Card exchange card - a digital of a cute puppy, a little greeting and an embossed strip

My other card for my second partner for my May Card Exchange.  Started with an envelope and made an ivory card to fit.  I added an very subtle speckled background paper and then a strip of dark brown cardstock which I embossed and flagged on the end.  I trimmed the little dog image and layered it onto a coordinating yellow before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I found the little laser printed greeting in my stash.  Flagged the end and adhered to my card using double sided tape.  Not a complicated sketch but it works well with the little dog image.        Therese

Crumb quilting

I had a little fun this afternoon doing some quilting!!  It is called crumb quilting and its aim is to piece together all your fabric "crumbs" into a piece large enough to be used for a project.  In my case, I was looking to give my daughter's sewing machine a bit of a go before it heads back home.  It was having problems with the adjustments on the screen so having been reduced to a simple straight stitch with no adjustments she decided to sent it home with DH and see what he could do with it.  Being the guy that he is he was able to restore all her functions by replacing the screen and updating the software.  He did a "hack" job in that he kept costs down to the minimum and found parts that worked and worked out how all the components worked together so he could get it working again.  As always, there were a few necessary tools that were added to his tool box in the process but as we all know the right tool for the job always makes things go well.  So not being a sewer he asked me if I could take it for a bit of a spin and test it before it returned home.  I bought a bobbin and over the course of this past week I found this quilting concept on line  and decided that it would be the perfect technique to experiment with while I was testing her machine.  Now, hers is a computerized one which I had never used before so it took a bit of getting used to and reading the manual to be able to fill a bobbin, then thread the machine and get the presser food up and down but I eventually got the hang of it.  So using this crumb quilting technique I managed to get a piece about 18" long and about 6" wide done this afternoon.  To test the screen I decide to finish off my bobbin trying out some of the decorative stitches.  Pretty cool!!!!    So I would say that it is good to go!!

Therese

Thank you card featuring an emboss background and frame and a colour printed digital greeting

Appreciation for the people and events of our lives is a large part of a good life.

A thank you card for someone special who has blessed us with so much!!

I started with a large envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I cut two pieces of navy cardstock and embossed them before gluing them on the front of my card.  I added a little strip of pink to echo some of the colour in the focal image.  The image is one I downloaded from KissPng, colour printed on white and trimmed to size.  I distressed the edges as well.  I die cut a square wavy frame  (SX) from silver cardstock and embossed it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (CB) before adhering it to my card front.  I mounted my image over the opening using 3D foam tape.   Perfect!!!!!!!

Therese

Birthday card with a fun digital greeting, a scrapbook paper background and flagged ribbons for texture!

My daughter's birthday is coming up and I made her this card.  I love this fun digital greeting/image which I downloaded from KISSPNG.  I laser printed it on white cardstock and trimmed it to size.  I layered it with pink and orange cardstock and added some fun little pieces of flagged ribbon in coordinating colours.  Ribbon always adds a bit of texture to cards.  I dug through my stash of scrapbooking paper and found this one that worked and already had the layers and colours I needed.  Bonus!!  I trimmed out and piece and adhered it to a pink card front before adhering my greeting usind 3D foam tape.  It will be on its way today!!!

Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - decorative paper, embellished paper flowers and some bling

For our last card we went with quick and easy!!  The kits had one piece of decorative paper which could be adhered to the cardstock layer as one piece either at the top or bottom leaving enough room for the embellished paper flowers to be adhered into place.  I chose to tear my piece for the first one in a curvy line which allowed enough space in between to add my flowers.  I added the final flower at the top along with a little colour printed greeting which coordinated with the paper before adhering to my coordinating card front.  For the one on the right I cut the decorative paper in two, adhered them to the layer and glued this large layer to my coordinating card front then added my little flower embellishments.  The last flower was added over the end of my flagged greeting.  The paper flowers were wedding paper confetti which I jazzed up with little blingy flowers from my local dollar store.  These were sold on a sheet just like the rhinestones. They are very brilliant and catch the light very nicely.  They add a special touch to these cards.  This card sketch could easily be made up without a greeting which would make them more versatile.  A great way to finish off our afternoon.  The ladies were happy with their cards and we all had a relaxing afternoon. 

Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - a decorative paper background, an embossed strip with some ribbon and a glitter embellishment

For our second card we made these beautiful cards!!  I started by positioning our embossed strip over our decorative paper rectangle and punching a 1.75" hole which trimmed our strip and made an opening in the background paper.  We had the option to trim our strips with decorative scissors on both long edges.  I chose to do only one of mine.  We added ribbon to our strip by applying double sided tape to the back and adding a length of ribbon then trimming the excess which we tied to the length on the front with a single knot to simulate a bow.   This large element was then adhered to our coordinating card front.  I did provide laser printed birthday greeting if they wished to have a greeting.  I did not use a greeting on my green one and did add one to the purple card by flagging one end and slipping the other just below my ribbon keeping it in place using double sided tape.  To finish off our cards we added our glittery embellishments - a daisy or a butterfly - using 3D foam tape. 
Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - Paper strips, a 3D embellishment and some embossing

I taught a cardmaking stack class today!  I had two wonderful ladies join me and we had a fun creative afternoon making cards!!  These are the first cards we made. 
We first sorted our little paper strips into an order that pleased us and then we applied a piece of double sided tape across our cardstock rectangle and positioned the ends of our strips on it to keep them all nicely in place.  Next, we adhered our embossed strips of cardstock over the ends.  We glued this large layer to coordinating card fronts and added our 3D embellishments over the embossed strips using 3D foam tape.  To finish off our cards, we snipped the bottoms.  I cut mine on the diagonal but others were cut with decorative scissors both diagonally and even with the card bottom. I love how others always find their own way of making their cards unique!!!  The embellishment on the right is a heart punched from serendipity paper layered onto a die cut heart cut from gold cardstock.  The butterfly on the right is very similar - a punched butterfly layered onto another cut from gold vellum and tied with gold string which gives it antennae.  The middle embellishment is a die cut flower with each petal manually embossed with a small part of an embossing folder.  I added an orange circle punchie and a textured center made from gold hot glue.  This was a sample I made in preparation for my class earlier this week. You can check out the cards here.  I added two sponged leaf punchies to finish it off.  These are very similar to the one of the cards I created for my March Cardmaking class.  To allow cards to be used for a variety of occasions we did not add any greetings.     Therese 

Another baby card featuring a cute rattle, paper strips and an embossed element

I am really happy that I have been able to retrofit several of my kits from the March Cardmaking class to add some cards to my stash!!  I found this image in my stash and was able to use the layer in the kit in a portrait orientation instead of the landscape one which would have been appropriate for the other image.  Excellent!!  I added a strip of double sided tape across my yellow layer and laid the ends of my strips into it.  I embossed a strip of green cardstock and adhered it over the ends to finish that off nicely.  I trimmed their ends diagonally and adhered this large element to my blue card front.  I watercoloured this cute rattle image (Melonheadz) which I laser printed a while back and found in my image stash.  It fit perfectly on the top of the rectangle layer from the kit so I glued it in place and added the vellum greeting adhering both ends to the back using double sided tape.  Again, enough room to trim the bottom edges with scallop decorative scissors.  I paper pierced each scallop with a push pin to add interest and texture before adding this element to my card front with 3D foam tape.        Therese

Special Card class - simply elegant cards with an embossed layer and ribbon that are quick and easy to make

For our last card I made kits that came together fairly quickly.  Though these were quick to make the cards are simply elegant and can be used for a variety of occasions.  The one on the right uses a tree embossing folder (SX) with a quarter sheet of white cardstock which was trimmed after embossing to leave a small border all the way around.  The one on the left uses a floral embossing folder (SU - Manhattan Flower) which I trimmed down to the edge of the embossed flower which reveals more of the card front for a very different look.  I added organza ribbons that coordinated with the card fronts.  We adhered the ribbon to the back of the embossed layer and trimmed off the excess which we tied to the front using one knot to simulate a bow.  I ended up with two black and white ones.  These are always elegant made up in in dark regal colours like cranberry, navy, forest or spruce green, etc.  Again, without greetings these cards can be used for a variety of occasions from weddings to funerals!!              Therese

Special Card class - arty magnets, laser printed greetings and some ribbon and embossing

