Mother's Day cards created reusing card fronts

Mother's Day is coming and I am preparing a few cards for my stash.  I decided to see how many I could make reusing old card front which have been donated to me.  

For the first card I trimmed out a floral element then gold embossed a greeting on the lower left, added a pink foil layer and glued this large element to a light blue green card.  I added a beautiful pink silk ribbon gluing the ends to the inside of the card and tied on a short length with a single knot to simulate a bow.  I slit the spine of my card to insert my ribbon before gluing.  

For the right hand card, I pretty much repeated the process.  I trimmed the beautiful rose image, silver embossed a greeting, added a silk ribbon with a simulated bow and glued this large element to a coordinating red card front.  

For the center card it was a bit more complicated.  Once I had trimmed out the floral image there remained some writing on the top right hand side so I created a "patch" that coordinated, layered them and punched both layers at the same time.  Next, I positioned my patch in the opening and taped it into place on the back.  I added a small silk flower over the area and secured it with a rhinestone brad.  Next, I wanted to add a ribbon down the right hand side so I removed the flower/brad and ran the ribbon between the tines of the brad and reassembled the embellishment.  I glued the ends of the organza ribbon to the back of the layer and tied on a short length to simulate a bow.  Like how that worked out!!  I had no greetings that would fit in the open spaces so chose to punch a hole and mount a small sponged greeting to the back instead.  I added dots all the way around using a silver gel pen.  I glued this large element to a coordinating light blue green card front.  

Some times reusing a card front takes more time than creating from scratch but it is nice to be able to reuse those beautiful images.  

Therese

A few more Easter cards

 I made up a few more Easter cards for my stash!!  These two were created using one used greeting card with beautiful crocuses on it.  I cut around the crocuses from the front of the card and layered it on an embossed purple card front and added a layered punchie greeting.  

For the second card I used the image on the inside of the card and trimmed it to size.  I added a yellow organza ribbon to which I tied a short length with one knot to simulate a bow.  I glued this large element to a purple card front.  I added a laser printed layered punchie greeting to the lower right.   

For this card, I layered two coordinating pieces of decorative paper to a purple card front and overlaid a white ribbon where they met.  I cut a slit in the spine of the card with my slot punch (SU) so I could insert my ribbon before gluing both ends to the inside of my card with double sided tape.  I stamped an Easter greeting in dark green (SU) and punched it out with a 1.75" punch (SU) and then layered it onto a purple scalloped circle which I cut with my Nestibilities.  I sponged the edges of my greeting before gluing it to my circle and then adhered this element over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I love this crocus paper!! Reminds me of heading out in the spring with my aunts on the farm to find the wild crocuses!!

Therese

A couple Mother's Day cards with reused elements

I made a couple of Mother's Day cards to add to my stash!!
For the one on the left, I started with a pink card front.  My next layer was trimmed from a used card.  I added half of a white paper doily and covered the edge with a strip sitting on my desk that was trimmed from a used card which I stitched in place with my sewing machine.  I added this beautiful collage element tag which was a RAK in a previous swap on a light blue organza ribbon gluing the ends to the back of the layer with double sided tape.  I added a couple pieces of tape in behind so it would stay in place.  I glued this large element to my card front and finished my card with a round watercoloured circle punchie greeting (Desert Diva).  I like the shabby chic look of the vintage image with the lace and ribbon.
For the card on the left I stared with a trimmed layer from a used card which I embossed only on the left hand side avoiding the beautiful gold edge on the bottom.  I layered it onto pink and then onto a light pink card.  For my focal element I started with a small colour laser printed floral element (Pixabay) to which I digitally added a greeting using a font.  I layered it onto green and tore of the bottom.  Added a little piece of white fiber which I tied on the front with a double knot and then layered onto pink which I also tore on the bottom.  I glued this on my card front on the left hand side to cover writing from the original card.  Pretty happy with both of these cards!!
Mother's Day will be here faster than we expect!!

