A gift set which includes four hand made cards in a handmade paper envelope with a ribbon closure!! This is a class I will be teaching in April and considering it will be the same week as Earth Day - April 22 - I decided to incorporate a few reuse/recycle ideas. First of all, #1 recycling for a paper crafter - handmade paper created from your scraps!! The holder is a sheet of handmade paper as is the background paper for each card. I made this paper - it includes grass, herbal tea and marigold petals. Card on the right features a hand embossed metal foil heart (pie plate) and a buckle (pop can tab). Second from the left, features a flower (dryer sheet) and the one next to it features chipboard hearts (cereal cardboard) which are covered with scrapbook paper!!
So I challenge you to reuse in your cardmaking! Plastic packaging makes great clear shapes. Cut them with dies or by hand and embellish with Sharpies/alcohol inks or emboss. Foil packaging - yogurt or applesauce - as metallic layering for images or embossed for accents. Foil - pie plates - cut into shapes and embossed make great accents. Fabric - old jeans or sweaters - can be used for layering or die cut for accents!! Great for making flowers too! Chipboard - cereal boxes, etc - layered with scrapbook papers and die cut makes great accents. Paper - photos from magazines or calendars, bright and interesting junk mail, all over printed security envelopes, etc - can be used as accents, for stamping on or layering!! Metal - aluminum can tabs - make great buckles!! Check out cans when recycling - there are a lot of different colours on a wide variety of drinks - beer, energy drinks, soda, etc. Dryer sheets - coloured with paints or inks make great backgrounds or accents. Store bought cards - cut them up to make tags or to use as the main image on a card. Handmade cards - refurbish with a new base card or replace insert for reusing!!
If you have a recycle or reuse idea please share it in a comment!!
Therese
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Christmas card challenge - gingerbread man
More Christmas cards! I made three that feature a gingerbread man to satisfy the gingerbread theme challenge on my sister's blog.
I am enjoying this process!! I cut the gingerbread man out of sanded brown shrink plastic using the Sizzix die, highlighted his features with white gel pen (SU) and black sharpie before I shrank him. The shrink plastic does not always shrink evenly so the hearts are not perfect but as we all know - none of us have perfect hearts - so I am good with it. I backed the hearts with a small label, filled the holes with dimensional magic and added red holeless beads which made them very nice and sparkly!! I let them dry overnight before putting them on my card. I stamped the top and bottom of my red card with a Christmas script stamp (actually an unmounted SU wheel) using white pigment ink. Punched both sides of a rectangle of brown cardstock using my doily border punch (MS) and added a rectangle of decorative scrapbooking paper which was embellished with brown faux stitching*. Stamped the greeting in red, added a red ribbon tied in a soft double knot and glued on the little gingerbread man with glue dots.
Very happy with my creations and I have three more Christmas cards to add to the stack!!
Therese
* faux stitching: Cut a piece of plastic canvas to use as a guide, lay it over a thick mouse pad and use a push pin to create your holes. Join the holes with a coloured marker!! Fast and easy!!
I am enjoying this process!! I cut the gingerbread man out of sanded brown shrink plastic using the Sizzix die, highlighted his features with white gel pen (SU) and black sharpie before I shrank him. The shrink plastic does not always shrink evenly so the hearts are not perfect but as we all know - none of us have perfect hearts - so I am good with it. I backed the hearts with a small label, filled the holes with dimensional magic and added red holeless beads which made them very nice and sparkly!! I let them dry overnight before putting them on my card. I stamped the top and bottom of my red card with a Christmas script stamp (actually an unmounted SU wheel) using white pigment ink. Punched both sides of a rectangle of brown cardstock using my doily border punch (MS) and added a rectangle of decorative scrapbooking paper which was embellished with brown faux stitching*. Stamped the greeting in red, added a red ribbon tied in a soft double knot and glued on the little gingerbread man with glue dots.
Very happy with my creations and I have three more Christmas cards to add to the stack!!
Therese
* faux stitching: Cut a piece of plastic canvas to use as a guide, lay it over a thick mouse pad and use a push pin to create your holes. Join the holes with a coloured marker!! Fast and easy!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Christmas cards for challenges - snowmen
Created these cards for a couple challenges - Snowman and mostly green at Christmas Cards All Year Round
and snowmen was the theme for Tracy's Christmas Card Challenge #3 on her blog.
