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

Birthday card from a kit featuring a cake (digital), some glitter and an embossed resist background

I am in the process of making up cards from kits from my last class in January.   I have changed up a few things - I created a completely new focal element using a laser printed cake (digital from Black Berry Jelly) which I punched with an oval punch and then watercoloured and glittered.  I layered it onto adhesive stock, trimmed it with scallop decorative scissors and then added glitter to make a fun border.  I mounted the embossed vellum to the pink oval using double sided tape and then added the cake element to cover the tape which can be see through the vellum.  I  mounted the oval element to my card front to which I had already mounted the stamped embossed resist floral background.  I found the greeting in my stash, sponged its edges with pink and mounted it to a bright silver metallic scalloped oval (SU). 

Therese

Christmas card featuring an origami wreath, stamped background and greeting

This card features an origami wreath which I created years ago when my sister first started making cards. She had taken a class and I was keen to try all the techniques she had learned.  This wreath was on a used card.  I removed the wreath and replaced the plastic bow with a fabric ribbon one.  Found this background in my stash and sponged it with ink until I was happy with it.  I sponged the greeting as well and then simply layered the wreath and greeting onto the background and then added this large element to the front of a red card.  The wreath was created using gift wrap and I do not recall the technique but I expect I still have the instructions somewhere.   This is really a blast from the past!!

Therese

Birthday card featuring a stamped background, handcoloured silk leaves and a layered greeting

 For this birthday card,  I used a stamped background which I created a while back when stamping leaves on a this card.  I started with a large envelope and created a ivory card to fit inside.  I trimmed a piece of navy cardstock to fit on it with a small margin all the way around and then embossed the right hand side with leaves.  I trimmed the piece of stamped paper (Kaleidacolour - Creole Spice) to length and glued it to the left leaving the embossed area showing.  I trimmed a laser printed greeting and tied on a short piece of kraft fiber, sponged its edges with a bit of green ink and then layered it onto yellow/orange cardstock.  I distressed the edges and then layered it onto a navy layer.  I watercoloured the silk leaves to coordinate with the ones on the stamped background.  I positioned them onto the front of my card and added my layered greeting over it using 3D foam tape to accommodate the stem.  After adjusting the leaves I added a small piece of double sided tape below the middle leaf to keep the spray in place.  Love these colours together!!         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 bright and colorful baby card using an ink and photo paper background

I am finishing off the last of the card kits I found on my desk.  This was a quick and easy card which was made faster because it was a kit!!  I glued the colour inkjet printed (black) digital image (Melonheadz) of a little clothesline onto the laser printed greeting layer and then mounted this large focal element to the front of a stamped pink card. The heart background (SU) was stamped in a darker pink.  I did highlight some parts of the printed image with a bit of pink watercolour.   The colourful background was created using colour inkjet cartridges and glossy photo paper.             Therese

DIY foam background stamp

I have been admiring the watercolour backgrounds created by several artists on Splitcoast Stampers!!  They are using products that I do not own so I was wanting to create a similar look using what I had.  So I dug out some foam packaging, a mount, ink pads, some white cardstock and some water in a spray bottle.  I tore a piece of the foam packaging so it would have rough edges and then used a palette knife to give it some texture by just digging it into the surface enough to compress the foam and mark it.   That worked beautifully!! 

I adhered it my stamp mount and proceeded to play with it and some ink pads to see what I would get.  To get a diffused look I needed a light spray water before stamping and then I just continued stamping in an all over manner without reinking!  The chalk ink pad is the one on the lower right  - much more yellow that I was expecting.  Two different pink stamp pads for the other two.  The one that worked the best was using a pink Distress ink pad and it was the right colour for the card I was making!! 
So I am happy to have "made" myself a fun background stamp and I will be playing with this idea for another while!!  I hope you will all consider experimenting with your tools and supplies when following the inspiration of an online creation!!!