Therese






pab plus a font
desert diva greeting

A beautiful thinking of you card that features a butterfly embellishment

I started this card with the butterfly!  It is a plastic magnet with beautiful colour and detail. Love it!!  I cut off the magnet and it made the perfect embellishment for this card.  The orange background is two triangles of scrap stamped cardstock which I adhered together using handmade faux washi tape and it was the perfect colour to coordinate with the butterfly!!  I added this yellow cardstock paperclip which I die cut a while back and has been sitting in my stash.  It was the perfect colour as well.  I glued the back of the paper clip to the orange layer then adhered my butterfly with two little strips of 3D foam tape which gives it great dimension!!  I dug through my serendipity stash and found this decorative paper which worked nicely so I trimmed off a piece and adhered it to my brown card front after I had embossed the right hand edge.  I added my butterfly focal element over that and finished off my card with a layered punchie greeting.    Worked out so well and I love the deep rich colours!!         Therese

A light house birthday card with LOTS of texture

Had a whole lot of fun with this card!!  I received an art postcard from my aunt just after Christmas because she received my exchange gift on Christmas Day.  She is an artist and this was a cool postcard made up from art of a friend of hers.  I saved it because it was cool!!  I have been sort of brainstorming how to best use it and today I figured it out!!  I trimmed it to size and then embossed it with a gears embossing folder.  Next, I sanded it which very quickly really gave it lots of texture!!  I was going to colour wash it as well but in the end decided not to.  I went looking for an image to use with it and found this paper in my serendipity stash which I thought would work pretty well so I trimmed it and stamped it with a light house (Class Act ) and a birthday greeting (SU) in black ink.  Very happy with that!!  I lightly colour washed the image and the background of the greeting before tying on a short piece of twine with a double knot.  I added a piece of torn vellum to my postcard background and then adhered it to a brown card front.  I added my lighthouse focal element over it using 3D foam tape.
I really love how it worked out!!!    Therese

Watercolour and white embossing resist on watercolour paper

My grand daughter was visiting this week and we spend some time in the craft room.  She was working on her own projects so I got started on a technique that I have been wanting to revisit - white embossing resist!!  I discovered some small sheets of watercolour paper in my stash a while back and thought they would work very well for this technique which I have been seeing on Splitcoast Stampers lately.  I started with a couple of small clear stamps that have not seen much,  if any use.  I stamped them with Versamark on the small sheets of watercolour paper and embossed them with white embossing powder. I added a greeting (SU) under the floral swirl and embossed it as well.   I used regular palette watercolours on the left hand one by simply applying several colours with a very wet paintbrush until I was happy with the look of it.   For the second one, I used distress inks applied to a craft sheet, spritzed with water and laid the paper in the puddle.  I kept dipping until I was happy with the look!!  Once dry, I trimmed the sheets neatly and stitched them to coordinating layers (4" x 5.25") using my sewing machine. Next I layered them onto coordinating card fronts.  I finished off the left hand one with star punchies which I painted with pearly acrylic paint and I used colourful sequins on the other one.  Very happy with how these turned out and I will be using them for my exchange cards for my partners this month.    Therese

Serendipity backgrounds

My grand daughter was visiting this week and we made some quiltie serendipity backgrounds with the scraps I had sitting on my desk from last week's class.   She managed over 20 and I had just over a dozen!!  It was nice to be just gluing paper down on old card backs and spending time together even if not much was being said.  She has already used one of hers on a card!!  I will put mine in my stash and I am sure they will emerge shortly in my next few cardmaking sessions!!               Therese

Tulips for a get well card

I colour printed several of these tulip tags from Graphics Fairy when I was printing images for other cards a few days ago.  They are really cute and came in a sheet with several other Easter images.  I trimmed the image to the edge of the design, ran a marker around the edge and then ran a brush full of water all the way around it and it created an automatic colour wash of the edge!! The versatility of waterbased markers!!  I found this nice polka dot paper which coordinated nicely so I trimmed out a piece and glued it to a red card front.  I inserted a piece of red organza ribbon through the hole in the tag and then glued both ends to the inside of my card snipping a slot on the spine for it using my slot punch (SU).  I adhered my tag to my card using 3D foam tape and added a laser printed layered punchie greeting (SU)  just below it to finish off my card. It is a springy card which will work nicely to cheer someone who is under the weather.