I am pretty happy with how they turned out!!! I used a brass stencil and embossed the snowman (do not know manufacturer - gifted to me) on an off white cardstock circle (3"). I added a bit of chalk to highlight the details - nose, hat, etc. I find it works best if you apply the chalk with the stencil in place - less mess. I added faux stitching to the outer edge with a micro tip marker. I layered him onto a scalloped circle (Nestibilities die) cut from green cardstock which had been embellished with clear glittered 3D paint. Coordinates nicely with the glitter on the decorative cardstock I used below him which features numbers and some cool colours - pink being one of them - so I added a pink paper ribbon just below the scalloped border which I punched (SU) on the upper edge. Added two snowflake embellishments. The large one features a micro mini white brad (M), an iridescent confetti snowflake, a fabric snowflake, a diecut snowflake all layered onto some tulle and attached to the front of the card with the brad. The upper one is a fiber snowflake layered over a confetti snowflake, also attached with a micro mini white brad.
I am super happy to be participating in the Christmas challenges because I will have my cards ready for next Christmas when it arrives and it will be the very first year in 20 years or more of cardmaking that MY cards will be ready when I need them!!!!
Thanks to the girls who are willing to make up the challenges and put them out there!!
Therese
Cards as silent auction prizes!
I packaged some cards to donate as silent auction prizes to a high school student who is raising money for a humanitarian trip. It is always a struggle to find a way to present the cards so they can be seen and appreciated without getting them looking ratty because of all the handling they get.
This time I packaged two cards back to back in a cellophane envelope and sealed it. Did up three more for a total of eight cards. I stapled the cello envelopes together and added a header which included contact information which I attached with a piece of ribbon using a bit of a book binding technique. The cards are all visible and the whole thing stands like a book which is better for presentation than having them flat on a table.
I hope they will fetch a reasonable price at their event on Saturday!!
This has, so far, been the best presentation for cards I have been able to come up with that allows the cards to be seen and not get damaged from the handling. Not necessarily "pretty" but effective. Will keep working on "pretty" because that would be a good feature to have as well.
Therese
This time I packaged two cards back to back in a cellophane envelope and sealed it. Did up three more for a total of eight cards. I stapled the cello envelopes together and added a header which included contact information which I attached with a piece of ribbon using a bit of a book binding technique. The cards are all visible and the whole thing stands like a book which is better for presentation than having them flat on a table.
I hope they will fetch a reasonable price at their event on Saturday!!
This has, so far, been the best presentation for cards I have been able to come up with that allows the cards to be seen and not get damaged from the handling. Not necessarily "pretty" but effective. Will keep working on "pretty" because that would be a good feature to have as well.
Therese
Tea gifties
I created these little tea gifties for all the people who attended my SU party on Sunday afternoon!! It is always so much fun. I transform my livingroom/diningroom into a stamping studio and invite my friends over to stamp. My SU demo, Catherine always comes up with some great make and takes so we spend the afternoon stamping and being creative!! These little matchboxes were cut using the matchbox Bigz XL die by my daughter last year so I decided to make up the boxes and fill them with tea - we brought some back from London at the end of January - with a little note that they should enjoy a cuppa with a friend! I wrapped them with pink paper twist ribbon.
I hope they will all enjoy the tea!! I am hoping the orders will be in before Easter and we will have our goodies to play over the long weekend!! I would highly recommend hosting a SU party and having some friends over to play!! We had goodies to eat after all that stamping too!!
Therese
I hope they will all enjoy the tea!! I am hoping the orders will be in before Easter and we will have our goodies to play over the long weekend!! I would highly recommend hosting a SU party and having some friends over to play!! We had goodies to eat after all that stamping too!!
Therese
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Cardmaking - March - birdie
What a wonderful birdie!! It is a new SU punch!! It cuts the bird, the wing and the branch!! My friend cut me a whole bunch in coordinating papers!! So fun!! I added the circle background (SU) and embossed it with glittered embossing powder to coordinate with the glittered paper. Added the little birdie saying from the SU birdie stamp set and a little piece of ribbon!!
Therese
Therese
Labels:
birdie,
punchies,
ribbon,
scrapbook paper,
SU - StampinUP,
thermal embossing
Cardmaking - March - flowers!!
Flowers in honour of spring!! Spring has come here - we have had warm weather for a month and really no winter to speak of!! My front flower bed has crocuses blooming and daffodils & tulips coming up!!
For the cards I stamped and black embossed the flowers which I watercoloured then cut out leaving a very small white border. These were layered onto black squares with 3D foam tape which makes them pop very nicely!! I layered them onto a strip of white which features black edging - black cardstock cut with my scallop decorative scissors and pricked to add texture. I tied a double knot in my ribbon and layered it under the flowers. Adds a nice touch of colour. Brought a few stamps and a black stamp pad so a greeting could be added for those who were so inclined!!
Therese
For the cards I stamped and black embossed the flowers which I watercoloured then cut out leaving a very small white border. These were layered onto black squares with 3D foam tape which makes them pop very nicely!! I layered them onto a strip of white which features black edging - black cardstock cut with my scallop decorative scissors and pricked to add texture. I tied a double knot in my ribbon and layered it under the flowers. Adds a nice touch of colour. Brought a few stamps and a black stamp pad so a greeting could be added for those who were so inclined!!
