Birthday card that features a die cut butterfly, a digital image and a punched greeting

Am getting back in the swing of things after a few weeks of other summer activities!!  A card for a friend having a birthday very soon!! 
I started with a piece of colour printed digital scrapbook paper and adhered it to a coordinating card front after trimming it to size.  I added a coordinating length of gros grain ribbon cut at an angle on the bottom edge and folded over the top and secured with double sided tape.  I watercoloured the laser printed digital image from Melonheadz adding some shimmer to the bee's wings. I layered it onto a layer of green white core cardstock and distressed the edges before mounting it to my card front with 3D foam tape.   I found a coordinating greeting punchie in my stash and mounted it below the image and centered on the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I added a champagne coloured die cut butterfly (SX) on the corner of the image using double sided tape.  I cut a bunch of these when I was visiting my sister last time.  As a final touch I added clear dimensional paint to the bee and laid it flat to dry.  Like the look!!      Therese

A fun thankyou card that features a coffee cup, a distressed background and some colourful ribbon

 This card started with a distressed background which I ripped in two and sponged the edges with brown.  I filled the gap with some printed collage paper overlaid with a coffee themed vellum before adhering this large element to a brown card front.  I added a bit of texture to the background by running my tracing wheel around the edges.  The focal element was a digital coffee cup image (CLKER) combined with a font greeting which was originally trimmed square on the top.  Wanting a more distinctive image I trimmed the top portion with a round Nestibilities die and placing my cutting pad to just cut the top rounded part.  Worked out well!!  I ripped off the bottom portion and sponged all the way around.  I watercoloured the image and added dimensional paint to the cup to give it a beautiful sheen.  Once it was dry, I added the little ribbon with flagged ends on the back and ran my tracing wheel across the bottom before adhering this large focal element to the front of my card with 3D foam tape.  I love how this one turned out!!            Therese

A few more of the laser printed and sponged greeting cards

I made a few of these a while back and wanted to make more as I had all sorts of ideas of for combining the large greetings with images.  The greetings are all from Desert Diva's blog and the images are from CLKER except the cupcakes which are from Beccy's Place.    You can check out the others I made here.
For the top left and the bottom right I sponged and then added watercolour to finish off the greetings.  For the other two it was just sponging.  The large greetings are fun and I combined them with the images digitally before laser printing them on white cardstock.  After cutting them apart I sponged them in appropriate colours and then layered them on coordinating cardstock!!  Love these!!!        Therese

A graduation card that features a digital image, lots of watercolour and some beautiful butterflies

I made this card for a special person who is graduated from high school this year.  

I laser printed the greeting (DESERT DIVA - digital) large on white cardstock and added watercolour until I was happy with it!!  After it was dry I adhered the panel to a deep maroon card front.  This is a large format card.  I added three butterflies - a large copper one (SX) and yellow one (SU) which I embellished with yellow and orange and a smaller one which echoes the copper of the large one.  I received this on in a swap so I am not sure of the maker.  I tied cording to the two smaller ones to create antenna.  I mounted them with 3D foam tape.  Really happy with how this one turned out!!

Therese

Three cards that all use the same sketch - an image, an embellishement and a large greeting

I am getting cards made for the next month for my family's special occasions!!!
It just sort of happened that I made three cards using the same sketch!!  It started with the top one - a birthday card for a special little girl!!
A scrapbook paper background glued to a coordinating card front.  I added a watercoloured image of a cupcake (digital laser printed) from Beary Wishes which I layered with a coordinating cardstock.  I added a green layer below the flag ended laser printed greeting which I embellished with my pattern tracing wheel.  I trimmed the green piece to the edge of the card on both sides and added two clear rhinestones to the greeting to add a bit of sparkle.  I did use shimmery watercolour on the icing of the cupcake to make it fun!!  I added a flower embellishment which was created using a flower punchie, a small flower sequin held together with a silver brad to finish off my card.  My next two cards were thank yous.  The pink one features a pink scrapbook paper background, a Birdie Brown little pin cushion laser printed digital image which I watercoloured and a layered laser printed greeting embellished with a couple rhinestones and some lines from the tracing wheel as well.  I finished it off with a little button die cut (CB) tied with a bit of white thread.  The last one features a teacup digital image from Cre8tive Hands which has been watercoloured and layered with cardstock, a colour printed digital background (Pixabay) adhered to a coordinating card front, an embellished layered greeting and a little heart 3D embellishment created from two little hearts die cuts.  Nice when you can make cards with the same sketch - it makes them a bit quicker.  All the supplies were from my stash!!  Therese

Made some cards with photos from photos calendars!!

