Altered CD - vintage Santa

An altered CD for a swap in one of my groups!! The theme was Vintage Santa so I dug up some scraps of decorative papers and got started. First thing I did was make a sketch of each section - front cover, inside cover, inside back and back cover. I decided which elements would go in each section - images, decorative paper, cardstock, etc. After working out the layering on each section I started cutting paper and gluing it into place. I used LOTS of double sided tape to make sure all the pieces will stay put. The front cover features a colour printed vintage Santa, a stamped "memories", decorative paper, a little strip of lace, olive ribbon with a burgundy "bow" and a piece of burgundy cardstock. The lace and ribbon wrap to the back of the cover and are hidden by the pieces on the inside front which is why I worked out all the layering before I cut and glued anything to the CD.

To the left you can see the front and back in one scan. The back features coordinating decorative paper, an ivory cardstock strip trimmed with scallop scissors and embellished with dots and a line in burgundy marker, a strip of olive cardstock and some burgundy cardstock at the very top. Went with cardstock because I wanted the back to have very little that would interfere with the CD laying flat. The inside cover (left) features burgundy cardstock, a scallop border punched piece of olive cardstock embellished with burgundy ribbon and a layered strip of decorative paper. I cut little notches for the plastic edging so that all the piece fit in neatly. The back cover (right) features a layer of decorative paper, a burgundy strip of cardstock trimmed with scallop border punch and an accordion book which has been embellished with some decorative paper and a little boat sticker which I received this week from my Secret Santa and it was the perfect colours for this project!!!!!!!!

On the left a photo of the accordion book inside the CD. Four and a half pages in ivory cardstock embellished with decorative paper and two more stickers!!

All of the pages and sections were stippled with ink to give them a nice vintage feel.

The recipient will be able to add a few photos and have a cool little album for her 2010 Christmas memories!!

I loved the challenge of creating this project and am very happy with the finished product. Would make a wonderful gift for grandparents filled with photos of their grandchildren. Certainly done in other colours would make a cool little brag book for any event!!

Therese

Home for Christmas tags

Created these house tags for a swap on one of my groups. Theme was Home for Christmas so I searched for images on a clipart CD until I found a couple that spoke to me and I created tags using them as inspiration!!

The first one reminds me that Christmas, at one time, was all about the basics - friends, food and family!! People were grateful to be home with a fire burning and loved to prepare good food and plenty of it so when friends and family dropped they could share from their bounty. Stories were told, experiences were shared and a year's worth of blessing would be acknowledged. It was all about getting together and sharing!!

To create this tag I applied white gesso to a book page and stamped it with a large background stamp to add texture. Glued it to the house shape and trimmed it to the edges. Outlined the house with a black Sharpie and added yet more texture with a fine tip Sharpie marker to the interior surface of the house. Added the heart and framed photo with 3D foam tape and wrote the words and hearts by hand.

The second one reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid. It was always exciting to see cars pull into the yard one by one spilling people, food and presents as they came. Often, people had traveled distances in cold and less than desirable weather to be part of Christmas at our house. Cars would be plugged in or run several times during their stay so they would start, in the well below freezing temperatures, when it was time to head home. We would go to church and open presents when we got home. We always hoped that our one big present would be one of the items we had picked out of the Sears catalogue after months of perusing and making lists. We played board or card games, ate sweets, played outside and went for walks or ice skating!! It was about family and getting together.

For this one I added a bleached navy cardstock to the top and bottom and layered colourful scraps in between. Over the center section, I added a strip of sheet music. I coloured the frame black, mounted the image and added it to the tag with 3D foam tape. Added stitching with a black sharpie on the light areas and with a white gel pen on the dark areas. The heart is also mounted with 3D foam tape and the words are hand written.

I am getting into the Christmas mood. Have been creating Christmas card all year long and just all kinds for classes during the month of November. This was a fun little project and I am happy with the way they turned out!!

Therese

Cardmaking - November - Christmas Santa

I love this swirl embossing folder (Crafts Too)!!! You can check it out along with several others I have used at Ecstacy Crafts!!

I do find that you have to cut your cardstock just a slight bit over the 5.5" so the swirl pattern doesn't fall off the edge of the card but it is such a versatile design!! I used it last month for this card. I colour printed a vintage Santa from a clipart CD that fits nicely in the opening. Created the scallop greeting using a scallop punchie (SU) and a 1 3/8" punch (SU) to cut out the colour printed greeting. The metal embellishment used to be a brad but getting it properly positioned was going to be difficult so I snipped off its tangs and added 3D foam tape to the back which worked perfectly!! Another quick and easy card!!

