All occasion card featuring a large poppy embellishment, embellished background paper and three little black dots

This is the largest Cracked Glass embellishment I made in my last creative sideline.  I did not crack this one too much because I was afraid that I would lose some pieces from the middle section.  I love how it has wonderful colour and depth.  I started with an A2 black card.  I found this wonderful paper that worked very well with the poppy  but it had too much white in it so I simply applied a yellow colour wash to it and it worked so much better.  I trimmed it to size for my background, tore the bottom edge at an angle and adhered it to my card front.  I adhered my "cracked glass" poppy embellishment (Calico Collage) with double sided tape and then added three little black dots (circle punchies) below it on the right hand side.  Done!!  I love the colours of this card and its simple elegance.  Therese
 

SISTER STASH - Christmas card with glittery ornaments, wavy glittered paper and a small Merry Christmas greeting

For this card I started with a large red card and pieced together a layer made up from the ornaments paper and the wavy glittery paper.  It was fun to be able to use to pieces with the peachy ornaments on them.  I added a very thin strip of red cardstock just below the first star ornaments which I adhered with white glue.  I found this little Merry Christmas in my stash, rounded its corners and mounted it over the red strip using 3D foam tape.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a collage including a cracked glass floral embellishment, ribbon, a heart charm & a key

I made up a few Cracked Glass embellishments for this series of cards I am making upon the request of my friend for a few to have on hand.  I was ready to get started and could not find my UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).  Needless to say, I was completely distracted and dug through drawers and boxes to no avail.  The next morning, with a clearer head I found Liquid Glass in my box of embossing powders so I just decided to use that and I will resume the search for the UTEE at a later time.  The Liquid Glass worked very well and I was able to finish the few embellishments which I had prepared.  

The rose and book page embellishment is one of my cracked Glass pieces.  I started with a black card front then trimmed a vintage script paper to size for my background and used my distress tool on its edges.  I added a length of black grosgrain across my background tucking the ends to the back and then a folded length to that piece using a tiny brad.  Next, I went looking for collage elements which I could incorporate.  I found an ornate gold heart charm, a little key and several old postage stamps that were in the right colours.  I started by adding the rose embellishment at a bit of an angle and then added the heart charm with a tiny gold brad and the key with another after adding a length of gold cording to it.  I tucked the ends of the gold cord under the heart charm edges to keep them in place. I added the postage stamps randomly where they looked good.  I adhered this large element to my black card front to finish off my card.  Have not made a collage card in quite a while. It was fun to stretch my creative muscles and come up with one that I was happy with.   Therese

SISTER STASH - Christmas card featuring glittery ornaments, a stamped background and a jingle bell greeting

 This card started with a large red card.  I used a long script stamp and silver ink to embellish my card front.  I trimmed out the green panel and added two ornament panels.  I trimmed the right hand side with a scallop border punch (Stampin UP) and then added an embossed line with my score tool.  I added dots of glitter to the scallops using a clear glitter pen.  The little greeting is laser printed on white then punched out.  The jingle bells are from Arthur's Clipart and I created a round font frame for them in Corel Draw.  I coloured the bells and holly with gel pens in coordinating colours and then mounted it to a scalloped circle punchie.  I added this little greeting to my card using 3D foam tape.  Therese

Three all occasion cards featuring decorative paper, burlap squares and embellished leather leaves

For these three cards I started with brown cards in slightly different colours to coordinate with the different backgrounds I used. The top one is scrapbooking paper, the bottom left is decorative paper which I stamped with two different maple leaf stamps and the third started as a letter press background (brown ink on ivory cardstock) I printed a while back and was embellished with watercolour, stamping, and embossing before I was happy with it.  The burlap squares were cut from a larger piece and the edges were frayed.  I saved the threads for using on future cards.  In this case, I tied several strands to the leaf stems.   I used a good layer of glue (glue stick) on the back of the burlap to adhere it to my card fronts and pressed them while I was getting my leaves ready.  The leaves were cut a while back from a variety  of leathers I had on hand at the time which is why the colour of the leaves vary.  I wanted to add some texture to them so I used a wood burning iron with a very fine tip to incise the veins into my leather leaves.  I was not sure it would work very well but I am very happy with how they turned out.  I mounted the leaves to the burlap with double sided tape.  Really happy with how these turned out.  

