Cardmaking - September - flourished

I read somewhere that there are no mistakes in creating only opportunities for creativity!! The decorative paper on this card was just that. I started with gloss paper and alcohol inks like I always do and thought to myself as I got started "this paper is really glossy" but undaunted I pressed ahead and made up a couple dozen quarter sheets. As they sat to dry they changed up a bit and started being a little spotty. They didn't dry quickly which was weird so I let them sit until the next morning!! No better in the morning and in testing for "doneness" I saw that the ink was not dry!! So what to do!! I was actually able to wipe off all the ink but that simply seemed to be a waste of ink so I decided to see if I could seal in the colour using a coat of clear spray. Sure enough it worked but in the process the colours dulled quite a bit so I needed to punch up the look somehow. I decided to stamp them with my new flourish stamp from Impression Obession which I bought in Montreal at Scrapbook Central when we were on our way to PEI!! I used black StazOn and it worked perfectly!! It is a large square stamp so I laid it flat, inked it and then laid the cardstock on it!! Just a bit of layering, a colour printed greeting and we were done!! The right side of the cards was impressed using my Big Shot and a texture plate - Fiskars - I think!!

So all sorts of new techniques and tools employed in getting card kits ready for this month. It is fun to use new tools or to use older ones differently!! As well, always consider what you can do with a project before you throw in the towel. That is how things are invented!!!

Thanks for dropping by!!

Therese

Cardmaking - September - postage stamps!

These cards feature little postage stamps matted off like little works of art!! It was fun to rummage through my collection of used stamps and see what I had that coordinated with my backgrounds.

THRIFTY TIP: Save any interesting postage stamps that come in on your mail. They are free little works of art that can be used in your creations in so many places!!

I created the backgrounds using the double embossed technique!! On several I added a bit colour with a stamp pad after the first sanding just to add some depth to the background. I recommend that you use a simple all over design for the first embossing and something more bold or with a motif for the second embossing. Still have some experimenting to do with this technique!!

So, just mounted the postage stamp to a small rectangle (Nestibilities) and layered it with 3D foam tape to the other rectangle (Nesties). This element was mounted to the embossed layered card front using more 3D foam tape. I like the look of these little double matted pieces of art!!

Therese

Cardmaking - September - handmade paper

This card kit is very versatile!! I used my own handmade paper, added a strip of cardstock which I trimmed, embossed and pierced, some fiber and a 3D embellishment. Created cards for two very different occasions by changing the colours and the orientation!! For the brown one I tied the fiber to the spine with a double knot and added a leaf embellishment ($1). On the pink one I punched two holes, threaded the fiber through, tied it with a double knot on the front and added a layered silk flower embellishment.

THRIFTY TIP: I created a line embossing tool!! Cut two small strips of chipboard (1/2"x 6") and glued them about 1/16" apart on a chipboard base (2" x 6"). Used a stylus or bone folder to score the line. Now I can add an embossed line pretty much anywhere I want on my cards!!

In my tour of blog land this week I read some interesting tutorials on line about making your own embossing folders!! Will have to play with that and see what I can come up with!!

Therese

Cardmaking - September - sunflowers!

Sunflowers!!!!!!!!!!! I love the way these turned out!! After investigating several techniques for creating sunflowers with less than desired results I remembered my Poinsettia Nestibilities die!! Used it for my Christmas cards and thought that it might just work for sunflowers!! Beautiful!! Love it when I can find another way to use a tool!!! I cut two of the largest die from yellow cardstock, stippled their edges in brown, embossed the center line of each petal and then glued them to each other. I used a Scallop Circle Nestibilities die to cut the large center from brown cardstock and embossed it using the Bubbles embossing folder. I hand cut a stem and some leaves from green cardstock and glued them to the back of the flower where they fit best. I layered my sunflower over a piece of decorative scrapbook paper and used a couple of circle punchies (3/4" and 1/2") to create a ladybug - added spots with a black marker!!

The leaves are changing colour and the nights are cooler!! Back to the routines and hopefully a bit more time for crafting!!