Therese
Cardmaking - March - scalloped border
More embossing!! Love those embossing folders (CB)! I embossed just the bottom edge of the coloured layer and added a piece of decorative paper to the top. Used the scallop border punch (SU) on one edge of the coloured strip then pricked holes using a push pin and a piece of old mouse pad. Works really well. Added a white embossed strip over that. Glued the ribbon into place and added an embellishment with a glue dot.
The yellow one looks like it could be an Easter card so I brought my "Happy Easter" stamp so anyone who wanted to could add the greeting to the inside of their card. The pink one looks like an anniversary or wedding card with the little silver dove. I like to have variety in my cards - keeps me sane and provides more options for those who participate in cardmaking!!
Therese
The yellow one looks like it could be an Easter card so I brought my "Happy Easter" stamp so anyone who wanted to could add the greeting to the inside of their card. The pink one looks like an anniversary or wedding card with the little silver dove. I like to have variety in my cards - keeps me sane and provides more options for those who participate in cardmaking!!
Therese
Cardmaking - March - embossing
Another great session of cardmaking last night!! It is always great to be spending time creating with like minded people!! Does me good!!
A card that features embossing!! The background is created with the Script embossing folder (CB) which is trimmed to the edge of the embossed design and layered onto coloured cardstock. The central image is dry embossed using a stylus, brass stencil and a light table!! I used chalk to highlight the image. The frame around this rectangle was created by embossing a nestability rectangle. First time doing it and it works wonderfully. You need a silicon mat to emboss with the nesties which pushes the paper into the blank areas. You can do the same with stencils (brass or otherwise) or texture plates!! Layered the image onto another rectangle of colour and added a tied ribbon with a glue dot.
Fun to revisit techniques that I haven't used in a while!! Certainly do like the embossed look and the embossing folders make that so easy!!
Therese
A card that features embossing!! The background is created with the Script embossing folder (CB) which is trimmed to the edge of the embossed design and layered onto coloured cardstock. The central image is dry embossed using a stylus, brass stencil and a light table!! I used chalk to highlight the image. The frame around this rectangle was created by embossing a nestability rectangle. First time doing it and it works wonderfully. You need a silicon mat to emboss with the nesties which pushes the paper into the blank areas. You can do the same with stencils (brass or otherwise) or texture plates!! Layered the image onto another rectangle of colour and added a tied ribbon with a glue dot.
Fun to revisit techniques that I haven't used in a while!! Certainly do like the embossed look and the embossing folders make that so easy!!
Therese
Labels:
CB - cuttlebug,
chalks,
dry embossing,
embossing folder,
Nestabilities,
ribbon,
stencil
Masculine Cards
Started off creating a card for my card club exchange which needed to feature some of the paper I brought back from London so decided to combine that with the masculine card challenge on Crazy 4 Challenges. Here is what I managed to create!! I decided to make more than one because it is nice to have some on hand.
I used this really nice kraft paper which is printed with black glossy round images! My favorite of the papers I brought back. I embossed in black embossing powder the images I stamped so they would coordinate with the paper. I cut out the images with my circle cutter, added some doodling to the edges with black sharpie and cut black circles to layer them onto. Used eyelets, fiber and printed greetings on a few of them. The others I stamped with bleach on the black to get the warm brown lettering!! Very cool!!
One morning! Five cards using the same supplies but all different!! Success!!!
Therese
I used this really nice kraft paper which is printed with black glossy round images! My favorite of the papers I brought back. I embossed in black embossing powder the images I stamped so they would coordinate with the paper. I cut out the images with my circle cutter, added some doodling to the edges with black sharpie and cut black circles to layer them onto. Used eyelets, fiber and printed greetings on a few of them. The others I stamped with bleach on the black to get the warm brown lettering!! Very cool!!
One morning! Five cards using the same supplies but all different!! Success!!!
Therese
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Card with colour and texture
A friend of mine asked if I would create a birthday card for her visually impaired aunt. She recommended bright colours and texture. This is the card I created. It features layered felt flowers with leaves on a textured scallop (CB) with an embossed butterfly and tied double layered ribbon over an embossed (CB) layer mounted to the card front. Lots going on here and I hope it has enough texture to be interesting to her aunt.
It was fun to see how much texture I could incorporate without having the card feel overdone. It was a fine line but I think I managed to keep the card from feeling overdone.
Thermally embossed the inside with Happy Birthday to another tactile dimension to the card.
Always up to for a challenge!!
Therese
It was fun to see how much texture I could incorporate without having the card feel overdone. It was a fine line but I think I managed to keep the card from feeling overdone.
Thermally embossed the inside with Happy Birthday to another tactile dimension to the card.
Always up to for a challenge!!