Therese

 

SISTER STASH - Christmas card featuring glittery ornaments and a Merry Christmas greeting (digital)

I am really enjoying making cards with this ornament paper I found in the paper crafting stash my sister left at my house a while back.  I started with a large bright green card and I added a panel of red cardstock to which I had adhered a variety of pieces of the ornament paper.  I cut two strips from the wavy glittery paper, one for each side of the panel.  The little laser printed greeting is a digital from Desert Diva.  She has a large variety of greeting digitals on her site. I rounded the corners, sponged on a little green ink to soften the edges and added single clear rhinestone before mounting it to my card front using 3D foam tape.   Therese

 
 

Two all occasion cards featuring carved wood panels and some seam binding/fiber embellishments

 I created these two layers when I was experimenting with the Carved Wood Technique. It is a very interesting technique that creates beautiful textured panels which pretty much stand alone for making A2 sized cards.  The panels were trimmed to size then embellished with seam binding and paper cording for the marsh blackbird one and a length of unwrapped kraft paper cord tied with kraft cording combined with a metallic copper cording for the tree one.  Once your backgrounds are ready to go these cards come together fairly quickly by adding coordinating cards and minimal embellishments.   Well worth making a good selection of backgrounds when you have everything out.    Therese

SISTER STASH - Christmas card featuring glittery ornaments, a script background and a layered greeting

 For this card I started with a large green card.  I sorted out the ornaments and glued them to a red panel.  I decided to use a piece of peach decorative paper for my background.  I embellished it with all over stamping using an embossing pad, a long script stamp and clear embossing powder.  I added my background to my card and then adhered the large panel with the ornaments over it.  I found the little round greeting in my stash - a polka dot frame with a font greeting.  I coloured the dots with glittery pens in coordinating colours and then layered it onto a scalloped circle (StampinUP) in the same red cardstock as my panel.  I adhered my greeting in the center, paper pierced each scallop with a push pin and then mounted it to my card front with 3D foam tape at the intersection of the edge of the panel with the gap between the ornaments.  Perfect!!  It was fun to do some stamping and create a custom background for this card.  I found another sheet of ornament paper in my sister's stash so there will be a few more ornament cards.    Therese

All occasion card with a chocolate cupcake with a red cherry on top, a length of shimmery gold ribbon, brads and a red and pink background

The little cupcake on this card was also found on Illustoon.  I really loved the colours on this one and it makes me think of a romantic dinner out so I combined it with a red/pink background paper with hearts (colour printed - Morgue Files) layered onto dark brown cardstock.  I added a length of a wide shimmery gold ribbon near the middle of this layer adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I added three dark brown brads near the right hand edge on the ribbon.  I mounted this layer to the front of a red A2 card.  I added gold shimmer watercolour to the background of the cupcake and bit of brown near the bottom to create a shadow.  I layered the image to a metallic gold rectangle fo cardstock before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I love how it worked out and it will work well as an anniversary/Valentine's card OR as a birthday card for a chocolate lover.  Perfect!!  Therese
 

SISTER STASH - Christmas card featuring more ornaments, some HOHO paper and a digital greeting

I started with a large green card that coordinated with my papers.  I added a long strip of red cardstock, then my four ornaments evenly spaced and another red strip on the other side to my green card.  I filled the remainder with some fun HOHO paper which I trimmed to my card edges on all three sides.  I found this little "Joy to the World" greeting from Desert Diva in my stash.  I coloured the ornament with glittery gel pens, used a corner rounder on all four corners and then added a dotted line all the way around the edge using a fine tip black Sharpie.  I added it to my card front using 3D foam tape to finish my card.

Therese

 

A birthday card with a pink cupcake, a fashionable decorative paper and bit of coordinating paper cording

Still working on all occasion cards for my friend.  For this one I started a pink cupcake which I found on line at a new site for me - Illustoon.  I like that this one has a candle on it.  I printed the image on white cardstock and trimmed it out.  I added texture by paper piercing all four edges using my pattern tracing wheel and then using my distress tool as well.  I added a bit of blue watercolour to the background to soften it, a bit of brown watercolour to create a shadow on the bottom edge and clear glitter around the flame with a gel pen.  I chose a pink A2 card and added this fun black and pink decorative paper leaving an even border all the way around.  I found some coordinating paper cording in aqua and pink which I added across my card securing the ends to the inside front of my card with double sided tape.  I tied the ends of the pink ones with a knot which included the aqua one.  I raveled the ends of the pink to create a bit more texture.  I added my image to my card front with 3D foam tape to finish off my card.    Therese
 

SISTER STASH - Christmas card featuring glittery ornaments and an embellished font greeting

This card features the same paper as my last card - glittery ornaments with some coordinating wavy paper. 

