A little sewing project!

I have been practicing my sewing skills!!  I used to do much more sewing when my children were home.  I made this little zippered pack for my grand daughter for her birthday.  It was fun to add some decorative stitching and work out a way to add a lining.  The belt is way too long but I thought more was better in case she decides to wear it over her shoulder instead of around her waist.

Therese

Fairy tale art for this birthday card

My oldest granddaughter has a birthday coming up!!  My sister gave me a set of postcards a while back and I thought I would see if I could incorporate them into my cardmaking.  The art is wonderful - Grimms Fairy Tales - in soft watercolour so I decided not to cover them up too much.  I added a gros grain ribbon at the very bottom attaching the ends behind the postcard using double sided tape. Next, I layered the postcard onto a variegated yellow orange tissue paper and then onto a large green card front which I had stippled around the edges using my stipple stamp (SU) with green ink. I sponged the edges of an oval greeting punchie and added it over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.
I am really liking the look of the tissue paper layers I have been using on my cards lately!!
My granddaughter is an budding artist so I am sure she will appreciate the artistic and the fairytale aspects of this card!

Therese

Boho Bangles - third time's a charm!

Here is my final boho bangle!!! I was very tempted to create my second bracelet exactly like my first except in different colours.  Instead I decided to use fabric strips which is what he uses in the video.  I used a short piece of bias trim I had in my stash in this beautiful orange/yellow plaid.  You cannot even tell it is a plaid!!  I chose large seed beads that coordinated with the lines of thread in the fabric - yellow, turquoise, leaf green and red.  I created clusters instead of an all over pattern.  I doubled up the reds in the middle of the clusters just to change things up a bit.  I also used gold wire on this one because it coordinated the best.  I also added a large turquoise feature between the last two clusters by using a few slightly larger beads and layering dyed shells on both sides of the central turquoise

bead.  I really like the colour combinations in this one!!

The girls on the group have been saying that once you get started making these it is hard to stop!!  Considering that they are so easy to make and require very little supplies there is no reason not to have an armful that coordinate with your summer outfits!!
I am hoping that these will coordinate with my partners summer attire!!
Therese

Boho bangles - the second time around

Here are the supplies I used for my second bangle - taped zip tie, blue 28 gauge wire, sheer ribbon and some blue, pink and clear beads.  I overlapped the ends of the zip tie before applying the red TUCK tape. This tape is very sticky and is used to seal sheathing.  DH has used it for several other purposes as well.  Two years ago it was to seal the holes in the vinyl siding created by LARGE hailstones.  You can see in the photo that I did not overlap the ends on that one - it really peaks where the tape just folds over.  I redid it and added a short piece of extra zip tie over the gap which works much better.  You will see what I did with that one in the next posting.  I used the same shimmery blue/pink ribbon that I used on the first one, wrapping it all the way around my zip tie armature.  I did not have enough beads left over from the first one so I went looking for more beads.  I found some blue and pink ones that worked well together so I simply added the clear seed beads to create this one.  I alternated the pink and the blue beads and added a clear bead between them.  The first time the pattern worked out perfectly - finishing up exactly where I had started.  Not so lucky with this one so I just finished up with three clear beads.  Worked out fine!!

Therese

Boho bangles

Boho Bangles!!

I signed up for this swap because it sounded interesting and was a project I had never tried before!

 I find swaps are a great way to try a "new to me" technique or project.
A link was provided for us to preview the technique - Stackable Bangles by Mark Montano.  After watching the video and perusing the supplies I went looking for zip ties, beads, ribbon and wire!!

I had to modify my zip ties because they were not long enough for the bangles I needed to make for my partner.  We all provided our measurements so our partners could create a bracelet which would fit.  I created my armature by wrapping to each other a zip tie and a hair elastic with heavy weight thread and tied off the ends.  Next, I wrapped the armature with a length of shimmery blue/pink organza ribbon.  Bead were next!!  I found some pink, blue, clear and pearl beads which all looked good together and worked with the ribbon.
 I cut a length of blue 28 gauge wire, created a loop around the armature and secured the wire by twisting the end around body of the wire.  I started wrapping the wire around the armature adding one bead at a time leaving the bead on the outside edge of the bracelet.                        

