A fat book page that celebrates the joy of maple syrup so synonymous with spring!! With some internet research I discovered that maple syrup is only produced in a very small area of North America where the conditions are ideal - sugar and black maple trees growing in good, well drained soil that are exposed to warm daytime temperatures followed by cool nights which gets the sap flowing. Sap is collected for only about a month and half in the spring!!

I included a sugar maple leaf on the front of my page which is protected by a transparency. Colour printed the rest and then embellished with my stipple brush and some ink. I added information and photos to the tags which fit inside between the front and the back.

This is a monthly mingle on one of my lists and I really aprpeciate the wide scope of the themes we can use and how open the creative process in which I can engage!!

Thanks for checking out my blog and I wish you a creative day!!

Just get out your supplies and create something!!

Therese

Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/
My art blog:
http://www.tmalakart.blogspot.com/

The last of the bunch!!

X - pearl ex. I stamped with a clear ink from Perfect Pearls and then applied a variety of metallic powders to the words. It turned out very nice though scanning it was difficult. Have not really used this product before and was happy how this worked out!! Trimmed my X which was printed on a transparency and glued it with double sided tape under the black areas.

Y - yarn. It was a challenge to come up with words that related to papercrafting for each letter of the alphabet. I layered my trimmed letter onto decorative paper and then punched two holes on either side of the Y and tied on a pink piece of yarn. Layered that onto pink cardstock.

Z - zig zag. Layered my trimmed transparency with Z on it over the yellow cardstock and overlaid a black strip of CS onto which I glued yellow rick rack. I trimmed the bottom of the yellow with pinking shears to reinforce the theme!!

Done!!

Therese

U - UTEE. Punched a maple leaf and then added two layers of UTEE in Bronze. I stamped a similarly sized maple leaf into the molten UTEE. Created a cool little accent for this ATC!! Layered the U which was printed on vellum with two copper corners and used hot glue to attach the leaf element at the bottom.

V - vellum. Created decorative vellum with a daisy stamp and my Brilliance ink pad. Stamped both on the front and the back. The Brilliance dried nicely. If you were to use pigment ink would have to emboss the images to seal them. A great technique for creating just the perfect decroative vellum for your card or layout. I attached the trimmed vellum rectangle to the cardtock with clear corners.

W - wax resist. Take a piece of wax paper and create a pattern in it by folding or crumpling. Open it up and layer onto a glossy cardstock. Cover with newspaper and apply a hot iron to melt the wax onto the glossy. Then apply dye ink with a brayer!! Lots of very cool textured effects can be created with this technique!! This works on matte cardstock as well. Give it a try!! I stamped in the words with black memories.

Therese

R - resist. I used white glossy paper and embossed the coffee cup with clear EP to which I applied brown memories ink. After it was all dry I wiped the ink from the EP and layered it onto another piece of glossy with the EP side down. I applied a hot iron from the top which melted the EP onto the new piece of glossy. I actually ironed it again several times onto tissue paper as well before all the EP was melted off the original glossy. I trimmed my R which was printed on transparency and layered it onto the glossy and attached it with 4 copper brads. Then layered onto brown cardstock which had been stamped with my Harlequin stamp in Brilliance "white frost" ink. I stamped coffee with my magnetic alphabet set with the same Brilliance ink.

S - Sewing (really should have read stitching) The S is printed on vellum. I added "stitching" with a marker all the way around. I captured the vellum under two layers of cardstock which had been pricked on the scallop edge as well as at the top to create some faux stitching by drawing with a marker between the holes. Nice to have a few different ways of attaching vellum!!

T - tranfer. I printed images with my laser printer onto white paper and then applied packing tape to make a transfer. The tape needs to be burnished very well and then it is just soaked to soften the paper which can easily be rubbed off. The transfer can then be glued to a new surface. A quick and easy transfer technique which easily adds depth to your creations!! The T was trimmed and attached with double sided tape under the black parts of the letter.

Therese

More ATCs for my Alphabet ATC swap!! Have so enjoyed creating these!!

O - Oval. I created an oval tag with the two SU oval punches and stamped Create in the top one. Punched holes in either side and slid them onto a ribbon which I tucked under my decorative paper layer which I glued to cardstock. It needed something to I added the thin black line all the way around. The O is printed on transparency and trimmed then glued on with double sided tape under the black part of the letter.

