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

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

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

Have a creative day!!

Therese

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

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

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

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

Have a creative day!!

Therese

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

Here is what the other side look like!!

Therese

This is a double sided page for an Art Idea Journal - a round robin on one of my groups!! I created different layouts in each journal using the same four subjects - handmade paper, faux leather paper, paste paper and serendipity. I included the paper and instructions in each layout so the person receiving it would have samples and information for making their own. It has be so much fun to come up with a different layout for each journal. This is the final journal in the round robin. It has taken two years instead of the anticipated 6 months to get this one finished but the journals have been fabulous and well worth waiting for. Mine is all home and now just needs to be bound!!

Here I created pockets with the specific paper and then printed off instuctions. I topped the instruction sheets with another paper , folded it up to fit and added it to the pocket. I also added a variety of samples of each technique to each pocket. That should supply some inspiration and some pieces to play with. I stamped each technique name with a round alphabet in a coordinating colour, punched them out with a 1" hole punch (michaels), added a hole at the top and strung them onto fiber. I made two holes at each end of the pockets and strung the little round tag titles between them and tied them taught. I used the same holes for the fiber on each side of the page.

Very happy with how this one has worked out!!

Enjoy!! Have a creative day!!

Therse

I am a papermaker and use recyclable paper to make handmade paper!! I made these sheets for a friend who gave me some petals the other day. They were from tulips, daffodils and a pink hyacinth!! Because the petals were somewhat large and I was making small sheets of paper I blended them a little before adding them to my vat. Used a light yellow pulp which set off the petals very nicely!! She was very happy with the sheets I gave her to use in her cardmaking!!

I would highly encourage all papercrafters to learn to make paper!! You can use any and all scraps of paper to make new sheets which reduces the waste from your crafting and gives you new paper to play with. It is a win-win.

If you really don't need to add another thing to your life then consider donating your scraps to someone who enjoys the papermaking process!

Thanks for checking out my blog and have a creative day!!

Therese

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

This & That Mingle page for March. We had a long list of themes we could us for this mingle. Last year we did holidays and this year we are expanding to include other events or days that are significant in each month. I chose Alexander Graham Bell and did a bit of research on the internet. What an interesting man!! He is famous for having invented the telephone but he was an inventor all of his life and was always thinking and creating. A wonderful inspiration! It was hard to choose which images to use. I downloaded them from the internet to a folder where I put images for my own use. I like to keep my copyright free images separate from anything else I acquire for my creations. The background is a scan of one of his journal pages.

The top left is the front of the fat book page, the top right is the back of the page and the bottom is the inside.

Therese

Two ATCs I made this morning for a trade!! I have a box in which I keep my ATC supplies - substrates, images, labels, etc. Whenever I get something I think would be good for ATCs I just put it in the box. When I feel like making ATCs I open the box and see what I have. It is a nice starting off point!! Sometimes I find everything I need!!

The first is a picture I laser printed (down load from the net I think) with some fiber and a little tag. I stamped the base with the SU swirl background in silver Encore!

On the second I layered junk mail onto a green backer. I save interesting junk mail for use in my art. This one is from a fitness brochure. I layered a handmade paper letter over this. I wrote by hand the words "Who" and "You?" at the top and bottom but I could not get the scan to show the words. On the back I layered a vellum with text to support that finding out who you are is the mission of your life and will reveal the best path for your life.

Therese

A new set of cards I created with my donated envelopes!! It was a challenge to use a different format. Two of the cards use stamped images (tulip and butterfly) but the others use images recycled from old greeting cards. One of the girls that came to my SU party likes to use old greeting cards to create her cards so I went through the bagful I received last fall and put together a package for her. While I was in the process, I decided to give it a try being as I had never recycled a card in that way before. It worked out well though it took some time to pick out images that would suit the rectangular format I was using for these cards.

I was careful not to pass on any cards that had personal information or writing from the ones that had been donated to me.

So another source of card creating fun - all the cards that others (who have not been converted to making their own) send you!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

Thank you postcards for those who came to my SU party!! Chose a fairly simple design to make the process of getting them done easier. I dug into my scraps for the small strips (1' x 3"-4") and chose coordinating papers - scrapbook, handpainted, etc. I colour printed the greetings and layered all onto a coordinating postcard of cardstock which was stamped with an all over text stamp which I bought off the CST garage sale earlier this month. LOVE IT!! The order arrives today so I am headed over to help sort and bring home all the goodies!!!! Yeah!!

Therese

My Valentine's card for my husband. We celebrated late because he was out of town and we really wanted to enjoy our day. He had a few days off at the beginning of this week so we took a day for ourselves and celebrated!! He is gaining an interest in cooking so we planned a feast - Coquilles St. Jacques, lemon spaghetti, asparagus and ceasar salad with some Lindt chocolate with Early Grey tea after our meal!!! It was great!

I really like this card!! The heart is from a scrapbook paper sheet I bought a long time ago at the $1 store. I did some stippling on it with ochre to get it to be a more warm red. I added some gold embossing to three of the edges to balance the gold foil that was already on the right hand side. Gold embossed "Friend" and used my embossing marker to emboss "my". I sewed on the heart charm and then tied the key charm to it. I layered this onto a dark burgundy layer and then onto a warm red cardstock which I stamped the SU swirl heart background with a wine pigment ink and clear embossed. Just perfect for letting him know that he has the key to my heart!!

