Navy and purple felted wool cuff

Another cuff for my giftie swap!!  This one began with a pieced layer of navy blue felted wool (3" x 8").  Because I am using scraps I had to combine two pieces of felted wool to create the length I wanted.  I butted the two pieces up very tightly and sewed them together using a wide zigzag stitch and black thread.  The thread is very matte and therefore pretty much disappeared.  I did position the main focal point - a beautiful embroidered floral design -  over the

seam so it would camouflage it was much as possible.  I started by doing buttonhole stitch all the way around using thin lavender wool yarn (thrift store find).  I positioned the focal element (thrift store find), pinned it in place and sewed it in place using embroidery thread that was the same colour.  I wanted to add yet more texture but not take away from the beauty of the embroidered piece so went looking for seed beads I could use to embellish it with.  I found these that did exactly what I wanted - they almost look like stars in the night sky!!  I sewed them on randomly using navy embroidery thread so the stitching does not show.

 This wood bead was just the right colour so I drilled an extra hole in it to make it a button and sewed it on with navy thread.  I created a wrap by braiding three pieces of lavender wool yarn into a string which will create an adjustable closure on this cuff.
Really happy with how this one turned out and love the colours!
The giftie swap was for Christmas so this is appearing here only after the gift has arrived and been opened by the recipient.

Therese

Another ATC card - anniversary

This card features an ATC from my traded collection. I liked that this collage had a heart so I decided to use it to make an anniversary card.  I stippled my orange card front using my stipple stamp (SU) and brown ink.  I stitched on this piece of burlap which was sitting on my desk with orange thread and then stitched on the ATC using the same thread.  I love how all the pieces look together.   I trimmed this laser printed greeting, watercoloured it to coordinate with the card and adhered it using double sided tape.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season and are grateful for every blessing you have received in 2014!!  I am!!  Wishing every thing good in the 2015!

Therese

Gray and rust felted wool cuff

 I have joined a swap on one of my groups where we are swapping little gifts for Christmas.  I have decided to make cuffs for the participants so needless to say these are only appearing here after they have been opened for Christmas by those who received them.

I started with felted wool scraps that my daughter gave me after she was finished her large projects like table runners and teapot cozies.  I started with gray wool (1 1/2" x 8 1/4") for this one and did buttonhole stitch all the way around using dark gray thread.  I added the rust fiber using my sewing machine in free form arrangement.  I die cut a little row of ovals out of dark red felted wool using a large Sizzix border die.  I pinned it in place over the fiber and sewed my embellishments in place through all the layers.

The little circles are plastic and the others are a combination of gold sequins and black seed beads.  After sewing the embellishments in place I went back adding a stitch between each little oval using the same black thread.  Finally, I added two black beads on the end that combined with the long length of fiber creates an adjustable closure for this cuff.
I am enjoying making cuffs. You can check here, here and here for some I have made recently.  I did several others over the summer unfortunately I did not get photos of those.

Therese

Secret Sister card with clipart image

I have been participating in a Secret Sister swap on one of my groups and I made this card for mine.  It is appearing here because she now knows who I am!!

I used a commercial image that I received as a prize some time last year and trimmed it to have an even border.  I used a pink card front which I stippled on the edges using pink ink with my stipple stamp(SU).  I added a green layer which I tore on the right hand side which I stippled with green ink.  I added a bit of lace to it before I glued it to the pink card front.  I layered my image over the lace and stamped a little "Hello" below its lower right hand corner.

Has been fun being a secret sister!!

Therese

Another couple cards with serendipity collage

I have been on a collage kick for the past few days and here are a couple more cards that use a serendipity collage.  I used green and blue for this serendipity and it ended up with some orange in it too which was kind of fun.
I created the collage on 8.5" x 11" scrap paper using a regular glue stick, stamped it with a newspaper column background stamp (IO) using green ink.
For this card, I punched the left hand side with a chevron punch (SU) and backed the holes with navy cardstock.  I added a navy gros grain ribbon and stitched the whole layer to an orange card front using orange thread.  I added a colour printed greeting which I trimmed to look like a tag to the ribbon using orange fiber. I created a bit of a collage on the right hand side using a colour printed light house image (mine) and a green and blue rectangle.  Once the collage was in place I used double sided tape to adhere the greeting in place.  The large white area to the left of the greeting seemed to pop too much so I dug through my used postage stamps and found this one that had the right colouring and size. I glued it in place with double sided tape.  That was much better!!

