Another simple card with a bit of a twist. I cut a rectangle off the front of this card and then applied decorative paper to the flap that was left. I stamped the image added a layer and glued it to the front. I added a small square on the inside of the card for writing my message!! I just love this image!! It was one of the images in the Hostess set I earned at my SU party.

I hope you enjoy these cards!! Make them your own!!

Have a creative day!!


Therese

Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

This is a little folder card!! I added a little flap to a regular card and then added an element on the front that I could tuck the flap under. I added decorative paper to the front and then added an embossed image.

A very simple design!!

Therese

I loved this little design that I found several different places!! I just made a rectangular card and cut off a triangle off of each side. Several of the girls were going to add a little handle to their pink cards to make a cute little girl's card that looks like a purse!! This one could truly be embellished several different ways for so many different looks!! Consider creating an apron, coveralls, brick of gold, etc. with this design.

I colour printed the oval design and then punched it with my large oval punch from SU. I am really looking forward to exploring the possibilities of this punch!!

Enjoy!!

Therese

A triangular fold card!! I had downloaded an image of a similar card somewhere along the way and worked up my design from that image. Several of the girls at the class mentioned that Splitcoast had a tutorial posted to their site last week with all the instructions and samples. So if you are interested in more information you can check

www.splitcoaststampers.com

Check their tutorial section under Resources, I believe, and you should be able to find their tutorial. Another very different card that would easily hold a photo or a little something for someone special!! They require accurate scoring but are not difficult to put together. I use my clear quilting ruler for scoring!! The best tool for that purpose!!

Therese

For this month's cardmaking session I was exploring folds and shapes!! This card is a variation of the one we made at my SU party. It has a triangular base instead of a rectangular one!! In the process of designing this one I had to come up with a solution to keeping the pop up part of the card - popped up!! In the rectangular based one the paper on both sides of the slit grabs the pop up and keeps it from sliding back into the base. With the triangular base there is less pressure so I ended up adding a staple at the place I wanted the pop up to stay. The back catches the staple's little bumps and the front hides the front of the staple! It was so effective and the group enjoyed the different option for the base! I just love this Terrific Tulip set (retired) from SU. Made these cards in a lot of different colours. They are a great way to herald in the spring or to celebrate Easter!!

Therese

This faux leather technique has a few more steps than the others but is still very effective!! I would have added the last coat of sealer to the surface to get a bit of sheen and also to protect the surface of the paper. I chose a rather non - leather colour - bright blue - but the texture is wonderful and it surely makes very interesting and effective background paper. Both the cardstock layer and the tissue could be stamped before layering them to create yet more dimension. I would recommend making several sheets of any of these papers while you have your paints and tools out!!

Therese

Yet another faux leather technique!! This one is also very easy but a bit time consuming - it took me 10 minutes to apply the tape to this small piece of cardstock!! You simply rip ivory masking tape into small pieces and apply to cardstock overlapping slightly and leaving rough edges showing. Once your cardstock is covered apply ink to the surface in any colour you choose. I used Chestnut Memories for this one. Just rub in the ink with your finger or a small piece of paper and let dry. DONE!! Very effective and the favorite at the class!!

Therese

This is a very quick and easy faux leather technique. It requires a heat gun, a stamp, a dye ink pad and some fun foam. The fun foam softens very nicely when you heat it with a heat gun and will take the impression of a stamp. I used a feather stamp for this card and a black ink pad. It is not necessary to use ink on the stamp unless you really want to highlight the image. You could easily create a textured background instead of an accent for your card by using a large background stamp instead. Lots of possibilities with this technique! I highly recommend giving it a try. If you are not happy with the result simply reheat and redo.

Enjoy!

Therese

Faux Leather

Faux Leather!! This is a technique I have been doing for quite a while but just recently taught a class with it and several faux leather techniques. I use Plaid Glaze Vernis so on the weekend when I was into Michael's I inquired about the availability. They no longer carry them. I will have to find another source or consider developing my own glazes. I think that I could certainly use neutral glaze and add acrylic paint, tube watercolour, ink, etc to it to make up the colours I would need for my paper. I will have to do some research, see what my options are and do a little playing to see what works the best. I have developed this technique from an article in one of the Somerset Gallery issues. I really like the look of this paper and it works so well for covering books and frames. Here I have used it as a background paper - very similar to a card I made for my last cardmaking session.