I started with a large red card and then created a background for it.  I joined the papers in the middle and overlapped where they join with an embellished font greeting.  My greeting was colour printed on white cardstock, trimmed out then the top and bottom were trimmed with scallop decorative scissors.  Each scallop was pierced with a push pin and two embossed lines were added with a score tool.  I added two snowflake looking clear embellishments to finish off the greeting.  This large element was then adhered to my card front.  Therese

 

All occasion cards featuring flowers and die cut and stenciled oval with a small black butterfly

Another two all occasion cards.  This idea for these cards came from Splitcoast Stampers though I cannot recall what images were used but there was a stenciled and die cut oval.  I thought it was an interesting way to add depth and texture to a fairly Clean and Simple card design.  I started by laser printing two floral images (Dover) onto white cardstock and trimming them to size for my A2 cards.  I stenciled the ovals next.  A while back I created an oval stencil for a different card and it was just the perfect size for this application.  I sponged the ovals onto the image layers incorporating the floral images using yellow and blue for one of them and yellow and orange for the other.  Next, I positioned my oval Nestibilities die over the sponged one and used sticky notes to keep it in place while I die cut the openings.  I placed sticky notes on the back once they were cut to keep the die cut image in proper orientation with the frame.  I applied 3D foam tape around the opening on the back of the frame and some double sided tape on the back of the die cut oval.  I positioned an extra layer of white cardstock over this area which just covered the 3D foam tape and a little push in the middle captured the center oval allowing now a gap between the frame and the central oval.  When the card is seen from the side you can see the gap that now has formed between the oval which is glued to the new layer and the frame which is raised from it with the 3D tape.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges of each of them and then applied 3D foam tape to the corners of both.  I chose a peach card for the dogwood and a blue card for the daisies and mounted these large elements nicely centered on my card fronts.  They still needed "something" so I punched two little butterflies (Martha Stewart) from black cardstock and added them to the edges of the frame using a fine line of white glue in the center of their bodies which leaves the wings free.  Clean and Simple is a style I struggle to execute well because I want to fill the spaces!!  These ones worked out well and, mostly, I resisted the urge to embellish more.  It is easier to copy a successful design when you are venturing into a style you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with.  It will give you the courage and experience to give it a go another time.    Therese

 

Christmas cards with little elves with presents and ornaments

These images were printed to fill in a sheet of images when I was working on a set of cards a while back.  I decided to get them made up after I finished the tree ones.  They are from the same designer.   (https://skogstokiga.blogspot.com).  I laser printed the the different designs, fussy cut them and then ran a black Sharpie marker around the edges to make them disappear.  I watercoloured them before I chose my paper for the backgrounds so I had to go back and add a warmer red to the hats and ornaments.  I had used silver on the hangers and strings so I added a bit of gold to them to warm them up as well.  I added coordinating ribbon and gold snowflake sequins with brads to the top of my images to add interest and texture.  I cut four striped backgrounds and two green and two red cards.  I mounted my backgrounds to my cards, added a little strip of coordinating cardstock and then mounted my images to my card fronts using 3D foam tape.  These are very cute and made such wonderful Christmas cards.  Totally fun!  A total of 14 Christmas cards for March.  Therese

 

Christmas cards with doodled trees, little yellow stars and book page snowbanks

These are my Christmas cards for March.   I have committed to making Christmas cards monthly for the year to ensure a good supply when the time comes to send them on their way to family and friends.  Here is a close up of the details of the tree images I have used.  I started with the little doodled trees from ( https://skogstokiga.blogspot.com/) which I laser printed and fussy cut.  To make the white edges disappear I ran a black Sharpie around the edges from the back  - not the front in case of a slip.  I watercoloured the texted insides with every green colour I had so they would be different.  I filled in the outside doodled areas with green gel pens and markers so they would contrast with the insides.  I coloured the doodled lines inside the trees with red and yellow gel pens to coordinate with the backgrounds and the star I had chosen for them.  After they were dry, I added the stars and brown tree trunks with double side tape.  I trimmed red backgrounds for my trees then created snow banks with old dictionary pages and tucked the tree trucks behind them before pressing them into place.  The trees where adhered with 3D foam tape to give them dimension.  These large elements were then adhered to brown card fronts to finish off my cards.  I totally love these cards!!  They were so fun to make up and have so much texture and character.    Just a note that the two last ones are not the same as the others - white snowflake backgrounds and white embossed snowbanks.  I can only make so many of anything and I had reached my limit!!         Therese

 

SISTER STASH - Christmas - Glittery papers, ornaments and beautiful ribbon

This Christmas card has been created from the stash of paper crafting supplies my sister left at my house a while back.  I started with a large red card and created a pieced background for it.  I used a strip with glittery ornaments and added a strip of coordinating wavy glittery paper and then added pearly strips to each end.  I found this beautiful red ribbon with glittery gold edges in my stash and added it over where the papers join tucking the ends to the back and securing them with double sided tape.  I tied a piece of gold cording to it using a double knot to add some texture and create a space for my little greeting.  The greeting is layered using an oval punchie (StampinUP) with a font greeting over a scalloped oval punchie (Stampin UP) in red cardstock.  I mounted it with 3D foam tape just below the gold cording.  I adhered this large element to my card front and pressed it overnight.  The stash of Christmas papers is much less extensive so I will be making up a few cards.  Some of the papers are not well suited to cardmaking so I will be leaving her those for scrapbooking.  Therese