Therese

Sea glass jewelery

This is a departure from the norm for me!! No paper!!!

We collected sea glass from the beaches in PEI when we were on vacation and having seen the beautiful jewelery that others had made I wanted to give it a try. Saw some wire wrapped pieces in PEI so I thought I would try that. I am happy with my first attempt. I did wrap several heart rocks as well. I always collect heart shaped rocks and we found quite a few. So I have made a few pendants for giving away to some special people and they will be delivered by my sister who went home on Saturday!! I gleaned some information from several tutorials I found on line by searching for wire wrapping.

Back to card in the next post!!

Therese

Star card - Circle of Friends

I love this paper!! It is almost all gone!! I punched the strip with a small star punch and trimmed the top edge with decorative scissors. Layered the small star over the large one and added a brad with a silver sequin to echo the silver in the paper!! When you have great decorative paper just a few elements are required to make a great card!!

Therese

Light house - Circle of Friends

This one is similar to these I made a while back. Handmade paper with seaweed from PEI featuring one of my light house photos printed in black and white. The strip was trimmed and pierced to add texture and attached with brads. I like the way the ribbon adds just a hint of colour!!

Therese

Multi layer flower card - Circle of Friends

This is a multi layered card which I have been wanting to try for a while. Two decorative papers from a coordinating pack - both layered onto white. Image stamped in dark brown. We added a metal spiral clip with ribbon. Some of the group coloured their flower and used a different layout for their rectangles for a very different look. That is one of the reasons I teach - I love the way that in any group of people some can come up with a totally different way to use the very same supplies!!

Therese

Butterlfy card - Circle of Friends

Made cards with a new group last night - some very enthusiastic newbies!! Circle of Friends was created to bring people together to celebrate every day life!! A great group!! They have weekly outings and monthly meetings.

We started off with a flower and butterfly card. Glued decorative paper with a wave on the bottom of the card and added flower punchies (SU) along the wavy edge. Chalked our butterflies (SU) and mounted them with 3D foam tape. Added body definition and antenna with a fine black marker as well as a flight path with little black dots. The last thing was to add iridescent glitter glue to the flower centers and set them aside until the glitter glue was dry.

A quick and easy card sketch!! Change up the colours and the punchies and you can make a card for any occasion!!

Therese

Flower card for contest!

Another card for the Class Acts contest. I am down to the wire - the deadline is tonight!! Their new website went live today so there are lots new images, specials, prizes and free shipping - check them out at www.classact.ca I am loving their new look - very fresh and elegant!!

Back to the card!! This card features a stamped resist background which I create a while back. Added a scallop border highlighted in white on the right hand side and a Chapel Road stamp - The Earth laughs in flowers - on white, artichoke and salmon scallops to coordinate with the background. Added a sheer ribbon with a little bow!! The image is stamped in Bella Rose - Palette stamp pad which I bought from Carol at Class Acts!!

They have a new contest that starts tomorrow with a deadline of September 26 - plenty of time to get your stamps and participate!!

Enjoy your long weekend and find some time to create!!

Therese

Masculine card!

I created this card for my submission to the Class Acts blog contest. The deadline is 11pm tonight!! I am hoping to make another card using one of my Chapel Road stamps so I have two entries in the contest. Check out their new website!! A totally new look, contests, free shipping and lots of new stamps!!

Pretty straight forward - used corrugated paper from a light bulb package which I painted with a brown acrylic paint wash and added a bit of gold from a pigment pad once it was dry. The car is stamped in brown, trimmed, layered and placed over the fiber tie. The bottom edge is ripped to allow the "Hello" greeting to show.

Almost finished my class prep!!

Have a great day!!

Therese

Flowers for a swap!

Flowers for a swap!!! I made these in February before my SU party with intentions of making a brooch for each person who came. I was not perfectly happy with them then and now that I have rediscovered them I am liking them much better. In the end, they are a bit time consuming and trying to get 20+ done before the party seemed like more than I could handle at the time.

