These cards are the samples for a Deorative Vellum class I developed and was scheduled to teach last weekend. The class did not run but I will be hanging on to the cards for when I do have the opportunity to teach the class in the future. The class teaches you how to make your own decorative vellum to use in your cardmaking or scrapbooking!! Therese
A few more with the same theme. Here I layered several silk flowers to make a fuller looking accent and 
add leaves to two of them. The leaves were sort of just hanging around because I had removed them from the stems along with the flowers. I was not sure what I would be doing with them. I like the way they turned out and will consider using the last design for a Christmas card with the red silk flowers,a green or gold ribbon and the D'vine Swirl cuttelbug embossing folder. 
More pages!! 
More pages!! I did make a few extra! 
My 4x4 vintage mingle pages are done!! I had 10 pages to make and was really hoping to get them all done on the weekend and I put the finishing touches on the last page this morning after pressing it over night!! 
Who doesn't need a little photo holder for their desk that holds a reminder of why they do it all in the first place?? These little photo holders are created using 2" ceramic tiles from the hardware store and a medium sized clothes pin. I made a lot of these as well. Some are painted, some are stamped with permanent ink and others are layered with images. I trimmed the clothespins just a little and glued them to the back!
Brag books are fun to make and can be customized for any occasion!! I made my first one earlier this year for Mina's pictures - my first grandchild!
Always have journals at my sales! I usually cover these with handmade paper and add a "faux leather" paper spine. Decided to be differently creative this year and painted the covers instead! I sanded the covers and painted on a layer in a light colour. Stamped on several images in permanent ink and then added several layers of paint over the top! Finished off with a bit of a metallic!! Very happy with the way they turned out!!
These so made me think of Harry Potter!!
I made made my little bottle caps with artitude into magnets!! I glued Lee Valley rare earth magnets to the back. I always use their quarter inch magnets because they are so strong - they hold up to 10 sheets of paper to a metal surface!! I also glued large paper clips to some of them for a little added interest and fun!! These easily hold a list or photo while looking pretty on your fridge!! The large paperclips are available at Staples and possibly at your local Dollarama store!!
I attended the Women's Art Festival in Kingston as a vendor last weekend!! It is a wonderful outdoor festival with music, children's activities and music - all by women!! I created a few new items for sale this year which you will find in the following posts!!
Handmade paper!! I had a few friends over last week to make paper!! So much fun!! I prepared the pulp and we spent the afternoon making sheets and visiting. Had some tea and goodies too!! 
Green ATCs for the August swap on ByHand!! I created these while I was visiting with my friend, Linda. You can check out her blog here! Thanks, Linda, for showing me how to add links to my posts. I stayed a few days and it was nice to have some time to play! Found this wonderful aqua and silver box and decided to use it as the base for my green ATCs. It is fun to create with found objects. I added a collage sheet image to the top one along with a stamped "believe" from her stash. Three eyelets and it was good to go!
Have been playing with my Cuttlebug D'vine swirl embossing folder!! Just love this background. The tag is from Stampin UP and one of my favorites!! This one looks great in most any colour and you can find one I did earlier in one of my classes in Real Red. I created a light aqua one for a wedding card a week or so ago!! Done in light blue or pink they would make wonderful baby cards!! 
Decided to do Friendship for my This and That mingle page this month!! I tried something new - colour printing on scrapbook paper! I downloaded a flourish font and colour printed it in blue on this harlequin background. It takes a little bit of organizing to get your flourishes where you want them but I thought it worked out pretty well. You have to test your papers - some are too shiny and the ink will bead on it as my sister discovered earlier working on a project. I added a picture of my friends in a vignette and encouraged the recipient to personalize the page by adding a picture of her friends!! I used the typewriter letters from my MMM site for the word FRIEND at the bottom of the front page. The back is stamped with the Stampendous Friends stamp. I added some fibers on the leading edge for interest and texture. Always enjoy creating these pages!!
My Stamp Fest ATCs!! We are so fortunate to have a rubber stamping event within driving distance!! I created these for trading with others in attendance at Stamp Fest in Bancroft, ON. I used some of the cling wrap backgrounds I created for the contest as decorative layers for these. All the stamps are from Chapel Road . I added embellishments to some and others did not seem to need anything extra. 