Therese

Mitten card template!!

If you would like to make your own mitten Christmas cards here is the template I used to create mine. Click on image and download to your computer and print on a 8.5"x 11" sheet of cardstock!! Enjoy!

Angel policy: you can make cards for sale with this template. Please send your friends to this post on my blog to download their own copy for their use.

You do not have permission to copy and distribute this file in any manner and/or claim it as your own when submitting cards for publication!!

Therese

Cardmaking - November - Christmas mittens

Mittens!!!!!!! Have been wanting to make a shaped card for quite a while and finally just did it!! I created the mitten shape in a layout program (Corel Draw) and printed it on the back of the cardstock. Folded the card with the printing on the outside and cut out the shape. Added an embossed rectangle to create a cuff and added a snowflake border in white to jazz it up a bit. The colour printed greeting was distressed and mounted with 3D foam tape. Added snowflake punchies and a stitched border to the edge using a white gel marker!! Love it!!!

To top it off I added a "snowball" (white cardstock circle) to the inside where you can write your message!!

These are cute!! It is a real change from the standard Christmas card and would be great for those who are young at heart on your list!!

Therese

Cardmaking - November - Christmas snow scene

I have been using my new tools!!

Here I used my largest Oval Nestibilities to cut out a winter scene I stamped in brown on white cardstock. I added a bit of chalk and a dotted border around the edge to just define the oval and highlight the image. Layered the image over scrapbook paper on a warm red card and added a colour printed greeting layered on brown with two silver brads!! Quick and easy!!

Themed packages of scrapbook paper are great for creating cards that have a coordinating look for making sets of cards!! Consider making a few sets for giving to those on your list that are hard to buy for or have everything. We all like to send special Christmas cards to our best friends and handmade ones certainly fit the bill!!

Therese

Cardmaking - November - Christmas poinsettia

Christmas cards!! Had a great class last night and they loved the cards!!

For these ones, I started with decorative scrapbook paper, added a red layer below, an ivory decorative strip trimmed with decorative scissors and a green ribbon!! The poinsettia is stamped in red and clear embossed on an ivory scallop (N)*. I added some green watercolour to soften the image a bit. The top one also has gold glitter glue added to the center of the flower and on each scallop for a bit of bling. It is mounted to the card front over the ribbon using 3D foam tape. The NOEL greeting (Quietfire) is gold embossed and punched out with an oval punch (SU). They are also embellished with watercolour to soften their look.

I like the soft muted look of these traditional Christmas colours!!

*Thrifty Tip - to save time when prepping for this class I embossed the poinsettia images in the oven!! Heat oven to 325F and place your stamped images with embossing powder on the back of a clean cookie sheet. Place in oven and 30 seconds later they are all embossed - a dozen at a time!! You have to watch very closely because if left too long the embossing powder will melt into the paper!! Great if you are embossing images for cards made in lots - Christmas, invitations, etc.

Therese

Christmas exchange cards & contest

Decided to create a card for Class Act's contest and while I was at it made several - one for my group exchange on Tuesday and a couple for my CCE card exchange!

I love this snowflake image!! It is a Class Act image and they are having a Christmas card contest right now!! You just need to create a card with a Class Act or Chapel Road stamp and send in a scan. The prize is a rubber stamp - so in the end it is a win-win situation. You have one more card for your Christmas card stash and you could win more rubber!!

I stamped the snowflake on a white circle, embossed it with Stardust embossing powder, used my fun foam stamp* to add colour to the center and layered it on a blue scallop (Nestibilities). Started with a white card and added a greeting. The "let it" is a font to which I added a flourish and then colour printed on the white card. The "snow" is a Quietfire stamp which I stamped and embossed with the same Stardust embossing powder. I layered over that a decorative paper which I created. I first printed an all over pattern of snowflakes in blues like the one I used for this card and added blue watercolour washes using ink from my stamp pad. I ripped the bottom edge to reveal the greeting on the card. I added a layered white snowflake border (MS) over the scallop accent to finish off my card.

*Thrifty Tip - you can create your own stamps using fun foam!! Just cut out any shape, mount to wood or acrylic with double sided tape and use with your ink pads!! For the snowflake center I stamped the image on fun foam and cut out the center section. Works really well for highlighting that area. Consider using the precut fun foam shapes - snowflakes, snowmen, stars, hearts, etc!!