These were created using fabric samples I acquired somewhere along the way. The reddish ones were made using polyester drapery fabric and cut with a flower Sizzix die which cuts three different flowers. Once the shapes were cut I used my heat gun to alter them so they would be wavy and interesting. There are five layers plus a brad. I put an altered circle below the brad, added a small and a large flower then two large daisies offset from each other a bit so they would show all the way around. They can easily be added to projects or made into brooches!!

The others were made using sheer drapery fabric which I shrunk with a heat gun to about half the size before I cut out the circles. Shrinking it with the heat gun really made it bumpy and interesting though you had to be really careful not to burn holes in it. For one set, I cut the medium circles in half and gathered the straight side which made "petals". I layered seven on a large circle leaving a bit of space in the middle, covered them with 5 that met in the middle and then added a decorative brad. These were the ones I was most happy with but they were the most time consuming. The others had medium circles that were folded into a pie shape and glued to the large circle leaving a space in the middle to which I added a flower, a circle and a decorative brad. I used hot glue to glue these together.

I cannot point you to any one website for instructions because I must have perused at least a half dozen websites with tutorials on how to make fabric flowers and used what I liked from each one.

So I am sending these off to new homes where others will include them in their art!! Looking forward to seeing what I get in return and how I can use them in my art.

Therese

Altered tin!

I have been playing!! I do have a to do list of things that need to be done but instead I played with these little tins. My friend, Linda, was going to toss a bunch of these when I was at her house last month so instead, I took them home because I thought they had huge potential for altering!! I will be dropping by tomorrow to pick up my altered book which I forgot there when I was over for our play date. I'm in town picking up my sister - another play date in the works. So tonight I thought I would see what I could come up with using one of these little Making Memories tins that used to hold eyelets!!! I am sure you all have some hanging around your house too!!

We returned from PEI last week and I have some little treasures I collected on the beach while we were there so I decided to make a little treasure box for Linda with a few of my PEI treasures!!

I am so happy!! It turned out great!!!

First off I drilled a small hole in both sides of the cover that line up just above the dip in the tray when it is closed. I will be using them to seal up the treasure box when I am done altering and filling it.

I took the tin apart - just a little pressure will release the tray from the cover. I slowly rubbed paint thinner on the letters on the front cover using only my fingernail to gently scrub until they all lifted off!! Wiped that off and cleaned up the paint thinner with some dish soap - the cover was almost as good as new!! I added "friends" with rub ons and sealed them with acrylic sealer. They went really clear!! Yeah!! I added some yellow, green and blue transparent acrylic paint (homemade) which I used for this project on the outside of the bottom of the tray. It is a bit recessed so the paint, once dry, is perfectly protected from rubbing off or otherwise getting damaged. I put the tray back in the cover once everything was dry. It looks like the sea and sky!! I added a little sand dollar, a little white stone, a piece of white shell, a piece of blue mussel shell, some tiny bits of green, brown and clear sea glass - my PEI treasures - to the tray. To round out the mix I added a little red confetti heart, some multi coloured rhinestones and a few very small pearl white seed beads. I had experimented with sand and tiny holeless beads before altering the tin - they simply drained out of the tray when I suspended it. With the tray closed I added a wire hanger that runs through the little holes I drilled and keeps the treasure box nicely closed. I added curlicues to the ends of the wires!! I am sure there is a much better and prettier option but being very low on jewelery making skills I have decided that it will do the job for this project!!!

I am loving it!! These little boxes have so many surfaces that can be altered - inside and outside of the top and bottom cover - inside and outside of the tray - and are so transparent they would make wonderful little shrines, ornaments, jewelry, magnets, etc!! Alcohol ink and transparencies would be great on them!!

So, I challenge you to dig one out and see what you can do with it!!!! Load your creation to your blog and leave me a comment with the link!! I would so love to see what you created!!!! I think I will bring Linda back one or two so she can play too!!

Have a great weekend!! I am just starting a play date with my sister so I am sure we will have some creative projects to post over the next couple of weeks!!

Therese

Black, brown and cream card!

I have joined a new group - Art for the Creative Mind - and have jumped right in with a swap!! The challenge was to use black, brown and cream to create a card for our partner!!