These cards feature some arty magnets which I found at a thrift store a while back.  There were nine of them so they suited this class perfectly!!!!  I invented some appropriate greetings for the magnets and printed them on white cardstock and them trimmed down.  We used a corner rounder on the corners of these layers to mimic the rounded corners on the magnets then added our magnets with a small piece of double sided tape.  It makes a fun card to have a little gift included as well.  Next we worked on our ribbon.  The ribbon was positioned between the magnet and greeting and attached to the back using double side tape and the excess was trimmed off and tied to the front with a single knot to simulate a bow.  We trimmed our ends neatly.  Next we embossed our large background layers before adhering them to the front of our coordinating cards.  I chose to corner punch this layer as well on the red card which worked very nicely.  I used Swiss Dots on the red card and the SU dots one on the purple card.  To finish our cards we simply attached our magnet layers to our card fronts using 3D foam tape.  What fun cards!!  With the arty magnets it was great to be able to add appropriate greetings which could be used for different situations which come up with friends and family.  

Therese

Special Card class - card featuring a fun fold, double sided scrapbook paper and a 3D embellishment with a textured center

One of the girls who comes to my regular cardmaking class asked if I could put on a class for her daughter and some of her friends.  For sure!!!  I am always up to spend some creative time with like minded people.  They were over this week and here is the first card we made.  

For these kits I used double sided scrapbook paper and cut pieces that measured 3 7/8" by 5 1/8". I then cut each of these into four - at 1 15/16 and then again 2 9/16" to get four equal sized rectangles.  Next I created a folding template so they could consistently score and fold the little flaps.  For this paper we had to be careful to score the right corner in order to keep the bunnies with their heads pointing up.  On some of the other papers it was less important and some mixed their papers so that two had one pattern and the other had the other pattern on the front.  Once all the rectangles were folded we glued the four to a coordinating card front.  For the embellishment in the center I punched coordinating 1 3/4" circles which we embossed with circle elements from embossing folders - clocks, gears and a medallion.  The other elements were also embossed - flowers or gears.  Next, we had fun and created these fun textured centers using hot glue and a texture mat.  

We started with an eighth inch disk of gold hot glue which we placed on a scrap of paper and heated with a heat gun over a foil wrapped piece of cardboard until it had melted into a puddle.  We moved the paper/puddle to a sheet of paper and poured gold embossing powder over it then removed the extra.  The embossing powder sticks to the hot glue puddle and starts melting.  We put the puddle/paper back onto our foil surface and heated it through which melted all the embossing powder as well.  We gently laid a silicone texture mat which had been inked with gold pigment ink over the puddle and let it sit until the hot glue solidified.  Well, actually we put them the freezer for a minute or so because we were anxious to see what they turned out like!!!  If you try to remove the mat before the glue has set you have a mess of hot glue with stringy things - not good!!  We removed the mat to reveal our uniquely textured centers!!!!  We pulled off the paper from the back which left enough paper to allow us to glue our little gold embellishment to the middle of our flowers or gears.  That was how I made my samples but a wide variety of sketches played out as the girls did their own thing and rearranged their elements to follow their own inspiration.   After gluing the textured centers to my flowers I glued the flowers to the embossed circle to complete my 3D embellishments.  These were glued in the center opening created by the folded back flaps. I provided greetings but this sketch does not really require a greeting so it was up to them whether to adhere their greetings or not.  These are both greetings are both punched with the Modern Label punch (SU).  The one on the left is a combination of a digital oval image and a font greeting.  The one on the right is just a font greeting punched out.  I added a bit of colour to both of them so they would blend with their backgrounds nicely.   They were a creative bunch though several had not made cards before.           Therese

Graduation card featuring a gold metallic die cut fern, beautiful decorative paper and a gold embossed greeting

Thought I could use another graduation card so again checked to see if I could modify one of the card kits I had on hand.  Was happy to find that I could modify this kit which I created for my March Cardmaking class.   I used this great rubber stamp and gold embossed the greeting on the bottom of the white mat which I had created using my Rectangle Nestibilities.  I adhered the beautiful decorative paper to the back of the mat and adhered this large element to the front of a kraft card.  I used a fine tip applicator to sparingly apply white glue to the back of my fern die cut (TH) and gently positioned it on the front of my card so it overlapped the mat.  Really happy with how this one worked out and that I was able to retrofit a card kit!!

