Exchange cards with quotes

I found coloured quotes (Melonheadz) in a box this week and decided to use these two to make my exchange cards for this month.  These were laser printed and embellished with bright colours a while back and so I went looking for coordinating supplies.  I added a black border to the quotes using a large tipped permanent marker.   For the left hand card, I added yellow and red ink to the inside of the embossing folder before I passed the orange cardstock through my Big Kick.  Love the look!!  I added two lengths of black gros grain ribbon before adhering my quote with 3D foam tape and then adhered the whole element to a red card front.  I created a layered greeting using a ripped strip of cardstock, a small greeting punchie and some small black circles which I adhered to my card front below the focal element using double sided tape.  

For the card on the right, I stitched a rectangle of my own handmade paper in orange to my red card front using black thread capturing the ends of my black ribbon in the process.  I adhered several ripped pieces to the back right hand side of my quote and glued it to the handmade paper above the ribbon.  I created a layered greeting which I glued over the ribbon on the right hand side.

These cards feature a different quote from Melonheadz.  She had a LOT of great digital images on her site!!  I created these in much the same way I did the ones above.  Quotes outlined in black marker, coloured embossed backgrounds on orange cardstock, black gros grain ribbon and layered punchie greetings.  

Love the quotes - such good advice to follow in the pursuit of happiness in the process of living a good life!!  

Therese

Fun bird cards

I sold some of my handmade cards at church on the weekend to raise funds for one of the organizations I belong to.  It was very successful so I am making more for next month.
I found these two laser printed card fronts in a box I was rummaging in to find something else this week so I decided to use them to create another couple of cards for my stash.  The bird images (Graphic Fairy) were framed with colour and laser printed.  I embossed the bottom with two different embossing folders and added coordinating vintage seam binding just below the images tying a short piece to the length to simulate a bow.  I glued this whole layer to a coordinating card front and added layered greetings which I created with a label die (SX) and the Window Word punch (SU).  It is nice to find a bit of a stash of supplies that make getting cards made a little faster.  I found a few more things in the box which will show up in the next few posts.
Therese

Birdie fabric postcard for a birthday swap

Another fabric postcard for a birthday swap on one of my groups.   I started with a piece of this fabric collage background which I created a while back.  I added batting and then some crazy quilt hand stitching on all of the lines between the different fabrics.  I then cut a paisley shape out of light blue fabric and stitched it into place with my sewing machine going around several times to give the bird some definition and once in the middle to create the wing.  I added a beak using a small triangle of heat & bonded black fabric.  I hand stitched the eye, the legs and feet and the frilly tail feathers in black.  It needed something to help define the ground so I added some turquoise flowers with green stems and yellow centers.  That worked!!  I stitched on a black border with zigzag, added a white anf pink floral backer and stitched it into place with straight stitch all the way around.  Next, I  folded over the black border and adhered to the backer with fusible web.  I restitched the border with straight stitch really close to the outside edge to finish it off.  Pretty happy with how it turned out though it is a bit busier than I thought it would be when I started!!
Therese

Several cards using faux linen backgrounds

 Needed to add a few sympathy cards to my stash so went looking for a technique to use for my background.  I always find inspiration on Splitcoast Stampers  so I went looking and found someone who had created a card using the Faux Linen technique.  Had not created some of those for quite a while so I decided to give it a go!  I used quarter sheets of glossy white cardstock, sanded them vertically a.d horizontally and then sponged on some colour using four different dye ink pads.

For my first card I stamped a fern leaf (Salt Spring Island Stamps) using a light wheat colour highlighted with dark brown before stamping.  I added a length of mesh (gold embossed window screen) along with three lengths of twine which I tied on the left with a short piece.  I stamped my greeting on ivory in dark brown, sponged on some colour and added stippling.  Layered it onto dark brown, distressed the edges and mounted it over the mesh/twine using 3D foam tape,  I added a coordinating paper butterfly to which I tied some twine to create a body and antenna.
For my second card I stamped a flower image in black after stamping it in gray which did not show up well enough.  I offset the black one a bit which is another technique I found on Splitcoast when I was cruising the other day.  I coloured the image with markers, stippled the back ground a bit, added three eyelets (coloured with Sharpie to coordinate) and added a layered vellum greeting.  I layered a flagged piece of parchment just below the greeting on my vellum to help it stand out, adhered it to the background with glue then folded the ends to the back and secured them with double sided tape.  I glued this whole element to a red card front.
For my third card I stamped a leaf stamp (SU) all over my background in two different brown inks.  I layered my watercoloured image onto a dark brown circle and watercoloured my greeting (CLKER) as well.  I added a length of blue vintage seam binding adhering the ends to the back of my background, added my image and greeting with 3D foam tape and then tied on another short piece of seam binding to simulate a bow.  I glued this whole element to a dark brown card front.
For my fourth card I stamped a large solid flower (SU) using coordinating ink onto my background six times without reinking which gave a perfectly dimensional look to my design.  I used the small three flower stamp (SU) to add flowers in between my large ones in coordinating ink.  Added a bit of stippling in the same colour.  Love they way it turned out!!  I added a vellum greeting adhering the ends to the back.  I found this little butterfly in my stash so I added tied on some white fiber to create a body and antenna and glued it right near the greeting.
It was fun to revisit this technique and use some of my stamps again!!!

Therese

Baby cards for my stash

 I am filling out my card stash with a few baby cards!!  I printed the image from BrokenBoxStock with a greeting on letter size vellum and cut them out into quarter sheets.  

I made four different cards -  pink & blue and two other colours for anyone who does not yet know the gender of the child.  

