New handmade cards with reused focal elements

 I was going through a box of card fronts that my sister gave me a few weeks ago and decided to reuse some of the images from them to create focal elements for new cards.
For this first one, I cut out the main element on the card front and trimmed it very close to the small line frame.  I mounted it to a piece of dark blue cardstock and added red vintage seam binding to two opposite corners.  I mounted this element to a light blue card front.  I added a sponged laser printed punchie greeting (SU Word Window) on the upper right  using double sided tape.

For my next card, I trimmed the pink cardstock around the cat image even on three sides leaving a larger section on the bottom.   I added a length of white fiber below the image wrapping it around several times and securing the ends to the middle with double sided tape.  I sponged the edges of an oval greeting punchie  (SU) with green and then layered it onto a green scallop oval (SU) which I punched from some junk mail.  I adhered it below the cat image and over the white fiber using 3D foam tape.  I punched four pieces of white cardstock using the ribbon border punch (SU).  I mounted double sided tape on all four sides on the back of my cat element and adhered the ribbon border to the back of the image leaving about half showing.  I trimmed the ends with scalloped decorative scissors which very closely simulated the scallops on the ribbon border.  Really like how that turned out!!  I mounted this large element to a pink card front.

For this card, I trimmed around the iris image leaving about the same amount of blue border on the top and left, more on the bottom and even more on the right.  I added a trimmed vellum greeting, folded the ends to the back and secured them with regular tape.  I added a scalloped border (SU) in purple on the right hand side and pierced all the scallops with a push pin.  I mounted this element to the front of a white card.  Finding that it still needed a bit of something I rummaged around in my little stash of butterfly punchies and found this little white embossed one which I thought would do very nicely as a 3D embellishment.  I tied a silver cord around the body section, tied a double knot and then trimmed the ends a bit long which created body and antennae for my little butterfly.  I mounted it to my card front using a small piece of double sided adhesive.
I am happy with my new cards with reused elements!!

Therese

Valentine's cards featuring vintage images and embossed layers

Another few Valentine's cards.  These ones feature colour printed vintage images from Sweetly Scrapped.   The first one features a couple of very cute clowns.  I laser printed them, trimmed around the edges and rounded the corners. I custom embossed a white layer using my chipboard embossing tool and some custom lines that I added using my scoring tool.  I positioned the image on the back to help ensure that the space I left between the lines would accommodate my image.  I adhered my image with 3D foam tape and then added a length of white fiber before gluing this whole element to the front of a red card.  I dug through my heart punchies stash and found these three little hearts that accented my card perfectly!!  Love it!!

My second card features a cute little girl with an umbrella in a forest of birch trees.  I laser printed the image, trimmed around it then rounded the corners by hand. I embossed a peach piece of cardstock with this beautiful delicate flourish then added a length of white vintage seam binding.  I adhered my image using 3D foam tape positioning it over the seam binding.  I glued the whole element to the front of a green card.  After tying on a short piece of seam binding to the length I already had, it still needed a bit of something so I went looking for some options.  I found these ivory/pink sequins which worked perfectly!  I adhered them to the front of my card using glue dots and then added little dots of iridescent glitter glue in the centers.  Really happy with how it all worked out!!   My third card is very similar to my first one - vintage image with rounded corners added to a white custom embossed layer embellished with three little heart punchies!!  The images already have enough message that these cards really did not need any additional greetings!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a blue feather

What fun it has been to use these gift wrap backgrounds from one of my Christmas gifts!! This piece was a bit short so I cut it into three pieces, stamped them with hand made foam stamps (circle and dot) and a swirl in blue to coordinate with my card front.  I glued the three pieces to my card front starting with the top and the bottom and centering the other one in between.  I added black cardstock strips in between for a nice dramatic effect.  The feather is a foam sticker which I embellished with permanent markers in several colours of blue and black on the outside edges.  I cut a rectangle of blue cardstock and adhered my sticker to it.  It still needed a bit of something so I used blue ink and my stipple stamp to soften its look. Perfect! I adhered this element at a bit of a slant on my card front and added a layered punchie greeting.