I chose to repeat a pattern - blue, pearl, pink and clear. These beads were pretty much the same size - some plastic and the others glass seed beads.  I really like the look of this bracelet but found that I had measured too closely and my bracelet was too small once I had wrapped it with ribbon and beads.  So it was not going to be suitable for my partner and sadly is also too small for me so I will have to find a new home for it.
After a bit of reflection I decided to create my armature differently for my next bangle and go with a version much closer to what was suggested in the video.  I found that the elastic on the outside of the zip tie made it difficult to position the beads evenly.  The way of creative discovery is trial and error!!

Therese

White on white wedding card

I made a couple of wedding cards today!!  I have been inspired by the white on white cards I have been seeing on Splitcoast Stampers and thought I would give it a try.  I die cut the oval frame (SX) out of white cardstock and backed it with vellum onto which I had stamped and silver embossed my greeting.  I used the die cut as a guide to stamp my greeting by laying it over the sheet of vellum and stamping through the opening.  I drew a pencil line around the die cut and then trimmed out the vellum oval using regular scissors. I had to trim a little more in a couple of places but I wanted to make sure that the hearts and spaces were backed with the vellum as well.  Once they lined up well I attached the vellum to the back of the die cut using double sided tape.  I left both sides free of tape so I could insert lengths of white vintage seam binding between the frame and the vellum on both sides.  I cut a white layer and embossed it with the Musical Flourishes embossing folder (CB).  Because this is a large card I had to emboss it twice.  I was very careful when placing my spacer over the embossing folder to ensure that the pressure was only applied to the design and not to the edge of the embossing folder.  The edge will often give you an impression when you put it through your Big Kick and I wanted to avoid that mark.  I also wanted to avoid flattening the embossing which I had already done with that edge when I put it through the second time.  It was worth being careful because the layer turned out beautiful.  I added 3D foam tape to the back of the frame, positioned it on my embossed layer and adhered the ends of my seam binding to the back of it using double sided tape.  I layered this large element to a white card front.  

I really like white on white for wedding cards and these turned out great. I used a different embossing folder on the other one but otherwise they are identical.  That is not usually my style but I wanted to be time efficient and the cards are going in two different families that are provinces apart.  

Therese

For a special guy

DH is having a birthday on the weekend!!  To be sure that his card was ready on time I decided to work on it today!!  I was inspired by a card on Splitcoast Stampers that featured strips of decorative papers so I went looking in my scrap bucket to see if I could find several that coordinated.  Fortunately, I did and I also found a little frame left over from these cards that was the right colour to be my accent.  I started by punching HAPPY on one strip and then arranging the rest of them til  I was happy with the look of them.  The strips overlapped just a bit so I glued them to each other to create a full background for my card. Next, I used my homemade stamp positioner to stamp "birthday" on the one below the punched one in brown and embossed it with clear embossing powder.   I glued my background to the front of a brown card.  I added a strip stamped with a leafy background and glued my little green frame over it.  I found a leaf just the right colour in my bucket of leaf punchies.  It still needed a bit of something so I added dots to the bottom of each strip of decorative paper with a fine tip Sharpie!!  That was better!!  My card is ready to go for the weekend!!

Therese

Birthday card with a tissue paper layer

Another card I created last week and am posting today!!  The flower image is from Anji's Antics.  I laser printed it, trimmed it close and coloured it with watercolours then layered it onto dark purple. I used the same purple cardstock for my card front, added a layer of red tissue paper and then mounted a layer of yellow decorative paper.  I mounted my image using 3D foam tape over the paper, added a strip of red cardstock below it and mounted my layered and sponged greeting over it. The greeting is colour printed, punched out (SU), sponged with a bit of purple ink and then backed with a yellow punchie which as been split in the middle to allow it to show at the top and bottom.
I really like the way the tissue paper gave me a soft red colour between the yellow and the purple. I will be using tissue paper as a layer again!!  It adds dimension and soft colour!!

