Easter cards that feature laser printed digital images and ribbon

For this trio of Easter cards I used laser printed digital images as my focal elements.  

The first card has a cute little bunny collage (Pixabay) which I trimmed and layered onto yellow cardstock before distressing the edges. Thinking it still needed a bit of something I cut two triangles from a square of the same blue cardstock as my card and mounted on opposite corners of my layered image.  That was better!!  I found this piece of scrapbook paper which coordinated nicely so I trimmed it and mounted it to a blue card front.  I found a green piece of ribbon which worked well and machine stitched to it an ivory rick rack before adding it to my card front using double sided tape to adhere the ends to the inside of my card.  I used 3D foam tape to mount my focal element to my card front!!

The center card is a beautiful digital image (Pixabay)  to which I added a font greeting before laser printing it. I trimmed it and layered it onto green and added three little rhinestones just below the greeting to finish off my focal element.  I embossed (SU) some pink cardstock, added an organza ribbon and then a piece of this very fun textured ivory ribbon which is a bit ruffled adhering the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape.  I mounted my large image/greeting over the ribbon using 3D foam tape. 

For my third card I trimmed my Easter Greetings image onto orange cardstock, trimmed the bottom edge with scallop decorative scissors and paper pierced all the scallops to add texture.  There was just enough room to add a row of piercings with my pattern tracing wheel between the scallops and the image.  Love that look!!  I chose a neutral scrapbook paper for my background and glued it to a green card front.  I added a yellow ribbon gluing the ends to the inside of the card.  I used my slot punch to to punch just a tiny sliver of cardstock from the spine which creates a perfect slit for inserting my ribbon!!  I mounted my focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape and added three little brown dots (1/4" punchies) below the ribbon on the right hand side of my image.  

Again a sketch that works pretty well but delivers a set of versatile cards!!!

Therese

A card featuring handmade paper as a background and focal element

I found this card kit well buried on my desk!!!!  Not sure how long ago it was created but that matters not at all because it goes together just as quick!!   I stitched the rick rack cardstock die cut to the handmade paper background then stitch all the way around and then glued it to the white card front.  I glued the yellow handmade paper circle to the pink flower die cut and then added stitching all the way around.  I adhered the flower to the card front over the rick rack border and added the laser printed greeting using 3D foam tape!!    Quick and easy!
Therese

Kids Birthday Cards - bright and bold

Love this bright bold paper!!  I combined it with green card fronts and digital images from Best Clipart.  I watercoloured the images to coordinate with the paper and then layered them onto die cut circles (Nestibilities) .
For the left hand card I layered the focal image onto a red scalloped circle (Nestibilities) which I adhered to the front of my card.  I added stardust glitter dots to all the scallops and then a short piece of bright green rick rack to add texture and interest.
For the right hand card, I added a length of the bright green rick rack to the decorative paper before adhering it to my green card front.  I coloured and layered my focal element and glued it centered on my card over the rick rack.  The layouts were really were dictated by the bold elements in the paper.   Totally fun cards!!         Therese

A fabric postcard embellished with rick rack, stitching and an appliqued sunflower!!

On my fabric postcard group, Trading Fabric Postcards, I have joined the birthday swap where we make postcards for each participant for their birthday - just over a dozen postcards for the year!! You can make the postcards any time provided you send them in time to arrive for everyone's birthdays.  I like that I can choose any theme or technique for the postcards which allows me to learn along the way!!  For this postcard I started with a section of this fabric collage which I made a while back.  It had a transition from dark horizontal strips to brighter vertical strips so I stitched on a piece of red rick rack to help visually divide my postcard into two areas.  I found the sunflower in my stash and fussy cut it out of the fabric after applying fusible webbing to the back.  I found a little strip of green and a small piece of dotted green from which I cut two leaves.  They didn't coordinate as well as I would have liked so I watercoloured the leaves of the sunflower, the stem and the two leaves until I was happy with how they looked together.  I added two layers to the bottom edge on the right to create "ground" on which to situate the flower.   Once the flower pieces were dry I fused them to the collage above the ground starting with the stem, then the flower and finishing off with the leaves.  I used dark green thread to add stitching to the leaves, the stem and around the center of the sunflower.  It gives them more texture and a bit more definition.  I added stitching to the ground as well while I was at it.  I cut a piece of batting and a white backer, layered them and stitched all the way around the edge in dark green and added lines of stitching in the dark area as well.  I changed the thread to a light purple and stitched all the way around the sunflower going up and down between the different pieces.  I auditioned several fabrics before I found this red one with tiny white polka dots which worked with the colour scheme of the postcard.  I applied two strips of fusible web to the back of the fabric trimming them out in between then cut out the pieces I needed to bind all four edges.  I positioned a strip on the front of the long left hand edge and fused it in place.  I flipped the whole postcard over and fused the remain piece to the back.  I did the same three more times with the pieces I had trimmed out.  I used white thread to add two rows of stitching all the way around to finish off my binding.  I added a little quote which was inkjet printed on white fusible fabric tucking it just below the rick rack at the top.  Very happy with how it turned out and now it will be mailed off to my partner in time for it to arrive for her birthday.     Therese