Therese

Scrappy tree Christmas card

While I was making these cards  I found two pieces that featured these cool trees in my Christmas designer paper scraps which I had trimmed off of a page of scrapping booking paper while I was working on these cards.  Once trimmed they were perfect for putting on A2 sized cards. The sky part was bothering me a bit - it was so plain and even in colour so I decided to change it up a bit.  First, I sanded the area which was good but did not give me quite the effect I was looking for so I used my Swiss Dot embossing folder and a small hammer and embossed the area around the trees then sanded the embossing.  That was more what I was looking for so on the second one I did not bother to sand until after I had embossed the sky area!!  I stitched the layer to a green card front using my sewing machine and ivory thread,  then added a little laser printed greeting punchie using double sided tape. Done!  These were pretty quick and I really like the texture that the embossing and sanding added!!  Adding these two to my stash of 8 making it 10!!             Therese

Vintage collaged hearts Valentine's cards

A while back I had cut out several of these vintage collaged heart images so I decided to make a few more Valentine's cards with them.
For my first card, I layered the colour printed image of the collaged heart over a kraft scalloped oval (Nestibilities).  I embossed a brown layer with a distressed line embossing folder.  I added a red gros grain ribbon on that layer to which I had already added three ivory sequins with gold mini brads.  I added 3D foam tape to the back of my focal element and mounted it over the ribbon. I added a layered punchie greeting to the lower right hand side.

For this card, I cut a brown cardstock layer, I embossed the top portion twice with a twiggy border embossing folder and then added an embossed wavy line in between.  Next, I glued a piece of red floral decorative paper to the bottom and finished off this layer by stitching on a length of green ribbon with an attached length of scalloped white lace over the edge of the decorative paper.  I then stitched all the way around to adhered all these element securely.  I glued this layer to a brown card front and added my layered focal element over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I pierced scallops on my focal element with a push pin to continue the stitched

theme.  I flagged the end of  the little laser printed greeting and adhered it to the front of the card with double sided tape.
For my third card, I added a piece of red floral decorative paper to the top portion of my brown card front and then embossed the bottom edge with a lace border punch (SU).  I added a strip of red cardstock to visually combine the two then glued my layered focal element over that lining up the scallops.  I added a little laser printed greeting over the red strip.  It still needed a bit of something so I added clear rhinestones to the scallops on the focal element!  That added an extra bit of attention to my focal element.  Done!

So I have three more cards to add to my stash for Valentine's!!!  It was fun to use some common elements on different cards!! Looking back I could have made at least one of these a portrait card.  Next time!!

Therese

Refurbished Valentine's card reusing a fun card

This is a fun "reuse" project!!  I reused a Valentine's card that arrived a while back along with a bunch of Christmas ones which I used for doing Paper Mosaic backgrounds.  I trimmed the main card to 4"x 5.25" to fit on an A2 sized card. I used a portion of trimmings to create the greeting.  I stamped the greeting in black on vellum, embossed it with clear embossing powder, coloured it with markers, layered it onto the pink cardstock rectangle I had rescued and glued both ends to the back.  I added four little daisies in pink and adhered them with white tiny brads.  I glued this whole element to the bottom section of my card using double sided tape.  I love the fun image!!!
I hope you consider reusing some of the images that come into your life with good wishes on them and give them a new life to bless another along the way.

Therese

Angel Christmas card in non traditional colours

While I was creating these Christmas cards I had two pieces of plum cardstock left over so I decided to make a couple of different cards with them.
I stamped this collage angel stamp with gold pigment ink and embossed it with clear detailed embossing powder.  I did try it with regular gold embossing powder first but that resulted in the loss of many of the the fine details in the image.  So I just turned the piece over and stamped it again on the back side.  I bleached the face and hands area which worked out really well.  I watered down the little bit of bleach I had left in my dish and colour washed it over the background.   I really like how that worked out.  When painting with bleach always use a plastic paint brush because the bleach will destroy natural fibers.  I used one from a kid's set of watercolours.  Once that was dry I fussy cut the edge which gave it a nice organic feel.  I chose a dark plum card and layered on a rose embossed layer to which I had already attached a plum ribbon.  I adhered my focal image to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Next, I tied on an extra piece of ribbon to simulate a bow to the one already on the card and for fun, I included a length of gold cording in the knot.  I like the look!  I layered my laser printed greeting punchie onto a gold label punchie and mounted that to my card front using 3D foam tape.  My focal image was then really in need of a bit of gold to help it stand out so I applied some gold metallic wax to the edges.  It was not quite enough but because it is already glued to my card front I have decided to live with it.  On my next card I used a bit of gold pigment ink on the edges and some of the same gold embossing powder which gave that image just what it needed to compete with the gold cording and the greeting.
So that is two more to add to the six I did earlier which brings my total to 8!!