Therese

Graduation cards from card kits that feature an embossed greeting, decorative paper and a gold metallic die cut

I made another three graduation cards using the card kits from my last cardmaking class in March.  I love how they worked out!!  The first one has a colour printed image of a great decorative paper I made a while back with coloured acrylic medium.  Love the vibrancy of this image!!  The other two are scrapbooking papers that I really liked.  The white mats are made from white cardstock which I cut with a rectangle Nestabitities from Spellbinders.  I stamped and gold embossed the greeting on the bottom portion of the mat.  I mounted the paper behind the opening and then adhered these large layers onto coordinating card fronts.  The gold metallic botanical die cuts were cut with a set of Thinlits from Tim Holtz and adhered with white glue applied with a fine tip applicator.  

Therese

Harry Potter theme birthday card featuring a digital greeting, a shaker element and a book mark with quotes

My oldest granddaughter will be having a birthday soon so I got a card ready for her.  She is a fan of Harry Potter and has read all the books.  I decided to make her birthday card with a HP theme.  I started with a large black card.  I laser printed a script background, the birthday greeting (Pixabay) and the two sides of the fun HP bookmark on the same sheet of 8.5 x 11 cardstock.  I trimmed out the bookmark pieces, glued them to each other and then punched a hole to which I added a length of black ribbon.  I found some very good HP quotes online which were all designed and ready to go.  I trimmed the greeting, sponged the edges with black and layered it onto a gold paper.  Wanting to add a fun element I decided to add a shaker element to it so I cut a hole in the script background layer using a circle Nestibilities.  I created a shaker sandwich - a square of transparent plastic to which I added a foam tape border large enough to be hidden by the background paper filled with sequins, beads, heart paper punchies and some glitter.  I removed the release paper from the foam tape and placed another sheet of plastic over top.  Much easier to manage once the shaker element is sealed.  I mounted it behind the opening in the background using double sided tape, added a gear cut from gold cardstock and finished off with a gold brad that went through the shaker element.  Afterwards, I wanted to add a ribbon and fortunately there was room between the pieces of double sided tape to get my ribbon through.  I glued one end to the back on the edge of the round opening and the other end went over the top and was adhered to the back as well.  I mounted this large element to the front of my large black card.  I mounted my large collage greeting with 3D foam tape over the ribbon.  Lastly, I tied a short piece of the same ribbon to the one on the front between the greeting and the opening to simulate a bow!!! I am really happy how it turned out!!!           Therese

A baby girl card featuring a cute digital image of a clothesline, some decorative paper strips and an embossed strip

For this baby card I used a card kit I created for the March Cardmaking Class.  I changed up a few of the decorative paper strips to emphasize the pink theme.  I used a portrait format for this one and added a strip of double sided tape across and laid all the ends of my strips into it.  I embossed a brown strip of cardstock and adhered it over the ends to make a neat finish.  I trimmed all the ends with little flag ends before adhering this large element to the front of my brown card.   I watercoloured the image of a few cute dresses on a clothesline (Melonheadz) which I substituted into the kit to make it a baby card.  Like my last one, I had extra cardstock on the bottom so I trimmed it with scallop decorative scissors and paper pierced each scallop to add interest and texture.  I mounted the layered image to my card using 3D foam tape.

Therese

Baby card featuring a cute little horse digital, strips of decorative paper and a vellum greeting

Needing some baby cards for my stash so I went digging through some card kits from previous classes to see if I had any that could easily be made up.  No luck but I was able to convert this one into a baby card by simply changing the image to this cute little horse one (Melonheadz) which I had in my image stash and adding a vellum greeting also from my greetings stash!!
So I added a strip of double sided tape across the yellow layer and adhered the ends of my paper strips to it.  I embossed the navy strip, adhered it over the ends and trimmed it to the edges to finish that nicely.  I trimmed the ends of the strips in a diagonal pattern and adhered this large element to the navy card front.  I watercoloured the laser printed image and layered it onto a green rectangle and had enough spare to trim the bottom with scallop decorative scissors.  I used a push pin to pierce each scallop which adds a nice touch of texture.  I used a small piece of double sided tape to adhere the vellum greeting to my card before mounting my layered image using 3D foam tape.  You can see the other cards I made with these kits here.  They were part of my March Cardmaking class.                   Therese

