Christmas cards - poinsettia

I have created cards using these rounded squares in the past - here and really like the look of them. I have seen several different ways of using them on Splitcoast stampers as well. One of the version uses a beautiful Basic Gray paper in red, deep orange and dark browns - I loved it!! Unfortunately, I don't have any of it!! So I decided to create some wax crayon background paper that would hopefully come close to recreating the look. I created four different colours to create my "poinsettias" - red & gold, burgundy/maroon and gold, browns and copper and black and grays with silver. They were just what I was looking for to create this design. I cut four 1.5" squares for each card and then decided to add another layer so cut four 1" squares for the upper layer. I corner rounded all the layers and embossed the little ones to give them some texture. I printed my greeting onto my card front and added the flower above it. I mounted the waxy squares to my card front using 3D foam tape in the three outer corners of each petal. The waxy squares need to be handled carefully because the wax will transfer to other surfaces. I did have the thought at class that may be if they were sprayed with some clear finish or sealant that it might be beneficial in preventing the wax from transferring. Will give it a try and let you know. Once the large petals are glued in place, I glued the small embossed ones down using double sided tape. They are offset from the large ones and help create the feeling of a flower. A sequin attached with a brad for the center nicely finishes off the flower!!

I love how these turned out!! I am storing them in their envelopes until they are ready to be sent out to keep them from transferring colour to anything else!!

If you have never tried creating wax crayon backgrounds, I say give it a try. You can check out my instructions here. Or click "wax crayons" under LABELS on the right hand sidebar to find the posting with the information.

So with a few more Christmas cards in my stash I am ready to enjoy my summer. Cardmaking will resume in September when our routines will come back into play!! Enjoy your summer, your holiday time, your days off, your friends and your family!! I will continue to post my creative projects as I get them done!!

Therese

Christmas cards - snowflake butterfly

I have found this saying on several cards in my internet blog travels lately!!

I colour printed it onto the front of my white card. The frame is two layers. The first is colour printed paper which was needing a bit of a lift so after my success with altering the cardstock I decided to see what I could do to spruce it up a bit. I chose two different snowflake full page backgrounds which I created a while back using snowflake fonts and printed them in two different colours over the less than impressive paper!! Perfect!! It created paper that so perfectly complimented this saying!! I glued the paper to lightweight cardstock to add a bit of colour and some weight to enable it to be dry embossed as well. I used the largest of my ovals (Nestabilities) to cut out the center portion to create a frame that allows the saying to show through and then ran it through the Big Shot using a snowflake embossing folder!! Maybe a little over the top but I like the look!! Sponged a bit of ink onto the card front before gluing down the frame. Added a coordinating snowflake and embellished it with glitter glue. Stickles is a great glitter glue if you are looking to buy your first bottle. Check out your local discount store as well. Don't know which colour to buy?? Iridescent is good choice because it goes with pretty much everything!!

Therese

Christmas cards - Dasher

The inspiration for this card came from one in an old copy of Paper Creations (Winter 2008) created by Sue Boddis. She had used a Penny Black stamp for the saying and an Inkadinkado reindeer on a gate fold card. I changed up the sketch to suit a regular sized landscape card!!

I created the saying using a "handwriting" font and printed it out. I stamped on Dasher (SU) in blue or brown depending on the card colour (I know, these are both blue because I ran out of brown ones) and added a bit of distressing with the "Sanded" background stamp (SU). I added some sponging around the edges as well. Layered this piece onto coordinating dark colour and added some triangles on two corners in a complimentary colour which helps add "pop"!! Thrifty Tip: To make two identical triangles - take a rectangle and cut it diagonally!! This was then layered onto the embossed card front using 3D foam tape. I created this card using a 4.25" x 11" piece of cardstock so I could emboss the whole card front using a large snowflake embossing folder which will only go into my Big Shot in one direction - portrait!! I added a little snowflake punchie which I will be embellishing with glitter glue!! It adds just that touch of bling which is great for Christmas cards!!