All occasion card featuring birds, a bit of torn sheet music and some decorative paper flags

I started this A2 sized card with a medium blue card and added the barn board decorative paper (Pixabay) trimmed to leave a even border all the way around.  I added a strip of torn music sheet across the card just above the middle.  I dug through my blue decorative paper stash and found three scraps that coordinated nicely.  I auditioned them on my card front, trimmed them to length and then fishtailed their bottoms before adhering them into place.  The bird image is a colour printed digital from Pixabay which I printed onto white cardstock.  I printed several while I was at it and trimmed them from the sheet.  I adhered the birds to the front of my card over the other elements using 3D foam tape.  Love how this one came together.  

Therese

All occasion card featuring little birds on a branch, a torn strip of sheet music, ribbon and a watercoloured background

For this A2 card I started with a blue card.  I watercoloured a piece of floral decorative paper with blue to make it look like sky.  I trimmed out my background after it was dry.  It has been my experience with this paper in particular and others in general that an application of a liquid medium like watercolour will make it shrink some so I trim it after colouring.  I added a torn and sponged strip of music sheet near the middle and a length of black ribbon vertically to which I had tied a shorter length using a single knot.  This very nicely simulates the look of a bow without the bulk which is great for when you are mailing a card.  I added the trimmed bird image (colour printed  - Pixabay) over the ribbon and music sheet strip using 3D foam tape.    Love those little birds!!       Therese

 

SISTER STASH - All occasion card featuring a beautiful sunflower photo, a pieced background and some ribbon with three eyelets

This card features another photo from one of the calendars my sister, Sylvia, gave me.  

Again, | started with a large brown card to fit my other sister's envelopes.  I added a colourful background using decorative papers in bright and deep orange along with a piece of embossed black cardstock.  I layered the 4" x 4" photo of the sunflower with amber vellum and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I added a strip of the same vellum below the photo, added a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon and folded both to the back on the right and secured the ends with double sided tape.   I fish tailed the other end of the ribbon and secured all the layers with tape and glue.  For interest and texture I added three gold eyelets on the ribbon using my Crop-a-dile.  I adhered this large element to my brown card front to finish off my card.    Therese

All occasion cards featuring decorative paper, butterfly die cuts and rhinestones

 

These two cards were made the same way using two different pieces of this rainbow paper (colour printed digital - Melstampz).  I used white A2 cards and adhered my paper leaving room at the bottom edges to add my butterfly border.  The butterflies were die cut using a Stampin Up sizzlet which cuts and embosses at the same time.  I just used scraps of cardstock and cut a whole bunch of butterflies in coordinating colours.  I laid them all out according to size and then started adhering them in place.  I started with large ones, added medium ones in between and then added more overlapping and then finally the little ones.  I used white glue in a fine tip applicator to allow myself to carefully apply the glue just where I wanted it.  I pressed my cards before adding the clear rhinestones.  I cased this sketch from a card on Splitcoast Stampers.     Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card featuring a moth photo, sanded & embossed decorative paper, ribbon and a metal embellishment

This 4"x 4" photo of a beautiful moth came from a calendar I got from my sister, Sylvia.  She makes up several every year with her own photography.  I started this card with a large brown card and added an orange piece of decorative paper which I embossed (Tim Holtz) and sanded on each end to add some texture.  I trimmed a piece of brown decorative paper to be just a bit wider than the photo and left some length on the right.  I trimmed the right edge with a border die (Tim Holtz - Sizzix) which gave it a nice edge.  I embossed this layer with a script embossing folder (Cuttlebug) and sanded it as well.  I added a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon on the upper portion adhering both ends to the back with double sided tape before adding this layer to my card.  I adhered the moth photo on the left hand side and added a metal leaf embellishment just below where the photo and the ribbon intersected.  A few more for my sister's card stash!!

Therese

A couple more balloon cards featuring decorative paper backgrounds

I made a couple more balloon cards while I was at it!!  For these two I used decorative paper for the backgrounds and added coordinating cards.  For the one on the left, I trimmed the double sided banner paper for my background and added the trimmed off piece just above one of the banners with the orange polka dots side showing. before gluing it to my blue card front.   I watercoloured my balloon with two coats of yellow and added a highlight with a clear glitter gel pen.  I tied on a length of heavy black thread which I ironed flat after shaping it the way I wanted.  I stayed very nicely in the shape so I was able to just add a bit of glue with a glue stick on the bottom side and place it where I wanted it on my background.   The second card was executed in very much the same way.  I paper pieced my background and painted my fussy cut balloon green with a white gel pen/clear glitter highlight.   I have a couple left to use at some time in the future.         Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with decorative paper, a layer with sanded embossed lines and paper pierced scallops and a cute hen with chicks

This card started with this fun hen with her chicks from CLKER.  I added a bit of watercolour to help the image integrate into the colour scheme of my card.  