P - polished stone. I printed the letter on a transparency. Once trimmed I used alcohol inks to create a polished stone effect on the back of it. I attached to white cardstock with pink eyelets (white ones which I coloured with my Sharpie markers) and then tied the bottom with pink fiber. All of this was layered onto decorative cardboard which I had cut from a tissue box.

Q- quilting. I layered blue handmade paper onto cardstock and sewed a few lines of stitching to keep thme in place. I stitched all the way around the Q which was printed on transparency incorporating a bit of bias tape ribbon on the side.

Therese

Created these with a set of cast off earrings!! As I removed the backings the inner piece of the earring popped out!! Excellent!! With that piece missing I was left with a wonderful little depression I could fill. I dug through my collage stash and found two images to use - one of an angel and the other of a teddy bear reading with his friends. I trimmed the images to fit and glued them in place then covered them with Dimensional Magic. This dried perfectly clear and created a wonderful accent piece for my ATCs. I created a background paper for each - on the left I used watercolour and overstamped with a floral decorative stamp and on the right I used my large definition stamp. I added a ribbon then glued on the accent and layered it onto cardstock. On the right hand one I also punched a hole in the layer and then glued a circle with friend stamped in it. Really happy with the way these worked out. I like filling little spaces with art. I sent one to the swap and the other to my friend, Linda!!

Therese

It has been a while since I posted so I will start with my April Art Lottery submission. I decided to treat the winner with some round tags this month so I created another one of these cards with the decorative paper using the colour blocking technique. The decorative paper is one that I created with direct to paper technique when I was repairing my Colourbox pads. I really like the vibrancy and the depth of colour of this piece!! The round tags were colour printed and then punched with the SU 1.25" punch and the layer was created with the 1 3/8" punch!! Quick and easy!!

Therese

Another simple card with a bit of a twist. I cut a rectangle off the front of this card and then applied decorative paper to the flap that was left. I stamped the image added a layer and glued it to the front. I added a small square on the inside of the card for writing my message!! I just love this image!! It was one of the images in the Hostess set I earned at my SU party.

I hope you enjoy these cards!! Make them your own!!

Have a creative day!!


Therese

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

This is a little folder card!! I added a little flap to a regular card and then added an element on the front that I could tuck the flap under. I added decorative paper to the front and then added an embossed image.

A very simple design!!

Therese

I loved this little design that I found several different places!! I just made a rectangular card and cut off a triangle off of each side. Several of the girls were going to add a little handle to their pink cards to make a cute little girl's card that looks like a purse!! This one could truly be embellished several different ways for so many different looks!! Consider creating an apron, coveralls, brick of gold, etc. with this design.

I colour printed the oval design and then punched it with my large oval punch from SU. I am really looking forward to exploring the possibilities of this punch!!

Enjoy!!

Therese

A triangular fold card!! I had downloaded an image of a similar card somewhere along the way and worked up my design from that image. Several of the girls at the class mentioned that Splitcoast had a tutorial posted to their site last week with all the instructions and samples. So if you are interested in more information you can check

www.splitcoaststampers.com

Check their tutorial section under Resources, I believe, and you should be able to find their tutorial. Another very different card that would easily hold a photo or a little something for someone special!! They require accurate scoring but are not difficult to put together. I use my clear quilting ruler for scoring!! The best tool for that purpose!!

Therese

For this month's cardmaking session I was exploring folds and shapes!! This card is a variation of the one we made at my SU party. It has a triangular base instead of a rectangular one!! In the process of designing this one I had to come up with a solution to keeping the pop up part of the card - popped up!! In the rectangular based one the paper on both sides of the slit grabs the pop up and keeps it from sliding back into the base. With the triangular base there is less pressure so I ended up adding a staple at the place I wanted the pop up to stay. The back catches the staple's little bumps and the front hides the front of the staple! It was so effective and the group enjoyed the different option for the base! I just love this Terrific Tulip set (retired) from SU. Made these cards in a lot of different colours. They are a great way to herald in the spring or to celebrate Easter!!

Therese

This faux leather technique has a few more steps than the others but is still very effective!! I would have added the last coat of sealer to the surface to get a bit of sheen and also to protect the surface of the paper. I chose a rather non - leather colour - bright blue - but the texture is wonderful and it surely makes very interesting and effective background paper. Both the cardstock layer and the tissue could be stamped before layering them to create yet more dimension. I would recommend making several sheets of any of these papers while you have your paints and tools out!!