Therese

Christmas cards - Snowflake tag

Christmas cards!! Yes, I schedule a Christmas card class just before the summer because it is a good feeling to have a head start on a project that often gets delayed and done at the last minute. We all had a wonderful morning being creative and chit chatting all while we were making our cards. Most went home with them completed!!

I used decorative cardstock (Mind's eye), a colour printed greeting (digital stamp of my own creation), and a small round tag embellished with a snowflake punchie on the front of this card. The greeting is attached with 3D foam tape which adds dimension to the card and it easily hides the ends of the tag's string without making any bumps!! A bit of glitter glue in the center of the snowflakes echos the glitter in the paper!!

The decorative cardstock used on the right hand card was originally just white glittered snowflakes on a baja breeze background. Compared to some of the other papers I had picked for this design/sketch, it was a bit plain so I decided to jazz it up a bit. I stamped some music notes in olive between the rows of snowflakes. The ink that stamped over the glittered snowflakes easily wiped off and in the process gave the paper a bit of a distressed look. Thinking it could use yet a bit more punch I stamped some small poinsettias in red - just what I was looking for!! The sheet of paper was now similar in feeling to the others I had picked out!! There were several other sheets that I picked out that were a bit plain so I added stamped images (used a fun foam stamp) and some glittered shapes to jazz them up!! They turned out great!!

Thrifty Tip: We all have some decorative paper that is collecting dust at the bottom of the box because they are plain or uninteresting and always get passed over. Dig them out and alter them. Add some stamping in a couple of coordinating colours, a bit of glitter or glittered embossing powder, a colour wash or two. It will jazz them up and allows you to even customize them to suit a specific project!!

So, with a few of these added to the stash, I am closer to my goal of having my Christmas cards finished by the beginning of November.

Therese

Birthday card

Birthday card for a friend!! I was prepping card kits for this card when I needed a birthday card last week so I just made this one up using die cuts instead of a silk flower!!

I took a bit more time and embossed the die cuts, sponged around their edges and add a little die cut button with fiber to the middle!! Nice to be able to stamp the greeting right onto the card front!!

We need to celebrate our friends and be sure they know we are thinking about them! A handmade card does that so perfectly!!

Therese

Cardmaking - June - little tiles

I created some tiles to play with!! They are composed of a 3/4" square of decorative paper over a 1" square of cardstock!! You could use them using the same design as this card for a different look. I brainstormed different layouts by changing the position and number of tiles until a I had a page full in my page layout program!! Amazingly, layouts using 5 tiles dominated so I gave each person 5 tiles to use on the front of their card!! The easiest layout is the green one - four to create a diamond below and one raised with 3D foam tape in the center. It allows you to create a portrait or landscape card and embellish it as you wish. I added some textured lines to mine using an old tracing wheel!! In the card on the upper left I added some textured lines on the card front which I used as guidelines in the placement of my tiles. Once they were all glued in place I added a couple more lines and some black 1/4" punchies which were left over from this card last month. The girls at class came up with yet more designs than I have included in the following diagram that you can use to get you started!!
This design, as well as the first one, with the punchies, are great ones for using scraps - especially the little wonderful little pieces you have been saving because they are too pretty to recycle or throw out!! This is a great way to use them and make wonderful cards for gift giving at the same time!! Consider using gift wrap, junk mail or any other beautiful paper that shows up to create these!!

Therese

Cardmaking - June - silk flowers

More quick & easy!!

A layer of decorative paper, ribbon and a 3D embellishment!! I glued the decorative paper to the card front, positioned the ribbon gluing both ends to the inside of the card and added the layered silk flower embellishment!! On the second one, I used a corner rounder on all the corners - softens the look a little!!

Thrifty tip: I buy silk flower stems and take them apart!! It will save you money and give you more flexibility when creating your embellishments!!