I started with a large taupe card.  I trimmed two pieces of the square decorative paper and added a middle section of brown decorative paper which I trimmed with scallop decorative scissors.  I added two embossed lines which I sanded just lightly to give them some contrast and then used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  I used regular tape to adhere these three piece to each other and then added a length of brown grosgrain ribbon on the right hand side before I mounted this large element to my card front.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges of my image and then added four little circle punchies to the left hand side before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Finally, I trimmed the end of my ribbon diagonally.  Done!  Another card to add to the card stash I am making for my sister with the paper crafting supplies she left here a while back.            Therese
 

All occasion card with a banner and yellow balloon

I have had a request of a few cards from a friend of mine so I got started and made quite a few.  I am now just getting to blogging them all.  She requested a variety of cards with greetings on the side so she can add them as they are needed for the specific occasion.  I really enjoyed the creative process and used some new techniques.  

For this card I started with an A2 envelope and made a purple card to fit inside.  I trimmed this fun background (Morgue File) to size and then started on a banner.  I have always wanted to make one of these!  I found some purple baker's twine and cut a length that would cross my card.  I rifled through my stash of purple papers and took out a few that coordinated with my background.  I trimmed them to 3/4", folded over the ends and then glued them in place on my twine.  I managed to get five little banners in the width of my card.  After they were dry I added it to my background by adhering the ends to the back using double sided tape.  I did add tiny pieces of double sided tape behind each banner to get it to have the sort of curve I wanted.  I added faux stitching to the edges using a fine tipped black marker.  I attached my background and banner to my card front. 

Next, I worked on my balloon.  I do have a balloon punch but it is not large enough to contrast nicely on this size of card so I downloaded a digital one from CLKER.  I used Photo Elements to change the knot and to change the colour to gray.  I sized it like I wanted it in Corel Draw and printed several onto white cardstock in both gray and black.  Next, I fussy cut them out on the line or just inside to eliminate the printed line.  Worked really well!!  The ones with gray lines were better than those with black lines.  For any that still had a residue of the line I used the edge of my exacto knife blade at a shallow angle to remove any toner left on the edge.  I painted the balloon for this card using two coats of yellow watercolour  and added a highlight using a white gel pen.  After it was dry, I went over it with a clear glitter gel pen.  Very nice!!  I tied a length of backer's twine to the knot of the balloon and adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I positioned my twine ends where I wanted them and used a bit of glue on the twine to get them to stick where I wanted them.  Worked well.  It was fun to make a banner and they are so easy to make with scraps!!  I am happy to be able to print balloons any size I want now and colour them any colour as well so that was worth doing.  Have not used baker's twine in quite a while so this was a really fun card to make!!         Therese

 

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with a paper pieced background in red and a cute bear image with a small ribbon

I just love this little bear image!  It is a digital from Pixabay.  I sized it in Corel Draw and colour printed it onto white cardstock.  

I started with a large black card and added pieces of red paper in a variety of sizes to create my background.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel around the edges of my image, added a length of thin black satin ribbon and mounted my little bear with his balloon to my card front using 3D foam tape.  To finish my card I tied a short piece of ribbon to the one on my card to simulate a bow.  Love it!!

Therese
 

SISTER STASH - All occasion card featuring coordinating decorative papers in brown & blue, a shimmery blue label, brown grosgrain and a coffee cup image

Still making cards for my sister from the stash of paper crafting supplies she left here a while back.  

I started with a large brown card and added three different pieces of coordinating papers to create my background.  I die cut a label (Tim Holtz - Sizzix) from shimmery blue paper and used my slot punch (Stampin UP) to create a long slot on both ends.  I ran a length of dark brown grosgrain ribbon through to the back on the top and back out on the bottom securing it with double sided tape on the back.  I die cut an oval ( Nestibilities) and stamped on a coffee cup (Pink Cat Studio Stamps) and embossed it in silver.  I watercoloured it to coordinate with my card and adhered it to the middle of my blue label.  I trimmed the ribbon to length leaving a fish tail on each end.  I mounted this large focal element to my card using 3D foam tape.  