Christmas cards with handmade paper trees & sequins

I am behind on getting Christmas cards done monthly this year.  These are technically my March cards!!
I started with some handmade paper triangles which I created a long while back when I was regularly making handmade paper.  I created them on a spare screen sitting on my mould and used a baster to add the paper pulp which allowed me to include a lot of texture.  I chose to let them dry naturally which preserved all the details I had created instead of couching them.  They were needing a bit of touch up in colour so I colourwashed them with green acrylic paint and I dried them with my heat gun.  Worked very well!!
I added a garland using various fibers and stitching and used sequins to simulate ornaments.  They are all different but I generally used the same sketch which worked well with the size of the "tree".
For this one I used red rick rack which I positioned with glue dots and a few dots of white glue in strategic locations.  I added large gold sequins using glue dots and overlapped them over the rick rack garlans.  I adhered the tree to the background paper and added the gold star brad.  I adhered this large element to a red card front and added a laser printed layered punchie greeting on the top right hand corner.

For the one on the left I added white fiber for the garland gluing the ends to the back.  I added iridescent white sequins with glue dots.  I glued my tree to a white shimmery embossed background then added a white snowflake brad at the top.  I tucked a laser printed greeting just behind the tree and embellished a clear iridescent sequin which I applied with a partial glue dot.  This large element was mounted to a deep plum card front.

For this one I used shiny thread and some copper blending filament in my sewing machine.  I cut a length of each and wound them onto an empty spool so I could feed them into my needle at the same time.  It worked well though I was going very slow because I was incorporating the sequins as I went.  I started at the lower right hand of the tree and started my stitching.  Next, I positioned a sequin and manually adjusted the machine to stitch just before the sequin, in the middle of the sequin and just past the sequin. I continued to stitch in a zig zag pattern up the tree adding sequins (large blue, gold and copper) in the same manner.  I returned to the bottom in the same manner but did not add any sequins on the way down.  I really like the look of the blending filament and the shiny thread!!  I glued the tree to my decorative paper and added a gold brad at the top.  This one was coloured with a gold paint marker to coordinate.  I added a laser printed layered punchie greeting to finish off my layer and glued this large element to a rust card.

For this one, I stitched a garland with white shiny thread using a long zig zag stitch.  The tension was off a bit with the top thread being a bit tight so the zigzag is not as apparent as I was expecting.  I added four small fiber snowflakes using iridescent glitter glue then added dots along the garland as well.  While they were drying I layered my decorative paper over a snowflake punched border and glued this layer to a dark green card front.  I glued my tree to the decorative paper and added an iridescent snowflake charm to the top of the tree using a glue dot.  I added a simple laser printed punchie greeting to the top left.  It still needed a bit of something so I added a dot of  iridescent glitter glue to the centers of each snowflake in the border and I like that much better.

For this one, I added a garland using silver cording gluing the ends to the back.   I added tiny silver and blue sequins using partial glue dots in a bit of a random pattern.  I glued the tree to my soft blue floral background then added a silver star sequin using a silver brad.  I glued this large element to a blue card front.  I layered a laser printed oval greeting which I had sponged with a bit of green ink over a scalloped oval of blue cardstock.

It was great to use up these little trees and get some Christmas cards made!!  I have a few more ideas so hopefully this month I will get caught up.