Two ATCs I made for a 2 for 2 exchange!! I always save my fortunes from the cookies whenever we have Chinese food. They are the perfect size for ATCs!! This one seemed to fit so well with this faux postage from Lisa Volrath's site earlier this year!! I made a little layered tag with two punched circles!! The top one has been distressed and is stamped with my Memories magnet alphabet set. I used walnut ink on the fortune so it would "fit" in with the rest of the layout. 
My Canadian Card Exchange cards for August were these two rose collage cards! The rose on the lower left hand side is made of paper! I found it on one of my trips downtown and took it apart! The paper it is layered on is a white paper napkin I used to clean up a brush I was painting with and colours were so nice I decided to keep it. The large rose images are stickers I found at a $1 store that I thought would work perfectly with the paper roses and the coloured paper napkin. 
I used the pearlescent ink background on this card! I created the embellishment using punched shapes. I layered the small punched flower on punched circle (5/8") and then that onto another punched circle (1"). I glued them to a regular paperclip to so I could slide it onto the ribbon!! Worked out quite well, the paperclip is not visible but the whole embellishment does slide nicely!!
I really like creating cards with these alcohol and ink backgrounds!! So much potential!!
Cling wrap backgrounds created using white glossy cardstock and Kaliedacolor spectrum stamp pads. I brayered the cardstock with a well inked brayer and then spritzed on some water to make it wet. The dye ink then lifted a bit and was manipulated by the crumpled cling wrap. On the right - Creole Spice and on the left - Royal Satin.
This background was created on matte cardstock using pearlescent acrylic inks!! Just applied the colours without mixing too much and laid the crumpled cling wrap over it. The scan does not capture the pearlescense of the paint but it does make a very effective background. You can use any acrylic medium to make these backgrounds. I would recommend thinning regular craft acrylic paints to a soupy consistency to get the best results. Consider adding a bit of metallics to your work for a little sparkle. One of greatest advantages in creating your own backgrounds is how unique they all are and how little they cost!!
This cling wrap background was created on matte cardstock using walnut ink. I placed a "used" piece of cling wrap that had some colour on it over it which introduced the new colours to the background. Gave an interesting effect! This is quite an unpredictable process but sometimes it yields the most interesting backgrounds. 
These cling wrap backgrounds were created with rubbing alcohol and SU reinkers on white glossy cardstock!! These are really great!! Just create a regular alcohol background by pouncing your cardstock with a felt dabber loaded with alcohol and dye ink in three coordinating colours then while it is still wet add a crumpled piece of cling wrap to cover the surface and leave to dry. The lighter ones were created by just adding more alcohol to a used dabber. I like the dimensional aspect of these backgrounds!!
Have joined a new list this week - Altered Designs!! What a great bunch of people on there already!! Thanks, Kelly for gathering us into a group!! She issued a challenge to the group - use this "sailor boy" image in some way in a layout.
Tags!! I found this image in my folder and realized I had not uploaded it when I created them! These were for a project I was working on in June!! The tags are made from mat board onto which I stamped a word background ( lost in the scan - sorry), added some torn handmade decorative papers, a scrabble tile, a punched letter and a round layered heart element. The heart element is created with SU punches - 1 3/8'" punched in black and 1 1/4" punched from the page of a book. Added the large folk art heart punch over that! 
My T&T fat book page for July features Amelia Earhart! What a fascinating woman!! I know the scans are not the greatest but it was hard to capture the subtleties of this layout. She flew because she was fascinated with the beauty of the sky!! I wanted to have this layout have that feeling. I used black cardstock and used a ripped piece of paper to create the horizon using white ink. I added stars to the sky with silver pigment ink and a stipple stamp. The larger stars I penned in with a silver gel pen. On the bottom edge of both sides I wrote out some of Amelia's favorite sayings. The two photos I found on the internet and printed them the size I needed. To keep the page closed I added a silver clipola onto which I tied a little airplane charm. I am very happy with the way it turned out - has exactly the feel I was looking to create!!
My yellow and/or musical ATCs for the monthly 1for 1 swap! I made packing tape transfers for these ATCs. So totally fun and easy.
Some refurbished cards!! A while back I had someone donate a BAG full of cards to me. I refurbished the handmade ones a while back and this time did some of the commercial ones along with some of the handmade ones I have received in the last while. I donate my refurbished cards to a non profit organization who puts them to good use!! It is a win - win!! 