Therese

Be you card featuring a colour washed paper doily

A "for any reason card" embellished with a graphic from a sheet of Adorn It scrapbook paper. My sister gave a selection of them to me for my birthday a couple of years ago and I am working on using them up.  They are very beautiful and the paper is good quality so they take watercolour very nicely!!  I trimmed the image, watercoloured the flowers and words and layered it onto a decorative paper that featured roses and pearls which I have always thought was very beautiful. I embossed my dark green card front with a corner embossing folder (SU) doing it twice to get both corners that would be showing once I glued on my colour washed paper doily.  I have some smaller pieces from broken plates for my Big Shot which allow me to selectively use certain areas of an embossing folder or die and in this case allowed me to get both corners embossed with two passes without debossing any of the other area.  Fun!!  I glued my paper doily in place and trimmed off what went over the edge of my card.  I added a length of shimmery organza ribbon over the doily gluing both ends to the inside with double sided tape.  I then mounted my focal element using 3D foam tape which nicely finished off my card.    Therese

Leather leaf embellishment from reused leather

I have been collecting leather to make die cuts for cardmaking and recently I finally cut the pieces up and die cut as many leaves and acorns as I could out of them.  They were both dark brown - a tanned leather wallet and a pair of suede slippers both beyond being used any more.  I got a whole bucket full and I am looking forward to creating with them.
For this card, I started with the leather leaf and created a background for it from light brown cardstock which I embossed (TH-SX) and colour washed around the edges.  I added a small piece of double sided tape to keep it in place and then used my sewing machine to stitch it in place all the while giving it veining detail!! I tied a small piece of twine to the stem.   Next, I went looking for a background in my stash and found this piece of paste paper in dark brown which I made years ago which really worked with my leaf.  I trimmed a piece and layered it onto green. I glued my leaf embellishment into place then added two brown mini brads - top and bottom. Next, I glued this large element to a black card front and to finish it off I added a colour washed Decorative Label (SU) greeting punchie!!  Very happy with how this one turned out and I look forward to more with my little stash of leather embellishements.       Therese

Art Quiltie with a locket and key with hidden quotes

I am participating in an Art Quiltie swap on my fabric postcard group!!  I have really enjoyed creating these little works of art and this one was no exception!!
I started with the folded fabric points which I found in my fabric stash after I moved a few years ago. I do not recall exactly which project I was working on at the time of their creation but I have a little baggie of them.
I chose 8 of them - 4 blue, 4 red and then found a 4" x 4" precut floral square in a coordinating yellow which I used for the front of my quiltie.  I positioned the points around the edge and stitched them in place with a line of machine stitching very close to the outside edge.  I thought I was being very careful in laying them out but I see that they are all off a bit at the points which I did not notice until much later in the process.  I could not undo at that point so it is how it is. I cut a piece of batting and stitch it to the front by folding back the points and stitching as close to the first seam as I could.  On hindsight it might have been better to do that seam first but I did not have that vision before I started.  I hand lettered some quotes onto fusible fabric label tape and adhered them below the points.  I stitched one of  my fabric collage into the center, finished adding the quote in fabric label and stitched on a small locket and key charms.  Next, I chose a yellow tiny gingham fabric square (4.5") for the back of my quiltie.  I added fusible webbing to the edges, positioned my quiltie to the wrong side, folded the edges over the front and fused them in place.  That finished off the edges very neatly.  Wanting to add a bit of hand stitching I did blanket stitch all the way around using dark blue crochet thread.  Once finished I thought a few beads would be nice as well so I added yellow, red and blue beads (seed & longer ones) all the way around using light weight yellow crochet thread.  That finished it off nicely and gives it a handmade look!!  It is off to my partner as we speak!!  I hope my partner will find the quotes on the inside front below the petals!!  A bit of creative fun!!