Therese

A group of my friends and I are going to swap silk hydrangea flowers in April. I have posted these just to give everyone an idea of the colour options available in these cool little flowers. I have bought the purple ones in the top left hand corner. This bunch had a variety of colours from light lavendar to a darker more warm purple and even some with a greenish hue. The lower left hand corner is what Susan has bought to swap - a nice warm yellow with some orange ones mixed in. The purple, pink blue and green ones are those Catherine has for swapping. I am looking forward to swapping!! I really like the detail in these flowers and they are generally a good size for cards - less than 2". It will be fun to see what colours the others will have picked to swap. We are packaging them in small ziplocs and swapping 10 for 10. Michaels has a wide variety of colours, sizes and textures of hydrangea silk flowers and quite a few of them are on sale - 50% off this week until Friday!!

Celebrating spring!!

Therese

My friend has started a Bad Girl altered book and was looking for others to contribute layouts that she could tip in. I have been busy with other projects but tonight decided I would give it a try. I had collected several images off the internet a few days ago so I printed off a pageful and set off to my craft room/art studio. I decided to use two pages from an old book as a base and worked up a layout I was happy with. I sponged on some red ink and stamped a checker board pattern as well over both pages. Used my See D large typewriter alphabet to create the title. Mounted a couple of the images behind slidemounts for a bit of interest. Created the round element in Corel Draw, copying an image I found on the internet but made mine to reflect the theme. I mounted the slide mounts with foam tape so they would be dimensional on the page.

I'm happy with the results and I hope she will like it as well.

I thought it was interesting, as I searched the internet to find images, what showed up when I typed in "Bad Girls". Best not to judge!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

Bought some chipboard letters yesterday and just had to try them!! I created this card for this month's Art Lottery. I used an old music sheet as decorative paper - stippled it a bit with chestnut Memories ink. I use a large kids paintbrush from the dollar store for stippling. I added a chocolate brown ribbon between the music sheet and the rest of the card though it is a bit hard to identify in the scan. I also distressed the rest of the card which is not showing up either.

I stamped O and U with my SeeD round alphabet in chestnut memories and punched them out. I stamped "Thinking of" with my MM rummage magnetic alphabet. I layered the strip onto the card and then glued the letters below it.

Very happy with the results!! I will include a couple of letters for the winner to play with as well.

I have chipboard letters and old sheet music on my MMM site! You can follow the link below my name!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

Here is what the other side look like!!

Therese

This is a double sided page for an Art Idea Journal - a round robin on one of my groups!! I created different layouts in each journal using the same four subjects - handmade paper, faux leather paper, paste paper and serendipity. I included the paper and instructions in each layout so the person receiving it would have samples and information for making their own. It has be so much fun to come up with a different layout for each journal. This is the final journal in the round robin. It has taken two years instead of the anticipated 6 months to get this one finished but the journals have been fabulous and well worth waiting for. Mine is all home and now just needs to be bound!!

Here I created pockets with the specific paper and then printed off instuctions. I topped the instruction sheets with another paper , folded it up to fit and added it to the pocket. I also added a variety of samples of each technique to each pocket. That should supply some inspiration and some pieces to play with. I stamped each technique name with a round alphabet in a coordinating colour, punched them out with a 1" hole punch (michaels), added a hole at the top and strung them onto fiber. I made two holes at each end of the pockets and strung the little round tag titles between them and tied them taught. I used the same holes for the fiber on each side of the page.

Very happy with how this one has worked out!!

Enjoy!! Have a creative day!!

