Father's Day card featuring real wood accents, a chickadee digital and a little font greeting

My Dad was a carpenter most of his working life and wood reminds me of him.  I am fortunate that my DH is also a wood worker and saves me all the beautiful thin pieces which get trimmed off of his projects.  These little pieces are cedar.  I backed the thin wood with sticky label before trimming the pieces out so they would keep some integrity.  I cut a large brown panel to fit inside the large envelope I had chosen and then adhered the wood pieces to it using white glue in a fine tip applicator.  I immediately put it under weight (encyclopedias) so they would dry flat.  Once the panel was dry I added the front flop which is embossed with a wood grain embossing folder.   I scored a half inch from the top, folded over the flap and adhered it to my panel to cover the gap in the wood elements where I will adhere my insert.  I trimmed my flap to the edge of my panel.  I added a little laser printed digital image of chickadees (clker) which I watercoloured before adhering it to the flap.  I watercoloured the font greeting then added some faux stitching lines with my tracing wheel.  I layered it onto brown leaving a larger border on the bottom which I cut it with scalloped decorative scissors and then paper pierced the scallops with a push pin.  I mounted the greeting to my front flap overlapping my chickadee image.  I really like how it worked out.  I am every grateful that my Dad has been well through this Covid situation as he has underlying health issues.  Everyday is a blessing!!             Therese

Crumb squares - a double set of rainbow squares and two brown ones

I have finished up a few more crumb squares.  It has taken several weeks working on and off to get them done but they are totally fun to make!!!  I simply pull out a large ziploc of scraps and use what is there to make up squares.  Here is a tutorial if you are new to Crumb Quilting.  I have a bag for each colour and so the supplies are all right at hand.  

I have made up two of each colour - brown, green, blue, purple, red, orange and yellow.  Not sure how they will be incorporated into quilts but I am swapping 10"crumb square for scraps with my sister, Sylvia so some will likely end up in her quilts.  

I will be making some other colours - peach, teal, brights, black with colour, golden yellow, etc.  I may do some exploring on line and see about incorporating many colours into one square. I am sure there are some that are doing that as well.  Might be easier to incorporate into a quilt that way.  We shall see!!

Therese

Rainbow hearts quilt

I have finally finished my rainbow hearts quilt.  I added a turquoise backing and used a cotton flannel sheet as batting.  I am really happy with how it turned out and the turquoise is really a good complement to the bright colours in the top of the quilt.  It measures 42" x 63" and I will be sending it off to the Linus Project via my sister.  She has several to deliver to them as well and will simply add mine to hers.   Check out the squares here.

I will certainly be doing squares of hand quilting for adding to quilts in the future.  I might consider larger squares but in the end I used these 4" x4" squares because they are precut.  I will consider sewing four of the same together to make a larger square but that may limit my colour selection.  I could also mix them up and use full squares for any colour which I am missing pieced ones.  

So totally fun!!!!!

Therese  

Christmas Card Kits - Card #3 features a large snowflake, decorative paper and small snowflake punchies combined with a brad

For Card #3 I used both the diecut and the opening that it leaves for make the cards I needed.  

For the cards made with the snowflake die cut (SU) I added a few more to make it the focal element.  I added a large coloured snowflake, a smaller punched snowflake in white and then a tiny daisy snowflake which I bound together with a silver brad.  Assembly was easy - glue the paper to the card front and then add the snowflake using 3D foam tape secured around the center and hidden by the arms of the snowflakes.  

For the cards made with the opening, I trimmed the edges of the original quarter sheet a bit to leave a margin and then embossed them with a snowflake embossing folder (CB).  Next, I combined a coloured snowflake punchie with a small daisy one using a silver brad to bind them.  The decorative paper was glued to the back of the embossed layer then glue was applied to the card front and this large element was adhered to the card.  The little snowflake embellishment was added using a small glue dot into the center of the snowflake opening.  I really like how they both turned out.             Therese

Christmas Card Kits - Card #2 features an embossed ornament die cut, decorative paper and two decorative coloured strips of cardstock

For Card #2 I put together a few elements including some white embossed ornaments die cuts from my stash.  I added a couple of strips of coordinating cardstock.  One trimmed with the Ribbon punch (SU) and the other trimmed to size and the other simply trimmed.  I did embossed some of them.  These are combined with a layer of decorative paper and coordinating card bases.  Again, these kits are easily assembled requiring only glue.  With a variety of backgrounds and coordinating strips every kit has a variety of cards.  I do love putting together various elements and using versatile sketch to provide some interest in these kits.  