Therese

Handmade ornament for a gift exchange

I made this little quilted tree ornament for a gift exchange at our family Christmas on Christmas Day.  I found the top layer of the tree in my stash which I created at the same time as this one.  I finshed this one a little differently.  I added some batting which I machine stitched in place following the lines in the quilting.  I cut the same sized tree out of green felted wool and stitched it all the way around with green thread on the front and red thread in the bobbin.  I added a red rick rack garland and secured it with a few stitches where it touched the edges.  With the layers secured I used red floss to blanket stitch all the way around being sure to secure the garland on all the edges.  I found this white beaded trim in the bag with the tree so I decided to use it to trim the tree edges.  I simply stitched in into place along the edge using overhand stitches and white thread.  It softened the red outline which the blanket stitching had created which worked out better than I expected.  I stitched on some sequins - red, green and gold  - adding seed beads to keep them secure.  I stitched several beads in place on the garland to keep it in its place and add yet more sparkle.  I stitched on a rick rack hanger and added the layered sequin star which is secured by a little yellow crystal bead.  I added a drop of glue where the pearl beaded trim joined up to keep both ends aligned.  I added a tag on the back with my name and the year.  This ornament will be combined with a consumable gift which all has to fit in a shoe box and be wrapped in newsprint.  Looking forward to a great Christmas with my family!
Therese

Trees and a loon features on this birthday card!

This card is similar to this one as I made the background from a strip of decorative paper which I cut into two pieces and taped together on the back to give me a piece that was 4" x 5.25".  I stitched on a piece of brown fabric to cover the joint and then stitched on a piece of coordinating rick rack to the left of that.  I layered the laser transparency greeting over the background, stitched all the way around capturing both ends in the process thereby securing it to the background.  I watercoloured the laser printed loon image (CLKER), layered it onto dark blue, added some double sided tape to the back and then tucked it behind the greeting before adhering it to this layer.  Lastly, I glued this whole element to a dark brown card front.  I really like how all the elements complement each other on this card!  Another to add to the stash.

Therese

Birds and a kite - a great kids card!

When I was preparing for my card class this week I found a few supplies sitting on the far side of my desk which I thought would be worth translating into cards if at all possible.  The birds paper was a long strip which I cut down to two pieces 2" x 5.25" and then set them side by side and taped them across the back to create a background.  It did require that I add something over where they joined so I went looking for items that coordinated.  I found the roll of green mesh at the thrift store a few weeks ago.  It is about a half inch wide and I have no idea what it's original use was but it worked perfectly for this card.  I cut two lengths and glued the ends to the back of the decorative paper.  I added a length of large red rick rack in between which actually covers the joint.  Again I adhered the ends to the back of the paper using double sided tape.  Next, I stitched on the laser printed greeting with my sewing machine and white thread.  I glued this whole layer to a kraft card front.  I created a 3D embellishment by gluing a punched image of a kite (Birds Cards) which I watercoloured to a red scallop circle punchie (SU).  I pierced each scallop to echo the stitching and mounted it with 3D foam tape on my card front overlapping the greeting and the green mesh.  Pretty happy with how this one turned out!!

Therese

Gingerbread man Christmas cards

I found six of these little gingerbread men in my stash the other day when I was digging around for something else and I decided that I would use them for my January Christmas cards.  Having been pretty relaxed last year on my commitment to making Christmas cards monthly I was more rushed than I would have liked at the end of November getting what I needed finished up so I am committing this year to making Christmas cards monthly.
I started by embellishing the little gingerbread men die cuts (SX).  I added red cardstock behind their bellies, tiny white rick rack to their arms and legs, a red ribbon tie at their necks and two tiny black brads for their eyes.  I really like they way they turned out.  Next, I dug through my stash of Christmas paper and found this one - good colour and I liked the script on it.  I found the greetings in my stash as well though I did have to trim them down and flag their ends to work for this card.  I found some wide red gros grain ribbon and decided to use it to layer beneath my greetings.  I layered the greeting to the ribbon, trimmed my ribbon on both ends and used double sided tape to adhere the square end to the back of the decorative paper.  Then I glued this large element to the front of  my red card.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my gingerbread men to these card fronts overlapping their feet just slightly over the greeting.
So begins my stash of Christmas cards!!  I have quite a few more ideas I would like to use for my cards this year so I am looking forward to working through them and getting cards made regularly.
I do have several links to challenges on my blog (right hand just a little bit down from the top) I will be checking those out for more inspiration as well.
Are you committing to making Christmas cards monthly??  If so, leave me a comment and let me know where you are going for inspiration.

