September Card Club - card #1 - Versamark on card front, frame die cut, embossing and metal dragonfly embellishment

 

 It was so great to get back together with my card making friends for a great evening of creativity!!  We just returned from our PEI vacation so the kits had been made up before I left.  I had to reacquaint myself with my inspiration and I was grateful for the instructions I had printed.  

We used Versamark ink on our card front to create subtle texture (SU).  We embossed our vellum strip and our little square of cardstock using two different embossing folders (CB) and then proceeded to arrange our elements on our card front and estimated where we needed to apply double sided tape on our vellum so it would be hidden by our frames.  I flagged the end of one of the vellums and trimmed the other one even with the bottom of the card.  We glued our frames in place and then adhered our little squares inside the frame.  The metal dragonflies were adhered with 3D foam tape to finish off our cards.   Great to be back to making cards!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a little bear with a balloon and a pieced decorative paper background

This card is for a friend of mine who loves to garden.  I chose this cute little bear relaxing with a balloon tied to this ankle (Pixabay) for the main focal point.  I added faux stitching to all four sides and then mounted it to red cardstock.  I pieced a background using two different decorative papers and added a line of faux stitching.  Adhered the background to a ivory card and then mounted the image with 3D foam tape.  

Therese
 

Anniversary card featuring handmade paper, an embossed red rectangle with gold highlighting, an embossed mesh rectangle and a serendipity heart

Another anniversary card!!  I started with a red card.  I used a piece of my own handmade paper for my background, layered on an embossed red layer which has swirls highlighted with gold, a embossed mesh then a serendipity heart!!!  I stitched down the center of the heart which secured all the layers to each other.  I added some lines of faux stitching with my pattern tracing wheel before adhering this large layer to my red card.  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a decorative paper background, decorative vellum, stitching and embossing

 I cute little bird which I water coloured to coordinate with my card!!  I watercoloured the edges of the white card, added a layer of floral decorative paper, a strip of blue cardstock, a strip of decortive heart vellum and then an embossed strip of peach cardstock (CB) which I flagged on one end.  After layering them all I stitch through the center of the peach strip which secured all the pieces!!  I added this large element to my card.  The little bird was fussy cut before colouring and then mounted to my card using 3D foam tape.  Cute!!!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a fussy cut bird layered over a background featuring hand decorate paper, vellum and stitching

 This card was another on the same theme as the others I made earlier!!  I chose a neutral decorative paper, stamped leaves all over in a soft green ink and then added watercolour in green and brown to make a unique pattern.  While it was drying, I found some vellum scraps in gold and red which I tore and layered to make a decorative layer on my background. I layered it on my background, added an embossed strip of brown cardstock which I stitched on through all the layers.  Everything was then nicely secured!!  I added some faux stitching to the vellum afterwards by sliding a cutting mat under the vellum and running my pattern tracing wheel over several times.  I fussy cut  the bird (Supercolouring) and coloured it to coordinate with my card!!  Love how it worked out!!!  Therese

All occasion card featuring a paper pieced decorative paper background, embossed vellum, a stitched strip and a fussy cut bird

 For this card, I created a pieced background using a variety of coordinating paper scraps.  A log cabin look on the left hand side and several strips added to the right to make it the correct size for my dark brown card.  I embossed (CB) a torn piece of vellum and secured all my elements by stitching down a strip of brown over the top of them.  I adhered this to my card and then watercoloured my bird (CLKER) to coordinate.  Not the right colouring for a chickadee but that it the way art goes sometimes!!  Therese

Anniversary card featuring embossed handmade paper, vellum, mesh and a serendipity heart

 Another anniversary card featuring all of my own handmade papers!!!  I embossed the small sheet of green (SU).  I laid two purples next to each other and added a strip of yellow which I stitched on which created by background.  I tucked the heart vellum under the edge of the yellow strip and over the green piece.  I added a rectangle of embossed mesh and then a gold embossed serendipity heart.  I stitched down the center which secured all the elements to each other.  I added another line of stitching to secure the end of the vellum layer.  I added faux stitching with my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges before adhering this large layer to my green card.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background, embossed vellum, stitching and a fussy cut bird