For this card, I used an ATC from my traded collection which features a beautiful little bird done in glittery transparent embossing paste.  I started by adding navy ribbon to my serendipity collage and then stitched the whole thing to my green card front using red thread.  I added a colour printed greeting to the bottom edge of the ATC and then adhered this element to my card front using double sided tape.
Using ready to go focal elements makes for quick and easy cards!!

Therese

Wire & Bead ornaments for ByHand giftie swap

I worked up this ornament for a different swap on a different group but when my original idea for the gifties for this swap became too time consuming I decided to just make a few of these instead!!  I am very happy with how they turned out!! I managed to make them all different using my supply of Ebeads.  I did all the beading first - there were beads everywhere!!  I put all those supplies away and then dug out the ribbon and started matching ribbon to the contrasting beads.  I am always amazed that with hundreds of rolls of ribbon sometimes I cannot find a really good match - for those I came up with a colour that worked even if it didn't match perfectly.

You are seeing these here now because all the gifties made it to their recipients and patiently waited for their turn to be opened on the days leading up to Christmas.  

 Our tree is full of handmade ornaments and each has a memory attached!!  I hope these all found their way to Christmas trees this season and will be lovingly put away to be enjoyed next year and maybe even for years to come!!

Therese

PS
You can check out the tutorial for this ornament by clicking the link to Tutorials just under my header at the top of this page.

Shabby chic card

I made this card for my Secret Sister on one of my groups earlier this year and scheduled it to appear here now that she knows who I am!!
I started with a taupe card and when I was finished it I signed my name on the back!!!!!!!!!!   Bummer, I cut the front off the card and remounted it to a warm blue card front and found a larger envelope to put it in!!!
I stamped the taupe card with a flourish background stamp (IO) in a blue green colour. I mounted over that a element I created that features a layered flower and some lace.  I used a backer that came with Prima Flowers as a base. I trimmed the top using a label die (TH) and a partial cutting plate in my Big Kick.
Having a partial plate allows you to position your plate therefore only cutting certain parts of a die!! I really like having that flexibility. Where did I get a partial plate??  It is the remnants of a full plate that broke in two pieces so in effect I have two partial plates!!
I distressed the outer edge, stippled the edges in several colours and then sponged on a bit of brown.  I added a short piece of lace across about two thirds down and attached the ends on the back using double sided tape.  I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die and cut the large one from an alcohol ink background that coordinated, a smaller one from gold coloured vellum and the smaller one from the scrap I cut off the top of the Prima packaging.  I added a button brad to hold them all together which I distressed with a green Sharpie marker.  I attached the layered flower to the layer using double sided tape and stamped a greeting below the lace using a clear stamp set in a blue green ink.
It is a little out of my ordinary in regards to style but I am trying to do create cards that will not give me away!!

Therese

Serendipity collage cards

 While I was digging in my scrap bucket for the strips for these cards I found a baggie of scraps I had been saving to make another serendipity collage similar to the one I used here adding in a few more coordinating scraps that were still sitting on my desk.   I used an 8.5" x 11" piece of scrap paper as my base and glued my coordinating scraps which were torn into small pieces randomly onto the surface using a regular glue stick.  Once it was dry, I stamped the final piece using a flourish background (IO) using red ink.  I cut the sheet into quarters and used two of them to make these cards.
For this card, I cut out a square using Nestabilities and stitched the remaining frame to a rust coloured card front using my sewing machine with rust coloured thread.  I trimmed a watercoloured stamped image of a coffee cup to fit perfectly in the opening and glued it into place.  I added a flag ended colour printed greeting just below using 3D foam tape.

For this card, I used a label punch (SU) to punch a hole in the top portion of my quarter sheet collage, inserted a punched colour printed greeting into the aperture and used tape on the back to keep it in place.  I added a row of coordinating ribbon pieces below it placing another piece of ribbon through the middle of them which I sewed in place thereby securing all of them to my collage.  I sewed the collage to a rust card front and added a layered punchie flower over the ribbon accent using double sided tape.

Really liking these collage for giving my cards an unique artsy look!!