Therese
 

Birthday card featuring a stamped background, ribbon and a leafy frame for my font greeting

 Another March family card!!  I started with a large black card which fit in an envelope from my stash.  I started my background with a colour printed digital from Morgue File.  I "discovered" a stash of stamps which have not been used and one of them is a Paper Artsy set with trees, eggs, leaves and a word stamp.  It was great to find this stash so I decided to use the tree stamp on this background.  I stamped it several times with red ink on by printed page.  I added over that an all over stamping in brown of the leaves from that set.  Once dry, I trimmed it to size, added a black grosgrain ribbon across the middle and mounted it to my card front.  I chose the greeting from my stash - laser printed font - and decided to use this gold parchment like paper to frame it.  I cut it to size, stamped leaves (Sugarloaf) on the two corners and gold embossed them.  I cut around the edges of my leaves with my exacto knif to allow the greeting to be tucked under.  I found an embossing folder that had the perfect sized frame for my greeting so I used my stylus to emboss it from the debossed side of the folder.  The paper split on the vertical lines a little but was good on the horizontal lines so that must be the way the fibers were lined up in production.  Not too serious!!  I wanted to add a bit of texture to the rest of my paper so I used a script embossing folder under my paper and rubbed some clear wax on the areas around the greeting and the leaves.  I then heated the paper melting the wax and leaving a subtle texture.  I will be experimenting more with that technique.  I mounted my greeting in the middle of the embossed frame and thought I wanted to finish the outside edges with "something" but was being cautious because of the trouble I had earlier with embossing.  I decided to burn the edges!!  Have not done that in quite a while.  Remember doing that quite a bit in my early stamping years.  I used two gold brads to attach this focal element to my card front.  It was fun to use a new stamp set and some try some "old" techniques.  Therese

Birthday card featuring a vintage blue truck, red corrugated paper and some ribbon

 Working on cards to send to my family in March.  This one features a stamped vintage truck from Class Act Stamps.  I stamped with Black Versafine on white cardstock and used watercolour to create a background for it.  I used a clear glitter gel pen on the hubcabs, bumpers, handles and windows.  I added paper piercing on all four sides with my pattern tracing wheel.  I added a wide black grosgrain ribbon to a piece of red corrugated paper which was trimmed on the sides and cut raggedly on the top and bottom.  Have not used this sort of paper in quite a while and rediscovered my stash - mostly packaging from light bulbs.  I created a large black card to fit in an envelope from my stash and mounted my background - colour printed digital image from Morgue File - leaving a tiny border.  I mounted my focal element to my card and finished it off with a small laser printed font greeting which I colour washed to coordinate.  I also ran my pattern tracing wheel on the top and bottom of edge of the greeting to add some paper pierced texture.    Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with a large flower (digital) with a bright paper background and a bit of ribbon

This card is another I created using the bright papers I found in the paper crafting stash my sister left here a while back.  I started with a large warm red card and I added the bright paper which I trimmed with my deckle decorative scissors (Fiskars).  I cut, embossed and sanded a strip of green white core cardstock to fit in the opening then fish tailed the ends.  I mounted the flower (CLKER) which is a digital I downloaded, sized and colour printed onto white cardstock.  After trimming it out I distressed its edges and added a row of paper piercing on all four sides using my pattern tracing wheel.  I mounted it to a piece of the same green cardstock as the strip which I sanded on the edges a bit to reveal the white core.  I layered this onto a piece of the same warm red cardstock I used for the card.  Having left some room below the flower I tied a short piece of white grosgrain ribbon with white cording and adhered it in the space using a large glue dot. I trimmed the ends diagonally to finish it off.  I mounted my large floral element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  This is the last card using this paper during this session.  There remains several sheets which will revisit at another time.  Therese

SISTER STASH - An all occasion card featuring a paper pieced background, a cute cat (digital) and some bling

 Another card using those wonderful bright papers!!  Again this card has a paper pieced background created on a large black card.  I ended up with a little strip without paper so I filled it with pink rhinestones.  It worked perfectly!!  The little cat (CLKER) is a digital which I colour printed onto white cardstock and trimmed out.  I layered it with dark red and then added a black layer leaving a larger margin on the left hand side.  I punched it with the scallop border punch (Stampin UP) and added yet more rhinestones to each scallop - pink rounds and clear hearts!!    Therese

Card Exchange - birthday cards with mixed media book page backgrounds, flower and stamped greetings

