Custom art folder

My youngest grand daughter is just beginning to enjoy painting and creating so I made her a custom art folder that holds 8.5 x 11 paper which she can create on and it can also be used to store her art.
I started with a large sheet of cardstock 12" x 18", scored it twice just a bit wider than the the 8.5" and used red fabric tape to bind the edges.  Fortunately, the tape will also protect the edges from wear and I really like the contrast between the red and blue.  I created the tie using punchies and brads and covered the tangs in the inside to protect the contents of the folder.  I tied on a cotton tie in red.  I die cut letters from ivory sticker paper and added her name!!  I am sure she will most enjoy her new folder and the process of creating some art!!  Kids are so uninhibited about creating - they just do it!  They don't have voices in their heads that tell them that they can't do it.  As adults, we often have to choose to ignore the voices and do it anyway.

Therese

Refurbished cards for donation

 Here are a lot of cards I have refurbished to donate to a local non profit.  I have used card fronts from commercial cards which were donated to me and have also refurbished some handmade cards I received.
It is quite easy to refurbish commercial cards.  Most times it is just a matter of trimming the card and layering it onto a folded card front.  You can easily add a bit of embellishment like a ribbon and/or a greeting.   The hardest thing is to find an envelope that will fit it.  I am fortunate to have some commercial card envelopes that were donated to me so I usually find an envelope that works.
If you don't have envelopes you can certainly make custom ones that will work perfectly.
Here are a few sites that give you instructions to make them:
This one uses a template - letter size and invitation size:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeit/ht/Make-Your-Own-Envelopes.htm

This one uses just paper to make them:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Greeting-Card-Envelope

This one uses a scoring tool and has a formula for making a custom envelope:
http://www.scor-pal.com/envelope/

Here's one that creates a custom envelope by just folding paper around your card:
http://scrapinator.blogspot.ca/2009/03/easy-peasy-3-minute-envelope.html

I encourage you to refurbish cards for donating to a local group that could use them - nursing homes, churches, non profits, etc.  They will be most appreciative and it will give those beautiful cards another life!!

Therese

More thank you cards!

More thank you cards that fit in #8 envelopes!  My stash of these envelopes is slowly decreasing.
For the first card I used an already stamped image, layered it onto an embossed layer to which I added an innie-outie bow of white seam binding.  I added a similar piece of the same coloured cardstock to the lower section of the inside card back and added a colour pirnted greeting using 3D foam tape so it would show below the card front.  All the corners were punched with a small corner punch.
For the second card I also started with an image from my stash.  Layered it with cardstock and then again onto an embossed coordinating layer to which I added three black mini brads.  I added a section of  cardstock to the card front and added a layered greeting using 3D foam tape on the lower section.
Am having fun creating cards with my little stashes of elements!

Therese

Crackle background tags

I created these tags for a swap on AFTCM which required that crackle be used somewhere in the creation of them.  I have had a bottle of crackle medium in my stash for years and had yet to actually use it so I dug it out and got started!!  I created several pieces of background paper in my attempts and had only one really crackle.  Needless to say there has to be some conditions that I did not fully appreciate from reading the instructions on the bottle.  So be it!  I got enough to create backgrounds for my tags and the other sheets will be used for other projects.  You can find a couple of cards created with these backgrounds here and here.
I used brown cardstock for the backgrounds, painted on the crackle paint and then added teal, blue and coral acrylic paint over the top.   The one that crackled the best had all the colours so I decided to use brown cardstock for my tags to highlight the crackled areas.  I cut the tags 2.5" x 5.5" and trimmed diagonal corners on one of them.
For the left hand tag I cut the crackle background paper to be just a bit smaller, glued on some brown circle punchies and punched a hole through everything. I found some (TH) bird and bird cage chip board die cuts in my stash which I embellished.  I trimmed the bird cage to fit on the card, colour washed it with black watercolour and added a black cotton hanger.  The bird I embellished with sheet music, added a brad for the eye and watercoloured it in blues and browns.  It needed a bit more "somethin" so I added this corrugated card board die cut flower which I embellished with watercolour and some punchies from my stash.  After I glued all the elements to my tag I added the LIFE sticker, a green leaf to the bottom edge of the flower and brown seam binding to the top hole.  Done and really like the final result!!
The second tag is going to the same swap partner so I wanted it to be really different.  I perused my coloured image stash and found this one that matched the teal in the background paper perfectly.  I die cut it with an oval Nestie (NB) and backed it with one in orange just a bit larger - that really framed the image nicely and set it off from the background.  Now, the background needed a bit of something so I embossed some swirls in two corners using copper embossing powder.   I punched the words, watercoloured them and layered them with a punchie before adding it to the tag using 3D foam tape.  To finish it off I added a slot at the top and inserted some brown seam binding.  Happy with this one too!!
They are off to my partner in Monday's mail.