Therese

Fabric postcard with a butterfly embellishment

This is my second January postcard for the birthday club on my Fabric Postcard group.  We need to have our postcards out to our partners for them to arrive for their birthdays so I needed to get them made as early in December as possible to avoid the Christmas rush both here at home and in the postal system.  I started with small precut scraps and stitched them together to get two rows.  Last time, I did not measure right away and found later that I was short just a bit so I measured and again needed just a bit so I added a strip of brown between the the rows.  I like this option much better.  I decided to use this butterfly applique so I cut out a scallop circle using my Nestibilities out of mottled yellow fabric to which I had already added fusible webbing.  It did not cut as neatly as I had hoped but that was probably because I had not lined up my cutting plate quite right.  I applied my adhesive backed applique to the circle using my iron over some release paper because I had already applied the fusible webbing to the circle.  Before  applying it to the front of the postcard I decided to see what I might want to add as embellishment.  I added a layer of interfacing and then some batting to the back before I stitched down both sides of the middle strip and adding some free motion stitching to the pieces on both sides.  I thought the strip needed a bit more embellishment so I added a piece of orange rick rack and hand stitched it in place with green thread.  It still needed a bit of something but I thought maybe I would work on that after I had added my focal element.  I positioned my scallop circle and applied heat with my iron until it fused to the postcard front.  Next, I added red seed beads to each scallop using yellow thread.  It still needed a bit of something so I added faux stitching with a fine tip permanent marker using a Nestie circle as a guide.  That was much better.  Next, I revisited my rick rack and decided to add red seed beads to each dip and then three french knots above each one.  I am really happy with how that worked out.  I have seen all sorts of wonderful stitching combined with rick rack to create wonderful embellishments on projects.  I should have stamped on my light square before applying my focal element but I forgot.  So I decided to stamp "celebrate" several times and then added the "life" lower.  I used green permanent ink and I am happy with how it turned out.  I added a white backing fabric which I fused to the batting.  Unfortunately, the dark bobbin thread shows through the white but it was fused in place and I was not able to undo it.  I will have to remember to change my bobbin thread to coordinate with the batting next time.  It is a learning curve!!  I trimmed all the layers to 4" x 6" and then added an off white bias tape to the edge.  I am looking forward to learning more about these little art projects and trying some new techniques as I work on birthday postcards this year.  

Crazy quilted tree ornament

                               

On one of my groups I joined a Crazy Quilted ornament swap. We could send as many as five ornaments - I decided to do just one.  I machine quilted a triangle using small scraps adding pieces one at a time around the green polka dot square.  It was fun to add a variety of fabrics and colours.  Once that process was finished I trimmed the edges evenly and started adding hand stitching to each seam using a variety of coloured floss and stitches.  Next,  I cut a triangle a half inch wider in every direction in a dark green fabric.  I laid it on the back of my triangle and folded the edge over twice and stitched over it using blanket stitch in green floss.  I had to iron it before I stitched because it was much too unruly otherwise.  Then, I added embellishments - sequins, beads and buttons.  It still needed a bit of something so I added a tiny rick rack garland which I stitched on with red floss.  Lastly, I added a sequin star at the top.  Oh, yes, I did add a rick rack hanger at the top in the process of doing the blanket stitch around the perimeter.  I did add some random red stitches on the back to better adhere the back to the front and added a shrink plastic tag with my credits on it.  This is my first crazy quilted project. I am happy with it how it turned out.  I hope to learn more stitches and to add lace to my next project.  Looking forward to receiving an ornament in exchange.

Therese

Fabric paper tulip postcard

A postcard for one of my monthly group exchanges.  The theme was "T" and we were encouraged to be creative!!
I chose a piece of fabric paper I created a while back and trimmed off a 4" x 6" piece.  I gold embossed a tulip image on white cardstock and watercoloured it. Stamped "ulips" below the image using my Making Memories magnetic stamp set and red ink.   Added some ribbon flags on the right hand side and then stitched it to the fabric paper.  I added a piece of red rick rack on the left hand side gluing the ends to the back of the fabric paper and then gluing the whole thing to a postcard backer and stitching it all the way around using the same red thread I used for the tulips.  To embellish my chipboard T I embossed all the edges with gold embossing powder and then stamped it in red ink with my stipple stamp (SU). I mounted it to the front of my postcard using 3D foam tape.  It still needed a bit of something so I added the little green flower which I watercoloured so it would coordinate with my postcard, added a red center, a gold brad and used glue dots to hold it in place over the rick rack.
Love this fun and spring looking layout.  It is has been warm here and I am looking forward to getting into my garden this week.