Being inspired by some videos that I have watched lately I decided to give a try using book pages and acrylic paints in a watercolour fashion.  Totally fun!!!!!!!  I picked two sheets from a large dictionary and then marked in pencil the boundaries of where I would trim them down for my two large black cards which I created to fit in large envelopes from my stash.  I dug through a bin of acrylic paints which was mostly small little containers like those for "paint by numbers" which I have accumulated over the years.  I discovered that several were completely dried up.  It was good to do a bit of vetting in that bin.  I started with two different large butterfly stamps (left - Magenta  right - Sugarloaf) which I have not used in quite a while.  I stamped them in black (Versafine) and embossed them with black embossing powder which I thought would resist quite nicely the paint.  I used a very watered down gray paint to highlight the area around the butterflies which softened the printed words.  I watered down my paints significantly to colour my butterflies which allowed the print from the page to show through and watered them yet some more to paint my background in a very random fashion.  I did tried to wipe off the black lines of my butterflies before the paints dried but in some places where the paint dried on the embossed lines the paint was hard to remove later.  I was being very careful because these pages are very thin and I did not want to make holes anywhere.  Once I finished painting the background and the butterflies I let the pages dry completely.  Next I added some black lines using a fine tip Sharpie marker.  I did two squiggly lines all the way around and then some scripty looking ones in the center area around the butterflies.  The lines are really loose and only simulate hand writing.  Like how that worked out.  I felt I needed to anchor the butterflies in some way and decided to add a black line from top to bottom to accomplish that.  I used a wide tip Sharpie and a ruler and ran the line so it appears to be behind the butterflies.  I really like how that worked out.  Next, I worked on adding greetings.  I found two flower punchies in my stash.  They are punched from a cream and black scrapbook paper with very a vintage looking pattern.  Worked well with my backgrounds.  I watercoloured them a bit to soften their contrast, added black flower punchies and attached them together with a copper brad which echoes the copper paint I used on the butterflies and which I spattered on the backgrounds.  I softened the black flowers with doodles made with a copperish looking gel pen.  I found the greetings in my stash and decided to highlight them with blue so they would draw out that colour from my butterflies.  I cut them assymetrically and ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides.  I adhered my backgrounds to my black card fronts, added the flowers using 3D foam tape and then tucked the greetings under them.  It was so much fun and I love the look.  It was good to get some sorting done in that bin as well and I will surely be using acrylics to colour images again.  I have often used my leftover acrylic paint to make backgrounds and did so again this time around.  I save all my papers and paper towels so I can reuse them.  I used napkins and paper towels coloured in this fashion to create my heart art for support of the front line workers and the heart art I made for my Mom. These cards are for my partners in my Card Exchange for the month of March.  They are on their way!!  Therese

SISTER STASH - An all occasion card featuring a die cut flower and hand cut stem and leaves

Still working with the coordinating papers I found in the stash of paper crafting supplies my sister left here a while back.  It has been fun to play with these papers and see what I can come up with for cards.  I started with a large black card and added a pink letter paper for the background with a torn edged brighter piece at the bottom. I used the flower I die cut from the 4" square from one of my previous cards and added a large circle punchie to center.  I used a scrap of black and cut a stem and a couple of leaves then ripped a small piece to simulate the ground.  I auditioned all the pieces before gluing them in place. I used 3D foam tape for the flower.  Really like this one!!  Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card featuring coordinating papers in pink, black, pink and orange and three little square floral elements

 For this card I used the same papers as I did on my last card.  I started with a large deep red card and then I paper pieced the background from the scraps I had on hand.  I added a strip of black cardstock across the card just above the middle.  Next, I created my three little floral elements.  I started with three little squares of light pink and added three different squares of decorative paper from which I had punched a flower.  After gluing them in place I added red centers to finish them off.  I auditioned on my card front and they needed a bit of contrast from the background so I used a black marker to distress the outside edges.  That was better.  I adhered them diagonally over the black strip. Done!!  I added the three little flowers to the insert inside my card.  I always add bond paper inserts to my cards so they can be reused.   Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with coordinating decorative papers, a flower and some embossed flags

I found a little stack of 8" x 8" papers in the stash of paper crafting supplies my sister left here a while back and thought it would be fun to make a few cards with them.  

For this card, I started with black card and added the background by cutting the piece diagonally to make up the difference between 8" and the 8.25" that I needed for my background.  I cut a 4"x4" piece and die cut a flower (Nestibilities) from it.  I layered it onto a larger piece of  orange and then added a center which consists of a dark pink circle punchie and an embossed yellow one which has been highlighted with black ink.  I embossed three little black strips with a distressed embossing folder (Cuttlebug) and then fish tailed the ends.  I tucked them up beneath the four inch piece.  When I laid this large element onto my card front it needed a bit of something so I added a vertical strip of pink letter paper which worked well.  I added my large floral element using 3D foam tape to finish my card.   Therese
 

SISTER STASH - An all occasion card featuring a feather stamped background, some peacock feather paper and a bright yellow butterfly

 It has been fun to play with someone's stash of paper crafting supplies.  My sister left a few bins with paper crafting supplies here after visiting for a weekend and I agreed to make cards for her with it!!  I have made quite a few and now with a bit of time on my hands I thought I would make an effort to quite a good stash made up for her.  This card started with a large white card to which I added a layered green background made of sturdy tissue paper.  I stamped the one piece with a feather stamp in green and overlapped it over the other one which I stamped with a script stamp in the same green.  I had several pieces of the peacock paper - the last of it  - and decided to trim out three pieces in increasing sizes, then wove a piece of green cardstock between them before gluing them all down onto my background.  I found this coordinating yellow butterfly in my stash! I adhered it to my card front using double sided tape behind the body which leaves the wings free to add depth to my card.  Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with a gingham/distressed background and a cute bunny with a large turnip