Therese

Sympathy Card

Another card for my stash.
I found this image in the course of looking for other images and decided that it would be most appropriate for a sympathy card.  I trimmed the colour printed image (source unknown), layered it onto an ivory cardstock layer that was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (CB) and added a piece of ivory ribbon with an added length tied on to simulate a bow.  I layered this element to my green card base and added a colour printed greeting using 3D foam tape.  The greeting was punched out using the SU window punch.
It is nice to have cards on hand instead of trying to rush at the last minute if you need one.

Therese

Thank you cards!

A couple of thank you cards to add to my stash!  These fit in #8 envelopes and are a combination of supplies I had on hand.
The first was created around the die cut tag I found which my sister gave me several years ago to which  I added a seam binding tie in a coordinating colour.  I stamped the top section of the card front with a script stamp (SU) in ruby, sponged the edges and added a maroon layer at the bottom.  I added a sponged laser printed greeting layered onto a coordinating scallop oval to this section using 3D foam tape.  I trimmed the laser printed butterfly (CLKER) closely, watercoloured it with coordinating colours and added both elements to the card front to finish it off.   For the second card I found this stamped and pearl embossed flower image with the ribbon al ready attached in my stash.  I simply added a scalloped layer in behind and embellished it with a silver toned gel pen.  Added a section of the same cardstock to the bottom of the card front and adhered a layered greeting.  
It has been good to have time to play and make single cards using some items I have on hand.

Therese

Another Thank you!!

While I was at it I made another Thank you card for my stash!!
Here I embossed the short end (front) of the card with the distressed embossing folder and added another section of blue cardstock to complete the front.  I sponged on some brown ink to help it coordinate with my main image which was stamped on the decorative paper using a SU solid floral stamp. Unfortunately, my dark brown ink pad was not really dark enough so I added some brown with a marker to help the image contrast with the background.  I added a line of faux stitching on the three straight edges as well.  To complete the card I added a strip of brown cardstock below the main image and a layered greeting on the lower right.
I expect I will need to beef up my stash of Thank you cards to be sure I have enough to get me through to after the move.  We have sold our house and purchased one out west so very soon I will be packing up my craft room and plan to have on hand the cards I will need for the interim so I have a few cards to get ready to go!!

Therese

Thank you card

We are fortunate to have wonderful neighbors who have been taking care of our house for us for the last couple of weeks so I baked them a pie and made this card to let them know that we appreciate what they do for us!!
This card fits in a #8 envelope.  I started with a 3.5" x 8.5" piece of cardstock, folded it at 6.25", embossed the short side (TH) and added a piece of blue cardstock to complete the card front.  I added a piece of torn decorative paper which I embossed with a QK embossing folder of flowers and then sponged with both blue and brown inks to emphasize the embossing.  I layered the decorative paper onto a piece of brown cardstock, added a length of brown seam binding which I glued to the card front with double sided tape and then glued my layered colour printed greeting on with 3D foam tape over it.  I then tied a short length of seam binding to the other one to simulate a bow.  I also added sponging in brown to all the edges of the card!!
The decorative paper is one that I created in my experimentation with crackle medium that for some reason did not crackle as I expected!  Will try again!!

Therese