Therese
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Chunky Art Book - back cover
Same wax resist paper featured on the front cover which was also enhanced with watercolour once it was applied to the back cover to give it more definition and feature the flower more prominently. No other embellishments necessary!! Added the flower charm with pink and teal fiber!!
And that is my Chunky Art Book!!
I hope you are inspired to create art!! Just get creative and share it us!!
Therese
And that is my Chunky Art Book!!
I hope you are inspired to create art!! Just get creative and share it us!!
Therese
Chunky Art Book - # 13 - snow scene
Stamped background paper, border punched and watercoloured strip, punchies, watercoloured image and word.
The charm on this page coordinates nicely but its words are quite faint due to using a failing Sharpie to write the words.
Added a little pin pricking to the decorative strip and some dots around the image in both black and white.
Therese
The charm on this page coordinates nicely but its words are quite faint due to using a failing Sharpie to write the words.
Added a little pin pricking to the decorative strip and some dots around the image in both black and white.
Therese
Labels:
border punch,
charms,
fibers,
piercing,
punchies,
shrink plastic,
watercolour
Chunky Art Book - # 12 - quote
Watercolour washed background paper, quote, border punched layered cardstock strip, doodled border and swirls,die cut heart and teal rhinestones.
Lots of doodling on this page in both black and white!!
Therese
Lots of doodling on this page in both black and white!!
Therese
Labels:
3D embellishments,
border punch,
die cuts,
doodling,
quotes
Chunky Art Book - # 11 - flower garden
Colour washed background paper in black tones, coloured transparent die cut flower, doodled garden, red scrapbook paper border, red glittered die cut heart and word sticker. Added a doodled border as well. The punchies were added to the coloured die cut flower - one in the front and one in the back, attached with a brad. This gives it a place to put the 3D foam tape to mount it to the page.
Therese
Therese
Chunky Art Book - # 10 - embossed heart
Colourwashed background paper, doodled border, border punched strip with stamped images, embossed metal heart and word sticker.
Created the word stickers using the laser printer, word processor, Dymo font and labels. Fun to play with fonts!! This heart was not painted - liked the texture of it just the way it was so it stayed silver. The heart charm is added with red eyelash fiber.
Therese
Created the word stickers using the laser printer, word processor, Dymo font and labels. Fun to play with fonts!! This heart was not painted - liked the texture of it just the way it was so it stayed silver. The heart charm is added with red eyelash fiber.
Therese
Labels:
border punch,
doodling,
embossed metal,
hand decorated paper,
stamping,
stickers
Chunky Art Book - # 9 - Nature
Finger painted background paper, embossed resist tissue decorative paper, doodled strip, watercoloured stamped flower image (SU) mounted with 3D foam tape and a little coloured word.
The colours on this page worked out so well - I was very happy - not often I use bright orange in anything!! K added some stippled doodles to the flower.
Therese
The colours on this page worked out so well - I was very happy - not often I use bright orange in anything!! K added some stippled doodles to the flower.
Therese
Monday, March 08, 2010
Chunky Art Book - # 8 - butterfly
Wax resist and watercolour paper for background, embossed strip, punchie flower garden, coloured clear butterfly accent and a colour printed word!! Added a doodled border on this one too!! The transparent coloured butterfly was created in the same art session as the embossed metal ones and coloured with the same paint. A cute butterfly charm for this page. Added details to the flowers with black Sharpie marker. Butterfly mounted with 3D foam tape below its body which was coloured with a large Sharpie marker.
Therese
Therese
Chunky Art Book - # 7 - Life
A music sheet stained with walnut ink as background, colour printed images of a window (stash) and door (mine) layered onto black, deckled edged strip, handwritten quote with highlighted letters and 3D punchie embellishment with a tag. I added a doodled border to this page as well.
I have a large collection of door images!!
Therese
I have a large collection of door images!!
Therese
Chunky Art Book - # 6 - pouffy flower
Colour washed decorative paper for the background, a pouffy flower with leaves and strips, doodled border, a quote and flower confetti embellishment. The flower charm goes really well with this page. We created these pouffy flowers in one of our art sessions. Eight scallop punchies of colourful tissue paper layered and stapled onto a green cardstock scallop. Starting with the first one - each scallop is tightly scrunched to the middle. Add the leaves (cut from a SU five petal punchie) and fluff the petals - a cute little flower accent. The quote is another of my favorites - one of my own creations!!
Therese
Therese
Chunky Art Book - # 5 - leaf
An alcohol ink background paper with doodled trees and birds, layered cardstock strip borders with doodled edges, watercoloured colour printed tag with quote and leaf charm layered on gold and black cardstock mounted with 3Dfoam tape!
The colour printing bled a little with the watercolour but in the end I really liked the effect. I added a bit of blue watercolour to the background paper to help it blend with the quote.
You can see the heart charm better on this page.