I started with a brown card base, embossed it with a Tim Holtz embossing folder then added the cream top (punched with a SU border punch) to make it large enough for my envelope. I added some printed text at the top and a black and gold double sided ribbon. The text talks about driving in the early days and was taken from an old typing book. The original was too wide to fit the card so I scanned it, reduced in size a bit and printed it on cream paper - perfect!! The image is one I downloaded from the internet, printed on transparency, sanded the back and applied a colour wash of brown acrylic paint - gives it a vintage feel. I layered the acetate over a stippled cream base using discreetly placed pieces of double sided tape and added a soft knot of the same ribbon using a glue dot. I find that the altered acetate hides tape much more easily than the unaltered version. The laser printed punchie letters are also stippled and added to the card front using 3D foam tape.

Fun!! I am enjoying creating some one of a kind cards. Have been distracting myself from class prep so I need to get on that now!!

Therese

Christmas cards & challenges

Made these Christmas cards and satisfied several challenges along the way!! Sylvia's August challenge was winter, Karen's was tags and Year Round Christmas' was snowflakes. I started by spraying my cardstock with homemade shimmer spray. Once it was dry I stamped my little winter village (Stamp Barn) in brown at the top. I stamped off once before stamping on the card front so it would look snowy and not have too much contrast. I added decorative snowflake paper (Mind's Eye) on the lower section and layered on a brown border punched (SU) strip between the two. I punched a large snowflake (MS) from white shimmer paper, layered on a small blue one (MS) and attached them to the card front with a brown brad. I love this border punch because it leaves little half moon holes which are great to hang tags from. I made the little tag by colour printing the greeting surrounded by a circle large enough so that when I punched it out with my 3/4" punch (SU) I would have a halo of blue all the way around. I layered it onto a 1" punchie of blue and attached the tag with off white crochet thread.

The snowy village stamp has been in my collection for almost a year and just saw ink today!! Nice to have the time to play with new stamps!!

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

Cards with trees

More Christmas cards!! I was rummaging around on my desk and found the little stack of trees and scraps left over from these cards so I decided to create a few more along the same lines. The half triangles created from cutting my trees from a sheet of decorative paper I attached to each other using regular tape on the back. I love how interesting they are because they are made up of two different papers. I added to the mix some large single layer trees and made up these cards. All the same ingredients -the red ones have a red colour printed greeting on ivory on a portrait card and the green ones (artichoke) have theirs printed on white cardstock on a landscape card. I added a little embossed die cut heart and a star punchie!! The card front is embossed with the Swiss dots embossing folder.

I have made up a few kits as well. I will offer them to my group in the fall or will make them up when I am too busy to make Christmas cards - maybe November!!

Very happy with how these turned out!!

Therese

Birthday card

A birthday card for a special little girl!! She is growing up fast!!

I embossed the bottom of the card using a swirl embossing folder, added a rectangle of blue handmade paper from my stash and layered on a strip of embossed vellum that coordinated very nicely!! The greeting is printed, layered on pink and glued to the card front using 3D foam tape. It needed a bit of an accent so I created a flower using the SU five petal punchies - one in blue, one is olive - and embossed both of them. Added a pink punchie and attached it to the card using a clear crystal brad.

Perfect!!

Therese

OSW - a set of cards

One Sheet Wonder!! This technique allows you to create a set of cards that coordinate - great as gifts!! I taught this class to a group of women this week which were all beginner card makers. They enjoyed the class and some got quite creative with their supplies.

I designed this OSW to use a 4" x 12" inch piece of decorative paper - makes the best use of 12" x12" scrapbook paper. By adding 3 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cardstock - 1 neutral and two different colours that coordinate with your decorative paper you can create a set of four cards. These would be perfect packaged in this little card holder for gift giving any time of year.

I created the accents using SU scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch and daisy punch. I added some strips and 1/4" punchies cut from the leftover cardstock as well as

some paper piercing using a push pin and mouse pad.