Therese

Christmas Card Kits - Card #1 features Mary Engelbreit stickers, decorative paper and an embossed flagged strip

 

I have created a few Christmas card kits in response to a friend's request for kits to get started on her Christmas cards at a time when she has time on her hands.  I have created three different designs and made them so they can be simply assembled with glue.  

Card #1 feature Mary Engelbreit stickers from my stash.  I chose three different designs and layered them with red cardstock.  I made only one sample with the Happy Winter because I needed all the others in the kits.  In the end, I discovered that I had miscounted and had one left over to make up a second sample.  I always enjoy putting together card kits because I get to mix and match elements.  I choose a variety of decorative papers that coordinated with the stickers and then added a coordinated embossed and flagged strip and card bases.  I included single layer panel inserts because they are the easiest to glue to the inside of the cards.    Therese

Exchange cards featuring a side flap, decorative paper and laser printed digital greetings

I have made these two cards for my Card Exchange partners for our June Swap.  I have created a flap on the left hand side instead of the top like the front flap cards have made recently.  For the first one, I choose a large envelope and created a panel card with a flap to fit inside.  I simply scored on the left hand side and folded the flap to the front.  I added a piece of light gray cardstock to the flap by butting it up and then adhering it in place using regular tape on the front.  Next, I  added a narrower strip of black cardstock which I punched with my scallop border punch (SU) before adhering it to the light gray piece.  I added two pieces of floral paper  - one to the full inside panel and the other to the front of the side flap which covers the tape I used to secure the pieces to each other.  I punched 1/16" holes in all the scallops on the edge.  I found this little greeting in my stash (Desert Diva) which is digital and I laser printed it on white cardstock after sizing it.  I added a black layer to it and then a coordinating yellow one.  I distressed the edges using my distress tool.  I used double sided tape to adhere the left hand portion of the greeting to the flap.  I added a white bond insert to the back side of the flap for the handwritten message.  

For my second card, I choose a large envelope and created a dark gray panel to fit inside.  I added a piece of floral paper which left a small margin all the way around.  I created a flap for the left hand edge using a light gray cardstock, scored the left hand edge and adhered the little flap to the back of the panel.  I added another piece of floral paper to my flap and then a strip of yellow cardstock which I punched with an eyelet border punch (SU) and then added several embossed lines with my score tool and then passed my pattern tracing wheel to add a row of pierced holes to the left hand edge.  I mounted it overlapping the edge of my light gray flap which finished it off nicely.  Next, I found this greeting in my stash which I created with a Chalk Writing font and laser printed.  I layered it with light gray and dark gray cardstock and then added to my flap using 3D foam tape.  Again, I added a small piece of white bond to the back of the flap for any handwritten message.  

It was fun to change up the flap on these cards.  I really like the look of this floral paper with the gray and yellow cardstock and monochromatic greetings.  

Front flap birthday card featuring stamped decorative papers, some faux stitching and a digital image of a typewriter with a font greeting

I have been enjoying making these front flap cards!!  Much different than my usual A2 cards as I am using large envelopes for these which gives me lots of options when I start creating!!  I started this one with a large envelope and I created a gray panel card to fit inside.  I dug a gray wood grain 12" x 12" sheet of new decorative paper from my large bin and trimmed out a piece to fit on my panel card.  I found the second piece of decorative paper in my cardstock stash as it had been printed on gray cardstock.  I cut out a piece for my flap, scored a half inch from the top and folded over the little flap.  I hooked the flap onto my panel card and trimmed off the bottom to be even with my panel.  Because it was cardstock I simply treated it to a black border created with a black permanent marker and then added a hand drawn line on the inside of that with a fine tip Sharpie.   Next, I added faux stitching to my panel which was better.  The typewriter is a digital image is from CLKER which I sized and then printed on white cardstock.  I trimmed the image from the sheet, sponged its edges with green ink and then ran my pattern tracing wheel along all four edges to add yet more texture.  I layered my focal element with two shades of green cardstock.  I needed to introduce some green to my layers so I used a little solid square stamp (used for the first time today) and created little groups of three on the four corners of my  panel card and a raggedy row on my flap.  That really helped to tie these elements together!!  I adhered my  layered focal element off the right hand side of my flap and finished off my card by adding a piece of white bond behind my flap to give me a place to write my message.  