Don't have silk flowers?? Use stamped images, stickers, glittery die cuts or punchies, chipboard, colour printed images, etc.

You can make a set of six cards using one 12"'x12" sheet of decorative paper and three sheets of cardstock!! Consider varying the cardstocks and ribbon to ensure that the cards coordinate but are not all the same!! Package them in a cool little note holder like this one or this one!! Links - right hand side OR labels - "cardholders"!

Have fun!!

Therese

Cardmaking - June - sail boats

Cute little sail boats!!! I saw a similar card on Splitcoast and worked out how to make the little sail boat using a circle punchie and a rectangle of decorative paper!!

For the boat I used half of a 1.75" punchie (SU) for the bottom.

I used a 1.25" x 1.5" rectangle of decorative paper for the sails. First I cut it diagonally - that created the large sail. Rotated the second triangle until the right angles lined up and then trimmed the long side again to shorten the sail so it was

balanced in compared to the large one!!

Check out the diagram for a visual which shows what I did more clearly!!

I cut a little red triangle to be used at the very top of the sails! these were glued to a white layer that had a laser printed greeting. Some chose to create on the blank side instead so they could add their own greeting or just added bit of a wavy line instead!! One person added some seagulls too!! Very creative!!

Thrifty tip: See those cool "ticket" corners?? I cut those with my half inch punch!! Simply insert the corner of your layer into the punch until you have as much showing as you want to snip off!! To be able to make all four corners the same you need to have a gauge!! I created a gauge by marking the bottom of the valleys on the inside of my punch mechanism with a sharpie marker!! See the image farthest on the left. It works really well. This morning as I was taking photos I see that the punch has markings (bumps) - center top and center on both sides. You could use these to line up your paper to make your snips even!! See the arrows on the right hand image - they are pointing to the little markings on your punch that indicate the center of the punch!! That works too!!

Have you found ways of using your tools to do more than they were designed to?? Look forward to hearing from you!!

Therese

Cardmaking - June - punchies

I created some quick cards that would be easy to replicate for those who are wanting to give cards as gifts for teachers, etc!!

This is really quick!! You need twelve 1" punchies of decorative paper/cardstock and a vellum greeting! The vellum greeting has vellum adhesive - nice clean look. The vellum adhesive is made by Fiskars and is called "Vellum glue dot film". It is invisible so it was very hard to "see"where it was but I eventually got the hang of putting my little vellum greeting punchies on the proper side of the plastic sheet so the adhesive could be transferred to the vellum. It works well when you get it where you want it - my trouble was that I got it some places where I didn't want it - like my fingers!! I ended up with vellum punchies with adhesive on both sides and things stuck to my fingers!! The adhesive was easily removed by rubbing with an eraser so that was good!! It works pretty well on these small shapes - not sure how effective it would be on a large area.

Don't have vellum? Consider just leaving off one or two punchies and stamping a greeting instead. Embellish the card front with paper piercing or markers to add some interest. Without a greeting they make perfect note cards!!!

Consider getting some card gift packs ready over the summer when you have a bit more time!! Perfect as hostess gifts any time of the year!!

Therese

Christmas card - star

Have joined a Christmas Card mingle on one of my groups so created this card!!

The corrugated cardboard stars I cut when I was creating this card so they are sitting on my work surface. I layered on a red embossed star and a green die cut button tied with shimmery fiber. I layered this over some decorative background paper that features some great vintage looking presents. Added the red on white greeting and attached one end using a green brad!!

I have cut more supplies than I need for this one card so am hoping to add more Christmas cards to my stash in the next few days!! I am very much behind in my Christmas card making compared to last year!! It was really nice to have all my cards made by November last year and I need to keep that in mind to get them all done again this year!!

Have you started yours??

