Doily Challenge - a large birthday card featuring hand decorated paper, vellum greeting and some paper sequins

This is the fourth card I created for my Doily Challenge.  I started with a large white envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I trimmed a piece of light aqua cardstock to fit on my card with a very tiny margins all the way around. I found a piece of hand decorated glossy paper which was created with a wrinkled wax paper resist and watercolour.  The colours worked well with the dark teal doily.  I trimmed a piece off and used a scalloped border punch on the right hand side after trimming it to size to fit on my aqua layer.  I used a vellum greeting which I printed when I was creating my last card.  After positioning it on my card I created a green strip to hide the double sided tape I used to adhere my vellum greeting.  I added four aqua flower paper sequins to the strip, trimmed four little flowers from my doily and adhered them to the paper sequins.  To finish off my card, I added clear rhinestones to my paper sequin flowers which  was perfect!!  I love the look of the hand decorated paper with the vellum and the paper sequins!!     Therese

Sympathy card that features a small font greeting, a poppy image and a tag

This sympathy card features a wax resist background with some stamped green flourishes (SU) which I made up a while back.  I tore the paper, punched a hole as far up as I could from the bottom using my Modern Label punch (SU) and then adhered the two pieces to the front of a gray green card.  The laser printed digital poppy image is from Calico Collage and was layered onto a gray green cardstock.  The end of the rectangle was not even so I inserted the one end into one of my Deco Label Thinlits and just cut far enough to trim the edge of it to create a tag!  Nice to be able to use tools in a variety of ways!  I punched a hole in the rounded end and tied on a short end of red fiber.  I mounted this focal element to the front of my card over the gap in the decorative paper using 3D foam tape and I also mounted a small font greeting in the opening that I punched which I sponged just a little to softened the edges.    Therese

A few more Easter cards!!

I am still making Easter cards!!  These two combine decorative paper, ribbon and a focal element!!

For the first one, I used a hand decorated piece of paper which features wax resist, watercolour and for green flourish stamping.  I trimmed it and sponged the edges,  dded a length of lilac ribbon and punched a hole (SU) for my greeting before adhering it to a green card front.  I tied on another short piece to simulate a bow!!  I watercoloured the laser printed image which I trimmed to help the cross feel like it is more upright.  I layered it onto green and then onto purple to create my focal element.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere it to my card front over the ribbon.  I added a laser printed greeting from my stash in the hole I created in the background paper which allows the green from the card to nicely highlight the greeting.
For my second card I used a laser printed digital greeting/image (Pixabay) which I trimmed to size, layered onto dark pink and then distressed the edges using my distress tool.  I found this background paper in my stash which nicely reflects the pink I used and the colours in the greeting.  I added a length of ribbon to it before adhering it to a green card front.  I mounted my focal element to the card using 3D foam tape and tied a short piece of the same ribbon to the one on the front to simulate a bow.  I like this cute little bunny image and it makes a cute Easter card!!
Pretty much the same sketch and technique which yields to very different cards because of the supplies I used!!

Therese

One becomes two! Reusing a card front to make two cards

These two cards were created from one larger used card front.  I first trimmed the original card to leave a rectangle with the bird on the handle.  After trimming off that portion I trimmed the top and bottom to create a layer for an A2 sized card.  It was a bit short on the length so I added a punched border to the back leaving only one row of holes showing.  That worked perfectly - adds a bit of texture and colour! I mounted this layer onto a dark green card front.  

For the other card I embossed and sanded a stamped wax resist background I made a while back.  The wax resist used clear wax on an ivory cardstock and I had added green watercolour.  I had stamped a flourish stamp in green after that.  I really like how much texture embossing and sanding this background gave my card!!  I trimmed it to fit on my A2 sized card, added an ivory organza ribbon and mounted it to my dark green card front.  I added the rectangle I had trimmed off the used card on the right hand side using 3D foam tape and then added a layered punchie greeting on the left hand side.  Pretty happy with how both of these turned out!!  Added these to my stash!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a butterfly

Another thank you card for my Christmas blessings which feature music gift wrap which came on one of my gifts this season.  This was one of the pieces that was not full sized.  I tore the bottom edge and cut it half before I glued it to a piece of handmade background paper (wax resist & watercolour) in green & ivory.  I added the large greeting which I had created a while back for another project (die cut letters) which I sponged just enough with yellow ink to have it coordinate with this colour scheme.  I tore the bottom of the background piece as well and glued this whole element to the front of an ivory card.  I found this black butterfly in my stash and replaced its rhinestone body with silver cording which created antennae at the same time and made it thinner to ensure it could be mailed with regular first class postage.  I adhered the butterfly with a small piece of 3D foam tape.  It was the perfect embellishment for this card!!

