Sympathy Card

Another card for my stash.
I found this image in the course of looking for other images and decided that it would be most appropriate for a sympathy card.  I trimmed the colour printed image (source unknown), layered it onto an ivory cardstock layer that was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (CB) and added a piece of ivory ribbon with an added length tied on to simulate a bow.  I layered this element to my green card base and added a colour printed greeting using 3D foam tape.  The greeting was punched out using the SU window punch.
It is nice to have cards on hand instead of trying to rush at the last minute if you need one.

Therese

Christmas cards - label die cut

This was a very fun card to do. I created the background paper!! Earlier this year I was drawn to start collecting all the strips of paper I was creating as I was trimming paper for my paper crafting. I had accumulated a good sized pile in a wide variety of colours and saw this card on Splitcoast Stampers where she had created a background using layered strips so I decided to give it a try!! I sorted through the box and put all the green, red and yellow strips in one pile and the teal, blue, purple and pink in another. I used quarter sheets of scrap paper and just applied glue to the paper and started adding strips until the paper as completely covered. Once they were dry, I die cut them using a large label die (TH - SX), embossed them with a large polka dot embossing folder, ran a dye ink pad over some of the surface, quickly added some glitter embossing powder and heated it under my heat gun!! Voila!! A beautiful background!!! As not to cover up too much of the background, I decided to add a simple greeting. The little Merry Christmas greeting I downloaded from When the Scrap Hits the Fun a while back was just perfect for what I needed. I added a few bands of red and green and some holly to the first one and some blue bands and some snowflakes to the second one, printed them, punched them out (1 3/8" SU) and layered them onto a scalloped circle punchie (SU). Added a ribbon and tied a short piece to it for the look of a bow and glued my greeting embellishment just below it with 3D foam tape.

It is a very fun and rather different look for a Christmas card!! Last night, one of the girls' husband is Jamaican and she thought that this card would be perfect for sending their holiday greetings to his relatives in Jamaica!! Love it when things work out that way!!

So that was the last of my Christmas card classes for this year!! We will be making Thank you cards in early December to acknowledge the blessings of the seasons as they arrive!!

Winter has yet to arrive here - there is someone cutting their grass this morning!!

Therese

Christmas cards - snowman

A cute little snowman!! This snowman image with its chunky style works really well with this embossed handmade paper I made during the summer using an embossing surface I created with fun foam snowflake shapes. The snowman image is actually one from an internet font - Winter Wonderland*. Fonts contain vector based images so they enlarge quite nicely!! I trimmed my handmade paper to size, added the black organza polka dot ribbon and tied on the left over piece using a single knot, coloured and layered my image which I adhered with 3D foam tape and finally added my snowflake (SU) punchie with a mini black brad.

I am happy with my card and how well all the chunky elements work together and are contrasted by the soft polka dot ribbon!! I don't usually buy printed ribbon but it was the perfect fit for this card.

*THRIFTY TIP: Keep an eye out for graphic fonts that have images you can use for your cardmaking. Many are free to download.

Therese

Christmas cards - three trees

Lots of white and texture on this one!! The background features dots created by the Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder. I glued a layer of white tissue over the bottom third of the card to simulate a snowbank and added an embossed greeting with 3D foam tape which works the best with very dimensional elements. I used a Crafts Too embossing folder to emboss the greetings - 6 greetings at a time!! You can check out Ecstasy Crafts to find a variety of versatile embossing folders!!

I used a Sizzix Movers and Shapers die to cut the little trees and then embossed them with the D'vine swirl embossing folder (CB). I borrowed the die from a friend which is a great way to make the best use of your tools and supplies and provides some very nice quality crafting time!! The top of the card features a ribbon which looks like it has a bow tied in it but, in fact, it is an illusion. I came up with this option because some of the girls have trouble tying bows and this technique gives you the look in two easy steps. Attach a straight flat piece of ribbon to your card gluing the ends to the inside of our card with double sided tape. Now, take a smaller piece, 3" or so, slip it under the flat ribbon and tie a single knot, pulling tight. Voila!! the look of a bow without the fuss!!