Therese
The colour printing bled a little with the watercolour but in the end I really liked the effect. I added a bit of blue watercolour to the background paper to help it blend with the quote.
You can see the heart charm better on this page.
Therese
Labels:
3D embellishments,
3D foam tape,
charms,
doodling,
quotes,
shrink plastic
Chunky Art Book - # 4 - glittered heart
A colour washed decorative paper in red tones, a Mary Engelbreit small calendar image with a doodled frame, a black decorative strip border embellished with white gel marker, a doodled accent strip and a red glittered heart mounted to a black square mounted to the page with 3D foam tape. This page features a red heart charm as well.
Therese
Therese
Labels:
bookbinding,
charms,
die cuts,
glitter,
hand decorated paper,
reuse,
shrink plastic
Chunky Art Book - # 3 - angels
A colour washed background paper in black tones, a laser printed angel image layered onto red paste paper, embellished strips and a cute little tag with the angel quote and paper ribbon!! I added a doodled border all the way around with a black fine tipped Sharpie. The charm features a quote about art which is one of my favorites and is attached with some loopy fiber!
Therese
Therese
Labels:
border punch,
charms,
fibers,
hand decorated paper,
laser printing,
quotes
Chunky Art Book - # 2 - cultivate compassion
The background paper was one where white paint was added to a colour washed paper. The page features a metal embossed flower with a little red heart lady bug, a strip of layered cardstocks with a heart punchie and an embellished gold embossed quote. The embossed metal sunflower is mounted with 3D foam tape to keep it dimensional. I added dotted swirls with a Sharpie to just finish off the page once all the elements had been adhered.
One of our art sessions was spent creating embossed metal accents. I provided pieces of foil (the weight of pie plates) and they used pencils to emboss a design in the surface using folded newspaper for padding. Once finished, they were painted with "acrylic paint" using q-tips and left to dry over the weekend. I created the "paint" using acrylic finish and stamp pad reinkers - worked very much like those sold for painting suncatchers. I like using quotes and words in my layouts. Some of the students featured quotes on their pages - others used a combination of papers and elements to create their layouts.
Therese
One of our art sessions was spent creating embossed metal accents. I provided pieces of foil (the weight of pie plates) and they used pencils to emboss a design in the surface using folded newspaper for padding. Once finished, they were painted with "acrylic paint" using q-tips and left to dry over the weekend. I created the "paint" using acrylic finish and stamp pad reinkers - worked very much like those sold for painting suncatchers. I like using quotes and words in my layouts. Some of the students featured quotes on their pages - others used a combination of papers and elements to create their layouts.
Therese
Chunky Art Book - cover
My cover features a flowery decorative paper I created with the wax resist technique using an embossed plastic placemat and watercolour. I enhanced the paper with more watercolour after I glued it to my front cover. It defined the flower and added colour to the center and leaves. I added a simple cardstock ribbon to the front choosing to feature the decorative paper!! The charm I added to the front includes the date for future reference and is tied on with multi colour fiber.
Therese
Therese
Labels:
charms,
fiber,
hand decorated paper,
ribbon,
shrink plastic,
wax resist
My Chunky Art Book
I will now share with you my Chunky Art Book!!
I created it as an example for the students. Mine has 7 double sided pages - I reduced theirs to 5 pages. Once I started creating pages I realized they would not have the time to get all the pages done.
I used the same supplies for my book as I had provided the students to keep my creation within the realm of the possibilities that they had available to them. I found the challenge of limited supplies generally required more creativity to produce the sort of layouts I am used to. A very good exercise for me.
Therese
I created it as an example for the students. Mine has 7 double sided pages - I reduced theirs to 5 pages. Once I started creating pages I realized they would not have the time to get all the pages done.
I used the same supplies for my book as I had provided the students to keep my creation within the realm of the possibilities that they had available to them. I found the challenge of limited supplies generally required more creativity to produce the sort of layouts I am used to. A very good exercise for me.
Therese
Labels:
charms,
decorative paper,
fiber,
ribbon,
shrink plastic,
wax resist
Creating a page
I am sure you can all relate to the little bit of space there is left on your work surface once you start creating! Here I am creating a page for my Chunky Art Book in about 6" square with a table full of "stuff" to choose from!!
It was a very fun project!!
I provided the students with a copius amount of papers, images, accents, embellishments, words and letters to augment the ones they had created in previous classes as they started creating their books. First of all, we glued decorative paper to both sides of the pages being sure not to cover the holes. All the pages were pressed for a weekend to give a nice flat surface. We coloured the spine and edges with black marker to give them a nice finished look. Then, the process of creation began!! Choosing elements, designing a layout, adding, rejecting pieces until both covers seemed finished. Gluing everything into place and making changes on the fly!! A reminder to organize pages and keep them all upright and properly aligned with each other was heeded by most. It took several days for the pages to be finished and even then, last minute items were added to finish them off!! We added the bindings and the Chunky art books were a reality. Once the pages were done we had a session of playing with shrink plastic to make the charms they would be using to decorate the spine of their chunky books!!