Any decorative paper could be used for making these - gift wrap, all over stamped cardstock, etc. You could also use any manner of accents - either ones you assembled yourself or purchased ones or a small stamped image. So many options!!

The holiday season is coming up and everyone on your list can use handmade cards!! By changing up the colours of your cardstock you can even make sets that look quite different using the same decorative paper!!

So I encourage you to get creative and be ahead of the gift giving curve by making up a few sets of these this week. Challenge yourself to use what you have!!

Here is the cutting diagram you will need as well as the directions for assembling the cards!!

Consider creating some card kits for a friend or family member who has expressed some interest in cardmaking but has yet to take the leap! You might gain a cardmaking buddy!!

Therese

Lighthouse cards

I created a few cards using my seaweed handmade paper and colour printed images of a light house I took while on holidays. After printing the images in colour and grayscale I thought they would look much better with the handmade paper if they were sepia. Having never changed a photo to sepia before, I searched online for a tutorial. I found this one which worked well but because I was not reading and following the directions carefully it took me most of the afternoon to get something decent. A bit of a learning curve there!! This morning I was able to start over and get a better image in a short period of time and managed four cards!!

I glued the handmade paper to the brown card front and used my little sewing machine to pierce holes around edges. Reminds me of the little plover tracks all over the beach in PEI. Printed my greetings onto a label, cut them with wavy scissors, glued them to the accent layer and added some pierced holes to them as well. Layered the greeting and image to the front of my card in several different configurations!!

Just what I need for cards today!!

Taught cardmaking to a new group last night and we had a great time. Will post the samples later!!

Therese

Handmade paper!

Just returned from a fabulous vacation in PEI!!!!!! Wonderful beaches, great food, friendly people and just the most glorious weather!!

I picked up a bit of seaweed off the beach to add to some handmade paper to create a card for the owner of the wonderful little cottage we stayed at!!

I made 18 sheets yesterday which were dry in no time because of the glorious weather we are having here!!

I added the seaweed to handmade paper leftovers. I always save what is left over at the end of a batch of paper by shaping into a ball and drying. The leftovers always reconstitute very quickly and are great for quick batches of paper.

I am off to make some cards!!

Therese

Snowflakes and Santas!

Santas and snowflakes for these cards!!

The laser printed image is outlined in black and layered over a snowflake embossed background (CB). Keeping with the black and white theme I added a double knotted ribbon - tucked one end under the image and the other under the embossed layer on the right. Added a punched colour printed greeting (SU) with 3D foam tape!!

Love the hint of colour added by the greeting!!

Made a landscape version to accommodate the wider ribbon!!

Therese

More Christmas cards!

Still making Christmas cards!!

Am needing a set of Christmas card kits so I am still in Christmas card mode.

Here I layered a colour printed St. Nick over red and glued him to a holly embossed card which was highlighted with white pigment ink. Added a white snowflake punchie (SU) using a silver brad.

Quick and easy!!

Therese

Christmas card challenge - poinsettia

Poinsettia Christmas cards to fulfill the June challenge on Sylvia's blog.

I started with the background paper, choosing cardstock which coordinated to create the poinsettia with my Spellbinders Nestibilities. I am happy with this more subtle version of this icon of the holiday season. The lace adds some texture and the sequin nicely highlights the center. Added a stamped greeting and I was done!! I added some stippling to tips of the petals to add a bit of definition to the flower.

Very happy with these. That brings my Christmas card total to 59!!

Therese

Bamboo tile pendant

Another project from my play date with Linda - a bamboo tile pendant. Our visit to the new dollar store yielded a black bamboo tile placemat which we disassembled and shared between us. Would have preferred a lighter colour so we could stamp on them but all they had was black, dark brown and medium brown.

We covered our bamboo tiles with colour printed images using Modge Podge and dug through all the beads on hand to find some that worked with our newly decorated tile. Attached our embroidery thread to the jump ring with a half hitch, threaded on our beads with the help of a dental floss threader and tied knots on the bottom to secure everything in place. We added a length of hemp long enough to go over our heads and we were done!!