Therese

Envelope book

Created this cute little envelope book for a swap on AFTCM!! We were free to choose a theme and any kind of envelopes we wanted!! A while back, I received a similar book from a swap hostess on another group and thought it would be perfect so decided to go with this concept.

The envelopes were cut from one 12x12 travel scrapbook paper using a Sizzix little envelope die. It gave me eight die cuts. I sponged the inside of the flaps so they would blend with the other side, folded and glued the sides to create the envelopes. I used a different 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper to create the little cards for inside - technically twinchies - they are 2" x 2" - mostly great travel destinations - Eiffel Tour, Statue of Liberty, etc.

After cutting out my images I made a collage with the scraps and cut 1.75"x1.75" squares from it and used those to back my twinchies. I added some hand written inspirational words with a black sharpie on the collage pieces.

Now they needed to be bound to each other. I decided to create my own paper tape to use for binding. I cut off a piece of tissue paper tape from a roll that would normally be used to bind a bandage to your skin which I purchased a while back with intentions of altering it for papercrafting. It is wonderfully strong, very light and translucent. I used a sponge and inks to colour it and then stamped it in a dark brown using a collage stamp. Perfect!! Similar look to the Tim Holtz tissue paper tape!!

I used lengths to bind each envelope to the next one until I had all of my little envies bound to each other. You can see here that without a tie they want to create a circle!!

In my first photo you can see that I added a tie using seambinding and a metal embellishment that reads "Dream Big"

A fun little book to make!! You could use any envelopes to make a similar book - coin envelopes would be excellent!!

It is off to my partner in this afternoon's mail!!

Therese

All Occasion cards - wax crayon background

I was really wanting a punch of colour for my last card of this class so I decided to create some wax crayon backgrounds which never fails to add colour!!! These backgrounds are so fun to create!!

You need a warm surface so the crayons will melt. I used a griddle which I completely covered with foil to prevent the wax crayon from touching the actual surface of the griddle to preserve its ability to make pancakes for breakfast!! You do not need a lot of heat so 200 - 225F is hot enough. Place a sheet of white cardstock on the foiled surface and let it heat up a bit. Now, start colouring on your cardstock with wax crayons - they will melt as you rub them on the cardstock!! Just keep adding colour until you are happy with how it looks!! I sometimes use clear wax or a white/light coloured crayon to help blend the colours. I use a small plastic fork to hold my cardstock steady as I apply wax to the surface and sometimes use the tines to move the wax around and create swirly patterns in it. Needless to say, eventually the plastic tines become deformed by the heat and a new fork is in order!! I have removed the paper casings from my wax crayons to help the process go faster. I am using just scraps of wax crayons - the kind that end up in the bottom of the crayon bucket because they are broken into little pieces!! Ask any mother, and she will gladly donate you the broken crayons her children no longer use!!

Once cooled, I cut the papers down to size for backgrounds on my cards. I made them just slightly smaller than the transparencies so that they would not transfer colour to the envelope!! The images are from Dover, printed onto transparencies, trimmed & layered over the wax crayon backgrounds and attached to the front of the cards using brads!!

Just the punch of colour I was looking for!!

Therese

All Occasion cards - butterfly

I love this butterfly!!! A recent acquisition created by Marianne Designs and sold at Ecstacy Crafts!!

I started by stamping a subtle background on my card and added a free form border with a fine tipped Sharpie marker. I added a layer of embossed metal tape which was trimmed with decorative scissors then layered on this beautiful butterfly using double sided tape only to its middle so its wings are free to flutter. To finish it off I added three little black punchies (1/4" circle punch) to the lower edge and a flight trail below the butterfly with the black marker!!

It can be difficult to cut a die with this intricate a pattern and get all the pieces to come out of the die when removing the die cut. I have found that using a layer of wax paper between the die and the cardstock really helps though it does not completely prevent having to pick some of bits out of the solid backed die!! But, it is so worth it!!

I applied the metal duct tape to some scrap cardstock which gave it some substance before I embossed it.