Therese

Musical thank you cards

I am making a few more thank you cards with the musical gift wrap I received at Christmas.  I ripped my piece of music paper in several strips because it was not long enough to cover the whole card.  I glued the pieces to my dark brown card front to find that I had glued the pieces down upside down!!  What to do!!  I decided to use it landscape to help diffuse my mistake.  I found this short piece of wavy ribbon in my stash and thought it would add some fun texture to the card so I glued the ends to the inside of the card and then stitched it in place with my sewing machine and ivory thread.  I went looking for a focal element and found this thermally embossed image in my stash.  It would do nicely!!  I bleached it out a bit to highlight the image, added a gold layer of gift wrap before adhering it to the front of my card over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I layered a scalloped oval (SU) laser printed thanks greeting (Melonheadz) over a larger oval punchie (SU) in dark brown and adhered it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  Not sure that the mistake in music paper orientation has been mitigated but I am accepting that it is done and finished.  While I was at it I decided to make another one considering I had the supplies sitting on my desk!  Changed the orientation, cut the music paper instead of ripping it and added fiber instead of ribbon.  I punched out a notch on the spine with my slot punch (SU) and added one to the outside edge as well using a circle punch so I could tie a double knot in my fiber.
Pretty happy with the way they turned out!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with beautiful ribbon

I am enjoying the process of using these music gift wrap backgrounds which I cut from gift wrap that was on one of my gift this past Christmas.  I rubbed this one with an old multicoloured stamp pad and then used a paper towel to blend the colours and ensure that the surface was dry.  The gift wrap is a bit glossy so it takes a while for the ink to sink in which facilitates these backgrounds. I glued it to a dark purple card front, added a length of coordinating ribbon gluing the ends to the inside of the card.  I tied on a silver cord to the wide ribbon inserting a dark sheer ribbon in the knot.  I sponged the die cut greeting to coordinate and adhered it over the ribbons using double sided tape.  Quick and easy with supplies from my stash!!

Therese

January Cardmaking - Hearts for Valentine's

I wanted to incorporate some Valentine's cards in this session for those who wanted special cards for their special someones!!
For this card, I created a chipboard frame to use for embossing only the edge of my card!!  I glued two pieces of chipboard (4.25" x 5.5") to each other and then cut a label out of the middle of it.  Now I can use the frame OR the label to selectively emboss the areas of my card I want.  I used the frame to emboss the edge of my pink card.  I cut my decorative paper to 4" x 5.25" and then cut it diagonally leaving 3/4" from the two opposite corners.  That leaves me with two identical but opposed pieces.  For this paper where the paper pattern has direction it will be best to glue the other piece to the bottom portion of the card front and arrange the other elements accordingly. For any paper that is uniform or random it will not matter how the paper is glued on.  Fun!!  This decorative paper is some I printed from images from The Morgue File.  I love the pink and gold!!  After gluing my decorative paper to my card I added a strip of my handmade faux washi tape.  I glued my two hearts to each other  - one is an embossed scalloped heart die cut (SU), the other is a heart punchie with a coordinating stamped image inside (SU).  I glued this element to my card front over the washi tape using 3D foam tape.  I trimmed my colour printed greeting, gave it a colour wash of pink and glued it to my card front just below my heart!!  I did pretty much the same thing with my second card except it has the paper on the lower portion of the card.  The paper on this card is from Digital Graphics Cafe.  I have a few card kits left over so I will try making a few portrait cards to see how well that works.  They will show when I have them made up.
Therese

January Cardmaking - a plethora of hearts!