Voila!! Handmade art to wear!! These could easily be created to coordinate with any outfit and make a great little gift you could customize for all of your friends for the holiday season!!

Therese

Heart Wings cards

Another bonus of a playdate - you can share tools!! I used Linda's Heart Wings (Tim Holtz) die in my Big Kick to cut several sheets of red, black and metallics cardstock and several music sheets of into die cuts!! This die cuts 5 separate elements -a solid heart, a scrolled heart (has a scroll element that drops out), a crown and two wings which gave me a nice collection of elements to combine. I layered them over double embossed backgrounds I created with the technique I described here. I added a gold embossed "Friends" element to both of them and ripped the background of one to reveal an embossed "Thanks". All the elements were embossed with a variety of embossing folders and highlighted with ink if they needed "just a bit of something " more. I cut up one of the scrolls that falls out of the scrolled heart to create ends for my "Friends" elements.

They are my first attempt at "grunge" cards though I am not even sure if that is the right word for this look. Love the way they turned out and I am looking forward to challenging myself to use different colour combinations next time.

Therese

Double embossed backgrounds!

Here's what Linda and I came up with after trying out the double embossed technique with Marg. We did not have white core cardstock so we made some - we cut quarter sheets of white cardstock and painted them with acrylic paint!! Once dry, we embossed it, sanded it, unembossed it and embossed it with a different design. Previously, we had sanded again but instead we decided to apply ink to the embossed design. Worked great!! Then we decided to use a piece of lime green cardstock - not her favorite colour and did the same to it. Again worked great!! So these are ones I created once I got home using yellow cardstock which had been colour printed with a blue texture which I did not have cardstock to match. Again worked very well.

These red ones I created as backgrounds for the cards I want to create using the Heart Wings die cuts I cut on my play date at Linda's. Check the next post for those!!

Needless to say, my head is whirling with all the possibilities of this technique!! I will be exploring "junk mail" and dark cardstock as well.

Therese

Double embossed cards!!

Play dates are such fun!! Marg joined us for lunch and an afternoon in Linda's craft room. We worked on several projects which you can check out once I have them uploaded. Marg brought along supplies for this card project which she saw demoed at a convention last week.

The technique involves double embossing a piece of cardstock which has a core in a different colour than the surface. The demo was done with Core'dinations cardstock. Not sure where this paper can be purchase in our area but Marg was able to find a pad of white core Christmas cardstock at Michaels which worked perfectly!! Great for making quick and easy Christmas cards like the top one in green.

We took a quarter sheet of green white core cardstock and embossed it with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Sanded the embossed surface until the dots showed the white core of the paper. Put this piece back through our machine with the closed embossing folder on top of it so it would deboss the paper. Next, we embossed the quarter sheet with the holly embossing folder and again sanded the embossed surface until the white showed through. Sanding a little in some areas and more in others gives you a very nice look. The paper feels flocked because of how much it has been sanded. Very luxurious!!

To finish off my card I added some red glitter glue to the holly berries and a triple layered greeting - the card is done!! Another to add to my Christmas card stash!!

For the other two I added a ribbon and a layered greeting. Thanks, Marg for showing us a new to us technique.

Linda and I played with the technique a little more the next morning! More to come on that!!

So be sure to have some friends over and play!! It is such a good thing!!

Therese

Altered page layout!

I am visiting at Linda's and we decided to do an internet challenge and chose GPP's Crusade #42!!

I ripped my strips from a variety of white and blue papers and glued them onto a page in my altered book placing those with colour on the edges of each page. Dug through Linda's stash of collage images and choose what I needed to create my first collage angel. FUN!! The large U is actually a photo of a train upside down onto which I collaged an "I" and some hearts!!

Happy with my layout! Having a great time!!

Therese

More paper!!

Paper sheets from yesterday afternoon and evening!! A total of 35 - 8.5"x 11" sheets!!

Using my large mould and deckle to make larger sheets is most efficient. The sheets can be easily trimmed into smaller pieces depending on the project I am working on.