 A fun birthday card for a special person!!!  I started with a piece of blue scrap book paper and added a layer of stamped leaves in a light green colour of ink.  I watercoloured over them with blue and green to make a muted background.  While it was drying I tore and embossed a piece of vellum using a leafy branch embossing folder (CB).  I laid it over the background and added a strip of tan cardstock.  I used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine and stitched all of the pieces together using blue thread.  I mounted this large element to a tan card.  The bird (Supercoloring) was sized and laser printed and then fussy cut.  I watercoloured it to coordinate with my card!!! It was mounted to my card using 3D foam tape.  I printed several birds so will be using them on future cards.  Therese

Anniversary card featuring handmade paper, embossed vellum and mesh and a stitch serendipity heart

I have been working on getting cards ready for the special occasions of my family members.  

I made this one for an anniversary!!  I layered embossed vellum over commercial handmade paper and added a yellow ribbon tied with one knot to hold them together.  I layered the serendipity heart over a piece of mesh which was embossed with gold and silver embossing powder and then onto a piece of my own handmade paper.  I stitched through all the layers down the center of the heart and then adhered this large element to my terracotta card front.  Very happy with this sketch and will use it again!!  

Therese
 

All occasion card featuring handmade paper, stitching and watercoloured daisies

A card for a friend who is celebrating her birthday soon.  I started with an almond card.  I trimmed brown handmade paper and added a small sheet of marigold handmade paper and then the daisy image (my doodle).  I stitched around the flowers with my sewing machine in yellow thread and then added faux stitching to the other layers using my pattern tracing wheel.  I watercoloured the daisies to coordinate!!  

Therese
 

Sewing - finished my bright blend quilt with a red broadcloth backing

I have finally finished this bright quilt (47"' x 63") which I made up with the scraps of blend fabric that were donated to GLA.  I added a batting and then a red broadcloth (cotton poly blend) backing.  I wanted to be better at quilting a pattern so I decided to do squares on the pinwheels.  I pinned everything very carefully and then started in on the squares.  I should have done all the middle first and then moved to the sides.  Needless to say, that with all the pushing and shoving that is required to sew a square in each pin wheel the results were not stellar.  I started by unstitching half of them because there were large puckers in the quilt top.  After taking that much out I decided to remove all the stitching and starting all over.  Best decision!  I stitched down the middle and then added two more lines of vertical stitching on each side which nicely secured my layers.  Next, I trimmed my batting and backing and stitched the backing to self bind the edge of the quilt.  After I had it all finished I decided to stitch up the squares I orginally had stitched which worked much better now with all the layers nicely stitched together.  I had added halves to the edges and decided not to do those so I had to scrub off the pencil marks so it was washed again!!  The pencil marks came out!!!  I am happy with the final result but it was the loss of a full days work but a valuable lesson learned.  That is how life goes!!  Learning is sometimes time consuming!!!  Therese

 

Sewing - a small quilt with the last of the jungle fabric

I have made up a little quilt (36" x 38") with the last bit of Jungle fabric and some of the cotton fabrics which arrived with the last donation from Edmonton.  You can see that there is a rainbow of colours. I dyed the yellow and the orange to finish up the colours of the rainbow.  Really happy with how well that turned out.  I found a green cotton in my stash to go with it and so added it to the top and bottom of the Jungle fabric scraps.   I also had enough for the backing.   I am a novice quilter and after taking a photo the stripes do somewhat overwhelm the jungle fabric.  If it proves to be unacceptable for the merchandise table I will pass it on to the Linus project.  Therese

Dyed some light yellow cotton fabric - a brighter yellow and orange

 

I used some Tintex dye (Brilliant Yellow and Mandarin Orange  $1.60 each) which I bought at Dollarama to dye some of the light yellow cotton fabric I have on hand from the donation for GLA we received.  It worked really well.  I did a  half package and weighed fabric for the dark dye recipe.  It took 30 minutes for each batch and then I added more fabric into each one which gave me a lighter colour and then I mixed the orange and the yellow and got a light orange colour.  Nice to get a variety of hues in those two colours.  I have added some of these to my Jungle quilt.  It was colours I was missing and could easily be dyed from what I had on hand.  Therese