Therese

Front flap birthday card featuring decorative paper, ribbon and a colour printed digital image of a birthday cake

I am still at making front flap cards!!  For this one I started with a large envelope and created a pink panel card to fit inside.  I layered on the polka dot paper (SU digital - colour printed) which I trimmed to leave an even border.  I found a piece of blue cardstock that coordinated and then found a piece of paper that coordinated with both of them.  I scored the cardstock at a half inch from the top edge, folded over the little flap and then hooked it on my panel and trimmed the bottom edge.  I trimmed the piece second piece of decorative paper  to fit on the front of my flap with an even border.  The birthday greeting is one I downloaded from the internet and colour printed.  I used a large black permanent marker to colour all four edges of my image to highlight the greeting and coordinate with my decorative papers.  I mounted the cake image so it overlapped half onto the flap and I adhered it in place.  I added a length of pink ribbon at the top of the flap and tied it with a double knot.  Added a message area behind the flap using a piece of white bond.         Therese

Christmas cards featuring a JOY ornament die cut, metallic paper, decorative paper and thread hangers

 Another batch of Christmas cards featuring these red ornaments I cut a while back.  I coupled the ornaments with metallic/pearly papers.  Some are very bright metallic foils and others have a more subtle metallic/shimmery finish.  The ornaments were die cut with a Sizzix ornament die from red cardstock scraps.  I added metallic/shimmery accents - an oval behind the JOY (TH-SX) and on the ornament topper cut, trimmed and glued in place.  The oval is cut using an oval Nestibilities which is just the right size to fit behind the word!  Love it!!!!  The cards all have scrapbook paper backgrounds which I discovered in my stash of scraps.  Very happy to have another few Christmas cards made up.  I am keeping my commitment of getting my cards made before I need them in November!!

Therese

Christmas cards featuring a wonky tree (digital), ribbon, decorative paper and small font greetings

Another four Christmas cards to add to my stash!!!!  I downloaded these cute little trees (Craft Starters) and laser printed them while I was getting the images ready for my Father's Day cards.  I chose this wonderful decorative paper (donation from my sister) and then prepare four red cards to go with the paper.  I trimmed the laser printed images, watercoloured them and then layered them with a coordinating blue layer.  The layer is a lighter blue paper which I sponged on the edges to get the colour just right.  I added two short lengths of red ribbon on the upper right edge and then mounted my images to the cards I had layered with my decorative paper.  I added the little laser printed font greetings on the left hand edges in the curve of the tree.  I added sliver glitter star punchies over the ones that printed with the image.  They work quite well.  Very sparkly!!!  Really happy to have a few more cards in my stash!!  I am staying ahead of my commitment to making cards every month!!  I will have what I need come November.   Therese

Front flap birthday card featuring Canada geese image, embossed flap and some ribbon

I have decided to make a few more flap cards for those I need for my special occasion in June.  For this card I started with a large envelope and made an ivory card panel card to fit inside.  I added a layer of green gift wrap and then a layer of scrapbook grayed paper leaving even borders all the way around.  I found the geese image (CLKER) in my stash and layered it onto blue after I watercoloured it.  Next, I found two coordinating strips of green cardstock.  I used a strip of green backed with double sided tape to hold them together. I left a half inch at the top which is where I scored it to create my flap. I hooked it over the panel and trimmed off the bottom portion.   I embossed the right hand side of my flap with a swirl embossing folder and added a strip of  blue foil paper to the area to the left of the strip.  I mounted my layered focal element so the top and bottom points lined up with the edge of the flap and then I added tape and glue to the area where it overlapped the flapo and adhered it in place.  I found a little font greeting in my stash, sponged its edges with green and blue and then mounted it to my flap using 3D foam tape.  To finish of my card I tied on a length of gray ribbon to the top portion of my flap with a double knot and trimmed the ends diagonally.  I added a piece of bond paper to the inside just below my flap for my written message.   I am enjoying the creation of these flap cards!!  

Therese

Front Flap Birthday card featuring decorative paper, colour printed light house and round laser printed greeting

I need cards for the special occasions in my family in the month of June and have decided to follow a sketch I found on Splitcoast Stampers for a front flap card.  It has a tutorial but I am just working it out as I go along with what I have on hand.  