They were provided with blanks of Rough and Ready shrink plastic about 1.5"x 2" and reminded that the charms would shrink by about 60% so it was advisable to use most of the rectangle to create the charm. They used Sharpie markers on the smooth side to create their designs and pencil crayons on the rough side to colour them. Some used only coloured pencils to create their charms!! Once punched with a 1/4" hole for attaching, the students enjoyed using the heat guns to shrink their charms and watching "the dance" of the shrink plastic!! I added my charms between the pages on the top rung of my binding using colourful fibers. To help keep that rung of the binding closed so no charms are lost I applied double sided tape between it and the back of the spine. The students added their charms as they wished to their books.
The books are as individual as the students!!
Therese
It was a very fun project!!
I provided the students with a copius amount of papers, images, accents, embellishments, words and letters to augment the ones they had created in previous classes as they started creating their books. First of all, we glued decorative paper to both sides of the pages being sure not to cover the holes. All the pages were pressed for a weekend to give a nice flat surface. We coloured the spine and edges with black marker to give them a nice finished look. Then, the process of creation began!! Choosing elements, designing a layout, adding, rejecting pieces until both covers seemed finished. Gluing everything into place and making changes on the fly!! A reminder to organize pages and keep them all upright and properly aligned with each other was heeded by most. It took several days for the pages to be finished and even then, last minute items were added to finish them off!! We added the bindings and the Chunky art books were a reality. Once the pages were done we had a session of playing with shrink plastic to make the charms they would be using to decorate the spine of their chunky books!!
They were provided with blanks of Rough and Ready shrink plastic about 1.5"x 2" and reminded that the charms would shrink by about 60% so it was advisable to use most of the rectangle to create the charm. They used Sharpie markers on the smooth side to create their designs and pencil crayons on the rough side to colour them. Some used only coloured pencils to create their charms!! Once punched with a 1/4" hole for attaching, the students enjoyed using the heat guns to shrink their charms and watching "the dance" of the shrink plastic!! I added my charms between the pages on the top rung of my binding using colourful fibers. To help keep that rung of the binding closed so no charms are lost I applied double sided tape between it and the back of the spine. The students added their charms as they wished to their books.
The books are as individual as the students!!
Therese
Creating chipboard books
I have illlustrated the steps taken to create the chipboard books the students used as a base for their Chunky Art books!!
The chipboard started life as the backers of full year planning calendar which Santa brings me every year!! I cut them into strips and then into pages. The pages were then assembled into books and stacked. Each page of each book was punched using my GB Ceralox binding machine. The 3/4" black bindings were cut to size and added to complete each chipboard book!! They looked great and it was going to be perfect that the pages could removed and added to the bindings manually!! The pages are 4" x 5 1/4" or so!! I knew these pages were going to hold up to any sort of material or technique we were going to use in our books!!
Therese
Glittering accents
The students were all about using glitter - especially the girls!! We used fine glitter to embellish accents like chipboard flowers and tags as well as to jazz up some strips that could be used as borders and edging for the pages of their books!!
I applied double sided tape - Peel and stick sheets - to chipboard, burnished it well and die cut some shapes - flowers, tags, hearts, etc. It was just a matter of removing the protective layer and rubbing in the glitter. I provided the students with punchies that could be placed on the sticky side of the shapes before applying glitter to add yet another dimension to the accents they were creating.
The strips were punched with a variey of small punches and backed with packing tape. Glitter was applied to the sticky tape that was revealed through the holes creating glitzy elements for their books. In some cases, they were able to apply two different colours of glitter to the same piece by apply glitter to one sticky surface and then revealing another to which a different colour of fine glitter was applied!!
Needless to say that there was glitter in more places than was originally intended. I was grateful to have the help of a teacher to get the "extra" cleaned up.
Glitter is a fun embellishment! I really like using it with the sticky tape instead of glue.
So we were starting to have a few items that could be incorporated into the Chunky Art Books!!
Therese
I applied double sided tape - Peel and stick sheets - to chipboard, burnished it well and die cut some shapes - flowers, tags, hearts, etc. It was just a matter of removing the protective layer and rubbing in the glitter. I provided the students with punchies that could be placed on the sticky side of the shapes before applying glitter to add yet another dimension to the accents they were creating.
The strips were punched with a variey of small punches and backed with packing tape. Glitter was applied to the sticky tape that was revealed through the holes creating glitzy elements for their books. In some cases, they were able to apply two different colours of glitter to the same piece by apply glitter to one sticky surface and then revealing another to which a different colour of fine glitter was applied!!