Beautiful cross on an Easter card

An Easter card with a beautiful cross!!  This image is from Art by Jean and she has a wide variety of beautiful images for download on her blog including backgrounds!!
I colour printed the cross on ivory cardstock and layered it onto a blue green cardstock.  I used a blue green card, added a yellow background paper to which I had adhered a lacy die cut and embossed border (SU) which was colour washed with yellow watercolour to tone it down a bit.  I glued the background to the card, adhered my focal element and then added a layered laser printed punchie greeting.
I really like that the darker edge of the decorative paper creates the sense of a line in the design and putting the cross askew a bit allowed my greeting to nest into one of the scallops.  Perfect!!

Therese

Easter lilies in deep colours

Here is another Easter card that is a bit out of  my comfort zone in the way of colours.  I started with a green card which I stamped with green ink using two different homemade stamps to create an interesting background.  I added an embossed dark blue layer and then a strip of gold embossed mesh (window screening) which I flagged on one end.  I layered the laser printed lily image (Clipartfox) onto orange before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I chose the colours from the image - green, blue and orange so it works on one level but the jury is still out if they are too intense for Easter.    Therese

Easter cards with printed vintage graphics

For these two cards I expanded my mind to include more toned down colours for Easter cards using blues, browns and greens in deeper shades that I would ordinarily.  I am happy with them though they are a bit somber for spring Easter cards. They no doubt will suit someone.
I used a greeny blue card for the first one and added two squares of brown cardstock just off set a bit from each other.  The laser printed vintage image (Graphics Fairy) was layered onto  pink and then onto yellow before being adhered to my card front.  Love those little blue birds!!   For my second card, I used a vintage image from Clipartpal which I laser printed and trimmed.  I started with a blue card front and added a green embossed frame die cut (SX) to which I had added two punchie eyelet borders (SU) in brown top and bottom.  My image fit perfectly in the center!  I added three little ribbon flags to my image before mounting it in the opening of the frame with 3D foam tape - brown, yellow and green which I trimmed with flag ends.
It is good to stretch ourselves creatively, to expand our ideas, to do something out of our comfort zones regularly.  That is how new things are invented and fun serendipities come to bless our lives.

Therese

Layered Easter card with a digital greeting

In all the years I have been  making cards I have always thought that this crocus paper is the very best for Easter cards.  Unfortunately, I have only four small pieces left and I am not even sure where I can buy more.  I went looking for pieces of decorative paper that would coordinate and found three - green, yellow and purple!  I layered all the strips onto a green rectangle leaving spaces on the top and bottom and in between them.  I then adhered this large layer to the front of a green card.  I used a punchie greeting which I created using a digital file from Netty's cards. She has a huge collection of greetings and many round ones which can be printed the right size to be punched with round punches.  For this one I used a 1.75" round punch (SU).  I laser printed it on ivory and watercoloured it with yellow and purple to coordinate with my card.  I layered it onto a purple scalloped circle which I cut with my Nestibilities.  Very happy with how this one turned out!!
Therese

A beautiful Easter card in blue and green

For this card I used a digitl image of a cross from Clipartkid which I laser printed on ivory and punched with my 1.75" round punch (SU).  I went looking in my stash for something to layer it to and found these two large scallops that I very much liked together.  It took a while to convince myself that I did not need to add another layer in between.  I like the space!!  I chose a soft blue card and added this soft decorative leafy paper (inside of a used card) as a background.  I added some organza ribbon adhering both ends to the inside of the card and then adhered my focal element over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I punched the label from the green layer before I glued my focal element together which insured that it was exactly the right colour.  I layered a small laser printed greeting to the green label and then adhered it to my card front below the focal element.  To finish off my card I tied a short length of the same ribbon to the length on my card using one knot to simulate a bow.
Happy with this one too!              Therese

