Anniversary card featuring an embossed background and die cut label and an serendipity heart embellishment

My parent's anniversary is coming up and they will have been married for 66 years!!!!!!  Good on them!!  They are still living independently and are safe and well during this health crisis!  We are all grateful. 
I started with a large envelope and I made a white card to fit inside.  I chose a double sided white core green paper and embossed and sanded it a bit to get some texture on it.  I added a wide white ribbon and then adhered it to my card front.  I tied the remainder to the bottom portion using a single knot to simulate a bow. I rotated the knot on the ribbon to have the knot behind which gives a more elegant look on the front.  I die cut a white core pink layer and embossed it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder.  I sanded the dots and edges for texture and interest.  I dug through my serendipity stash and found this die cut heart that coordinated very nicely.  I tied on some pink fiber and mounted it to the label using 3D foam tape.  I mounted this focal element to my card front overlapping the ribbon. 
Therese

All occasion card featuring decorative paper and serendipity heart with a fiber bow

For my oldest daughter I am sending her this very cute all occasion card!!!!!!!!  I started with a small envelope and made a green card to fit inside.  I added a piece of colour printed decorative paper which I printed off a while back with strips of colour and a leafy pattern.  I punched a coordinating serendipity heart  and added a bright yellow layered heart (SU diecut).  I adhered it to the card front using 3D foam taper and then added the little turquoise bow using a small piece of glue dot.  I love the simplicity of this design!!!         Therese

Anniversary card featuring embossed layers, border punched eyelet ribbon and serendipity hearts

Our daughter and son in law are celebrating their anniversary this month and I have made up this card for them. 
I started with a large envelope and created a brown card to fit inside.  I dug through my white core cardstock and found this similarly sized off cuts.  I embossed them with different embossing folders and then sanded their edges and middle to reveal the embossed design and them texture.  I adhered them to my card which left a gap perfectly sized for another scrap I had in my little stash.  I did not emboss the green one and trimmed it just a little longer.  I mounted red strip which was punched with the ribbon border punch from Stampin Up before mounting the green strip.  Thinking it needed a bit of something I stamped it with a script stamp (SU) in a dark ink which helped to unify the design.  I added two serendipity hearts punched with the SU heart punch over the green strip and then added three little brown rhinestones.  I found a coordinating greeting and mounted it just below the hearts.    Therese

An all occasion card featuring TH wild flower die cut in purple, a strip of serendipity and a layer textured with my tracing wheel

For Mother's Day I created this card for my youngest daughter.  I features a TH wildflowere die cut in dark purple which I layered onto a strip of coordinating serendipity paper which I punched on the bottom using a label punch (SU).  I inserted it from the back so I only punched the edge.  I like the look!!  I added a gray ribbon to finish it off.  I chose a pink layer and tore the bottom edge then ran my tracing wheel all over it to add some texture.  I mounted my serendipity focal element  to it using double sided tape.  Next, I cut a light purple card to fit in a smaller non standard envelope and mounted my large element to it using double sided tape.  After mounting it I decided to add a row of piercings on both sides using my tracing wheel which frames it nicely.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a serendipity heart, decorative paper flags and a square of green cardstock

This is the card I am sending my Mom for Mother's day.  It is my favorite colour combination - green and pink.  I chose a small envelope and made a green card for it.  I mounted a square of green cardstock and then added two pieces of flagged decorative paper - a pink one with tracing wheel texture and a green and pink one with roses just a little offset from each other.  I mounted a coordinating serendipity heart over them and added a little pink fiber bow using a small piece of a glue dot.  I have been seeing a lot of double flag cards on Splitcoast Stampers and it is the first time I have made one!!  Therese

Serendipity hearts in support of essential workers

Having seen other art in the neighbourhood I was encouraged to follow my inclination and make some art as well.  

I decided to make up a large sheet (11"x17") of red and gold serendipity collage.  It took several hours to get it made and overnight for it to dry completely.  So this morning I made a heart template from an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper and cut two hearts from my sheet.  I laid them back to back and added a thread hanger and hung it in the front window above the blind.  That is where the snowflake goes at Christmas and the hook remains there all year round.  Perfect place for this little bit of art to support our essential workers and let everyone know that we are all in this together.   

Therese

A few all occasion cards featuring stamped backgrounds, die cut elements and ribbon & brads

I am trading handmade cards for seeds!!!!!!!  I was really happy to be able to make a trade with my friend as getting seeds locally might be a challenge during this time of isolation.  She put them in her mailbox and picked them up and left the cards in their place.  