Therese

All Occasion cards - stack & whack quilted

Another quilt card!! I am really loving this concept of using paper pieces to create a quilt pattern and embossing it to give it a quilted look for my cards!! In my perusal of Splitcoast Stampers I found a quilt card that was created using the Stack and Whack quilting technique which I thought was an interesting concept. You stack your pieces of fabric, cut them apart and then swap the pieces to make squares for your quilt!! I used the same concept for these cards. I stacked four pieces of decorative paper exactly the same size. I made three cuts which gave me four pieces of each decorative paper. I swapped the pieces to create four different "wholes".
These were glued to a piece of white cardstock leaving an even gap all the way around and some space between the pieces and then run through the Big Kick in an embossing folder. The embossing really hides any uneven gaps that occurred while gluing, unifies the elements and gives the whole thing the look of a quilted piece!! I wrapped it with a length of fiber which I double knotted on the right hand side. To the left I added a 1 3/4" circle which was laser printed with a digital image layered onto a coordinating scalloped circle (Nestibilities). This large element was then glued to the card front.

Love the look of these quilted cards!! You can see a patchwork one here and a log cabin one here OR check out my labels on the right hand side and click "quilting" to find them!! I watercoloured my laser printed images.

The little patchwork horse is a digital image from Beccy's and the roses and the vase of flowers are digital images from the Paper Squirrel blog. I also used her quilt on the laundry line image which I thought was perfect for a quilted card!!

A set of these would be a great gift for any friend who into quilting!!

Therese

All Occasion cards - special greeting

Another all occasion class!!

I created a large greeting for this card using a decorative font called NOEL. It is very calligraphic with great flourishes. One of the girls at class asked me why the card said "nappy" and once I took another look at it, I can see how it might be read like that. I expect that the font is based on the uncial alphabet and therefore the H looks more like an N.

I laser printed the greeting and added some colour using pencil crayons. Layered it a couple of times, mounted it to the card front which already had an embossed layer using 3D foam tape and added a punchie accent on the corner!! A quick and easy card to start the day!! It is amazing how many versions of a card can be made with the very same kit!! Lots of people were adding their own twist to the cards today!!

Therese

Book card!

I created this book which is really a card for a special friend on the occasion of her fiftieth birthday!!

What fun!!

I purchased the kit at the Sweet Sentiments Yard Sale a few weeks ago just intending on altering the pages to suit my needs. It was a wonderful surprise to discover that the book had DREAMS as its theme!! It included the pages, ribbon and chipboard elements in this great colour scheme of seafoam, celery green, warm red and ivory so I decided to work with it. I worked out my wording, cut letters using my Sizzix Doodle Block alphabet in coordinating cardstock, added ribbon to the chipboard pieces and laid everything out so I could see how it would all fit together!! I placed the large chipboard letters on the lower halves of the pages and added my words and accent chipboard elements - two frames and two buttons to the upper sections. With everything laid out, I glued my diecut letters in place using white glue and a fine tip applicator. The chipboard elements were glued in place using a double layer of glue dots to make sure the glue was thick enough to offset the ribbon on the back. Worked well.

Thrifty Tip: use an empty fabric paint bottle with a very fine tip for precise application of white glue.

On the backside of the book I added some envelopes in which she can store images or notes to herself and record the manifestations of her dreams as they become reality!!

As you can see on the left, I glued the outside of the envelope flap to the back of the page and added two clear photo corners to secure the right hand side of the envelope. I added colour printed circles with a message for her on the outside of the envelopes.

Once my pages were finished I bound them together using ribbon. Love the way it worked out!!

I have packaged it in the original container - a plastic box with a handle!! How cool is that!!

It looks so great!! I added my personal message on a panel I added to the inside of one of the envelopes. I hope it will be a reminder of all the life she has left to live and an inspiration for her to choose everyday to take baby steps in the directions of her dreams!!