Therese

Exchange cards with bleached backgrounds and labels with greetings

I set out to make a couple of card for my exchange group and ended up with three!!  All of them feature navy blue background paper that was stamped with bleach when I was playing a while back.  I cut each of them to 4" x 5.25", embossed them with an embossing folder and glued them to the front of a card.  I added embossed labels (TH) which have been sponged a bit with coordinating ink, some ribbon and laser printed round greetings ( Netty's Cards).  I also added some punchies/die cut elements to add a bit of texture to each of the cards.  It was fun to make all the cards different with pretty much the same sketch!!
On the first one I added my background to a blue green card and sponged the ivory label with several inks until I got the colour I was looking for.  I embossed it with a gears embossing folder and positioned the center so the large gear with be featured.  I die cut the greeting and the blue/green layer using Nestibilities.  I used a punch to remove the middle of the greeting and reveal the embossed design which I added to the blue/green circle.  It needed a bit of something so I added a rhinestone which I coloured with Sharpies to get the right colour.  I punched slots on each side and inserted short lengths of navy ribbon gluing the ends to the inside front of my card.  I die cut a flourish, trimmed it into three and embellished the label with them just tucking them underneath where they looked good.  For my second one, I glued my background to a purple card, sponged my ivory label with purple ink and added a length of coordinating ribbon over it.  I die cut the laser printed digital greeting and a coordinating layer and mounted them with 3D foam tape over the ribbon.  I punched a hole in a scrap of paper and sponged the center of the greeting with a bit of purple ink.  The little butterfly punchie was just enough to finish off my card.
For my third card I glued my background to a green card.  I sponged the embossed ivory label with green ink and die cut a hole from the middle.  I punched two small holes in each end and inserted a navy ribbon.  I mounted the label to my card front and adhered the ribbon ends to the inside front of my card.  I sponged my die cut greeting, added a green circle into the center and added a small gold flower sequin with a tiny gold brad before mounting it over the ribbon over the hole I had die cut in the label.  I added a stamped and punched butterfly (SU) to which I wrapped and tied gold embroidery thread to create the antennea.  I used a tiny piece of double sided tape to adhere it to my card front.
So two of these are off to my swap partners and the other will find its way to my card stash!!

Therese

Easter lilies in deep colours

Here is another Easter card that is a bit out of  my comfort zone in the way of colours.  I started with a green card which I stamped with green ink using two different homemade stamps to create an interesting background.  I added an embossed dark blue layer and then a strip of gold embossed mesh (window screening) which I flagged on one end.  I layered the laser printed lily image (Clipartfox) onto orange before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I chose the colours from the image - green, blue and orange so it works on one level but the jury is still out if they are too intense for Easter.    Therese

Grungy card with beautiful butterfly embellishment

This card started with the butterfly! The background it is mounted to is two triangles which I taped to each other using handmade faux washi tape and then trimmed to the right size.  I layered this background to black cardstock before adding my butterfly using 3D foam tape and drawing in a little flight path with a fine tipped permanent marker.  The beautifully printed butterfly is a magnet which I bought years ago. I used edge cutters to trim off the magnet.  I added two lengths of gold embossed mesh (window screening) to the back of my focal element - one top right, the other lower left.  Now I needed a background!  I was looking through my decorative paper backgrounds and found this one but it had a kraft background which did not work as well as I wanted so I simply colour washed it with some orange watercolour and that worked much better.  I glued the decorative paper to an orange card front then added my focal element at at bit of an angle.  I colour washed my laser printed punchie greeting in the same way and adhered it below my focal element with 3D foam tape.
I bought this gift wrap paper in London, England and it is the first time I have considered colouring it.  Very good quality as it held up very well to the watercolour and the black printing resisted it!!

Therese

Cards with paper mosaic backgrounds!

My sister was visiting on the weekend and we sorted through a pile of old Christmas cards making three piles - first, some that I could easily refurbish, second some that needed to be donated as art supplies and the last that I would add to my serendipity supplies which also included any card backs which make great substrates for this technique.  Overnight, I got to thinking if there might be another technique I could use these supplies for and came up with mosaics which I have been wanting to explore for a while.  I chose cards that contained glitter, trimmed them into 3/4" x 3/4" pieces and then

glued the squares from two different cards to black cardstock alternating the squares as I glued them down.  I left a bit of a margin between my squares and my sister left very little.  As you can see she managed to get 35 square on her quarter sheet and I ran out of room!  She brought hers home and will be working with hers and I have die cut mine into a heart and flower.  My sister, Sylvia, made little birdie cards with hers.  You can check them out here.  She is running a blog giveaway right now - you could win one of her beautiful calendars!!!