Some of the girls used markers and chalks to highlight the embossing on their cards which adds yet more dimension and interest!!

Therese

Cards, Cards, Cards - May 29 - roses

I love the softest of these cards!!!! These feature shimmery decorative papers and roses embossed with white pearl embossing powder (Michaels). I coloured the first one with a bit of watercolour but I had to be very careful not to make the paint the same colour as the embossing. If the colour matches, your image becomes very flat. Several people in class did not colour their images at all which works very well. Others used contrasting colours to embellish their roses which worked well too. I distressed the edges of the image and cut out the bottom leaf so it could overlap the ribbon. Nice little touch! Again, ribbon is glued straight across the image and the ends glued to the back. The ribbon scrap is tied with a single knot to the front. This element is then attached to the card front with 3D foam tape. The other cards featured blue/white decorative paper with silver embossed roses and multi coloured floral motif paper with gold embossed roses.

Therese

Cards, cards, cards - May 29 - 3D elements

The first set of cards for my All Occasions card class on Saturday!! All the same sketch but each features a different 3D element - heart, butterfly, dragonfly and flower.
The blue butterfly - this is a plastic die cut which I cut from packaging then painted with transparent acrylic paint (sun catcher paint). I coloured the bodies with a black permanent marker on the back side. This gave them a pretty sharp look and conveniently gave me a place to put some 3D foam tape to attach them to the card. Bent back the wings a bit for a really cool 3D look. The ribbon is attached to the embossed layer which is trimmed to the embossed edge. Thrifty tip: Attach your ribbon straight across your layer and glue ends to the back. Then cut a piece of 2-3" and tie to the straight ribbon on the front with a single knot. You always get it right!!
The red heart - this is cut from a sweater!! Had this favorite red sweater for years but it eventually became a little stretched and was wearing at the bottom of the sleeves so it was ready to be discarded. Found it again the other day and thought it would be great for cardmaking!! To stabilize the stitching I attached Heat n Bond to the back and then die cut the hearts!! Love them!! Tied on a little clear heart (packaging) with white fiber!! Attached with double sided tape.
The other two elements were a vellum dragonfly and a die cut flower. I painted the wings of the dragonfly with nail polish!!!!! How fun!! They turned out translucent and shimmery just like them should be!!! Attached it with 3D foam tape as well to give the card some dimension. The flower element was cut from double sided colour printed cardstock and layered. These were also attached with 3D foam tape.
One sketch - four different cards by changing up the colours and the accent.

Therese

My Art - invitation #2

I used the Manhattan Flower embossing folder (SU) to emboss the vellum on this one and the doily border punch (MS) on the top flap. Tied a short piece of ribbon to the one that goes across to make a soft knot for the top.

Love the soft elegance of this card!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards - Vintage Santa

Love the vintage images! Have been wanting to incorporate some of these into my Christmas cards for quite a while.
I laser printed several images and chose layers and papers to coordinate with them so there was a variety of cards for each person. I tied a square knot in the ribbon and then cut it so that the knot would be where I wanted it on the card. This process saves ribbon!! Once I had layered the image I glued it in place and added the snowflake with a silver brad. The background is navy with white specks that really looks like a night sky! I added some swirls stamped in white.

There are many places on the internet that have images you can download. These images come from a CD.

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - Manhattan flower

Using my newly acquired Manhattan Flower (SU)embossing folder I created some embossed cardstock. Trimmed them to the edge of the rose pattern then trimmed them to fit evenly on the card front. I used silver foil on the black one. The foil is an acquired craft material - the result of a chocolate treat!! I just glued the foil to cardstock, cut to quarter sheet size and embossed it!! The greetings are colour printed to coordinate with the card. I tied a short piece of ribbon into the knot of the longer piece which creates the same effect as a double knot.