Needless to say that there was glitter in more places than was originally intended. I was grateful to have the help of a teacher to get the "extra" cleaned up.
Glitter is a fun embellishment! I really like using it with the sticky tape instead of glue.
So we were starting to have a few items that could be incorporated into the Chunky Art Books!!
Therese
Wax resist paper decorating
Paper that was decorated using wax resist techniques!!
Technique #1 - Rubbings
I gave each student a variety of papers - books pages, music sheets, bond paper, etc, a clear wax crayon and made available some items with texture. They used their clear wax crayons to make rubbings on several of the items and added watercolour which highlighted the rubbings to create some very interesting papers. To the left are the few papers I created as examples for them to use for inspiration. Theirs were far more interesting!!! Not all of them worked out perfectly but in the end but that is the way it goes when we are creating.
Clear wax crayons: Needed to be creative because clear wax crayons are not readily available. I took a bar of parrafin used to seal canning jars and cut it into 1/2" sections using a hot piece of metal and soften their edges a bit with the heat gun. A little time consuming but made perfectly acceptable clear wax crayons for the students to use!!
Items with texture: embossed plastic placemats, embossing folders, texture plates, screening, plastic mesh, fabric, etc.
Technique #2 - Wax resist using wax paper.
We created designs/texture in the wax paper by folding and crumpling, placed it between two layers of bond paper, covered both sides with plain newsprint, placed the sandwich on a pad of newspaper and used a hot iron to transfer the design from the wax paper to the bond paper. Again, they added watercolour to bring out the design created by the wax. A more subtle design - the bottom one in the photo above - which gives a different feel to the decorative paper.
These are both techniques you can use at home for use in your cardmaking!!
Therese
Handmade paper leftovers
These are sheets of paper I created using the leftovers from my papermaking session I had with the students for my art sessions!! I have inset the paper that was created when I combined the pink and blue confetti papers we used in class! Fun to mix up the colours and create new papers!!
I added geranium and pink carnation petals to the white along with some used herbal tea and grass for two different batches of paper! Also added some yellow paper napkins for colour and some apricot coloured carnations/grass/herbal tea to create a different batch of yellow paper!! I really like the handmade paper I create with natural additions!! Will have to see about using this paper in an upcoming cardmaking class!!
Therese
I added geranium and pink carnation petals to the white along with some used herbal tea and grass for two different batches of paper! Also added some yellow paper napkins for colour and some apricot coloured carnations/grass/herbal tea to create a different batch of yellow paper!! I really like the handmade paper I create with natural additions!! Will have to see about using this paper in an upcoming cardmaking class!!
Therese
Handmade paper by the students
Have started a new assignment - teaching art sessions to high school students!! I really enjoy teaching art and the kids always have a different perspective and are usually open to trying new creative projects!!
We started with papermaking!! These are some of the sheets created by the students in our first class. I chose to create small sheets (3.5" x 4.25") using the small mould and deckles because we will be creating Chunky Art Books in the upcoming weeks and these will be a good size for incorporating into their books!! They created plain sheets in white, pink confetti and blue confetti. They also experimented with embossing paper using a variety of elements and adding texture as well.
Making handmade paper is a fun activity that recycles your paper scraps into new sheets of paper you can use in your art!! A win - win for me and the process is one that cannot be hurried and so is great for adding some quiet time to your day!!
Therese
Heart Pins
Had a friend who wanted a few heart pins for her friends for Valentine's so I created a variety for her to choose from!! These are a few of the ones I had left! Forgot to scan all of them!!
These are created using shrink plastic, rubber stamps and paint!! I love shrink plastic and so did the students I was teaching. You will see that we made charms for our project with it!!
I like the vibrancy that you can achieve when you shrink the art you have created!! I use the Rough and Ready which can be purchased at Michaels!!
Therese
Larger Zentangle cards
These are A2 sized cards I created using the same Zentangles!! Very versatile little pieces of art!! I kept to the black and white theme - added some texture with the SU Polka Dots embossing folder, used the MS punch for the edge of the black layer and added some black, silver and gray fiber along with a layered laser printed greeting to finish them off!!
I definitely would encourage all of you to give this technique a try!!
Therese
Labels:
A2 cards,
border punch,
cards,
fiber,
laser printing,
MS - Martha Stewart,
SU - StampinUP,
texture,
Zentangle
Student project - Zentangle cards
Zentangle cards!! The 1.5"square zentangle art is created with Sharpie markers on colour laser photocopy paper!! You can see part of the template that I gave students for creating their Zentangles.
Once finished, the artwork was cut out leaving a white border. These were layered onto black then onto a white 2.75" square card which is a great size for cutting out of 8.5 x 11 cardstock - 6 per sheet. Each student had supplies for making six cards and were able to choose their best zentangles for their cards.