Therese

Scrappy collage and cards

I am always looking for ways to use my scraps so I dug out these 3/4" wide strips from my stash and decided to find a way to use them up.  I cut these for making a patchwork layout  for a journal class a few years ago, then for a log cabin patchwork for a cardmaking class and used a few more for paper beads for another class.  They are sorted by colour so I picked green and pink  - my favorite combination - and glued them end to end then side by side on an 8.5" x 11 scrap of used printer paper which was sitting by the printer.  Once dry, I cut it into quarters and stamped two of them with pink ink and the other two with green ink using a newspaper column background stamp (IO).  I cut one of the green quarters into two and started cardmaking!!

Here is the first card I made.  I cut the 2.75" x 4.25" into four, interchanged the pieces and glued them to a piece of brown cardstock then trimmed it to leave an even border all the way around.  I attached it to my stippled card front by stitching all the way around with my sewing machine using brown thread.  I added a layered flower using a small white brad.  I added a punched (SU) laser printed greeting which I had sponged and stippled with green ink.

For this card I used one of the collages I had stamped with pink.  I cut the quarter into two and used one of the halves for this card.  I cut the 2.75" x 4.25" piece randomly into six pieces, glued them to brown cardstock and then machine stitched all the way around using brown thread. I trimmed the brown cardstock to leave a large border on the bottom to accommodate my laser printed greeting and an even border on the three other edges.  I added my sponged greeting and a coffee cup image which I had punched with a 1.75" circle punch (SU) and layered with pink before I glued the whole piece to a kraft card front.
Two cards ready to go for the new year!!  That leaves me three full quarter sheets of this collage to play with later on and the possibility of creating another six cards with this collage which I created out of scraps!!  I like the artsy and unique look I get when I create these collages for my cards.

Therese

Christmas Tag printables!!

Wrapped gifts earlier today and I could not find my stash of gift tags!!  It is possible that the collection ended up in my serendipity bucket!!  Anyway, after reading about printables on this blog, I decided to see what I could find to just print!!  LOTS of choices out there!!  These ones coordinated the best with my gift wrapped gifts so I printed them (on cardstock) directly from the website - "control P" and I got a window from which I could print the file!!!  Too easy!  I trimmed around them and punched a hole and they were ready to go!!  Here is a link directly to the blog post on Caroline Johansson's blog.
The gifts are wrapped!!

Therese

Brown paper packages tied with string

 Hey!  Just here to share a really easy gift wrapping idea - brown paper tied with string!!
The brown paper showed up yesterday in a package that was delivered to the house!!  A long length of brown paper perforated every foot or so which I thought could easily be repurposed for decorative paper but later in the day I thought "I need a very simple wrapper for this gift" and remembered the brown paper.  I ripped off one length, folded it in half, ironed it flat and used my sewing machine with green thread to seal up both sides using a zig zag stitch!!  I tied it closed with some red cotton string!!  Too easy!!!!
Hope you holiday prep is going well.  The gifts are now wrapped and will go under the tree once we set up the tree - probably on the weekend!

Therese

Birthday card with botanical collage

I created the collage for this card when I was working on this calendar.  I laid a dried flower over a page from a song book, covered it with a piece of white tissue paper coated with matt Modge Podge and added another layer over the the whole thing. Love how the flower petals have become translucent so you can see the music notes through them.  I also love the wonderful texture provided by the dimension of the flower's center and the stem.
To make my large card, I started by trimming my collage to fit my card front and glued it in place.  I added a wrap of lovely fiber to the left hand side finishing with a double knot.  I trimmed the vellum Happiness quote and included it when I stitched a couple times around the collage using wonky lines. I added a punchie greeting layered over a scallop punchie in coordinating colours.  The greeting is embellished with a bit of gel pen and sponged around the edge.
Going out to a girl who loves music and deserves every happiness!!

Therese

Ornament perfect for mailing

I made a few of these ornaments for including to friends and family in my Christmas cards!!  It is perfect for sending along as a "little gift".
I used a large white cardstock scallop circle to which I glued a 3" circle of decorative paper capturing a loop of white crochet thread between which serves as a hanger.  I added a white cardstock die cut of a tree which I embellished with a silver confetti star.  I signed the back and have sent them on their way.

My Christmas cards are ready to go!!  A little later than I thought I would have them ready but I am glad to send them on their way to friends and family.