I am well on my way for having all my Christmas cards made for this year. There is lots of inspiration here if you need some quick and easy ideas. More coming in a bit!!

Therese

Christmas Zentangles

Another fun swap on one of my lists!! I spent a couple of hours quietly drawing - adding lines to create shapes into outline letters I printed with a chunky font. It is great to have a good outline to follow. After that, it is all about deciding where the lines need to be, adding texture and varying the light and the dark for good contrast in the overall image. I have never zentangled words before but I have created zentangles in letters for monogram cards and some in squares!!

I am sending these off to my partner for this holiday themed swap and look forward to the ones I will receive in return!!
Christmas is a great time to be creating zentangles!! I have created these large enough to be framed so she can use them as art in her home every holiday season!! I have not added any colour because it keeps the art more graphic and black and white can be framed in any colour to coordinate with the current decor. So I challenge you to create a few zentangles for the holiday season! Print a whole bunch and add them to your holiday cards, frame a few to adorn your home or make a set of cards or some framed art as gifts for those who have everything!!

Be creative this Christmas and add a bit of your art in your home!!

Therese

Heart Ornament

Thanks to a friend of mine I have a few of these die cuts to play with - adorned heart Nestibilities!!

I created this ornament using two die cuts - there are three in the set - and simply inserting the red into the white and adding a backer to keep them nested. White embossed the word love on the red heart.

The Love stamp is a new one! Won it at a class on Quietfire's community two weeks ago!! Suzanne makes rubber stamps from her wonderfully calligraphed sayings!! I am looking forward to incorporating the rubber stamps I won into my projects in the next little while!!

Sending off this little heart with some love to a special person!!

Therese

Christmas - tags

Tags are always fun for Christmas!! Here I have teamed them up with a little bit of ribbon and some snowflake punchies!! The background paper is decorative paper - light blue and white - which has been colour printed with an all over pattern of snowflakes!! I also added stitching with a white gel pen. The snowflakes are a font (WWflakes) which I cut and pasted one at a time, duplicated, coloured and resized to create this all over pattern. The embossed greeting has been cut from cardstock embossed with the greeting embossing folder from CraftsToo from Ecstasy crafts!!

Therese

Christmas cards - Queen Anne's lace

I love the look of pressed Queen Anne's lace for Christmas!! These surely are the snowflakes of summer and once pressed can present your holiday greetings most elegantly!! I created this card so the central scalloped element can be removed and used as an ornament on a tree!!
The main element features an ivory scallop (Nestibilities), a pressed flower attached with a single glue dot in the center and a clear scallop, cut from packaging, that protects the flower. I have attached the clear scallop using a small piece of double sided tape beneath the hanger (green crochet thread) which securely attached the two scallops. I punched a 1/16" hole at the top of the card to pass the hanger to the inside of the card where it is attached with invisible tape. This will allow easy removable once it has arrived at its destination. The two snowflake punchies (MS) help to keep the scallop ornament situated on the card and provide a link to the colour printed greeting. The background is gift wrap that has been stamped with an all over snowflake pattern.

So consider using pressed botanicals in your Christmas greetings - small cedar branches, small ferns to simulate Christmas trees or small red oval shaped leaves (euonymus or contoneaster) to create poinsettias!! They are really great combined with handmade paper!!

Therese

Christmas cards - Shimmer and Glitz

The main feature of this card is the shimmery fabric!! It is similar to vellum when it comes to attaching it - you have to do it discreetly so the adhesive does not show through. In this case, I used some double sided tape behind the greeting and several tiny pieces behind the snowflakes which pretty much disappeared once they were well burnished from the front. The ribbon which is attached to the inside of the card front fortunately keeps the left hand side of the fabric secure and the brad through the fiber snowflake on the right mechanically adheres the fabric to the card. I used shimmer paint on the cardstock before I embossed the greeting with a little embossing folder!!

The shimmery fabric is often featured as a gift wrap at this time of the year and I have purchased it with several different designs including snowmen and script holiday greetings!! Follow this link for information on making your own shimmer paper using supplies you probably have at home!!