 I wanted a few cards to add to my stash so I could make a nice set of cards for a gift so I decided to make a few of these simple sentiment cards with pages from photo calendars which I have received from my sister over the last few years.  I love the look of these cards because the photos make such great focal elements.  I have created a few greetings by combining frames with font greetings which I laser print on white cardstock, cut apart and then use as a layer between the photo and a coordinating card front.   You get four greeting layers from one sheet of white cardstock theses can be made up in batches fairly quickly!!  I do have to trim the photos as well because they are 4"x 4" once they are trimmed from the calendars.  These calendars featured teacups and tea pots, black and white architecture and a wide variety of nature shots!!  She has a few 2019 ones ready to go already for sales this fall.       Therese

Handmade cards featuring digital greetings and images along with some sponging

I found a card on Splitcoast Stampers that attracted me because of its large greeting so I took a bit of time to see what else was cool about it.  It was a CAS card with a large black greeting, some flowers stamped in black and some sponging on the lower portion of a white single layer card.  I really liked the look so I decided to make it my own.  I found a few fun greetings on DesertDiva's blog which worked for the greeting.  I found a good variety of images that I liked on CLKER so I combined them digitally and laser printed them onto white cardstock.  After cutting them apart I sponged the images with colours that worked with the images and then layered them onto coordinating coloured cardstock.  Love how they worked out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I like the "wishing you.. " greeting in that it can be for almost any occasion and works with quite a few images.  I did find that I watercoloured a few of them to add dimension and depth.  I added purple to the butterfly wings to define them and just water to the ink that was already there on the purple flowers which changed them enough to give them texture.  I did add purple to the greeting on that one too.  The other two were good to go with just sponging.  I generally started sponging at the bottom of the image and added as I went up decreasing the depth of colour as I went up so that it would just fade away before it got to the greeting.  I will be making more of these!!                Therese

Wedding card with embossing, ribbon and some shimmery watercolour

Stash building!!  I started by embossing a white quarter sheet with a flourish embossing folder, adding a white ribbon by gluing both ends to the back of the layer and adhering this large element to a white card front.  I used a wedding cake image from my stash (CLKER) which I laser printed and coloured with shimmery watercolours in silver, purple and green.  I made the colours subtle because that worked better with the white on white background.  When dry, I layered it onto a purple rectangle from which I had already punched the Modern Label (SU) layer for my greeting.  I mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape then did the same with my layered punchie greeting.  To finish off my card I tied a short end of the same ribbon to the length on the front to simulate a bow!!

Therese

Wildflower on a brayered background with a small layered greeting

I used a few of these backgrounds the other day to make a few cards.  I brayered these a long while ago using a Kaleidacolour pad on coated cardstock.  They die cut very nicely.  I trimmed this one to size and die cut a wildflower silhouette  (TH) in the center of it.  I backed it with a black layer and then mounted this large focal element to an embossed card front.  I added  little laser printed greeting layered onto a label using 3D foam tape on the lower right hand corner which nicley bridged all the elements. 

Therese

Faux stitching, fussy cutting and a beautiful image of Peggys Cove

Back to making cards!!  This image has been in my stash for a long time because a portion of the sky was not well stamped.  I was looking in my stash for an image that would fit into this frame (also from my stash) and this one I thought was pretty close so I just fussy cut along the horizon and when I put it in the frame the lighthouse overlapped the frame!  I love it!!  I watercoloured the image (PSX), added a blue decorative paper to make the sky, trimmed the outside edges to fit in the frame and adhered all the pieces in place.  I adhered the top of the lighthouse to the front of the frame with a bit of 3D foam tape which makes it stand out very nicely from the scene.  The frame had already been embossed with a distressed embossing folder so I simply added some faux stitching to give it a bit more definition.  I adhered this large element to a gray card and I was done!!  An card for any occasion!!  Therese

A card that incorporates a watercoloured digital image, paper flowers and some stamped stitching