Therese

Another calendar with birdie photos

 I made another birdie calendar with the photos from my second 2014 photo calendar.  Here is the first on I made.  I have enjoyed the calendar all year on my desk and have now given it a new life and it will bless someone else this coming year.  I wanted this one to have a lighter feel so I used blue cardstock (8.5" x 5.5") and stamped it on the top portion with a newspaper text background stamp (IO) using Versamark ink.  Because it darkens the cardstock colour it always coordinates.  It was just as much texture as I was wanting.  I trimmed the blue bird images (4" x 4") off the original photo calendar (4" x 6") and layered them onto 4.25" squares of black paper before I glued them to the top of the calendar pages.  I printed another of the calendars I created for the first one, trimmed them to leave a slim border and glued them below the layered photos.  I added a length of wide white gros grain ribbon in between and added a little flower sequin with a brad on the left hand side.  I added all the flowers before I used double sided tape to affix the right hand side of the flagged ribbon which covers the back of the brad from the other side.  I added a silver bull clip at the top to keep the pages together.  The calendar can now be hung on a pin or nail, attached to any metal surface with a magnet or will stand on its own on the bottom edges of the pages.

 Here are the rest of the pages I created for this calendar.  Again, this is a double sided one  - January to June are on one side and July to December are on the back.

 
I have really enjoyed creating these calendars for gift giving this year.  I have more ideas for next year!!

Therese

Triangle Christmas card

This is truly a triangle card!!  It is triangular on all three sides and the amazing thing is that it can be folded and mailed in a regular
envelope!!  I started with three 4.25" squares of red cardstock each scored and folded diagonally.  I cut the decorative paper to 4" square and trimmed it diagonally - a perfect fit on the large triangular areas.  The little pieces (back side of paper) were cut to 1.5" square and cut diagonally.  I added faux stitching to the large triangles using a black gel pen.

The front features a vellum greeting which I folded over the edges of the paper and secured with double sided tape.

I added a length of black cording which I also adhered to the back with double sided tape and tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  The scallop accent was glued over the cording and features layered punchies - the watercoloured poinsettia (Beccy's Place) over a green circle (SU) over a black scalloped circle (SU).  I hand cut a half circle to tuck the back flap of the card into so it would stand nicely.

You can see here what the card looks like open flat. It will be folded down the center, inserted into the envelope and sent on its way to my swap partner.
Below you can see the individual pieces before I glued them together.  The white strips is double sided tape before I peeled off the release paper.


My card will not fit into an A2 sized envelope so I will have to find a larger envelope.  To make one to fit into an A2 envelope use 4" squares for the cardstock and reduce the sizes appropriately for the decorative paper.  If you decide to make some of these for A2 envelope consider using 12" x 12" cardstock - it would yield nine 4"x 4" squares which would make 3 cards.
Really enjoyed making this card!!  Love swaps for stretching my creativity!!

Therese

Giftie Mingle on By Hand group

These are my little gifties all wrapped and ready to go to my partners for the 2014 Giftie Mingle on the By Hand group.  The contents will be revealed here after Christmas once everyone has received and opened their little gifts.  It is always fun to participate in this mingle.  I have received some wonderful little pieces of art and lovely little gifts from this swap in years past.  

For packaging my little gifts I used a tag die to create an envelope.  I cut a strip of green decorative cardstock to 3 1/8" and folded it in half.  I was sure to place the fold above the bottom of the tag and the two sides within the sides of the tag on the die.  When I ran it through my Big Kick I cut both the front and the back to the crescent tag shape and because the fold did not reach the bottom of the tag my fold stayed intact.  I used alphabet packing tape to seal up both sides, inserted my little gift, added a bit of tissue paper on top and tied closed the envelope with red fiber including my little tag.  I stamped JOY (Quietfire) on the front of the tag in red and the back of the tag reads DAY 8 which is when my little gifts will be opened by all my swap partners.  

Therese

Heart calendar

 Another calendar for the holiday season!!  I used heart photos from The Morgue File for this calendar.  I downloaded and cropped them to really highlight the hearts.  I am really happy with the selection I found on the site.  All the photos are free to use in all sorts of projects.  I converted them to black and white in Adobe Photo Elements by clicking on "Enhance" and then "Convert to black and white". You can make more adjustments with the sliders in that window until your image is exactly as you want it to be.