I was using up some leftovers from previous batches to make these papers except for the second from the left. It is the oatmeal confetti paper to which I added some tea, grass and dark red rose petals. Paper on the left has a creamy white base pulp with flower petals (red and cream), leaves, tea and some peach confetti in it. Third from the left - a somewhat light gray pulp with tiny pink flowers in it - I think from my coral bells last year. On the right, I started with an off white pulp and added pink tissue paper until it coordinated with the carnation petals I had added earlier.

A good day's work - if you can call it work!! Watch for these to show up in my cards later in the year.

Therese

A day of papermaking!!

Handmade paper!! I like to make paper in the summer time because it dries so quickly outside!! I soaked four different batches of shredded papers and their additions on Monday and had the pulps ready to go at 9:30am when my friend Linda arrived!! We had a wonderful morning chatting and creating almost 100 sheets of 8.5" x 5.5" paper in a variety of different colours.

The base of the blue was a variety of SU cardstock scraps, white - SU whisper white scraps, green - variety of SU cardstock scraps, beige - oatmeal envelopes from bills, brown - brown paper bags. SU cardstock makes VERY nice handmade paper. I am fortunate to have two great SU demos - Dorothy and Catherine who donate their scraps to me!!
Top left - combination of the white with threads and the blue confetti.

Top two over - SU white with threads. The threads were green, turquoise and pink - a donation from a sewing friend.

Top three over - SU blue with SU confetti in turquoise, pink and green.

Top four over - SU white with red threads donated by my sewing friend.

Top right - combination of green and white/red.

Bottom left - SU green with red threads, gold lame and yellow threads salvaged from an old Christmas ornament.

Bottom one over - oatmeal envelopes and SU confetti - teal, burgundy and brown. Bottom two over - Brown paper bag with tea and dark red rose petals. Bottom four over - combination of both brown papers. Bottom right - brown paper bags with marigold, grass and tea.

I highly recommend making your own paper if you are a paper crafter of any kind. All you need is scraps of paper/cardstock!! You don't need to add anything to it but I love paper with texture and interest so I always add something - confetti bits, naturals of some kind or anything else I think would be interesting.

I will be posting the shots of the paper I made in the afternoon and evening later!! It is still drying because the sun and heat of the day was over!!

Therese

Cards for gifts

Made these cards for a gift!! I wanted something masculine and found this stamped scrapbook paper in my stash. When I was there I found a 12x12 sheet of collage images that a friend of mine gave me a while back that would coordinate perfectly. Once I cut the images from the sheet I used my postage stamp decorative scissors to trim the images and layered them onto dark brown card stock.
This sketch at CPS worked with what I had already chosen so I added the beige and brown ribbon to finish them off!! I packaged them in brown paper and added a beautiful ribbon!!

Thrifty tip: What a quick and easy way to package cards!! All you need is a square of fabric or paper and something to tie it closed. Cut a square of fabric or paper - 8.5" to 10" works best for four A2 sized cards. If you are using scrapbook paper I find it works best if you scrunch it several times and flattened it out again before using it to wrap your cards. Consider using handmade/mulberry paper or any other very flexible paper. Place your stack of cards nicely in the center of the square with a point on each side. Fold both side points in to the center, then the bottom point up and the top point down. Tie it closed using ribbon, fiber, lace, cording, rick rack or anything else that would suit your paper and the occasion.

This works perfectly if the recipient is creative!! The wrappings can be easily be reused in their creations and makes it easy to customize the look of your package by choosing their favorite colour or subject matter. Of course, the wrapping can also be reused to package any small gift as well.

This is a win - win in so many ways!!

Therese

Birthday card

One of the guys from our guild is turning 70!! His wife organized a surprise (until Friday) party for him tomorrow!! He is a great guy who can make anything out of wood.

I do not have many masculine stamps and wanted a larger card for this occasion so went searching through old cards I have ready to be refurbished to see if I had anything suitable. I really like the simplicity of this image so I trimmed it down, added a black border and found an envelope the right size in my stash. Added a black ribbon tied with a double knot and a greeting printed on acetate - ensured it would be in the right place and not be smeared!! Have added Happy Birthday inside in black!! A very nice card that did not take too long to make and suited the recipient.