Here are the cards I created using my two die cuts.  For my first card, I layered my flower die cut (TH) with a black flower punchie (SU), then a foil die cut embellished with alcohol inks and finally a small black punchie and held all of them together with a tiny black brad.  I found the background in my stash - a scrap of white cardstock that has been used several times to clean off a flourish stamp in several different colours.  I added faux stitching all the way around with a black permanent marker, added a black ribbon gluing the ends to the back with double sided tape before I glued the whole element to the front of a brown card.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my focal element and my layered punchie greeting (SU) to the front of my card.  For my second card, I layered my die cut heart (SZ) over a hand painted red background paper and used scallop decorative scissors to trim all the way around.  I found the quarter sheet of white cardstock with embossed hearts on it in my stash and adhered it to my red card front after I added a length of red organza ribbon.  I layered on my heart focal element with 3D foam tape over the ribbon and did the same with my layered punchie greeting. It still needed a bit of something so I added three little punchie hearts in gray, pink and red to the left hand side of my large heart and that worked well.
I have decided to use these two cards for my card exchange this month so they will be off to my swap partners in tomorrow's mail!!
It is always fun to play with a new technique!!  It is interesting that I could make two cards that used such different colour schemes using die cuts from the same piece of handmade paper mosaic background.

Therese

One Sheet Wonder - 6x6 makes 4 cards for Father's Day

I needed four Father's Day cards so I decided to create them One Sheet Wonder style!!  I found this tree decorative paper which came out of the same pad as these cards and these cards which I thought would work quite well.  I cut the sheet in half and trimmed one 6" x 6" sheet from the one half and used it to make my four cards.  I trimmed the 6" x 6" into four pieces of 2" x 4" - the cutting template is below.   In the end I decided to trim my 2" x 4" pieces in two (1' x 4") and backed

 them with tiny strips of two different greens - one on each long edge. I cut two different sheets of blue cardstock to create my four card fronts and stamped them all with a leafy background (ANM) in light green.  I downloaded four leaves from CLKER, cleaned them up in Photo Elements and printed them onto white cardstock.  After trimming them to 2" x 3.5" I watercoloured them to coordinate with my decorative paper.  I found four laser printed Father's Day greetings in my stash, punched them with out my oval punch (SU) and then layered them onto coordinating scallop oval punchies (SU). To assemble my cards I started by gluing down my layered decorative paper rectangles onto my stamped card fronts.  Because the paper is directional I had one set that went vertical instead of horizontal which changed up the sketch a bit and added variety to my cards. Next, I added my watercoloured images using 3D foam tape and then added the layered greetings using double sided tape.  Very happy with the variety of sketches I came up for the four cards I made.  After they were all assembled I thought they still needed "a bit of something" so I added a bit of stippling on the images.  That was better!!  So my cards are finished!  Some will be mailed off tomorrow and I will deliver the others in person on the weekend.

Therese

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OSW #4 - 6x6 June 2015

Supplies for making four cards
1 - 6" x 6" of decorative paper
2 - 8.5" x 11" cut in two - four card fronts
      in coordinating colours
2 - 2" x 4" scraps of coordinating cardstock
      in two different colours
4 - 2" x 3.5" images on neutral cardstock
     stamped or printed
4 - oval punched laser printed greetings
     neutral cardstock
4 - scalloped oval punchies
     coordinating cardstock
Glue
3D foam tape (optional)

Cut decorative paper according to the diagram.
Cut large sheets of cardstock in half and fold to make card four fronts.  Prepare images as you wish.  Layer greetings.  Assemble cards as described or as you wish.