Making cards for special days in the lives of my special people!!  This one is for my sister!!  I started with the laser printed image of little sunflowers (CLKER) to which I had added a font greeting before printing.  I watercoloured the image and layered it onto a dark yellow cardstock rectangle.  I stamped the leaf stitching (SU) which I then watercoloured as well.  I trimmed the bottom with decorative wave scissors and pierced a row of dots just above it.  I went digging in my decorative paper stash for coordinating papers and found these blue hued ones that worked.  Blue is one of my sister's favorite colours!!  I trimmed my scraps and mounted them to brown cardstock leaving a bit of space at the bottom where I trimmed it with scallop decorative scissors and mirrored the paper piercing on my focal element by piercing each scallop.  I used a long unused stamp of zigzag stitching (Hero Arts) and stamped each joint between the papers.  My sister is a quilter and will appreciate the stitching on this card even if it is stamped.  I mounted my background to a blue card front and positioned my focal element over it and found that it needed a bit of something to make it pop so I dug through my silk flower stash and found these paper flowers which were exactly the right colours.  I layered two (brown & yellow), added a little brown flower punchie and then a blue sequin before binding them with a brown brad.  After a bit of auditioning I added the floral 3D element to the focal element and adhered this large element to my card front using double sided tape.  Really happy with how this one worked out!!!!!!!        Therese

A cute little bird, a label and a fun greeting for an all occasion card

A few more cards for the stash!!  I manually embossed my blue card using a swirl embossing folder (TH).  I found the yellow top note label die cut in my stash and die cut a circle (Nestibilities) which would accommodate this cute little bird image (Beary Wishes).  I manually embossed it with  a star embossing folder.  I watercoloured the laser printed digital image of the bird and mounted it to the back of label. I added a nice green organza ribbon and tied on a short piece with one knot to simulate a bow then adhered this large element to the front of my card.  I found the laser printed greeting in my stash, watercoloured it and mounted it to a green circle (Nestibilities) before adhering it to the front of my card over the ribbon to finish off my card.  Little birdie cards are handy for a wide variety of occasions and this one is pretty cute so would do for a child's birthday or for a new baby!!                Therese

Embossing, die cuts and silk flowers make for a beautiful birthday card

Cards are always a great hostess gift so I am putting together a few to bring along to a summer BBQ!!  I started with a gray card which I embossed with a very organic and stylized embossing folder.  I embossed the blue label die cut (SX) with the Swiss Dot embossing folder and punched a slot (SU) on each end for the ribbon.  I slipped the ribbon in both sides and then adhered the label to the front of the card and the ends of the ribbon to the inside front with double sided tape.  Next I added a black oval (Nestibilities) which I highlighted with a clear glitter gel pen.  The focal element is a laser printed digital greeting (font words - Bird's Cards frame) punched with a large oval punch (SU) and adhered to the inside of an opening in a decorative label die cut (SX).  These layered so nicely!!!  I added two layered silk flower embellishments to finish off my card!!  The colours matched perfectly!!!             Therese

An elegant card with a beautiful white dress

I love this dress image from CLKER!!!!!!!!!  It is a classic image suitable for a wedding and/or a shower when done is white shimmer as I have done for this card.  I have coloured it in different colours which makes it suitable for a graduation card!!   I layered it onto an aqua rectangle and added three little rhinestones for a little bling!!  I embossed a white layered with a beautiful flourish embossing folder and added a coordinating vintage seam binding before adhering it to a white card.  I mounted the large focal element over the seam binding using 3D foam tape.  Always good to have one of these on hand. 

Therese

Cute little girl with an apple printed on vellum and mounted to a reused layer

For this card I reused part of a larger commercial card for my background.  I found the image in my stash as well (Heather Ellis).  It is printed on vellum so I very carefully coloured it on the back using watercolour (markers or chalks will not wrinkle the paper) and layered it onto a an ivory rectangle before adhering it to my background using four tiny white brads.  I layered this large element to a coordinating card front!!!  I really love this cute little girl images because they work just as easily for little girls as adult women and almost anyone in the case of this thank you card. 

Therese

Layered hearts for a fun anniversary card!!