I found a beautiful card on Splitcoast Stamper that is almost exactly this sketch!!  By the way, this site is one of the best for inspiration!!!!  Always lots of card and projects to check out!!
It had the quote "you warm my heart" which I just loved so I incorporated it into this set of cards.  I printed two greetings for each one in case not everyone is as enamored with the greeting as I was!!  I used the alternate greeting on this card.
I started with a red card front and added a white embossed layer.  I punched (SU) lots of hearts from a wide variety of decorative paper!!!  I chose a variety of silver and black & white ones for this card.  I glued them in a random fashion ( I see I was not as random as I had expected to be) onto my embossed layer.  I trimmed my coordinating laser printed greeting and adhered it over my heart punchies using a piece of 3D foam tape in the middle and double sided on each side which gives it just a bit of dimension.  I adhered the little coloured heart die cut using 3D foam tape as well.
It was a fun afternoon punching hearts from colour coordinated scraps and making up these card kits!!!
I made my second card at class and I really like this colour combination.  I decided to try a landscape format and that worked just as well.  One of the ladies had the b&w with silver combination of my first card and she chalked the edges of several of her hearts in red to help them stand out and that worked out really well.
A versatile card kit!  I have a few leftover so they will likely show up here in the next little while

Therese

January Cardmaking - Decorative paper frame

It has been a wonderful holiday season!!  I am happy to be back to a routine because that means more time for cardmaking.  This is our first cardmaking session for this year and my first card frames my focal image with strips of decorative paper.  It took a bit to figure out the math of what size the strips had to be for an A2 sized card.  The short strips are 3/4" x 3 1/8" and the longer ones are 3/4" x 4 3/8" which leaves 1/8" gaps between them, the edge and the focal image.  You can cut the strips you need out of a 1.5" x 7.5" piece of decorative paper though I cut mine mostly of scraps.  I did cut a few 3/4" x 3/4" pieces from the small leftovers to add to my stash of paper pieces for paper mosaics like these ones.   I glued the strips to mym yellow card front in the pattern you see on my image.  You can put the short one completely to the right as well which works out as well.  I water coloured my daisy (Beccy's Place) which was laser printed from a digital image after adding a font greeting.  I added a bit of stippling as well.  I trimmed the bottom with scallop decorative scissors and pierce each scallop with a push pin.  I glued my focal element in the center of my card front.  It is nicely framed by the strips!!  I cut and embossed a short piece of coordinating cardstock, trimmed the ends, tied on a bit of coordinating cording and adhered it to my card front just below the greeting.  This is another versatile sketch!!  I could have incorporated landscape designs into my focal elements but I did not even think about it!!  Another time!!  I made my second card at class.  I used embossed foil that has been coloured with alcohol ink for the frame which makes a real statement!!  The heart (Digital Graphic Cafe) was laser printed and watercoloured and given the same treatment as my previous one.  

Therese

Christmas Thanks with ivory and pink

For this card I added red ink to the music gift wrap and wiped it off blending it all in in the process.  I used a foam dot stamp to add pink dots in an all over pattern and then layered an ivory punched border (SU) on the bottom.  I layered the background onto a pink card and added to lengths of gros grain ribbon - one pink and one ivory - gluing the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape.  I cut their ends opposite to create a chevron end and layered on a punchie greeting using 3D foam tape.  I created the greeting using a sponged laser printed digital image from Birds Cards which I punched out with a circle punch and then layered onto a pink scallop circle (SU) punchie.  I pierced all the scallops with a push pin.
I am really enjoying the process of creating cards with these gift wrap backgrounds which I cut from paper that my sister used on my Christmas gift.

Therese

Owl Valentine's card with a serendipity background

What a cute little layered felt ow!! My sister gave me six of these cute little owl embellishments.  They had been glued to clothes pins so I simply removed them.  Well, simply might be an understatement - they were pretty well attached and it too some coaxing to them off whole!!  I thought he would work very well with this serendipity background.  He needed a branch so I die cut a tree using the Tim Holtz tree die and trimmed off pieces until I was happy with how the branch looked.  I mounted my background to a navy card, added the black branch then glued my little owl sitting on the branch.  I colour printed the custom greeting "Owl always love you!!" , trimmed the ends and added to my card using a bit of 3D foam tape in the middle and double sided tape on each end.   Love how it turned out!!  It doesn't necessarily have to be used for Valentine's because there are always times when we want to tell our special someone that we really care for them.  Looking forward to coming up with fun designs for the other five!!