THRIFTY TIP: To use up short pieces of ribbon just add them in the knot of another piece to create tails. They do not have to be the same ribbon or the same colour. I save my small pieces in ziplocs and look there first when I am looking for ribbon. You can use a piece as short as 2.5 inches!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards

Just love this black and gold combination for Christmas. I just had to buy this roll of paper when I saw it!! The ribbon matches perfectly and was a $1 store find - it is awesome high quality doublesided ribbon!! I cut the oval ribbon slide with my Cuttlebug and added a snowflake punchie (MS) with a black brad. Used a ribbon saving tip to maximize my ribbon and had JUST enough for all my card kits. The trick is to tie both ends of the ribbon to each other and then cut it to fit the front of the card. We used double side adhesive to attach the ends to the inside of the card. The greeting is gold embossed on the bottom edge of the black card.
Therese

My Art - Cardmaking - Pop up

Pop up cards!! Have never made one of these before though have wanted to for quite a while!! They are fairly easy!! The card front has a layer of decorative paper (colour printed), a ribbon through a slot with shorter ones tied on and an accent on the lower right corner. I made several different ones and the accents are different on all of them. The pop up insert is made of cardstock cut just a little smaller than the card. To create the little pop up step make two cuts into the spine of the insert about 3/4" deep and 3/4" apart in the middle of the insert. Push the popup to the inside of the insert and fold gently to get the edges of the pop up folded. Your insert should look like the lower right hand image. Once you have created your pop up just glue your layered greeting to the front of it and then fold the card shut. This ensures that the card will fold properly with your greeting in place. For those of you with kits, you will have a piece of cardstock in your kit with a small P on it. That is the pop up you would use if the inside of your card is not messy with ribbon and so on!! You can make a pop up step with just a small strip of cardstock and glue that to the inside of your card and add your pop up element. It works best with light coloured cardstock where you can write on the inside of the card. You could have more than one pop up on the inside and so on!! The pop up greeting adds a nice touch to the card! You can put anything in the pop up just make sure you test it before you glue to make sure it does not stick outside the card!!

Another card that features gift wrap!! Do not recall exactly where I acquired this paper but it was too beautiful to be left!! This paper is quite thin so it was best to apply the glue to the cardstock and then lay the paper over the cardstock! I cut the paper just a little oversized and then trimmed to the edge of the card with scissors. I tied the two ends of the ribbon in a double knot and then cut it!! Estimated where I wanted the knot on the card before I cut the ribbon. I stamped the greeting in navy on the right hand bottom of the card!!

I expect this paper would be great used in collages and serendipity pieces as well. Love the watercolour look!!


Therese in Trenton
Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

I CASEd this idea from somewhere on Splitcoast. The original had been trimmed to the edge of the Cuttlebug design. Instead I layered a white embossed layer over a white card! Happy with how that turned out. Created a colour printed tag to go with the ribbon. I cut a piece of ribbon that would overlap both sides of the card (6"-6.5") and glued the ends to the inside of the card on both the top and bottom. Tied a shorter piece (3"-4") to the first with an overhand knot. This technique saves ribbon and looks just as elegant if you provide an insert in the card. I trapped the tag's gold cord in the knot. You can glue the tag in place if you want or leave it dangling.

I always include inserts in my cards to allow them to be reused by simply removing the old inset that has been written on and replace it with a new one. I think it would be cool to see how many times a card could be reused!! Handmade cards are so beautiful that I think they should have more than one life. Besides it is a very green and environmentally friendly thing to do. I refurbish all the handmade (sometimes some of the commercial ones as well) cards I receive and donate them to a local non profit organization!! They really appreciate the cards!! You could donate the refurbished cards to seniors homes or retirement residences, any non profit, or package them up and donate as prizes for a fundraiser. Be creative!! It goes without saying that it is inappropriate to refurbish a card and then to present it as your idea and creative work!! Whenever possible I retain the creator's credits on the cards I refurbish. It works out perfectly when they have added an insert to their card!!
Therese