Large birthday cards that feature a shaker element, some decorative paper and some custom die cut greetings

 I saw a tutorial on shaker cards recently and thought I should give them a go.  It has been a while since I made one.  I created some custom greetings in Corel Draw and printed them on white cardstock.  After trimming them out I got started. 
For the first card, I chose a large orange envelope and created an ivory card to fit inside.  I added two pieces of this beautiful sunflower gift wrap to the front and overlaid a strip of yellow cardstock over where they joined.  To create my shaker greeting I die cut a star, added a piece of transparent plastic to the opening and then made a border of 3D foam tape which I cut quite thin so I could place it around the star shape.  I filled the opening with sequins, paper punched stars, beads, etc and then placed another square of transparency over it after I had removed the release tape.  It was a bit of a challenge in that I had to have a steady hand to keep all the little bits inside the opening while I removed the release paper.  I then mounted my shaker greeting to a background created using brown and orange cardstock.  I punched little stars on the bottom edge, applied double sided tape to the back and rubbed in some copper glitter.  Love it!! I mounted my large shaker greeting to the front of my card over the strip of yellow and I was done!!    It will take a few more to get the hang of it so I decided to make a couple more using pretty close to the same sketch.

For the second one I used another large envelop and created a white card to fit inside.  I added a green embossed layer and added a strip of brown cardstock with a strip of orange over it.  I added glitter glue in blue and green and adhered it to my card once it was dry.  I cut a yellow strip of cardstock, flagged the end and adhered it to my card.  I created my shaker greeting by die cutting a square, adding my transparent layers and filling the inside with glass beads - clear and gold along with some green sequins.  I used a brown marker and added a bow to the top of the square and dots all the way around.  I mounted it to a brown square of cardstock before adhering it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  Love the glitter glue border on this one!!
For my third card I chose a large lavender envelope and created a white card to fit inside. I layer on a piece of purple cardstock and then a beautiful piece of floral decorative paper.  I added a flagged strip of yellow paper to this one as well.  I die cut a circle to this greeting, added the transparencies and foam tape to create my shaker which I filled with glass beads, sequins and a bit of glitter.  I corner rounded the three corners I had access to, sponged the edges and mounted my shaker greeting to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I added a little string to my circle a balloon using a fine tip sharpie.  Another good one!!  One of these is off to my sister for her birthday and the other two are off to my card exchange partners for this month. 
Really enjoyed making these but they do require some time to get those shakers made without having little beads running in every direction!!            Therese

Birthday card with cool tool background paper and fun chalk board greeting

This card is for DH for his upcoming birthday!!  I chose this really cool background paper which I received in a swap a while ago and mounted it to a large black card front.  I cut a fun shape from silver cardstock and added a strip of red and black washi tape down the middle.  After mounting it to my card front I added a fussy cut chalk board greeting which was laser printed from a digital file.  I adhered it with two red brads which are silver brads coloured with a red Sharpie permanent marker.  I really love how it worked out!!!  He is a wonderful woodworker so I am sure he will appreciate the fun paper.  Therese

Felted Wool coasters

 My grand daughter is raising money for a trip and I have made up a few felted wool coasters to be sold at her next event. 
The felted wool comes from her Mom who enjoys felting wool and creating wonderful items from it.  This was felted wool from a reversible coat which was ivory one one side and beige on the other.  I cut the panels into four inch squares with a rotary cutter and mat.  I rounded the corners by fussy cutting them with scissors.  I machine stitched around the edges to create a bit of a border using thread in coordinating colours - beige on the ivory side and ivory on the beige side.   Next, I used tapestry wool to embroider designs onto the coasters.  I found a few ideas on line and then made up a few others after I got a bit of feel for the process and what I could do with it.  I am really happy with how they turned out!!  Every dollar counts so I hope they sell out!!                 Therese

Doodles

 I was exploring a card design a few weeks ago that required doodling to finish it off so I decided to try a few pages to see how easy it would be for the participants to make doodles happen.  I found several You Tube videos of people doing some doodling and decided to follow along and see how easily it went. 

 It was difficult enough for me so I decided not to go with that card design for my class but I did really enjoy the doodling and I think I may clean some of these up and use them as digital images in my card making. 

I may have to do that regularly and see what happens.  Having my own art to use in my card making would be really fun!!

Therese