GLA - Grandparents Tea @ Cronquist House - September 7th

You are all welcome to come to our Grandparents' Tea in September.  There will be good food and a fabulous atmosphere for celebrating with a cup of tea!!                Therese

All occasion card featuring handmade paper, ribbon, embossing and vellum butterfly

 My oldest aunt has passed away at 91.  We are headed to the funeral this weekend and I got this card ready for her family.  I started with a white card and chalked the edges in pink.  I added faux stitching to the edges of the trimmed handmade paper, then an embossed strip and a pink sating ribbon.  I hand stitched the ribbon to the center of each motif using white thread.  I tied on three short lengths of the same ribbon on the right side and a hand embossed butterfly on the left hand side.  I added a green body to the butterfly (SX) to help it stand out and to accommodate the glue I used to secure it to the card.  It will be nice to see our cousins again!!  Therese

Sewing - pink baby blanket with pink, striped & white squares and happy face flannel backing

I cut the five inch squares of cotton fabric for this quilt a couple of weeks ago and took a sewing day yesterday to put it all together.  I stitched together the front matching the corners really well.  I created the backing using some happy face flannel and added a strip of the same pink as the front as I had to trim out a stain.  I layered the backing, the batting and then the top and pinned it really well.  I added diagonal lines of wavy decorative stitching in white thread to quilt all the pieces together and trimmed it to the edges of the front.  I usually like to use the backer to bind but it was not large enough so I trimmed strips of the striped fabric to create a binding.  I bound the top and the bottom and then added the sides.  It took quite a bit of fiddling to get diagonal lines on the corners so I will be finding a better way next time.  I am happy with how it worked out (31.5" x 40.5").  It will be going into our inventory for the fall Gramma Link Africa events in the fall.  Therese

Sewing - cute chicken potholders

 I made these cute chicken potholders for my sister who just had a birthday.  The chicken fabric and the coordinating borders were scraps which I trimmed to 7.5" once they were sewn.  I backed them with d to flannel batting and the red backing (9.5") and added two lines of quilting.  They are self bound with the backing fabric.  I usually cut the front 7" and the backing 9.5" but they worked out fine.  

Therese

All occasion card featuring a hand decorated background, black embossed border, embossed flowers and hand drawn border and leaves

 One of my sister's is having her 65th birthday and I made this card for her.  I started with a hand decorated background that had a variety of paints on it.  I stamped it with a flower image from the set using Versamark clear ink which gave a bit of a darker look to the stamped images.  I embossed the swirly floral border twice and the little flourishes twice as well with black embossing powder.  I stamped the flower onto coordinating coloured cardstock scraps and embossed them with pearl embossing powder.  I fussy cut them and added a tiny brad in the center of each.  After positioning them I removed them and doodled flowers, stems and leaves of them before mounting them to the background with 3D foam tape.  I doodled a wavy border all the way around and then glued this large embellished background to a blue card.  One of my other sisters hosted family to celebrate!!!  A fun weekend!!   Therese

Cards - a cute little butterfly over some floral paper

 I made this fun heart card for my daughter and son in law's anniversary!!!  I always use hearts and this little butterfly (Cre8tive Hands) seemed the perfect thing for their card!! I watercoloured it to coordinate with the decorative paper, added paper piercing and then a bit of glitter with a clear glitter gel pen.  I layered it onto a light blue.  I added paper piercing to the background and then decided to add a flight path so I added a little line of paper piercing to the butterfly and then finished it off with a fine tip markers once I added the image to my card.  Totally fun!!  She is a sewist so she will appreciate the interesting way of using the pattern tracing wheel!!  Therese

GLA Sewing - a colourful jungle themed tote with bright stripes

I created a tote bag with some of the final scraps of the jungle fabric I committed to earlier this year!!  I have added some strips of cotton blend in coordinating colours to make the panel wide enough for a tote bag (13" x 18").  The back piece was pieced but you can hardly tell as the pattern lined up almost perfectly.  The handles, bottom and top edge are also from cotton blend fabric which is closer to a jade colour rather than the turquoise it seems to be in the photos.  I added a red broadcloth (cotton polyester blend) lining, a purple pocket inside and boxed the bottom corners.  I added an elastic and button closure in between the handles.  Totally fun project!!  Another item going to the GA merchandise inventory for our fall events.  

Therese