The 3" square envelopes are created using a 4.25" square using the same technique as the vellum envelopes in a previous post. I used the same paper for the envelopes as I used for the zentangles. I placed a piece of regular invisible tape under one of the flaps with the sticky side facing up and just folded the two adjacent flaps down which held the envelope together. I provided them with little zentangle stickers which they could use to hold the envelope closed once they had inserted their card. I created the stickers by scanning some of my zentangles, resizing them and printing them onto labels!! The perfect touch for making elegant little cards!!
Have some fun doodling and creating some little pieces of art for use in your cardmaking!!
Therese
Once finished, the artwork was cut out leaving a white border. These were layered onto black then onto a white 2.75" square card which is a great size for cutting out of 8.5 x 11 cardstock - 6 per sheet. Each student had supplies for making six cards and were able to choose their best zentangles for their cards.
The 3" square envelopes are created using a 4.25" square using the same technique as the vellum envelopes in a previous post. I used the same paper for the envelopes as I used for the zentangles. I placed a piece of regular invisible tape under one of the flaps with the sticky side facing up and just folded the two adjacent flaps down which held the envelope together. I provided them with little zentangle stickers which they could use to hold the envelope closed once they had inserted their card. I created the stickers by scanning some of my zentangles, resizing them and printing them onto labels!! The perfect touch for making elegant little cards!!
Have some fun doodling and creating some little pieces of art for use in your cardmaking!!
Therese
Labels:
card sets as gifts,
cards,
stickers,
vellum envelope,
Zentangle
Student project - Zentangles!!
Zentangles!! This is a really fun technique which produces original artwork - one of the things I really like to do with the students! Every one likes to say they made it themselves!!
Check out the official Zentangle site! Intimidated? Check out these instructions for beginners!!
Really just doodling!! Important to create light, medium and dark spaces and lines. I highlighted my outer border to make sure that it framed my art nicely. I laser printed the templates on colour laser copy paper - very nice smooth finish - a great surface for using with our fine tipped black Sharpie markers!!
It takes a few to get the hang of it so I gave each student a half sheet of printed templates with eleven 1.5" squares on it and they used their six best to make their cards!!
These are some of the zentangles I created!! Totaly fun and would make great inchies!! Some students coloured theirs in with pencil crayons for a totally different effect!! Could be watercoloured in as well because the Sharpies are permanent!!
Therese
Check out the official Zentangle site! Intimidated? Check out these instructions for beginners!!
Really just doodling!! Important to create light, medium and dark spaces and lines. I highlighted my outer border to make sure that it framed my art nicely. I laser printed the templates on colour laser copy paper - very nice smooth finish - a great surface for using with our fine tipped black Sharpie markers!!
It takes a few to get the hang of it so I gave each student a half sheet of printed templates with eleven 1.5" squares on it and they used their six best to make their cards!!
These are some of the zentangles I created!! Totaly fun and would make great inchies!! Some students coloured theirs in with pencil crayons for a totally different effect!! Could be watercoloured in as well because the Sharpies are permanent!!
Therese
Labels:
black and white,
cards,
original art,
sharpie markers,
Zentangle
Exchange cards - handmade paper & watercolour
My CCE exchange cards!! I was so sure that I had handled my exchange cards for February that I did not even check to see if they had been sent! Alas, NO!!
So I created these four cards the other day for February and March exchange cards and sent them off. I will have to keep better track in the future!!
The two western ones have watercoloured images which were really fun to create! It was really nice to have the time to invest in doing such large images. I layered the images onto handmade paper/card fronts which were wrapped with twine. Nice effect!!
The two more winter looking ones were stamped in brown on handmade shimmer paper - left overs from a few months ago. I layered them onto handmadepaper/card fronts which had ribbon tied in a double knot. Really liked the look of these as well.
I have been teaching art sessions to high school students for the last month and a bit. It has kept me pretty busy. I will be posting the projects I taught in my sessions in the next few postings - not necessarily in order in which they were taught. I have been taking photos and scanning as I went along.
Therese
So I created these four cards the other day for February and March exchange cards and sent them off. I will have to keep better track in the future!!
The two western ones have watercoloured images which were really fun to create! It was really nice to have the time to invest in doing such large images. I layered the images onto handmade paper/card fronts which were wrapped with twine. Nice effect!!
The two more winter looking ones were stamped in brown on handmade shimmer paper - left overs from a few months ago. I layered them onto handmadepaper/card fronts which had ribbon tied in a double knot. Really liked the look of these as well.
I have been teaching art sessions to high school students for the last month and a bit. It has kept me pretty busy. I will be posting the projects I taught in my sessions in the next few postings - not necessarily in order in which they were taught. I have been taking photos and scanning as I went along.
Therese
Labels:
handmade paper,
ribbon,
shimmer paper,
watercolour
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