The top two cards were made with backgrounds from my stash which were debossed with a circle Nestibilities and stamped with the Worn background (SU) and green ink while masking the center of the circle.  I found the serendipity circles in my stash and they very nicely fit in the debossed circles on the backgrounds.  I added a watercoloured cross on one and a glittered butterfly on the other.  Layered them opposite in colour - lavender on green and green on purple.  

For the next two cards I used some clear embossed resist backgrounds which I made in preparation for this class in January.   After clear embossing I watercoloured the backgrounds with coordinating ink which provided nice contrast and highlighted the resist.  I layered them onto coordinating card fronts and then cut brown leaves (TH) for the brown one and blue wildflowers (TH) for the blue one.  I added a ribbon held in place on one end with a coordinating star brad on the brown one and mounted the blue ribbon all the way across and added the silver star brad to the right side.  I mounted the elements to the card fronts using white glue in a fine tip applicator and tucked them under the ribbon before pressing them into place.  

These are mostly all occasion cards which can be used for a variety of occasions from birthdays to sympathy.            Therese

Valentine's card from a card kit featuring a serendipity heart, embossed background and layer with texture from a tracing wheel

Valentine's has come up so quickly!!  I was so happy to find a card kit from last month's Make and Take that I could use for DH card. 
I embossed my background using a heart embossing folder and adhered it to a black card.  I used the pattern tracing wheel on both long edges of the strip of embossed ivory cardstock before adhering it to my card over my background.  I added the serendipity heart die cut using 3D foam tape.  I dug through my little stash of greetings and found the XOXOX which I thought would work perfectly!!!!!  I flagged the end, sponged it a bit and then tucked in just under the end of the heart and I was good to go!!!!!!  Love having card kits on hand for last minute cards!!  Therese

Sympathy card from a kit featuring a serendipity bird, an embossed strip and a bit of fiber

My last sympathy card for this coming week!  I used a card kit from my January class to make this card.  I mounted my scrapbook paper to a green card front and them flagged the end of my embossed strip.  I tied on my coordinating fiber to the top portion before adhering it to my card front.  I highlighted the beak with a marker, added an embossed wing and a tiny black brad to my bird die cut (TH) to get my serendipity die cut to look like a bird.  I used a bit of colour on the bottom to make the branch seem more like a tree.  I mounted it with 3D foam tape below the fiber and then I added the layered greeting below that.   Therese

Anniversary card featuring a serendipity heart, fiber and an embossed strip

I made this card up from a kit from my last cardmaking session. 
I adhered the background paper to the front of a coordinating card.  I embossed the strip, flagged the end and added some paper piercing with my tracing wheel.  I tied on a length of coordinating fiber and finished it with a double knot leaving the ends to just hang.  I added the serendipity heart to the strip using 3D foam tape.  I stamped the greeting (SU) in blue on white cardstock, trimmed it to size, flagged the end and sponged the edges before adding it to my card with double sided tape. 

Therese

Handmade card Make & Take for Valentine's Day!

This is my sample for the Valentine's card Make & Take at the Wadey Visitor Center this week which is sponsored by the Historical Society. 

I have prepped over a dozen kits and am looking forward to making cards with a new group of people. 

This card features wonderful stitched background paper which I mounted onto a black card.  I embossed and then trimmed to a flagged end a strip of ivory cardstock.  I adhered it to the card after tied on a piece of red fiber.  I layered the little laser printed oval greeting punchie (SU) onto a scalloped oval punchie in black (SU).  

Had a wonderful response to the Make & Take and all the kits were made into cards by 6 people - including one gentleman -  around the table!!  It was a great afternoon and as always they were so creative!!!  Several made more than one and the extra little greetings and accents I made up were put to good use to create a few birthday cards!! 

The Wadey Center is a wonderful little museum which was the original home of Terry's grandparents.  It was moved to the new location from up the street and renovated inside.  Very beautifully done - a wonderful space!!!   

Therese

January Cardmaking - an all occasion card featuring a serendipity leaf mounted to an embossed strip tied with a little bit of fiber

For our second card for cardmaking this month I decided to feature some serendipity paper.  I make some when I have a bit of time so I wanted to feature a few of the new pieces.