For the pink one,  I used a piece of background paper that featured a gingham border and attached the vellum image and greeting combo to it using an innie & outie bow using green vintage seam binding.  I coloured the image on the back of the vellum using watercolour with as little water as possible to avoid buckling the vellum.  I added a punched ribbon border (SU) in pink after mounting the background/image layer to a white card front.
For the lavender one, I coloured the image to coordinate with my background paper, ripped off the bottom and stitched it to a scalloped border punch piece of white cardstock. I folded the three remaining sides to the back and adhered them using double sided tape.  I glued my decorative paper to a purple card front, added a length of lavender ribbon and adhered my focal element over it using 3D foam tape.  I tied a short piece of ribbon with one knot to my main ribbon just below my image to simulate a bow.  

For my green card, I die cut a circle (3.75") out of my quarter sheet of decorative paper with Nestibilities, centered my coloured image behind the opening and attached them to each other using yellow seam binding and an innie & outie bow.  I trimmed the decorative paper and glued this whole element to a white card front.
For the blue one, I coloured my image with watercolour being sparing with water as before, backed it with a piece of white cardstock which I stitched to the vellum using my sewing machine.  I ripped the edges of the vellum to make it just a smidge smaller than the decorative paper and attached it to my card front using an innie & outie bow after I had glued the decorative paper to the front of my green card.  Really happy with these cards!!
Therese

Fall themed laser resist cards!

 Another set of laser resist cards to celebrate the fall season!!  I laid out a variety of leaves (CLKER) in Corel Draw, laser printed the letter sized page onto white cardstock then cut it into quarters before applying some watercolour to the leaves and background.  Love the way it turned out!!  I trimmed them all to 4" x 5.25" and created four different cards with them.
For the first one, I wrapped green cording and red fiber to the layer before gluing it to a red card front.
I watercoloured my greeting (SU), layered
on a deep yellow punchie which I cut in half and glued to the back before adhering it to my card front with 3D foam tape over the cording.
For the second card, I layered my watercoloured punchie greeting (SU) with green in the same way before I punched holes on either side and threaded in two lengths of beige seam binding attaching the ends to the back of the layer with double sided tape.  I adhered the whole layer to the front of a light blue card.

For my third card, I wrapped green cording before gluing the background layer to the front of a green card and added a little layered greeting (SU) over it using 3D foam tape.
For my fourth card, I watercoloured my greeting and layered it with dark orange, punched a slot on the left hand side and threaded through a piece of dark green seam binding before adhering it to my background layer using 3D foam tape.  I adhered the ends of the seam binding to the back of the layer using double sided tape before gluing this whole layer to the front of a yellow card.
I am enjoying the wide variety of possibilities for creating cards with these laser printed images!!!

Therese

Fabric collage postcard with bunny lace

I created this cool fabric postcard for a birthday swap on one of my lists. I started with a piece of this fabric collage.  The bunny lace comes off of a thrift store find which also had these two bunnies embroidered in the corners.  I added batting and a white backer and then machine stitched all the way around until I had stitched the whole surface finishing with a line in the center.  I stitched a strip of pink plaid to the top of my bunny lace and fused it to the front of my postcard.  I thought it would be cute to use the "some bunny cares" quote on the front so I decided to create a custom collage

button.  You can check out how to make collage buttons by following this link or clicking Tutorials above, scrolling down to the link and clicking on it.  They are a very neat way to make a custom embellishment for your projects.  The process is easy - I adhered a plastic circle die cut to a circle punchie of decorative paper on which I hand lettered the quote and punched two holes to make it a button once it was dry.  I added a coordinating punchie of cardstock and stitched it to the front of my postcard using blue embroidery thread.  I finished the outside edges of my fabric postcard using thin crochet thread in a variegated pink colour using the button hole stitch.  Very happy with how it turned out!!  Therese

Get well card with silk flowers and lace

Another card for my stash!!  I found this short piece of lace mixed in with my seam binding and set it aside because it perfectly matched the cardstock I had used for this card.  I dug through my background stash and found this watercolour/plastic wrap one that had the perfect colour combination to coordinate with the lace.  I trimmed it to size, added the lace adhering both ends to the back of the back ground paper with double sided tape. I perused my silk flowers and found a large white one and a small lavender one which worked perfectly so I layered them and added them to this layer using a small yellow brad.  I adhered this whole layer to the lavender card front which I had set aside.  I punched a purple label and added a little laser printed greeting punchie (SU) and adhered it to the front o my card with 3D foam tape.

Therese

Lacy wedding card

Made a wedding card for my stash!! The image looks wonky now that I look at it a little closer!!  It really is nice and square!
I started with a kraft card front and using double sided tape I added to pieces of lace that almost met in the middle.  I used double sided tape to adhere the ends inside the card as well.   I punched a strip of kraft cardstock with the eyelet punch (SU) and sponged the edges a bit with brown ink.  I trimmed the strip the width of the card, added a length of white satin ribbon adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I mounted this piece over the gap in between the two pieces of lace.  I die cut the embossed heart (SU) from shimmery cardstock and sponged the edges a bit with brown ink.  I stitched on some white floss and tied a little bow to give it some texture.  I adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I layered a little greeting (Modern Label and Word Window) from some punchies and tied it to one of the holes in the border using the same floss I made the bow with.  Really happy with how this worked out!!

Therese

Laser toner resist note card - quick and easy!

I have a few quarter sheet images on hand from my last experiment with laser toner resist cards.  I needed a quick thank you card yesterday so I dug this one out and added watercolour with a brush, dried it quick with the heat gun, trimmed it down and adhered it to the front of of a black card!  Done!! Quick and easy!!  This image is from CLKER!

Therese