For this card I chose a large envelope from my stash and cut a blue panel card to fit inside.  I found a piece of blue foil decorative paper in my blue paper stash envelope that coordinated so I trimmed it to size and glued it on the front.  Next, I found the lighthouse image in my stash of coloured images. It is a photo of a lighthouse I took when we visited in PEI a while back.  I printed several sheets of images for a class and there are still a few around.  I layered the light house with brown cardstock and then distressed its edges.  I found a coordinating piece of blue cardstock in my stash to create my flap.  I scored the top edge at a half inch and folded the flap to the back.  I hooked the flap to the panel card and trimmed the bottom edge.  I found a piece of decorative paper that coordinated, embossed it with a leafy embossing folder and then adhered it to my flap.  I added two small pieces of double sided tape to my flap, added glue in between and adhered it to the back of my panel.  I found the round greeting in my stash and gave it a very light blue colourwash and then used a brown colour pencil to colour in the knotted wreath before layering it onto a dark teal circle.  I positioned my light house and greeting on my flap before adhering them in place.  The greeting overlaps the flap by half  and I positioned the light house just to the left.  I double wrapped and tied a length of kraft brown fiber to the top portion of the flap which adds more texture and interest to this card.  I cut a piece of white bond paper just smaller than my flap and adhered it to the panel card to provide a writing area for my message.  It is a versatile sketch so I think I will make a few more while I am at it and get the cards I need ready to go!!         Therese

Anniversary card featuring decorative paper hearts, a stamped greeting and some sponging

This is my second attempt with this card sketch.  I used rectangles last time and because I needed an anniversary card I decided to use hearts for this card.  I created a green card for fit in my large envelope.  I trimmed a subtle green background paper to fit on the front with an even border and then stamped my greeting in the upper portion in green ink.  I then checked out my hearts stash and found a good selection of  heart punchies and die cuts that coordinated with my green card and background to go ahead.  I laid out the top row first and found that the fact that they were pointy on the bottom did not create a strong line to help highlight the green as was the case on my other card.  I decided to trim the hearts a little to help create a line and then was pleased that it helped this set of elements stay within my decorative paper on the top edge.  Next time, I will find/create my elements before I stamp the greeting to ensure I have the distance I need between the greeting and the edge.  I turned over my background and created another row of hearts for my bottom edge.  Once they were both adhered to my background I glued this large element to my card front.  Still not completely happy with the bottom edge of my hearts I decided to add a bit of sponging on the bottom of the hearts to reinforce the idea of a line.  I positioned a mask on the bottom edge of the hearts and sponged a bit of green ink.  That was definitely better.  Next time I will sponge the ink first and then glue my elements over the sponged area.  I really like the interaction of the heart shapes on this card and am happy with how it turned out.  Will continue to play with this sketch because it is so interesting how the elements affect the design.  Makes me wonder how long those who created my inspiration cards took to get their beautiful creations!!
Therese

Happygrams for FCSS

 The Family and Community Social Services in our area has been giving out Happygrams to their clients.  There was an article in the paper this past week with an invitation for anyone who wanted to share a story, a joke, a drawing or anything else created from the heart to drop off their creations to help those who are struggling during this time of uncertainty.   I made a few fun little creations - mostly little panel cards - that I will be dropping off tomorrow.  I simply dug into my stash and found an item that inspired me and then gathered a few more bits to make it whole.  I also found some shrink plastic hearts which were created a while back.  I added holes, shrunk them and added hangers to them.  They would make fun window decorations!!  I had a fun day playing in my craft room in order to cheer others!!

After some internet research on Happygrams I found Tammy Tutterow had created a line of stamps with which to create Happygrams.  I downloaded some completed images, sized them and then colour printed them.  I layered them with cardstock and they will be added to my little creations and donated as well.          Therese

Another set of six crumb quilting squares

With the weather outside this morning being windy and cooler I decided to spend the morning on another set of crumb quilting squares.  I discovered two long strips of squares (2.5") which were obviously coordinating but not exactly the same so I decided to add what I could to make another set of six squares.  I started by dismantling the strips into the closest measure to ten inches, the final size I wanted for my finished squares.  Next, I cut strips from a piece of a green fabric which featured a country side landscape with flowers and animals and stitched them onto one side of six of the 10+ strips.  I then, stitched another piece of the original ones next to it.  I needed to add about 4" to what I had so I could trim out a 10" square.  I dug through my little stash of crumb scraps and found the brown and pink floral fabric of which I had enough to add a strip to each of the pieces I had already stitched together.  I then played with what was remaining of the original strips deconstructing and adding a floral pink fabric to make up the 4" that I needed.  I trimmed them all to 10" and have another set of six squares for quilting with.  It is interesting to me that this set also has a pink and green theme with brown thrown in as well.  These ones look much more quilted because of the originals strips I started with.     Therese