I started by die cutting the focal elements from the serendipity paper and embellishing them a bit if they needed a bit of something.  For instance, I tied a kraft cord to the stem of my leaves (TH SX) on my cards.  I adhered my background to a coordinating card front before mounting my strip of embossed cardstock.  On the first, I flagged one end, on the second I flagged both ends.  I used my tracing wheel on all the edges on the first one and only the sides on my second one.  I tied a length of coordinating fiber to the top of the strip finishing it with a couple of knots.  I adhered my leaves over the strips using 3D foam tape.  My second on has a layered greeting and I left my first one without a greeting to increase its versatility.           Therese

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Card from a card kit featuring a serendipity heart die cut, some thread and a sanded embossed background

This is the final kit from this class.  I love the serendipity collage paper and this card showcases it very beautifully!!  I die cut the heart from some red serendipity paper and added three little clear rhinestones which I coloured with Sharpie markers so they would coordinate.  I corner rounded the white core cardstock, embossed it with a swirl embossing folder (D'vine swirl - CB) and sanded it to reveal the white core.  The sanding also makes the surface feel very velvety - great texture!!  I wrapped the red thread around the embossed layer and tied it off before adhering it to the red card front.  I mounted the heart using 3D foam tape over the threads!!  Great for Valentine's or an anniversary - hence there is no greeting. 

Therese

Birthday card featuring a sanded embossed layer, a serendipity gift and some fiber

I found this card kit that would work well for a card for my friend so I put it together!!  You can check out the other cards here that I made for my January card class.
The background had already been embossed using white core cardstock and sanded.  The corners had been trimmed as well.  I tied the fiber around the embossed layer leaving the ends where I was going to apply the embellishment and adhered it to my red card front.  The little gift has been created using serendipity paper and had red fiber tied to it to create a gift.  I used 3D foam tape to apply the tape to the front of my card and I was done!!  I love the look of sanded cardstock and it has the most luxurious feel as well.      Therese

May Cardmaking - a fun fold with a central element and a little greeting

Our last cardmaking session before the summer!!  We met last week and had a fun evening making cards. 
I prepped kits for the evening using some of my previous sketches from other classes I have had recently. 
For this card I cut double sided decorative paper into four even rectangles and we scored and folded one corner and once glued to our card fronts it created an opening in the center of the card. I punched 1.75" circles which we embossed before adding them to our opening.  I created a variety of 3D embellishments to add to the middle.  On this card, I added a butterfly punchie cut from serendipity paper which coordinated nicely with my decorative paper.  I sponged the edges and tied on gold cording to create antennae.  The greeting is laser printed, punched with a Word Window (SU) punch and layered onto a coordinating Modern Label (SU) punchie.  Love the look!!  Lots of texture and dimension!!  You can check out here the ones from the last class.
Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - Paper strips, a 3D embellishment and some embossing

I taught a cardmaking stack class today!  I had two wonderful ladies join me and we had a fun creative afternoon making cards!!  These are the first cards we made. 
We first sorted our little paper strips into an order that pleased us and then we applied a piece of double sided tape across our cardstock rectangle and positioned the ends of our strips on it to keep them all nicely in place.  Next, we adhered our embossed strips of cardstock over the ends.  We glued this large layer to coordinating card fronts and added our 3D embellishments over the embossed strips using 3D foam tape.  To finish off our cards, we snipped the bottoms.  I cut mine on the diagonal but others were cut with decorative scissors both diagonally and even with the card bottom. I love how others always find their own way of making their cards unique!!!  The embellishment on the right is a heart punched from serendipity paper layered onto a die cut heart cut from gold cardstock.  The butterfly on the right is very similar - a punched butterfly layered onto another cut from gold vellum and tied with gold string which gives it antennae.  The middle embellishment is a die cut flower with each petal manually embossed with a small part of an embossing folder.  I added an orange circle punchie and a textured center made from gold hot glue.  This was a sample I made in preparation for my class earlier this week. You can check out the cards here.  I added two sponged leaf punchies to finish it off.  These are very similar to the one of the cards I created for my March Cardmaking class.  To allow cards to be used for a variety of occasions we did not add any greetings.     Therese 

January Cardmaking - sanded background, thread and a 3D embellishment

Its is time to get back to making cards with friends!!