I like to feature hearts on anniversary cards and am always looking for new ways to feature them.  I had these cut and sitting on my desk from this card from my All Occasion Class.  I decided to layer them and then wanted a way to interlock them so I dug through the scraps sitting on my desk and found this little strip which did exactly what I wanted.  I decided to layer them onto this dark red colour which I embossed with stars instead of hearts which was my original intent.  Somehow, I just could not do the hearts and the stars were calling to me.  So hearts it is!!  I glued down my hearts and then punched out an opening using my Modern Label punch (SU) just below the bottom of the lowest heart.  I glued this large element to a green card front which coordinated with the strip I used.  I added the little punched greeting into the opening using 3D foam tape.  the card still needed "a bit of something" so I added clear rhinestones to the strip and that was better.  After a bit of pondering I also added some to one of the hearts and to the greeting.  That was better but it still was calling for more bling so I added dots to the background layer using a clear glitter gel pen!!  That was better!!!  Always amazing how the muse calls and we are guided!!  Therese

A fun old bicycle image with a cool chalkboard greeting and some bakers twine

Still working on cards for my stash!!  This card features a cool image of an old bicycle (CLKER) which I laser printed on white cardstock, trimmed and sponged the edges with purple to coordinate with the bakers twine I had chosen.  After sponging I decided to distress as well so I had to sponge the edges again to eliminate the stark white.  I also decided to add some faux stitching to give the image a bit of punch.  I fussy cut a chalkboard greeting which coordinates with the sort of vintage feeling of the bicycle image.  I adhered the greeting to the background using 3D foam tape and then inserted bakers twine in the holes of label greeting and used double sided tape to adhere the ends to the back.  I adhered this large element to my card front.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my bicycle image to my card. 

Therese

An all occasion card with a beautiful butterfly

Still working on cards for my stash!!  I started with this beautiful butterfly (Pixabay) which I colour printed on white carsdstock and trimmed. I layered it onto brown cardstock and then while rummaging in my background stash I found this one created using inks which worked really well. After trimming it to size I tied on a piece of coordinating ribbon and glued it to a coordinating card front.  I adhered my large focal element using 3D foam tape and positioned it over the ribbon.  I tied a short piece of ribbon to the one on the card using a single knot to simulate a bow.  Would work well as a sympathy card or for any occasion for a butterfly lover!!
Therese

Combined a cute cat, some fiber and a punched greeting for this great birthday card

Our son in law shares a birthday day with my Mom so I prepped this card for him.  I am stretching my vision of what works for guy cards and decided that this cute little cat would work just as well for an adult as it would for a child.  I laser printed this digital image (CLKER), trimmed it and watercoloured it.  He is really cute!!  I added a brown rectangle layer, ripped the bottom edge and added a few rows of piercings using my pattern tracing wheel.  I watercoloured the punchie greeting (SU- frame with font greeting) and highlighted the edge with brown.  I found this orange duplex paper in my stash which I thought would look good sanded so I embossed it with this tight embossing folder which somewhat reflected the cat's triangular markings.  It took quite a bit of sanding to reveal the white cardstock which was beneath the orange but I am happy with how it turned out.  I adhered the background to a brown card and auditioned the cat and greeting to see how they looked.  After gluing them down it still needed "a bit of something" so stamped the greeting and the bottom edge of the image with my stipple stamp (SU) and brown ink.  That was better.  Still needed something so I added this perfectly coordinated fiber which I entwined between the image and the greeting.  Better!!    Therese

A card for my Mom which features fun paper, watercoloured digital image and a fun layered greeting

My Mom's birthday is coming up - she will be 82!!  She is still a going concern - quilting, gardening, cooking, reading and taking care of my Dad.  Her favorite colour is this great blue colour so I started with that.  I added this fun decorative paper which I colour printed for a different project and found in my stash.  I glued it to my card front and added white ribbon which I glued to the inside of my card with double sided tape.  The flower image is a digital from Cruzine which I laser printed on white cardstock and trimmed to size before watercolouring to coordinate with my background paper.  I layered the image onto a rectangle which I created using blue and green cardstock and added to my card using 3D foam tape.  I used this oval punched greeting (Bird's Cards) which I sponged on the edges with blue and green and then added a green oval punchie which I trimmed in two and allowed the two halves to show a bit on the top and the bottom of the greeting one.  I mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape and added a bit of blue watercolour to it which finished it off perfectly!!!  Therese