Still working on getting the stash of cards I made for my sister blogged!!  This one started with a large taupe card which will fit in the envelopes she has on hand.  For my background I sandwiched a piece of coordinating gingham paper between two pieces of distressed red paper and adhered them with regular tape on the back.  I trimmed the rabbit from a large sheet of scrap booking paper from my stash.  It was the perfect size to cut with the large scalloped circle (StampinUP).  Once cut I used a round Nestibilities as a guide to add the faux stitching around the edge.  Worked perfectly!!  I added a strip of the distressed paper onto the gingham piece and tucked the scalloped circle behind.  I added three little black punchies to the strip to finish off my card.  
 

SISTER STASH - An all occasion card featuring three balloons and some bright paper

I have been working on being creative with the cards I am making for my sister with the stash of paper crafting supplies she left here a while back.  I have always liked balloons on cards but with only a small punch it limits where I can use them.  For this large card I started with a red card and added the bright striped paper!!  I used my Nestibilities to cut three circles which I wanted to turn into balloons.  After die cutting the circles I embossed them and sanded the blue one to reveal the white core.  To create the knot in the neck of the balloons I took a scrap of the same cardstocks and cut a strip with a triangle shape at the end which I adhered to the back of the balloons which quite nicely simulated the knots.  Next, I sponged all their edges with coordinating ink and then tied dark gray threads to all the balloons.  I die cut a purple fence to tie them to and tore a piece of green cardstock for the grass.  I adhered the grass and then tucked the fence into it.  I used white glue in a fine tip applicator on the fence.  Worked really well.   I used a large needle to get the strings of the balloons wrapped around the top rail of the fence.  I will certainly be making balloons this way again!!  I like the way they turned out.  Therese
 

SISTER STASH - Birthday card with bright background paper and four embossed gifts

 For this card I started with a large blue card and added some very bright striped decorative paper using two pieces with the striped going in different directions.  I cut four rectangles from coordinating cardstock and embossed them.  I sanded the blue one because it was white core cardstock to add more texture.  I used a flower die (Cuttlebug) to cut a swirly yellow flower which I used to simulate a bow on the top of the blue gift.  I attached it to the back of the gift with double sided tape and then cut a strip from the same cardstock to create the ribbon on the front.  I did the same for the other three gifts.  After auditioning them for placement I adhered them to the front of my card using 3D foam tape on the yellow and pink one and just glue on the blue and green ones.  The gifts and bright colours make this a great birthday card for a child or any one who is young at heart!!  Another for the card stash I am creating for my sister who left some paper crafting supplies here a few years ago.   Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion card with more cute birds, decorative papers and one special one

For this card I started with a large white card.  I gathered my supplies - the bird panel, an orange background, a green textured layer and some coordinating ribbon.  I cut the bird out of the cute paper and then cut the orange scalloped circle (Nestibilities)to mat it from the orange background before I adhered it to my card. I added the borders to the bird panel and glued this large element over my background.  I adhered the bird to the scalloped circle and decided to trim the corners of the green paper with a corner punch before assembling my focal element.  In the process I decided to add the long strip of aqua paper which was on my desk and then added the green layer.  Wanting a bit of something to off set the strip I added two lengths of this beautiful red ribbon to the back of my bird before adhering it over the green paper.  It was fun to maximize the use of this bird paper.  The few leftover scraps might show up in a collage somewhere down the road.  

Therese

SISTER STASH - All occasion Card featuring cute little birds, stitched decorative papers and some maple leaf embellishments

This is one of the most fun papers that I found in the stash of papers that my sister left here a while back.  I have made several cards with it before and I am nearing the end of all this cuteness!  I started with a large white card which fits in the envelopes she has on hand.  I added a large orange layer and then worked on getting the other elements ready.  The borders were on the edges of a 12" x 12" sheet and had been trimmed off in a previous session.  The coordinated nicely. I took several small pieces of the bird paper to create my central element after I had trimmed out my little red bird (Nestiblilities).  I then added the borders on each side.  The borders were embellished with my pattern wheel before being glued down.  I die cut a scalloped circle (Nestibilities) from the same coordinating orange paper.  I adhered it over the birdie strip but it did not pop quite as much as I wanted it to so I added the two little strips of orange which were sitting on my cutting table.  That framed it nicely and was an improvement.  Thinking it still needed something red to coordinate with the glittery red bird I went looking for something in my stash.  I found these bright red maple leaf embellishments which were just the right colour.  I added them to my card using large glue dots.  That was much better!!  Therese