In Corel Draw I sized the images to fit inside the 4" x 4" inch black frame I made leaving just a slight gap of white which really helps to frame the images. Once all the images had been adjusted I printed them on white cardstock and trimmed around them using a ruler and exacto knife.  I used a black sharpie marker on the edges so the white core did not show.  I used the calendar I created in Word Perfect for this calendar on this one as well.  I glued my images to the top portion of my red 8.5``x 5.5``pieces of cardstock and the trimmed calendar pages to the bottom portion.

I added black rick rack to the area in between them using glue dots to adhere the two ends to the edge of the cardstock. It needed a bit of something so I added a length of white thread which I intertwined with the rack rack.  Really like the look of it!!  I used white glue to adhere the ends to the cardstock. To add a bit more texture, I added a tied off length of red seaming binding below the rick rack and a silver heart punchie above with a large glue dot.
Here are all the pages I created.  This calendar is double sided - January to June on one side and July to December on the other!!

I have created a few more calendars this season.  Here are links to them:
Birdie calendar, handmade paper and pressed botanicals and one that features tarot card images.
Are you creating some gifts for the holiday season??
Would love to hear what you are creating!!

Leave me a comment and link to your creations if you have them online!!

Therese

Cards featuring beautiful botanical paper

Cards for my stash!!  I created the decorative paper I used on these cards while I was working on this calendar.  I sandwiched pressed flowers and foliage between two layers of tissue paper with matt Modge Podge.  I love the way it turned out so I decided to make some cards with it!!  I trimmed the edges to be square and even then cut the large sheet down to 3.75" squares.  I created some ivory layers (4" x 5.25") with a variety of coloured printed greetings and stitched my

beautiful paper to the top portions of them using ivory thread.  To embellish these layers I used ribbon, bakers twine, seam binding, sequins and brads.  It was fun to make them different and yet very similar.  Once I was finished, I glued these layers to coordinating card fronts to finish off my cards.  I have a few pieces of this decorative paper left and a few long scraps as well.  They may show up in cards in the new year.

Here is how I made this decorative paper. I folded a large sheet of white tissue in half to give me a mark for the middle.  I opened it up, placed it over a silicone sheet and applied Modge Podge to the left half, a few areas at the time adding botanicals (blue hydrangeas, vetch, delphiniums and some yellow flower petals) as I went.  Once the whole half was covered with botanicals and glue I applied Modge Podge to the other half and folded it over to completely cover the left hand side.

I continued to apply Modge Podge to the top surface until everything was well coated and left it to dry over night.  Voila!  Some beautiful botanical paper!!

Therese

Tarot card calendar

 Another calendar for the holiday season!  It is a gift you can give anyone!!  Overnight, I remembered I had these wonderful image in my stash so yesterday morning I went searching and was lucky enough to find them straight away!!  They come from a glossy publication that I purchased years ago at a thrift store.  At the time, I thought they were wonderful images and would certainly work into one of my projects somewhere along the way. They are images of very old tarots cards - from a time when they were all hand painted and used by royalty to play a game. I trimmed the images leaving a slim black border.  I cut kraft cardstock to 3.5" x 8.5" (6 of them) and stamped a flourish background (IO) on the top portion using black ink then mounted my image.  I punched a ribbon border (SU) out of black cardstock and mounted it below the stamping using a glue stick.  I adhered my trimmed 2015 calendar page (12 to page from calendarlabs.com) which I sponged lightly around the edges below that using a glue stick.  This is a double sided calendar - January to June are on one side and July to December on the other.  I did the one side first and then when I was doing the back sides I positioned the ribbon borders back to back.  I pierced through a hole on each end so I could align them exactly over each other.  Once they were dry, I pierced all the holes with a push pin over foam and used gold embroidery thread to add stitching to the ribbon border. Love the way it turned out!!!  I created straight stitches on one side and diagonal ones on the other.

Thinking they needed just a bit more texture I added gold coins using large glue dots.

Just enough embellishment!!  Here are all the pages I created!!  I do have a few images left over for another project!!

You can check out the other calendars I have created here and here!

 One uses handmade paper and pressed botanicals and the other, little blue bird collage photos  

reused from a 2014 calendar.  

These are quick and easy!!  You

can use themed paper, printed digital images, printed clipart or old calendar images as 

  your focal elements.  Just work out your cardstock size by laying out your images, calendar pages and any 

other elements you would like to add for texture and interest. 

I hope you are well on your way in preparing for the holiday season!!  

I am very happy with the calendars I have created and am looking forward to getting my Christmas cards out the door!!

Therese