Therese

Heart calendar

 Another calendar for the holiday season!!  I used heart photos from The Morgue File for this calendar.  I downloaded and cropped them to really highlight the hearts.  I am really happy with the selection I found on the site.  All the photos are free to use in all sorts of projects.  I converted them to black and white in Adobe Photo Elements by clicking on "Enhance" and then "Convert to black and white". You can make more adjustments with the sliders in that window until your image is exactly as you want it to be.

In Corel Draw I sized the images to fit inside the 4" x 4" inch black frame I made leaving just a slight gap of white which really helps to frame the images. Once all the images had been adjusted I printed them on white cardstock and trimmed around them using a ruler and exacto knife.  I used a black sharpie marker on the edges so the white core did not show.  I used the calendar I created in Word Perfect for this calendar on this one as well.  I glued my images to the top portion of my red 8.5``x 5.5``pieces of cardstock and the trimmed calendar pages to the bottom portion.

I added black rick rack to the area in between them using glue dots to adhere the two ends to the edge of the cardstock. It needed a bit of something so I added a length of white thread which I intertwined with the rack rack.  Really like the look of it!!  I used white glue to adhere the ends to the cardstock. To add a bit more texture, I added a tied off length of red seaming binding below the rick rack and a silver heart punchie above with a large glue dot.
Here are all the pages I created.  This calendar is double sided - January to June on one side and July to December on the other!!

I have created a few more calendars this season.  Here are links to them:
Birdie calendar, handmade paper and pressed botanicals and one that features tarot card images.
Are you creating some gifts for the holiday season??
Would love to hear what you are creating!!

Leave me a comment and link to your creations if you have them online!!

Therese

Four Elf shoe Christmas cards for me!

Cleaning my desk!!  I unearthed the remnants of this card this week and finished off another four elf shoe Christmas cards to add to my Christmas card stash!!  My last count (May) I had 74 so that brings my stash to 78 cards ready to go for this holiday season!!
I used a green sharpie to colour clear rhinstones for three of my cards because I ran out of the green ones I used before.  You can see in the photo that the ones on the left are a bit brighter - they are the ones I coloured with Sharpies!  What a great cost saving technique!!  Just buy clear and colour what you need!! I used glittery rickrack, flocked ribbon and added an embossed greeting to my cards.  A note:  Always thermally emboss BEFORE you use Versamark ink on your cards!!

Therese

Shoe shaped card!

I joined a "Shaped card" swap on AFTCM for a SHOE!!  There were so many possibilities but in the end I found an elf shoe card on Splitcoast Stampers that was really cute so I decided to make one of those.  I made my own pattern and traced it onto a top folded red landscape card and cut it out.  I added a piece of white flocked ribbon which I trimmed by hand into little flag ends. I glued it to the top of my shoe using double sided tape and trimmed it to the edge of my card.  I used double sided tape to create a doubled rick rack embellishment to go over the white and positioned it mid way between the flags and the top.  I added large green self adhesive rhinestone bling to the bottom of each flag - perfect!!  I embossed my greeting using silver embossing powder and then decided the whole thing needed a bit more texture so I stamped the shoe with Versamark ink using a snowflake background stamp.  On hind sight, I should have reversed the order of this process so that the stamping was done first and the embellishing of the top done last.
I will be making a few more of these for my Christmas card stash!!  They are really cute!!!

Therese

Quilted look Christmas cards

 A few Christmas cards for my stash!!  I found the supplies for these six cards in a box of miscellaneous supplies that got packed out of a drawer when we moved.  I noticed the box a while back and decided today I should check and see what was in it.  Lo and behold, I had almost all the supplies already cut for these.  I had previously taped several strips of cardstock side by side and trimmed them down to one inch.  I alternated the squares so the colours would be askew, taped the strips together and die cut a label from them using the Ornamental Die (TH).

I embossed each one with a different embossing folder, sponged the edges with brown, added a length of glittery red rick rack and mounted it to a stippled kraft card front.  The greetings (when scrap hits the fun) were already laser printed so I punched out six of them with a 1.25" punch (SU), layered then onto red 1 3/8" punchies (SU) and then onto green scalloped circle punchies (SU).  I mounted the greetings to the card front using 3D foam tape.
There are a few more supplies for Christmas cards in the box, which I will use this year and the rest of the "stuff" will be filed accordingly into my plastic drawers.
I am happy to have made a few more cards for February!!  These were very quick considering that the supplies were almost all ready to go!!  That brings my total to 34 for this year!!

Therese