Therese

Pressed botanicals for exchange cards

I needed two cards for my monthly card exchange so went looking for some cool paper to use as a background.   I found this botanical paper I used on these cards and thought that would do very well for spring cards!!  I created the background paper by sandwiching pressed botanicals between two pieces of white tissue paper using Matte Modge Podge.  I love it!!
I cut the background paper to fit a white layer I had trimmed to fit on my purple card fronts.  I used a glue stick to adhere them just in the middle and then used my sewing machine with white thread to stitch them together and incorporated a yellow strip of cardstock while I was at it.  I glued this decorative layer to my card front and added a punched colour printed greeting (SU) overlapping the strip!!
The botanical paper really needs to be backed with white to highlight the colour and detail of the paper.  Only a few more pieces of this paper left but I have scanned it so I can always print off a few sheets but it will not have the same translucency and texture!!

Therese

Art Quiltie - a butterfly for April

Just finished my butterfly art quiltie for our April swap!!
 


I started with a white on white piece of cotton (4" x 4") and added two layers of die cut fabric.  I cut the main butterfly (SX) from some bright fabric backed with heat & bond and the outline from white iron on muslin. The muslin was very bright in contrast to the fabric so I used watercolours (SU) to dye it  - blue, purple and pink.  I used a black sharpie to colour the body.  After removing the release paper from the back of the large butterfly I ironed it to the white fabric and then positioned the lacy wings and the body over it and ironed them into place.  Love how it worked out!! Next I added batting and layered both of them over a larger turquoise square of cotton.  I double folded the edge of the turquoise over the white and stitched it with a running stitch all the way around with white embroidery floss.  I outlined the butterfly with purple floss and added antenna with black floss.  To add texture to the white background I used scattered running stitches in white floss and added a few pearly seed beads as I went.  Finally, I added two turquoise sequins held in place using pearly seed beads.  Love the feel of the textured areas!!

Therese

Birthday ATC card

Made this card last week and am just getting it posted today!!  I started with the focal image, an ATC from my collection which features a paper napkin layer embossed with clear embossing powder which I layered onto red.  I adhered it to a white card front to which I had added a blue layer embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder (SU) which I just recently purchased when my sister, Sylvia, hosted an online party.  I added a length of yellow gros grain ribbon.  I inserted the end on the left hand side through a slit I cut on the spine of the card and used double sided tape to secure both ends to the inside front of the card.  I added this greeting which I cut using the smallest Deco Labels framelit (SU) after I laser printed it and then watercoloured it to coordinate with the card.   Another one to add to the stash!

Therese

Cards for a baby gift

A new baby!!  New Mom's are always short on time and resources so I made a set of cards for my friend's daughter who just had a baby boy!!
I used green card fronts and layered on a trimmed quarter sheet of embossed decorative cardstock. It is green cardstock that was colour printed with an all over design using an inkjet printer.  I embossed it using a star & frame embossing folder and I sanded it to reveal the cardstock.  Love this technique!
I stamped the greetings (SU) in blue on white cardstock, trimmed them close and watercoloured the borders green.  I added a length of navy gros grain ribbon across the embossed frame and mounted the greeting over it using 3D foam tape.  I wrapped the cards in hand decorated paper and tied the package with bakers twine.  A little gift all ready to go!!

A few more cards from my stash!

With such luck at finding a stash of supplies for the last batch of Christmas cards I made I thought I would raid the box on my desk for any supplies that could be used for Christmas cards!!  Here are the cards I made with what I found!!