Therse

I am a papermaker and use recyclable paper to make handmade paper!! I made these sheets for a friend who gave me some petals the other day. They were from tulips, daffodils and a pink hyacinth!! Because the petals were somewhat large and I was making small sheets of paper I blended them a little before adding them to my vat. Used a light yellow pulp which set off the petals very nicely!! She was very happy with the sheets I gave her to use in her cardmaking!!

I would highly encourage all papercrafters to learn to make paper!! You can use any and all scraps of paper to make new sheets which reduces the waste from your crafting and gives you new paper to play with. It is a win-win.

If you really don't need to add another thing to your life then consider donating your scraps to someone who enjoys the papermaking process!

Thanks for checking out my blog and have a creative day!!

Therese

Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

This & That Mingle page for March. We had a long list of themes we could us for this mingle. Last year we did holidays and this year we are expanding to include other events or days that are significant in each month. I chose Alexander Graham Bell and did a bit of research on the internet. What an interesting man!! He is famous for having invented the telephone but he was an inventor all of his life and was always thinking and creating. A wonderful inspiration! It was hard to choose which images to use. I downloaded them from the internet to a folder where I put images for my own use. I like to keep my copyright free images separate from anything else I acquire for my creations. The background is a scan of one of his journal pages.

The top left is the front of the fat book page, the top right is the back of the page and the bottom is the inside.

Therese

Two ATCs I made this morning for a trade!! I have a box in which I keep my ATC supplies - substrates, images, labels, etc. Whenever I get something I think would be good for ATCs I just put it in the box. When I feel like making ATCs I open the box and see what I have. It is a nice starting off point!! Sometimes I find everything I need!!

The first is a picture I laser printed (down load from the net I think) with some fiber and a little tag. I stamped the base with the SU swirl background in silver Encore!

On the second I layered junk mail onto a green backer. I save interesting junk mail for use in my art. This one is from a fitness brochure. I layered a handmade paper letter over this. I wrote by hand the words "Who" and "You?" at the top and bottom but I could not get the scan to show the words. On the back I layered a vellum with text to support that finding out who you are is the mission of your life and will reveal the best path for your life.

Therese

A new set of cards I created with my donated envelopes!! It was a challenge to use a different format. Two of the cards use stamped images (tulip and butterfly) but the others use images recycled from old greeting cards. One of the girls that came to my SU party likes to use old greeting cards to create her cards so I went through the bagful I received last fall and put together a package for her. While I was in the process, I decided to give it a try being as I had never recycled a card in that way before. It worked out well though it took some time to pick out images that would suit the rectangular format I was using for these cards.

I was careful not to pass on any cards that had personal information or writing from the ones that had been donated to me.

So another source of card creating fun - all the cards that others (who have not been converted to making their own) send you!!

Have a creative day!!

Therese

Thank you postcards for those who came to my SU party!! Chose a fairly simple design to make the process of getting them done easier. I dug into my scraps for the small strips (1' x 3"-4") and chose coordinating papers - scrapbook, handpainted, etc. I colour printed the greetings and layered all onto a coordinating postcard of cardstock which was stamped with an all over text stamp which I bought off the CST garage sale earlier this month. LOVE IT!! The order arrives today so I am headed over to help sort and bring home all the goodies!!!! Yeah!!

Therese

My Valentine's card for my husband. We celebrated late because he was out of town and we really wanted to enjoy our day. He had a few days off at the beginning of this week so we took a day for ourselves and celebrated!! He is gaining an interest in cooking so we planned a feast - Coquilles St. Jacques, lemon spaghetti, asparagus and ceasar salad with some Lindt chocolate with Early Grey tea after our meal!!! It was great!

I really like this card!! The heart is from a scrapbook paper sheet I bought a long time ago at the $1 store. I did some stippling on it with ochre to get it to be a more warm red. I added some gold embossing to three of the edges to balance the gold foil that was already on the right hand side. Gold embossed "Friend" and used my embossing marker to emboss "my". I sewed on the heart charm and then tied the key charm to it. I layered this onto a dark burgundy layer and then onto a warm red cardstock which I stamped the SU swirl heart background with a wine pigment ink and clear embossed. Just perfect for letting him know that he has the key to my heart!!

Therese