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Altered gift wrap for Thank you cards

I like to use a piece of gift wrap that arrives on one of my Christmas presents to make my thank you cards for the season.  This year I chose this very unique snowflake gift wrap in rust and ivory that my daughter wrapped my gift in.
I started by stamping a script stamp all over the paper using a reddish brown ink (Brilliance) and applying gold embossing powder here and there so I would get some gold highlights overall. Once it was embossed the rest of the script seemed to be less prominent so
I decided I needed to add a design

element with a bit more body to offset the delicate snowflakes already there and to provide a darker element to tie in with my tag greetings.  I dug these two snowflakes from my fun foam stash.  To make the larger one more delicate I punched holes in the larger balls using a regular hole punch.  Much better!!

 I used regular glue stick to adhere all the pieces to a clear mount and stamped it all over my paper using the same red brown ink.
On the left, you can see the piece of brown paper I was using on my work surface to catch all the over stamping from altering my paper and my card fronts.  It is looking pretty good and will no doubt end up in a future project as background paper after I have added a few more bits of "left over" paint over it in the next month or two.  I add all my left over paint from any project to paper - either one that already has some on it or a completely blank one if I do not have one that coordinates.  It always gives me very unique backgrounds for my projects.  You can check out the cards I made with my paper here.

Therese

Monochromatic thank you cards

These are the first of several thank you cards I made for my friend.   I found the three images in my stash and went about finding some coordinating cardstock.  I stamped each card front in a coordinating ink using a flourish background by Impression Obsession.  I added colour printed greetings - either attached to the image as in the blue one on the right or layered with a label as the turquoise and green ones to the left of it. I love the softness of these monochromatic cards and feel that the image is appropriate,

Therese

Two more cards!!

 With the other two leaves, I created a couple more cards.  I used the same elements as my previous cards - wax crayon background paper leaves, alcohol inks on gold cardstock, a purple layer with gold gel pen doodling and the stamped background paper.  No pop ups on these - just simple layered cards with colour printed greetings which I sponged lightly so they would coordinate with the cards.  These two took quite a bit less time than the pop ups but look as good with all of those great layers!!

It was fun to use the same supplies for creating two really different cards.  A couple that pop and a couple that don't!!

Therese

Fall cards with wax crayon background paper

 On one of my groups we are being challenged to use wax in our creations so I dug out this crayon background paper from my stash and cut out some leaves using the Tattered Leaves die (TH).  This paper is created using wax crayons, white cardstock and a griddle - totally fun and you probably have everything you need to get started in your stash of supplies!!  I would highly recommend giving it a try.  Click - here to see how I used textured wall paper instead of cardstock.
With my leaves cut I decided to make a card with each leaf - four cards. I needed a fall pop up card for a swap on AFTCM so I set about finding an interesting pop up technique.  I found this surprise pop up card on Splitcoast Stampers.  I loosely followed the tutorial changing up whatever I needed to make it work with what I had.

 This is my first pop up card.  I wanted a bit of definition on my leaves so I used a stylus to emboss some veins on the top side. They did not show as much as I liked so I added a bit of colour using a brown Sharpie.  Any place that was too dark or defined I just used a bit of alcohol to remove what I did not want.  Cool!!  I wanted the leaves to pop so I cut black ones, layered them below my waxed ones, tied gold cord on the stem and used 3D foam tape between the leaves to create dimension.  Next, I cut a rectangle of gold cardstock and altered it with alcohol inks (plum and green) using some felt on a little block.  I cut a dark purple layer to put under the gold and glued these three elements together to create my main accents.  I created some background paper using a skeleton leaf (SeeD) on marigold cardstock using my Kaliedacolour stamp pad - Creole Spice and then added some solid leaves using a foam die cut of the same Tattered Leaves leaf using the same stamp pad.