Therese

An anniversary card and another one from those same kits!

 This is the last of these kits!!  I replaced the round image with  a collage of hearts to create a special card for my sister and her husband for their fortieth anniversary!!
The card front has been stippled (SU) with light green ink and the label of decorative paper (wax resist and watercolour and a stamped green flourish) has had a ribbon added on the top portion and then was adhered to the card front.  I tied a short piece of the ribbon to the front to simulate a bow.  The circles were cut with Nestibilities -Classic Rounds.  I chose three hearts from my little punchies stash that worked well together and adhered them to the ivory circle.  The small heart was adhered with a small piece of 3D foam tape.  I sponged the edges of the laser printed custom greeting punchie and adhered it with 3D foam tape as well.
The final kit I simply made up and added to my card stash.  The cute image is from Digital Two for Tuesday was watercoloured.
I had hoped to be able to be more creative with the sketch for these kits but this layout seemed to work the best so that is what I went with!!

Therese

Mother's day cards using card kits

 I decided to use card kits from my last class to make these cards.  I printed new coordinating greetings to make them all Mother's Day cards.  The backgrounds are wax resist and watercolour which was stamped afterwards using a flourish stamp then die cut.  

I stippled (SU) all the card fronts, added ribbons which I overlaid with layered circular focal elements and punched greetings below.  The red poppies are from the Old Design Shop, the hibiscus from CLKER and the little bird is from TLC and the first two were colour printed and the last one was watercoloured.  These are for my Mom and both of my daughters!!

Therese

Thinking of you card for a cardmaking friend

A card for a friend/couple whose daughter had surgery last week.  Just want them to know that I am thinking of them!!
I had some kits sitting on my work table from my last cardmaking class at the end of March so I decided to see if I could change them up to suit the occasions I needed cards for in the next few weeks.
This card features a wax resist and watercolour background die cut into a large label shape with the TH die.  It was stamped with a flourish background in green ink as well to add some texture and interest.  I added a ribbon on the top portion and used double sided tape to adhere the ends to the back of the die cut.  I tied a short piece to the left hand side using one single knot which nicely simulates a bow.  I stippled (SU) the green card front with green ink and then adhered the label nicely centered on the card.  I watercoloured the laser printed image (Arthurs Clipart) which was die cut with Nestibilities - Classic Rounds and layered it onto a circle of green cardstock.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere this focal element to my card front over the ribbon.  I sponged the edges of my laser printed punched greeting (SU- Decorative Label) with a bit of green ink and adhered it below my focal element also using 3D foam tape.  Fun to use different images and ribbons on these cards!!

Therese

March Cardmaking - resist decorative paper and fun images

 For this month's card making class I started by prepping kits that featured these fun labels cut with the Tim Holtz - Ornamental die.  I used decorative paper which I created a while back using ivory cardstock, clear wax and a diamond texture plate.  After laying the cardstock over the texture plate I rubbed clear wax over the surface and then applied a green colour wash.  Once they were dry, I laid them coloured side down over an absorbent paper surface and used an iron to remove the wax.  I then over stamped the resist pattern using a flourish stamp and olive green ink.  I found that both ivory and pea green cardstock worked well for my cards.  I added some stippling using green ink - a soft green for the ivory and a darker one for the green - around the edges of my card fronts to add a bit of texture.  I added the ribbon across the upper portion of the label adhering both ends to the back using double sided tape and then mounted this element to my card fronts. To change things up a bit I chose to colour print my digital images onto ivory cardstock and then cut them out with my circle Nestibilities.  Once my images were watercoloured I layered them onto green and used 3D foam tape to adhere them to my card fronts overlapping the ribbon.  I tied a short piece of ribbon with a single knot to the length I had already put on to simulate a bow.  I punched out the coordinating colour printed greetings, watercoloured their edges a bit and then adhered them below the focal element.  The pansy is by Anne's "Cards 4U" and the little birdies are from Birdie Brown's.  It is always fun to create fun decorative paper to use in your cardmaking!!

Therese

A few more cards from my stash!

With such luck at finding a stash of supplies for the last batch of Christmas cards I made I thought I would raid the box on my desk for any supplies that could be used for Christmas cards!!  Here are the cards I made with what I found!!

For this one on the left I used a embossed layer that features three snowmen!!  I found a colour printed greeting which I trimmed and pierced and then glued in place above my little guys. Next, I sewed this layer to the front of a white card using white thread in my sewing machine!!  Found enough supplies to make three of these!!