I started with this fun card that features a sanded background.  I embossed dark peach white core cardstock with the happy birthday embossing folder and then sanded it to reveal the core and give it a wonderful texture as well.  I corner rounded all four corners before wrapping a length of crochet thread around this layer several times and then tying and double knotting the ends over all the wraps to make a focal point.  I cut the ends short so they would be covered by my 3D embellishment.  I glued the wrapped background to a green card front before mounting my little gift embellishment with 3D foam tape.  The little gift was created using a rectangle of serendipity collage to which I tied a length of green crochet thread double knotting it at the top and adding a little bow.  I love how it turned out!!!!   I used aqua white core cardstock for my second card along with brown crochet thread and a serendipity heart in that coordinates.  I added three rhinestones to the heart for a little extra bling.  With no greeting this card can be used for Valentine's, an anniversary or a birthday card for someone you love.  

 A very versatile sketch which can be adapted for any occasion by varying the colour, embossing folder and the 3D embellishment.    Therese

Little cards that feature serendipity die cut labels, blue felt die cuts and silver embellishments

I have decided to use my supply of non A2 envelopes in the making of cards for my personal use this year.  I am using the cute little turquoise ones that were donated to me last year for these.  I made this set  before Christmas.  For these ones I embossed the front using all different embossing folders.  I did cut a piece of mat board to size in order emboss a framed rectangle.  Did not work as well as I would have liked but the edges are softer which works as well.  I used the remaining piece of turquoise serendipity paper I created for the last set and was able to cut all the labels (SX) I needed from it.  Next, I cut white ovals (Nestibilities) that fit perfectly on the labels.  I decorated each oval with some fun elements which I cut from blue felt scraps.  I die cut flowers (CB) from the felt and embellished them with some swirls and leaves (CB) which I cut from green cardstock.  I added silver sequins to the middle of the flowers using silver brads.  I tapped the first one with the hammer to make sure the tangs were well seated and I dimpled the dome.  Decided that I liked the look so did all the others the same.  For the heart ones, I die cut a smaller heart from foil cardstock and attached them together with small coloured staples.  I glued the flowers and hearts to the ovals and then adhered those elements to the labels before adhering these large elements to my embossed card fronts using 3D foam tape.  Pretty happy with how these worked out.  I will be using these for thanking those who blessed with gifts over the holiday season!!           Therese

Cards as a gift feature serendipity die cuts, stamped backgrounds and embossed focal areas on small cards

 I was gifted some beautiful turquoise envelopes and have been working on finding a way to make cards that fit in them that coordinated as well as worked with their smaller size.  Overnight, I decided that if I created a serendipity collage that coordinated I would be able to die cut my focal elements.  So I made up this serendipity collage background and let it dry.  

 Next, I needed to work out the size of the cards (3.5" x 4 7/8") which I cut from white cardstock.  Wanting to highlight the die cuts I decided to use my Nestibilities circle dies to emboss a circle frame on the front which I have not done in quite a while but I did find my embossing mat and made up well over a dozen little cards.  Once they were embossed I wanted to stamp an all over design to coordinate with the envelopes and the serendipity die cuts.  I chose the Worn (SU) stamp and it took a few goes to get the ink colour right but then it was fairly quick to get them all done.  So the next thing was to get some die cuts which would stand on their own without greetings.  After a perusal of my dies I came up with these - a daisy (SX red), a butterfly(SX black), TH bird (TH), flower with a stem (Sizzlets), butterfly (SU Embosslit), tipsy heart (SX red), layered flower (CB), heart (Sizzlet strip) and bird (paisley on Sizzlet strip). 

For several of them I used silver cardstock to coordinate.  For the butterflies I used silver cord to make their antenna and I added fun bling to the flower with a stem and the larger heart.  The paisley so easily makes a little bird by adding a tiny black brad, a black cardstock beak and some legs just drawn in with a black marker.  I added two little green branches (MS) to the layered flower.  
I am super happy with how they all turned out and I will be packaging these cute little cards up to pass back to the person who gifted me the envelopes.            Therese

More serendipity hexagons, some dimensional paint on a little dragonfly and a greeting punchie

I have been having fun with a new to me Hexagon die!!  I have cut several pieces of coordinating serendipity collage which I had on hand and chose seven for this card.  I embossed the edge of my yellow card using  this fun border embossing folder (SU) and then adhered my hexagons using double sided tape and white glue.  I trimmed this little stamped dragon fly image, watercoloured it and added clear dimensional paint to its wings.  After it was dry, I layered it onto a larger blue circle and adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I sponged a little word window greeting with blue and added it to my card using double sided tape.  Really happy with how it worked out!!

Therese