All Occasion Stack Class - just strips of paper, a greeting and an embellishment

 I always leave the easiest card for last in my class!!  For these cards I sorted through my scraps and cut a wide variety of strips both in length (at least 5.5") and width.  Next, I set aside 7-8 that coordinated for each card kit.  I put the strips into envelopes and next created the greetings so they would coordinate with the strips printing them on ivory or white cardstock. I trimmed the individual greeting and added them to the envelopes.  Next, I cut white and ivory layers - 4" x 5.25" -to coordinate with the greetings and put them into the envelopes.  Next, I chose a card front that coordinated with what I had already prepared and added them along with an insert to the envelopes.  Finally, I created custom embellishments using my punches along with sequins or rhinestones for the kits!!  It was fun to see them all come together and how well all the pieces worked together.  This card had the most flexibility in layout.  The stripes could be glued at an angle below or above the greeting from left to right or right to left, OR they could be glued vertically above or below a horizontal greeting, OR they could be glued horizontally above or below a horizontal greeting, OR they could be glued vertically above or below an angled greeting!!  It was fun to experiment with all the options.  Once a layout was chosen the strips and greeting were glued to the neutral layer, trimmed to the edge and glued to the card front.  The little embellishment was adhered where desired on the card using 3D foam tape.  Again, there were a wide variety of layouts created beyond what I had laid out as ideas by the creative bunch of cardmakers - some complete newbies who learned quickly and executed their cards very well.  
We had a wonderful time and lots of beautiful cards were created!!!
Therese

All Occasion Stack class - cut and circled

For my next card, I decided to feature decorative paper in hopes of reducing my stash!!  Not even dented!!  

I cut the decorative paper 3.75" x 5" and made two cuts - one in each direction and when the pieces were glued to the next layer it created a cross as the lower colour showed through.  I discovered that once cut the pieces provide a puzzle to be solved before they can be glued in place!! I chose to layer my circle greeting over the intersection of the lines but the creative ones at class chose many more options in both the cutting and the layout of these cards!!  The circle greetings were laser printed on white or ivory and punched with a 1.75" circle punch (SU).  They were layered onto scalloped circles which were die cut from coordinating cardstock using my Nestibilities.  I found most of these round greetings at Netty's cards.  She has a really good variety and some for every occasion.  The little turtle one is very cute and the floral element were found on line but I do not have a record of where I found them.    Therese

Handmade paper and stitching

When I was preparing the kits for this class I came across this beautiful handmade paper!  It was very thick and therefore I set it aside because it would not glue well. Yesterday, I created a card with it.  I cut the elements and stitched them in place instead of using glue.  That works very well!!  I love stitching handmade paper!!  I stitched the center to the flower then the border to the background paper.  I positioned the flower, situated the leaves and stitched them into place.  I repositioned the flower and stitched all around the center to anchor it to the background.  I positioned the greeting and stitched it into place as well.  Lastly, I stitched this large element to the front of an ivory card!!  LOVE IT!!               Therese

All Occasion Stack Class - handmade paper

I just taught a cardmaking class featuring all occasion cards as a fundraiser!!  The two classes went very well and I had some very creative participants who were not at all afraid to do their own thing so there was a wide variety of cards produced from the kits I prepared.  It is one of the very best things about teaching is that others will create with the supplies you provide things you would never have thought of doing!!  So much fun!!!
For this set of cards I decided to continue the theme I started with my middle of the week class and feature my own handmade paper.  

 So I trimmed down my handmade paper to 4" x 5.25" and glued it down with a generous layer of regular glue to a neutral card - white or ivory.  Handmade paper is very textured and requires a substantial amount of glue to be effective.  I die cut two different borders for the cards using a large Sizzix die.  You can see one of on these cards.  The other was a little zigzag.  The borders were glued to the cards using regular glue.  The large focal elements were layered & glued if need be and then glued over the border.  The little coordinating laser printed greeting punchies (SU) were also glued in place.

The cards really need some pressing to ensure a good adhesion of all the layers so I recommended that they be set  under weight when they got them home.
I created several focal elements - hearts, flowers, leaves and butterflies which were cut from coordinating handmade paper.  The flower were embellished die cut centers, the hearts had an extra little heart cut from cardstock, the butteflies had tied cording which created a body and antennae and the leaves had knotted twine as an accent.
I really love handmade paper and am glad that I decided to check out the papers I had in my boxes.  I will continue to feature handmade paper on my cards as time goes on!!!  Will consider making more this summer when the weather outside is warm and sunny and the sheets can dry outside.
Therese