For this one on the left I used a embossed layer that features three snowmen!!  I found a colour printed greeting which I trimmed and pierced and then glued in place above my little guys. Next, I sewed this layer to the front of a white card using white thread in my sewing machine!!  Found enough supplies to make three of these!!

For these three I used three wax resist backgrounds that feature the same embossing folder with the three snowmen!!  I trimmed them to fit on coordinating card fronts and added colour printed and embossed vellum greetings which I found in my stash.  If you colour print on vellum using an inkjet printer and you are fast you can coat your wet printing with embossing powder and then heat it!! 

 A lovely embossed image!!  

So another 6 cards to add to my stash!!  34+6=40 cards!!   I am very happy to have been able to find these supplies and get all caught up on my Christmas cards for this year!!

Therese

Stash busting Christmas cards

 I have been working on Christmas cards for a bit now and in the process have found a little stash of supplies that have made short work of creating these cards.  It is amazing what ends up in a box when  an artist person has to make their space presentable in a hurry!!  Not exactly sure when that particular event took place but it was a boon to getting caught up on my Christmas cards for this year!!

The top three cards:  On the left - embossed ornaments.  This embossed layer was empty in the middle and I was finding it hard to find something that would work inside the space so I simply trimmed both sides off and added plaid ribbon there instead and glued all three pieces to a green layer.  I adhered it to a large white card and added a stamped layered greeting and I was done!

Middle:  This embossed layer had a greeting stamped on the front that really did not work so I turned it over and added a strip which I have trimmed from a commercial card using decorative scissors.  I sponged it a bit with green ink before I glued the greeting to the bottom of the embossed layer and trimmed the ends even with the sides.  I layered it onto a dark green cardstock leaving a small margin and glued this element to a large off white card front.  

Right:  I love this embossed tree but it really fill the space so I decided to punch JOY with my letter punch set and added a couple lengths of silver cording just above the greeting and just below the tree branches.  I used double sided tape on the back to keep them in place.  I had intended to let the green layer show through the letters but in the process of assembling the card I had a scrap of red on my desk and decided to see what it would look like behind the letters.  Excellent!!  So I glued it in place before I glued my embossed layer to the green layer which I glued to a large white card front.  

 Left:  I love the look of white on white so I layered the snowflake embossed layer to a large white card front, added the greeting which is embossed on vellum using silver embossing powder and was just sitting in my stash!!  I used double sided tape behind the words to adhere it to my embossed layer.  It still needed a bit of something - so I added a silver fabric snowflake embellishment using a large glue dot.  Done!!

Right:  I decided to use this colour printed vellum greeting on this embossed layer so I cut the right hand side into a flag end used a piece of double sided tape to glue it to my embossed layer.  I used a piece of striped gros grain ribbon cut at a diagonal to cover the edge of the greeting and down the left hand side of my layer.  I layered this piece onto red and then onto a large bright green card.  

Left:  This embossed layer features round ornaments and the left hand side was blank.  I found a piece of ribbon just the right width for that space and glued down a piece using double sided tape.  I flagged the bottom end and then layered it onto red cardstock and then onto a large green card front.  I found this perfect round greeting in my stash and adhered it with a square of 3D foam tape.  Done!!

Right:  I was able to use another strip of the same ribbon on this card.  I layered the embossed piece onto red, added my ribbon and attached both ends to the back of the layer using double sided tape.  Next, I added the whole layer to a large navy card front.  I found this greeting in my stash, trimmed it down, layered it onto green and attached it to my card using 3D foam tape.  Done!!

Making cards with a stash of found elements was wonderful.  I expect this must have been leftovers from a class so lots of the work had already been done.  

So this added another 7 to my stash!!  27+7=34!!  I cannot believe how many cards I have managed to make up in the last week or so!!

Therese

Christmas cards - bonus!!

 I have been working on Christmas card as of late and found these four sitting on a not often used corner of my desk.  They are ones that I refurbished from the stack that Mom gave me to reuse that she has saved over the years.  These are ones I have sent her and I thought it would be nice to give them another go around.
For three of them I trimmed off the fronts and remounted them onto new card fronts.  The red one simply needed a new insert and was good to go!!