Therese

Yet another faux leather technique!! This one is also very easy but a bit time consuming - it took me 10 minutes to apply the tape to this small piece of cardstock!! You simply rip ivory masking tape into small pieces and apply to cardstock overlapping slightly and leaving rough edges showing. Once your cardstock is covered apply ink to the surface in any colour you choose. I used Chestnut Memories for this one. Just rub in the ink with your finger or a small piece of paper and let dry. DONE!! Very effective and the favorite at the class!!

Therese

This is a very quick and easy faux leather technique. It requires a heat gun, a stamp, a dye ink pad and some fun foam. The fun foam softens very nicely when you heat it with a heat gun and will take the impression of a stamp. I used a feather stamp for this card and a black ink pad. It is not necessary to use ink on the stamp unless you really want to highlight the image. You could easily create a textured background instead of an accent for your card by using a large background stamp instead. Lots of possibilities with this technique! I highly recommend giving it a try. If you are not happy with the result simply reheat and redo.

Enjoy!

Therese

Faux Leather

Faux Leather!! This is a technique I have been doing for quite a while but just recently taught a class with it and several faux leather techniques. I use Plaid Glaze Vernis so on the weekend when I was into Michael's I inquired about the availability. They no longer carry them. I will have to find another source or consider developing my own glazes. I think that I could certainly use neutral glaze and add acrylic paint, tube watercolour, ink, etc to it to make up the colours I would need for my paper. I will have to do some research, see what my options are and do a little playing to see what works the best. I have developed this technique from an article in one of the Somerset Gallery issues. I really like the look of this paper and it works so well for covering books and frames. Here I have used it as a background paper - very similar to a card I made for my last cardmaking session.

Therese

A group of my friends and I are going to swap silk hydrangea flowers in April. I have posted these just to give everyone an idea of the colour options available in these cool little flowers. I have bought the purple ones in the top left hand corner. This bunch had a variety of colours from light lavendar to a darker more warm purple and even some with a greenish hue. The lower left hand corner is what Susan has bought to swap - a nice warm yellow with some orange ones mixed in. The purple, pink blue and green ones are those Catherine has for swapping. I am looking forward to swapping!! I really like the detail in these flowers and they are generally a good size for cards - less than 2". It will be fun to see what colours the others will have picked to swap. We are packaging them in small ziplocs and swapping 10 for 10. Michaels has a wide variety of colours, sizes and textures of hydrangea silk flowers and quite a few of them are on sale - 50% off this week until Friday!!

Celebrating spring!!

Therese

My friend has started a Bad Girl altered book and was looking for others to contribute layouts that she could tip in. I have been busy with other projects but tonight decided I would give it a try. I had collected several images off the internet a few days ago so I printed off a pageful and set off to my craft room/art studio. I decided to use two pages from an old book as a base and worked up a layout I was happy with. I sponged on some red ink and stamped a checker board pattern as well over both pages. Used my See D large typewriter alphabet to create the title. Mounted a couple of the images behind slidemounts for a bit of interest. Created the round element in Corel Draw, copying an image I found on the internet but made mine to reflect the theme. I mounted the slide mounts with foam tape so they would be dimensional on the page.

I'm happy with the results and I hope she will like it as well.

I thought it was interesting, as I searched the internet to find images, what showed up when I typed in "Bad Girls". Best not to judge!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

Bought some chipboard letters yesterday and just had to try them!! I created this card for this month's Art Lottery. I used an old music sheet as decorative paper - stippled it a bit with chestnut Memories ink. I use a large kids paintbrush from the dollar store for stippling. I added a chocolate brown ribbon between the music sheet and the rest of the card though it is a bit hard to identify in the scan. I also distressed the rest of the card which is not showing up either.

I stamped O and U with my SeeD round alphabet in chestnut memories and punched them out. I stamped "Thinking of" with my MM rummage magnetic alphabet. I layered the strip onto the card and then glued the letters below it.

Very happy with the results!! I will include a couple of letters for the winner to play with as well.

I have chipboard letters and old sheet music on my MMM site! You can follow the link below my name!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

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

Here is what the other side look like!!

Therese