For these three I used three wax resist backgrounds that feature the same embossing folder with the three snowmen!!  I trimmed them to fit on coordinating card fronts and added colour printed and embossed vellum greetings which I found in my stash.  If you colour print on vellum using an inkjet printer and you are fast you can coat your wet printing with embossing powder and then heat it!! 

 A lovely embossed image!!  

So another 6 cards to add to my stash!!  34+6=40 cards!!   I am very happy to have been able to find these supplies and get all caught up on my Christmas cards for this year!!

Therese

Gifts of Imperfection - Cultivating Creativity

I am playing serious catch up with my online Ecourse by Brene Brown called the Gifts of Imperfection.  I managed to get these pages created before my last meeting but am just uploading them today.
This is the beginning of Part 2 and the lesson for the first week as Cultivating Creativity.  This lesson was not difficult for me as I recognize that I am a creative being and am often engaged in creative activities.  For my page I decided to use a piece of paper I created when I was working on  this Bee Attitudes book project.

I created block letters and doodled inside them except for the word creative which I hand lettered cursively. I added a funky border and I like the way it goes with the watercolour resist paper.
For my second page I needed to record my art scars.  I had to look pretty hard to find any.  I expect it was because art was not offered in junior or high school - those years where we are most susceptible to scarring  - so I was spared the judgement of art teachers or my peers.

This page was a self portrait.  I have to admit that I did not follow the rules - we were supposed to use only crayons.  I did a basic pencil sketch before adding colour with my crayons.  One of the girls with whom I am doing the course followed the rules and did a much more effective job of her self portrait.  I need to work on being free and be willing to fail and begin again.

I am really appreciating the lessons of this course!

Therese

Hand decorated gift wrap

I decided that the gift I created for my god daughter needed some special gift wrap so I created some. She is a crafty person so I know that she will see the value in reusing the beautiful paper in her creations!!
I started with a piece of white heavy weight paper, used the items on the left - a piece of plastic canvas, some mesh, a swirly tile and a piece of white wax crayon  - to created some texture on my paper.  I simply place my item under the paper and rubbed my crayon (laying on its side) over the paper.  Just moved things around and kept rubbing until I had covered the majority of the surface area.

 You can see here with my paper at an angle the wax which has been applied to the paper.  You cannot see it unless you look against the light.  I love doing wax resist!!
So next I applied some colour washes in yellow and red until all the surface was covered and I liked the play between the two colours.  It left it to dry and used my left over acrylic paint to play on several other pieces of paper which will become decorative paper I will use in a another project.  Nothing goes to waste!!

Here you can see a section of the paper I created.  The white wax has resisted the colour and creates texture and design on the surface of the paper!  I have taken digital photos of my paper which I can use later for printing,in digital collages or mixed media artwork.  It is your work so why not record and use your own work in your art.

Very happy with this and I am off to wrap my gift!!

Therese

Purple butterfly birthday!

I have acquired a new little desk for my sewing machine which means that I can leave it out ready to be used in my craft room!  I will post photos later. Thanks, Loraine!!
I collected all of my layers for this card and started stitching!!  I stitched the watercoloured butterfly image (Meljen's) to the coloured layer, the greeting to the coordinating rectangle, layered it onto the decorative paper (wax resist background) and stitched it to the card front.  I love the look of stitching on paper and it is really fun to do!!  I added a short piece of lace to my image and added  it to my card front using 3D foam tape at a bit of an angle.  It still needed a bit of something so I created a flower using the same lace by basting one edge of a short piece, gathering the lace and tying off the threads.  I used a glue dot to hold it in place.  Happy with how this one came together!!

Therese

All Occasion cards

Had a get together with cardmaking friends this week and I made these card kits for us to create with.
The top layer was punched with my new Fiskars Slot border punch which works just dandy for adding ribbon to a card!!  I used a length of ribbon and ran it through the slots and glued the ends to the back.  I tied a shorter piece to the front to simulate a bow.  The bottom of this piece was also punched with a border punch - SU Eyelet punch.
The little squares were created using a serendipity technique and then layered onto coordinating cardstock.  Both of these were layered over some decorative paper on my card fronts.  The top card has gift wrap and the bottom card is a piece that was created using a wax resist technique.
I love making serendipity paper with scraps!!  Always very unique and artsy looking!!

Therese

Felted die cut thanks

These felted snowflakes were in the little envelope of die cuts that my daughter sent me for Christmas!!  Love crafty gifts!!
On the left hand card I layered the snowflakes over a wax resist background, added some snowflake sequins and attached them to the card front using little white brads.  In keeping, with the simple look of this card I added a little circular vellum greeting which I just glued to the decorative paper!!  On the right hand card, I layered the felted snowflakes onto a brown embossed background (SU), added some string hangers which I glued to the back using double sided tape, added some sequins and attached them using brown mini brads. Thrifty Tip:  I coloured the domes of white ones with a brown sharpie - voila - brown ones!!  I added a colour printed greeting which I punched with the modern label punch (SU).