Therese

Christmas cards - batik snowmen

These cards are part of ones I created for the girls that requested kits for my last class!! Wax resist - I am still on that kick!! I used the embossing folder (crafts too - Ecstasy crafts) open, placed the paper on the "bumps" and rubbed on clear wax to which I later applied a wash of watercolour!! Once dry, you just have to wipe the waxed areas to remove any colour which really makes the image pop. Because this image takes up so much of the card front I chose to add a simple colour printed greeting at the top. I mounted the greeting with a small piece of 3D foam tape in the middle, punched holes through all the layers on either end and inserted the ribbon, wrapped it around the card and tied the ends in a double knot on the front. Quick and easy and can be made up in a wide variety of colours!!

Therese

Christmas cards - let it snow!

A cute little snowman embellishment is the 3D element on this card!! Can you tell I got a new border punch!! It just seemed to work so well for this batch of Christmas cards!! The background paper features a digital stamp - one I created myself!! It was fun to do and I am happy with how it turned out!! There is very little contrast in the paper - light blue and white - which makes it the perfect candidate for printing on!! I laser printed the greeting, cut the sheet into quarters, stamped on some mini snowflakes and then ripped the pieces in two!! Glued the two pieces on the card front leaving a gap to give the look of a snowbank!! Attached the snowman with 3D foam tape and glued on a random amount of snowflake punchies. I highlighted them with glitter glue and added some to the border as well. Always add your glitter glue the very last thing and set the cards aside to dry!!

There was a lot of creative use of glitter glue today!! Some highlighted the swirls and others attached their little punchie snowflakes with it - gave them little blingie halos!!

Therese

Christmas cards - three trees

Lots of white and texture on this one!! The background features dots created by the Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder. I glued a layer of white tissue over the bottom third of the card to simulate a snowbank and added an embossed greeting with 3D foam tape which works the best with very dimensional elements. I used a Crafts Too embossing folder to emboss the greetings - 6 greetings at a time!! You can check out Ecstasy Crafts to find a variety of versatile embossing folders!!

I used a Sizzix Movers and Shapers die to cut the little trees and then embossed them with the D'vine swirl embossing folder (CB). I borrowed the die from a friend which is a great way to make the best use of your tools and supplies and provides some very nice quality crafting time!! The top of the card features a ribbon which looks like it has a bow tied in it but, in fact, it is an illusion. I came up with this option because some of the girls have trouble tying bows and this technique gives you the look in two easy steps. Attach a straight flat piece of ribbon to your card gluing the ends to the inside of our card with double sided tape. Now, take a smaller piece, 3" or so, slip it under the flat ribbon and tie a single knot, pulling tight. Voila!! the look of a bow without the fuss!!

Some of the girls used markers and chalks to highlight the embossing on their cards which adds yet more dimension and interest!!

Therese

Christmas cards - heart

I really like the contrast of red and white in this card!! It features a metal heart embellishment which I attached to the greeting layer using glue dots and features a simple little snowflake in the center oval to finish it off. The little red snowflake is a punchie produced when I created the snowflake border. I created the greeting in a layout program (CorelDraw) and colour printed it!! The white layer below the red snowflake border is actually flocked ribbon which I cut with a Borderabilities die by Spellbinders. The back of the ribbon was a bit shimmery and had been embossed by my cutting plate which made it interesting, so some of the girls used that to the front instead of the flocked side. Love that others think differently and are willing to do what works for them.

I really love these hearts and it took a while to come up with a design that I was pleased with and showed it off nicely!! Mission accomplished!!

The border punch (MS) is actually called a daisy punch which was a surprise to me when I took it out of its package because I bought it thinking it was a snowflake punch so I guess it will be more versatile than I originally had thought it would be!!

Therese

Christmas cards - little pieces of art

We made Christmas cards today!! A whole room of girls - big and little!! It is so fun to design card kits, have people add their own creativity to the supplies and end up with so many different looks by the end of the day!!

This card is simply elegant. I used Mary Engelbreit 3D stickers with glitter as my main element and simply added ribbon to make it look like a little piece of hanging art!! The background is embossed and the little bow is added with a glue dot!! I find that the "bunny ears" technique for tying the bows works the best when you want a nicely shaped bow that lays flat!!

I am always on the look out for interesting supplies for making cards. I bought these stickers after Christmas last year when they were being cleared out at Michaels. This design worked well because it accommodated the variety in sizes of the stickers. I chose cardstock colours that coordinated with the image so we ended up with cards in rather non traditional colours! It was a great opportunity to make good use of my collection of embossing folders.

A quick and easy Christmas card! Something we need come this time of year!!

Therese