To achieve any goal, you need only to decide where you want to go, take baby steps every day, stay focussed and never give up! How you get there will unravel in ways you could not even imagine because the Universe takes care of that part.

It is your life, chose to follow your dreams!!

Exchange cards - CB scroll work EF

Love this Scroll works embossing folder by Cuttlebug!! A couple more cards I have created using the folder and the stencil I created for it!! Love the gentle shading possible with the sponges. The images are ones I downloaded from CLKER and digitally coloured to suit my card stock colour!! These are for my monthly card exchange!! Check out other ones I made here.

If you have the Scroll works embossing folder and would like a stencil/mask for nicely shading the inside I have a few for sale. They are quarter sheet size - $1 each. If you are local, you can come and pick one up!! If not, send me an email and we can set up a trade!!

These cards will be on their way today!!

Therese

CD charms

We are having a charm swap on AFTCM!!

This time we needed to use a CD to create our charms so I sanded off the shining layer, added some colour with Sharpies and/or alcohol inks and cut them apart!! Once cut, I laid the pieces on a heatproof surface (corrugated cardboard covered with foil) and heated them until they cleared up, their edges softened and they bubbled a bit. They look like glass!! I layered up the scraps and those made really cool looking charms as well. On the left, those that are finished. I have a variety to choose from - two going in the mail tomorrow!!

These are the ones that I made that I thought were acceptable for being considered for "charmdom"!! I have a half dozen rejects which I am not sure what I will do with. Maybe try redoing them or painting them - we'll see.

These ones are the first I made and in the final evaluation I decided were probably too big to be considered charms!!

Fun! We are going to have some great looking bracelets by the end of the year!!

Therese

Cardmaking - May - sponging

I have been admiring these softly shaded cards on Splitcoast Stampers as well!! I used digital images from CLKER for these cards!! Just love that dress!! You can find it here! The loon, here!

I designed an oval that would fit perfectly on the inside of the Scroll works (CB) embossing folder, printed it on a transparency and cut it out - voila - a stencil for sponging!! I printed the digital images on white cardstock, cut the sheet into quarters and embossed each one with the Scrollworks embossing folder. At class, I provided the stencils, sponges and inks and let each person sponge the frame as they wished. It is best to start sponging gently, from the stencil to the paper. You can mix colours or use different colours to get a very layered look. The image can also be coloured using any other method you desire!!
I mixed a bit of green into the blue for the loon image and it looks good!! To add a little colour to your embossing gently rub your sponge over it. I will be adding a rhinestone to the bodice of the dress and it should make a perfect wedding card!!!

I really like the soft look of sponging so I think I will incorporate that more into my cardmaking. Certainly, have seen others sponging the edges of their layers and greetings which gives a cohesive look to their cards!!

Thrifty tip: I am using the sponges that SU sells - cut into eighths. Just staple on a little cardstock handle in the colour of ink so you can keep them straight. Check out how they did it here! Stored in a baggie they are always ready to go and don't need cleaning!!

If you haven't tried sponging yet, try it!! Stamp an image and use the stencils you have!! Use a die to cut a stencil from scrap plastic - get creative!! Sponging works best with a rounded edged sponge which does not leave lines, so trim the hard edges off your sponge for a better experience.

Therese

Cardmaking - May - rainbow

Rainbows!! I used the rainbow scraps from my last card on these ones!! I made at least four prototypes of this card before I was happy with it!! That does not happen to me very often!!

I punched the right hand side of the rainbow layer with my SU scallop punch, layered it onto white cardstock, embossed it with the D'vine swirl (CB) embossing folder and punched the edge again!! I like the look of the repeated element. The die cut butterfly (SX) has been embossed with the Swiss Dot (CB) folder and threaded onto the ribbon!! I mounted this layer onto the card front and added a layered greeting!!

The rainbows are wonderful!! Great for a baby card or for a little girl's birthday!!

Therese