 I trimmed the background paper to a quarter sheet, cut the pop up mechanism in it and stitched it to my card front using my sewing machine.  I stamped my greeting on the card front below the flap and embossed it in gold embossing powder.  Next, I created the pull up tab to activate the pop up.  I used  a strip of cardstock which I glued to the bottom section of the pop up layer then put it through the little slot (SU) I punched in the decorative paper.  I added a little circle punchie, punched a hole and added some coordinating fiber.  I glued my layered leaf accent to the mechanism and pulled on the little end.  Slowly the greeting on the card front is revealed and the beautiful accent rises and ends up being perpendicular to the card front.  As a final touch, I doodled a gold border on my main element using a gold gel pen.
It took a while to figure out what size everything needed to be but I am really happy with how it all worked out.

While I was at it I decided to create another one!!  Pretty close to the same card using different colours and changed up the doodling on the main element a bit.  I think I will be sending this one for the card exchange at my stamping group.   The second one took so much less time than the first one.
Really happy with how these worked out!! It is fun to challenge myself with trying new techniques and creating the pieces I need to make the cards really unique.

 
So I encourage you to challenge yourself to try something new - a new to you fold, a new background technique, to ink those stamps you bought last month, etc.

Therese

Poppy card for a swap

On AFTCM, I joined a card swap with the theme of cascading dimensional blossoms in red and yellow.  I first decided to create the paper for the flowers using coffee filters and fluid acrylic ink. Love the vibrant colours I achieved!!  I cut half circles from the filters, added glue to the straight edges and gathered them to create my flowers.  I used a black marker to add black centers and then thought it would be cool to add black seed beads as well so I just added some clear glue, sprinkled on the seed beads and left it to dry.  I created the background using a variety of blue paints on white cardstock and then stamped on a script (SU) background in a very similar colour to add subtle texture.  I glued down my flowers, drew on stems with a black sharpie, added a double tied piece of white seam binding and attached the whole accented layer to a black card front.
This is a large card and I love how vibrant the colours are!! It has been mailed off to my swap partner!!

Therese

Tulip card

Made this tulip card for the card exchange at my get together with my crafty buddies!!

The tulip was created using three large oval punchies (SU) which were chalked to add a bit of dimension before they were glued together. I cut a stem and two leaves from a scrap of green cardstock which I also chalked. I layered these elements onto white cardstock that was stamped with a word definition stamp (SU) that I inked with several different colours. Added a green rectangle which I had punched with a scallop border punch (SU) and embellished by piercing a hole in each scallop using a push pin. I layered all the elements onto a yellow card. I stamped "Happy Easter" (SU) in green on the lower right hand side of the top layer which finished it off perfectly!!

Spring has sprung here - only a bit of snow here and there and temperatures above the zero mark!!

Therese

More trees!!

Needless to say there was a good little stack of "trees" in the baggie on my desk! I bought this top note looking stamp in the spring and decided it would work very nicely for this card. I stamped it on scrap cardstock and worked out where on the 4.25" x 3" rectangle I would need to colour print the words. It only took two tries to get it in the right place so I printed the words in a coordinating green, stamped the top note in red and cut it out. I layered the three trees on the right hand side and punched a hole below the greeting where I inserted the two long ends of the tied ribbon. I brought each end to the sides and glued them to the inside of the card front. The top note piece is attached to the card front with 3D foam tape. The card front is stamped to give it some texture. I used a small stamp for this card but substituted the large "sanded" background stamp (SU) for the others because it was much less time consuming. I made some of these into kits as well.

Therese

Cardmaking - April - Gate fold

These were fun to make!! Featuring a gatefold and a central image they can be made for any occasion!! I used the largest circle on the Sizzix circle die (SU) to cut the white circles and then stamped a variety of images on them in black Memories so they could be coloured in any manner, even watercolour. Added a layer of silver foil - my reuse item - foil seal from yogurt - which I cut with my circle cutter. The scallop circle is a leftover from a Christmas card a while back which I embellished with a push pin but some used a white gel pen instead! Used a variety of scrapbook paper for the backgrounds. I created the background paper for the card on the right. The scrapbook paper was quite monochromatic so I added some script and pink flowers! Zipped it up perfectly!! Thrifty Tip: Consider adding some stamping to any paper that is not really speaking to you - it is a great way to use up with you have in your stash.

Therese