Quilting - Crumb square for trading

I had a bit of time this afternoon so I thought I would get started on some crumb quilting squares for my sister.  She has agreed to pass on her fabric scraps to me and I will pass back some 10" crumb quilting squares.  I started with a fairly large quilted piece which came in a bag of scraps and found a few other pieces that coordinated and got started.  I just kept sewing on pieces and making strips to add on until I could trim what I had to 10" square.  I see that there is one that has less green than the others but they generally coordinate fairly well.  I am really enjoying the crumb quilting process but I prefer to crumb quilt with larger pieces rather than those that are really tiny.  I am looking forward to making a few more in different colours!!

Therese

Slow Stitching - second little house

I have finished my second little house in my Slow Stitching project!!  I used a fused panel of fabric for the base of the house because it allowed me to match the pattern and have a slimmer house.  I added brown roof, a chimney, two windows and a double layered door.  I like the fun look of this house.  I stitched the chimney horizontally to give it more texture and interest.  I did three rows of stitching around the edge of the roof.  I used soft teal thread to make the three rows around the base of the house and I like the softness of the colours.  I added two windows and stitched them in place using similar colours instead of contrasting which makes them really bright.  I used two layers of fabric for the door - a brown in behind and a turquoise/peach pattern for the double door which echoes the house colours.  I added to dark red stitches for the handles one for each door. Happy with this one!  I will use try to change up a few things for the next house - roof line, windows and maybe a different front door placement.  We shall see!!!!!!!  Therese

Exchange cards featuring stamped greetings, decorative paper and punchies

For my Exchange cards this month I have made another attempt at creating cards from a card sketch which I rediscovered in my Inspiration file.  These are pretty much CAS cards though they are not necessarily quick in that some thought and auditioning has to be done with the elements you are using to get good balance.  I used rectangles and hearts in my last two cards and I thought that circles might work well so I hauled out my circle punchie stash and put together a few in varying size ( 1", 1.25", 1 3/8", 1 3/4") which I thought would work together.  Next, I went looking for some subtle decorative paper which I could use with my little collections.  After that I created coordinating cards to fit in the large envelopes I had chosen.  I cut the circles in about half - one part just a bit bigger than the other with scissors.  On hindsight, it might have been better to use my paper cutter because it cuts straight.  I found two different greetings  to use and stamped them onto the subtle papers I trimmed out in a coordinating ink colour.  I used a square triangle in order to get the lines of elements perpendicular to the sides of the backgrounds.  My purple greeting was created with magnetic letters - I am still missing my mount - so you can see that the greeting is not really straight but this only became very evident once I was gluing my elements in place so I decided to just go with it!!  I arranged all the half circles until I was happy with the layout of them, moved them up a bit, added a length of double sided tape and then glued the bottom ones in place on the tape and then added the upper ones over them using white glue applied with a fine tip applicator.  The circles give a more balanced look for this sketch but I did have to strongly resist adding dots or "something" to them.  I am enjoying the challenge of this sketch and look forward to using other elements to see if other shapes work better than the ones I have used so far.               Therese

Birthday card featuring a stamped greeting, decorative paper and hand drawn bows

I have been reviewing my Inspiration file folder and found a few cards using a similar sketch and decided to see if I could make that sketch work for me.  I took me a while to decide what shapes I was going to use and finally chose rectangles.  I cut a brown card to fit in a large envelope and then found this subtle decorative paper which I thought would work well with it.  I used my Making Memories magnetic stamp set to stamp the greeting in dark brown ink.  My metal mount is MIA so I had to improvise - took a bit of time!  I have a lot of stamped greetings that were stamped before I was happy with the coverage and layout of the letters.  While it was drying I dug out my little stash of orange scraps and cut a variety of rectangles and auditioned them to make an arrangement above the words.  Once I was happy with it I adhered them in place.  I turned my background over and created another set of rectangles and glued them in place when I was happy with the layout.  After they were all mounted I thought they were a bit boring so I added little hand drawn bows on the tall ones and added kraft fiber bows to the two small ones.  It adds some texture which was nice.  On hindsight, I could have flagged the ends or cut them with decorative scissors or a border punch to add some interest.  I like the straight edges on the pieces which nicely highlights the greeting!!  Not as successful as the originals but I will try again.  Happy with the result!!           Therese