying that, our routine will be a different one as my DH retired and we will be learning to live with each other.  We are up to the task, looking forward to having more time with each other and fully aware that there will be bumps in the road before we are full speed ahead with the rest of our lives!!  We are grateful that we have all we need and have been blessed with more!!

Therese

Hands of Time ATCs

I created these three ATCs for a Hands of Time swap on AFTCM!! I used photos I downloaded from The Morgue File - a great resource of photos for free - and added some elements to make them work. The left hand one - I used a dandelion photo, added a clock face and a quote - You only have n o w. Choose wisely. I added some 3D hands with a brad to the middle and added the n and the w with a white gel pen to spell the word n o w. The middle one - I used a photo of a watch, added a quote to the top and bottom and a clock sticky border to the side of it. The right one - I used a photo of a clock mechanism and added a quote with white gel marker.

One swap down - several more to go!!

Therese

ATC Architecture and folding

I have been playing all day!!!!!!!!!! Here is what I have to show for it - a folded ATC which unfolds into a little house!!!! It worked out so well!! I modified a photo of a house I took in Kingston Mills for the front and back, created sides and roof with my layout program and folded it up so it would lay flat and fit in an ATC sleeve!! I added the words before I printed it, washed it with a bit of colour and added a red heart!! It will satisfy my Architecture and accordion folded ATC for a swap and Anything but a Card for another group!!

I will be working on my Domino book next and I have a few Christmas card challenges I would like to get to as well.

Have a great weekend!

Therese

PS I have had several requests for the template for this cool little house. Over night it occurred to me that these would be great for Christmas!! Flat to mail and a 3D card/ornament all in one!! If you would like a little house (undecorated and mailed flat with instructions) I am willing to trade one for something you have!!!!!!!! Click my profile and send me an email and we can get a trade happening!! I would take cardstock, decorative paper, flat embellishments, stickers, printed collage images, unmounted rubber stamps, etc - anything flat that is inexpensive to mail.

My art - 2009 calendar!!

Happy New Year!! Many you all be blessed in 2009 with all that is good!!

I created a 2009 calendar for my kids as Christmas gifts!! Each page has a photo I have taken with a calendar page below. I created it 8.5x11 (double sided) because that is the format of the calendar program (Print Master) I was using. The pages were colour laser printed and then bound with my Zutter Bind it all!! The first binding was a little wonky but the others were much better!!

It was very fun to create the calendar but getting it to print was a bit more of a challenge. I am hoping to create another one next year so have already started thinking about what sort of photos I will need for it. Winter photos for December need to be taken now!! I do not have photos of all the pages! Needless to say, I was in a time crunch just before Christmas!!

A calendar is a really fun gift that can be personalized for each person! You can use all sorts of your art - cards, scrapbook pages, 3D and mixed media items, quilts, etc - whatever you are creating!! I think I will be seeking out another calendar program that has more options for sizes, etc.

Therese