This is like an artistic architectural dig!!  The first one - foiled Christmas tree goes back probably twenty years.  I applied glue to the green cardstock using a brush and when it was tacky I burnished metallic foil into it - gold for the three and green for the star!!  That was fun!! The wisemen and the holly are both handmade paper cards (fifteen years old) which I created on the screen and then couched.  I used watercoloured tissue paper to create the sky and torn handmade paper to create the wisemen on the top one.  The gold start was stitched on after it was dry!!  Still love it!!  For the lower one, the holly was created on the screen and couched off.  Next I dipped a sheet of white. laid the gold embossed greeting on tissue paper onto the screen then laid the couched holly leaves over that.  That was couched and dried.  Once dry, I glued the red berries - red cardstock circle punchies and added a bit of detail in the holly using green watercolour.  This whole element was then glued to the front of a handmade paper card and an insert was tied in.  Once I tore off the front I simply stitched it to a white card front and added a new insert.  The red one (eight years old) features torn strip of antiqued music sheet overlaid with a cardstock strip in brown and red ribbon over that.  The greeting was then stamped and the layered image (SU) was added using 3D foam tape.
So a total bonus that I found these four cards sitting on my desk.  So I count 23+4 = 27 as a total for Christmas cards made this year though I am not sure these were refurbished this year but they went into the stash this year and that is what counts!!

Therese

More Christmas cards!

Four more Christmas cards for my stash!!!  I made these with the JOYs that I cut out when I made these cards.   I made three of the pink and one of the purple.  I cut the frames using a small frame die (SX) and backed them with a coordinating colour.  Next, I glued my letters to fit inside the frame.  I mounted the decorative paper to the card front, added my ribbon and mounted my focal element overlapping the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  For the purple one I added three short pieces of silver cording tied to the ribbon and for the pinks ones I just added one short piece of the same organza ribbon.  I added glitter gel pen to the frame of the purple one and iridescent glitter glue on the pink ones.  The decorative paper on the purple one is some background paper I made using watercolour and a custom stamp I made using fun foam snowflakes.  The design was very subtle so to punch it up a bit I added some stamped snowflakes to it.
I have 14 cards left over from last year, added five ornament ones and these four make a total of 23!!

Therese

Bridal shower thank you cards

I created a set of these cards as a gift for a bridal shower coming up next week!!  I pretty much copied a card I had downloaded from the internet and was going to provide a link to the original but I can no longer find the source.  I would have thought it was from Splitcoast Stampers but I was unsuccessful at finding it there.  If this is your creation please let me know and I will add the link here.
I created the curvy line for the dress in Corel Draw and added the word "Thanks".  I printed two cards on an 8.5" x 11", trimmed the cards apart and then cut out the dress shape using scissors.  I cut to the inside of the line so there would be no toner left on the inside of the card.   I used an eyelet border framelit (SU) to embellish the bottom of the dress, a flourish embossing (SX) on the skirt, added a piece of wide white grosgrain ribbon at the bodice using double sided tape and added a shimmery flower punchie using a glue dot.  Done!!!
Very happy with how they worked out and I am sure will be appreciated by a busy bride to be!!
Therese