Therese

Christmas card challenges - Nativity

More Christmas cards!! I am catching up on previous challenges - these are for Sylvia's April Nativity challenge and will also satisfy Sparkle's challenge to use stitching and the Anything Goes challenge at Year Round Christmas Cards.

I started by silver embossing the O Holy Night stamp on black and adding a cute little gray snowflake (MS) with a black brad. Layered it onto gray using 3D foam tape. Thrifty tip: I punched the snowflake from the center of the gray layer. It will not show and it is always the right colour.

The card front is layered with a piece of flourished red scrapbook paper which I bought last week at S&S for 40% off!! The flourishes are very sparkly!!
Added a thin black gros grain ribbon, glued the stamped element over it and added faux stitching around the image which I "stitched" with my Stardust marker. It just adds sparkle!! More sparkle on the star and the round petals of the snowflake!!

Not traditional colours but I am very happy with these cards!! Brings my Christmas card total up to 54!!

Therese

Christmas card challenges

Christmas card challenges for July!! I combined Sylvia's angel challenge with Karen's purple challenge to create these Christmas cards. They also qualify for the "Anything goes" theme over at Year round Christmas cards. I stamped and embossed the angel on glossy cardstock then applied alcohol inks starting with yellows in the halo and wing areas followed by three different purples over the rest of the surface trying to concentrate the eggplant in the dress part. I love the way they turned out. I layered the angel onto white cardstock with a scalloped edge. I had difficulty getting my MS doily border punch to punch my six layers so I substituted my SU eyelet border punch for the last two. I expect it may have been the high humidity that caused problems with the very intricate design of the MS punch. I layered a white cardstock strip accented with purple fiber below the image and added a silver confetti star with 3D foam tape. A simple greeting of "Rejoice" is silver embossed at the bottom of the card.

I am really enjoying these challenges!! I have a few to catch up on which I should be able to do this month. So I add these six to my stash. I have counted my Christmas cards and I have 48!!! It is great that I have this many made already and we are only in July!! Join us!!

I used envelopes from my stash which dictated the different format for these cards.

Therese

Spirelli cards

Spirelli has shown up for me in lot of places this week - magazine, blogs and galleries, so I decided to give it a try.

You can check out a tutorial here for instructions on doing spirelli. I have placed this link under Tutorials on the right hand side of my blog.

I used the SU scallop punch to create my shape and some very thin embroidery/serger thread for winding around the shape. The pattern you get depends on how many bumps you skip when you are winding. You can go to your right or left - you will get a different pattern on the back of your shape depending on which way you go. I started by taping the end of my yellow thread on the back of my blue shape, came to the front in a valley between bumps and skipped two bumps as I moved to the left. I went around twice because it helped to emphasize the pattern with more thread on it. Took about two feet of thread but I did not cut it until I was finished and had taped it to the back of my shape.

To create my embellishments I layered a punchie shape* created with my SU five petal punch, a little flower punchie and a large yellow brad. I layered these over some contrasting yellow and blue decorative paper accented with a white scalloped strip (SU scallop border punch) leaving enough space at the bottom to reveal my colour printed greetings. I added some dots with a gel pen or piercing to the scallops on the strip and the embellishment to help give them some texture.
Really happy with my cards though it did take me a while to figure out what supplies to use for my spirelli and to come up with a sketch that best featured my cute little embellishments.

*Want to know how I made this little punchie shape?? You punch one shape with the five petal punch, temporarily stick it to a piece of scrap paper and reinsert it into your punch and punch it again with the valleys exactly in the middle of the petals and you get this sort of starburst shape!! You can check out the tutorial here or follow the link under Tutorials called Punch Embellishments video on the right hand side of my blog.

Two of these cards are off for my card exchange this month and another to my sister for her birthday.

I discovered a video tutorial while I was searching for spirelli instructions that shows you how to make several different flowers with the scallop punch!! Check it out here. You can also follow the link under Tutorials called Scallop punch flower video.

Therese