Therese

Wax paper resist!

One of my blog visitors wondered if using wax paper over white cardstock in an embossing folder would transfer enough wax to the cardstock to be used as a wax resist. I gave it a try because all the tools were sitting right at hand. Unfortunately, not so! You can see to the left my experiment. The second from the left is the cardstock I put through the embossing folder and painted with watercolour. It has a nice relief but it did not resist the colour. I decided to transfer the wax to cardstock using heat. I placed my embossed wax paper over a piece of white cardstock and wrapped it in white paper and applied heat with my iron. The cardstock has a VERY faint image of the design once colour is added - it is the far left. The cover paper I used had a much better image and resisted the colour very nicely - it is second from the right. On the right is the wax paper!! It looks interesting enough to be used as a layer on a card!!
My visitor does not have an embossing machine so I tried using just crumpled wax paper and created the paper on the left - wrinkled wax paper (left) and the resist paper on the right. You can create all sorts of patterns in wax paper - fold, draw, etc - that can be used for wax resist.

Thanks for asking!!

The two following scans are of the tissue I used as a paintbrush for the application of colour in the above experiment and the two sheets of copy paper I used to dry them with the iron. I did not expect the colour to transfer.

So one little experiment!! 10 pieces of paper I can use in my paper crafting!!

Everyday is a good day to play!! I may use these later today when I am working on challenge cards!!

Therese

Christmas cards - batik snowmen

These cards are part of ones I created for the girls that requested kits for my last class!! Wax resist - I am still on that kick!! I used the embossing folder (crafts too - Ecstasy crafts) open, placed the paper on the "bumps" and rubbed on clear wax to which I later applied a wash of watercolour!! Once dry, you just have to wipe the waxed areas to remove any colour which really makes the image pop. Because this image takes up so much of the card front I chose to add a simple colour printed greeting at the top. I mounted the greeting with a small piece of 3D foam tape in the middle, punched holes through all the layers on either end and inserted the ribbon, wrapped it around the card and tied the ends in a double knot on the front. Quick and easy and can be made up in a wide variety of colours!!

Therese

Wax resist backgrounds

Here is a sampling of the wax resist backgrounds I created for my class!!

I spent a few hours playing with this technique and finally settled on using coated paper as the substrate because it gave a nicely defined resist image. You can certainly use cardstock or even thinner paper for a different look. Experiment with what you have. You can read the instructions for this technique here!

I used clear wax but you could certainly use what you have for a different look - coloured wax crayons would add a very different dimension to the look of this technique.

I am very happy to have found yet another way to use my embossing folders!!

Therese

Birdie exchange card

I am meeting with my card making buddies tonight and this is the card I made for the exchange.

I have been playing with ways of doing resist for my class tomorrow night. Check out the background - it is one of the resists I came up with. A wax resist technique that uses an embossing folder and clear wax!! I placed my paper on the "bumps" of the open embossing folder, rubbed over it with clear wax crayon then added a watercolour wash!! Voila!! A great looking background!!

For this card I mounted my background on a white card front. The bird is also a resist technique - clear embossing powder on white cardstock - to which I added a watercolour wash. They compliment each other. Layered the bird on white and added a bit of lace below that and a colour printed greeting!!

Thrifty Tip: Where do you get clear wax crayons??? I am sure they exist but I created my own by cutting up a bar of paraffin into little bars with a hot knife and then rounding them on griddle surface covered with foil. Works very well. You could use a white wax crayon on white paper, or a yellow crayon on yellow paper, etc which would allow you to use the crayons you have on hand for this resist technique. On the other hand, a crayon of a different colour would give you a totally different look!! Will have to investigate that later!! I found that the rubbing was more defined on paper - I used coated laser printer paper - but you can use paper or cardstock. You can use anything with a textured surface for rubbing as well - fabric, lace, woven mats, screening, texture plates, etc, etc - but I was happy to find another use for my embossing folders.

So play a little today and see what you can do using this resist technique!!

Therese

Chunky Art Book - back cover

Same wax resist paper featured on the front cover which was also enhanced with watercolour once it was applied to the back cover to give it more definition and feature the flower more prominently. No other embellishments necessary!! Added the flower charm with pink and teal fiber!!

And that is my Chunky Art Book!!

I hope you are inspired to create art!! Just get creative and share it us!!

Therese