Ornament Christmas cards

My first Christmas cards for this year!!  I usually make them monthly but for some reason I have not managed that so far this year. I am committing to getting on track though because I know it is great to have all of my cards ready at the end of the year!!
I have had this sheet of glitter paper sitting since last fall when I made these cards.  Some time after that I printed off these ornaments (CLKER) thinking they would go well together and there they sat until yesterday.  I watercoloured the ornaments blue, fussy cut them once they were dry, used silver gel pen on the tops and added iridescent blue Stickles to them.  I laid them out and let them dry overnight.  In the meantime, I cut my glittery paper into four and used a set of the Cookie Cutter letter dies to cut out Joy on the lower right hand corner.  This is one of the sets my daughter lent me last week.  Next, I embossed them with the D'vine Swirl (CB) embossing folder.   For the fifth card I punched the greeting with my letter punches into a dark blue cardstock layer and embossed it with the Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder.  I punched a hole at the top of the ornaments and added a hanger - using white vintage seam binding for the white cards and silver gray organza for the dark card.  I adhered the ornaments to the front of the cards using 3D foam tape and glued the ends to the back of the layers using double sided tape.  Next, I glued these layers to the card fronts.  Unfortunately, on the dark card I was a little too enthusiastic with my sponging when I did the edge of the card and the greeting was no longer looked as crisp as I wanted it to be so I backed it with a piece of white cardstock which was more what I was looking for.
That makes five for this year.  I will have to count up the few I have left over from last year and start a running total!!  Have you started your Christmas cards??  If you are needing some inspiration my sister, Sylvia, is running a year long monthly Christmas Card challenge which can provide some framework for getting them done regularly.

Therese

Artsy address labels

 It was time to make another batch of address labels so I thought I would document the process to inspire you to do the same.
I started by printing my address onto labels. Mine are 1" x 4" and I have printed 6 addresses on each label.  I used a word processing program to lay them out and laser printed them.  I am using this size of label because we bought LOTS of them for a couple of bucks at a garage sale years ago  - they are plentiful and inexpensive!!
Once printed I apply watercolour to them in a variety of colours using a large watercolour brush.  A person could just a easily sponge them with ink, rub them with chalk or colour them with pencils or crayons, etc!!!

Once they are coloured and dry I used my paper cutter to cut them apart which gave me strips of address labels in a wonderful variety of colours!!
Use what you have!!  There are a wide variety of labels available so pick what suits you and use a word processor to organize your addresses and print the labels.  Then, have some fun and make them pretty any colourful way you wish. They will be unique and the next time you make a batch experiment with a different colour medium or a different technique to make them all together different if you wish!!  Just another way to be creative!!

Therese

Spring 4x4 chunky book page

Created this 4" x 4" chunky book page for a swap on one of my groups that was themed - spring, green and watercolour.  I started with a piece of watercolour paper which I created when I was playing with waterbased markers for this project. I cut it to 4" square and used a set of Cookie Cutter alphabet dies to cut out the word spring.  I do not own any of these dies but my daughter lent a couple of sets last week so I decided to play with them today.  Very cool!!  My sister, Sylvia, has been using her SU Alphabet framelits set to create these and these cards.  I do have a set of alphabet punches which I have used several times which gives a similar look but is smaller and a bit less versatile.
I layered a piece of green cardstock on the back and glued it into place being careful to ensure the glue would not show through the letters.  I added glue to the three fall out pieces (one on the P and two on the G) and repositioned them in the letters then into the holes so they would be properly aligned in the word.  Once they were dry I removed the letters.  Excellent!!  I stamped the silhouette of the birds in the tree (SU) in black, doodled in the border and the dots on my letters using a black fine tip sharpie and added the wire using the same marker.  I made up this quote and stamped it on my page using dark green ink and my Making Memories magnetic alphabet stamps.  I had to use my homemade Lego positioning jig - see it here - to ensure that the first line ended up between the letters.  I had been wondering what I was going to use to add a bit of dimension to my project but it all became clear when I stamped the last three words upside down.  I restamped it on a scrap of the same watercolour paper, trimmed it to size and used a few pieces of cardstock to elevate a bit from the page's surface!!  I used the fine tip sharpie to add the branch in the corner and some music notes among the words.  I used a piece of cardstock which I had scribbled iall over n green gel pen to create my back.  I applied several washes of watercolour which highlighted the gel pen because they resisted the colour.  I glued my back to the front, added the same border and my credits and it is ready to be mailed off to my partner!

Therese