Therese

My SU party has been submitted and I thank all of my friends for coming!! Product should be here by the end of next week!! Yeah!! The spring mini has arrived and I am wondering what the new catalog schedule will be for this coming year!! Something to look forward to!

Just a hint I wanted to share with you that Catherine mentioned at Jayne's party. The stamp pads that have a little liner in them like the StazOn and the Brilliance can be modified so that the liner comes off with the cover - just add a large glue dot or some double sided foam tape to the inside of the lid and place on the pad. The next time you remove the cover, the liner will come with it. Works so well!!

A few new UMs arrived this week so I am off to play in my craft room and hopefully get a few cards made.

Have a creative day!!

Therese

The background on this card was created using the granite spray paint that was popular some years back. The can was destined for the garbage so I took it outside along with some large sheets of paper and a large piece of cardboard. I just sprayed until the can was empty. Made 5-6 large sheets of this wonderfully textured black, white and gray paper.
Really love the old world look of this image and thought it worked well with the background. Stamped in with black StazOn which gives a very strong black colour. Added some simple fiber and a "fossil". I made these fossils the other day with some recyclable plastic, my heat gun and some rubber stamps!! It was fun!! I have a whole bunch because it was so much fun trying different stamps to get different textures!! Will have to list them on my MMM site - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/!!

Just love making "paste paper"!! You make paste (wall paper or cornstarch), add some colour (watercolour, ink, acyrlic paint, etc) and then spread it on your dampened paper. The paper needs to have a good wet strength for this project. In this case, I used white Kraft gift wrap I bought at Michaels. It worked very well. I usually make a day of it when get started making paste paper and just play as long as the paste lasts. I have created my own tools for working in the paste - mostly cut from plastic milk jugs. I like the flexibility of the plastic and the more organic lines they create.

I have now acquired the 1 3/8" SU punch so I can make double layered tags using it in combination with the 1 1/4" SU punch. Just love the ease of making these now. I added a punched shape to the tags - hearts, stars, dragonflies, leaves and daisies and made them in a variety of cardstock colours. Added a little fiber and had a quick and easy card!!

Created this polished stone background this summer when my sister was visiting and thought the colours would work well with this image. Stamped the image with black StazOn. The victorian corner punch worked well with it as well. I thought the card front needed a bit of ornamentation so I stamped it with a coordinating colour and the SU heart background (retired). Great card for the women in my life!!

This card features "faux leather" paper which I made yesterday. You apply acrylic paint and glazes (Glaze Vernis by Delta) in layers until you have full coverage and nice rich colour. Once dry it has the soft lustre of leather. I started with brown paper and made brown, green and burgundy.

The little bird image is a used postage stamp. I collect all of the interesting stamps that arrive on our mail and use them in my art when I can. I like the way this one turned out. Very simple and easy!!

Led a cardmaking class last night featuring handpainted backgrounds. I really like making these acrylic paint backgrounds - I just slosh on paint until I am happy with it. I usually start with leftover paint from my palette after a project and water it down to make a wash and apply it to a sheet of paper or several depending on how much paint I have. The next time I am painting I add more colour washes and repeat the process until I like the look of it. I designed and colour printed the round tag and punched it out. I really like the colour of this one.

I found this layout in a magazine - Joy of Cardmaking. Lots of really good card making ideas.

Catherine also demoed several other techniques in these two cards - using the template and paper piercing tool, making a marker using a blender pen and reinker, colouring with markers, using the distressing tool, aquapainter, crimper, etc!!

Pop UP Card

Hey! I had my SU party yesterday!! It was great fun to have some of my friends over and do a make and take. I have a fabulous demonstrator who is professional and personable all at the same time. We did this great little pop up card! So cute!! We will be closing the party by Wednesday to allow a few who were not able to finish up their orders on Sunday!! I got the dragonfly Level II hostess set I wanted so I am a happy camper!!

Have a creative day!
Therese

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

These are for a card exchange I participate in monthly. I stretched myself and used bright colours. I started with a piece of checkered tissue paper that I received in a swap a long time ago. Was able to find cardstock that matched pretty close but found that the tissue paper looked better when layered on white so I added a white cardstock layer. I used my SU 1.25" punch to punch a hole in the lower right corner and punched some coordinating shapes to go inside. I stamped all around the card front before I layered on the tissue paper/CS piece. I cut hair elastics that were the right colours for the top and tied on a little plastic tag which I stamped with StazOn ink. Added a little fiber to give it just a little softness. Very happy with my little stretch!!

Be creative!!

Therese

My submission for an Art Lottery!! On this group, anyone can submit art for the lottery to the hostess and at the end of the month she puts all the names in a hat and picks one to receive all the fun items that have arrived!! She also picks a second name to receive the art submitted by the winner. I like the fact that there are no rules or themes and I can pick the format. I usually include a few goodies with my submission. This time I have included some slide mounts and transparencies so the person who receives it can play a little. I embossed the gold coloured lead (from a wine bottle) with my D'vine Swirl embossing folder. I just love that design!! Have managed to emboss cardstock with it by using my rolling pin. I have to spritz the cardstock before I put it in the folder but it does work pretty well. I laser printed the transparencies using images I have downloaded from the internet. Just did a bit of collage as a background. I cut the slide mounts from bristol vellum using a Sizzix machine. I have them for sale on my MMM site - follow the link below.
Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/
I have found this past year that I have been doing more mingles than swaps. I like spending more time on one piece of art and generally the cost of mailing them is less as well.
Therese