Therese

Gold star embossed Christmas cards

I have decided to go back to doing Christmas cards monthly so I don't have to rush in November to get done what I need.  My sister, Sylvia, has been hosting a Christmas card challenge for several years and in early January she published her themes for this year.  January is gold and star so I decided to use gold embossing powder on this wonderful star stamp for this month's cards.  I stamped the star and the Peace on Earth (SU) greeting onto a rectangle of deep plum cardstock in gold pigment ink then embossed them in gold.  Next, I used bleach to highlight the center of the star which lightened it to a dusty rose colour then I watercoloured the star with yellow.  I was very tempted to use yellow as my card but it was too non traditional and I just could not talk myself into it.  So, I used a dusty rose card instead and layered this embossed decorative gift wrap in between which coordinated nicely and left the star as the main attraction!!!  I made six of these and while I was at it I managed several others which I will blog later.
Therese

Christmas Thanks with a coffee theme

Had fun with this card which features a background of music gift wrap that came on one of my Christmas gifts this past season.  I stamped the piece with a flourish stamp (impression obsession) in a dark brown and glued it to a dark brown card front.  I found the greeting in my stash and watercoloured it to coordinate with my coffee image before adhering it to my card front.  The cup image is stamped in black and then watercoloured.  I added a length of dark brown vintage seam binding to my card front, layered on my image and then tied a piece of rust seam binding above it to finish off my card.  Love it!!

Therese

Valentine's cards with polka dots & hearts

 I have started on Valentine's cards!! I have also discovered a new website called Digitial Graphics Cafe, with free digital images which are featured on these two cards.  They have black and white images which can be coloured by hand or digitally, coloured graphics along with full sized digital papers.  I really love this polka dot background which you will find on the site in greens, yellow & brown and pink & greens.  I adjusted the colours in Photo Elements to create this colour combination!!  I laser printed the four different colours as four quarter pages on one letter sized sheet of paper and cut them apart.  I cut the lavender quarter sheet (4" x 5.5") in two and used one half on each card.
For the first card, I cut my decorative paper into four equal pieces and glued them to a purple layer and inserted a punched border in the large gap that existed between the first and second one trimming the ends to the edge of my layer.  I glued this layer to a soft aqua card.  I watercoloured the laser printed fussy cut heart in coordinating colours and adhered it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  I colour printed a coordinating greeting, trimmed the one end and adhered it to the front of my card with a small piece of 3D foam tape in the center and double sided tape on both ends.  Gives it a bit of dimension!!
For my second card, I used the other half of my lavendar paper cutting it in two even pieces one way and two uneven pieces the other way. I layered all four onto white cardstock and layered them to a soft aqua piece of cardstock which I had already stamped with a "WORN" background stamp (SU) in a very soft colour.  I added a length of rhinestones to the two wider gaps between the pieces.  I glued this layer to the front of a dark purple card.  I watercoloured a fussy cut laser printed heart and glued it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.
Really happy with these new graphics and I would recommend that you click the link above and check them out.  To download, click on the image then click on the small dark bar on the bottom of the white graphic that pops up which brings you to the download page.  Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a butterfly

Another thank you card for my Christmas blessings which feature music gift wrap which came on one of my gifts this season.  This was one of the pieces that was not full sized.  I tore the bottom edge and cut it half before I glued it to a piece of handmade background paper (wax resist & watercolour) in green & ivory.  I added the large greeting which I had created a while back for another project (die cut letters) which I sponged just enough with yellow ink to have it coordinate with this colour scheme.  I tore the bottom of the background piece as well and glued this whole element to the front of an ivory card.  I found this black butterfly in my stash and replaced its rhinestone body with silver cording which created antennae at the same time and made it thinner to ensure it could be mailed with regular first class postage.  I adhered the butterfly with a small piece of 3D foam tape.  It was the perfect embellishment for this card!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a tulip

I love the background on this one!!  I pulled the edge of a purple stamp pad down twice on the music gift wrap and then a few times across to create this linen looking background.  It would have been more effective in a more subtle colour but there you have it!!  I glued it to the front of a purple card and added a torn laser printed greeting. I added a length of green mesh fiber adhering the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape.  I watercoloured my laser printed image (Melonheadz) in coordinating colours, layered it onto purple and adhered it to my card front over the mesh using 3D foam tape.  This was a fun card!!

Therese

"Every Day - A Gift" fabric postcard

It is the beginning of a new year and I have a new list for my fabric postcard birthday swap!!  I decided to use the quote  "every day - a gift" for my postcard so I went looking for a background and some small scraps which would work well for the gifts.  I found this soft teal fabric which worked well for the background so I cut a 4.5 x 6.5" piece and then cut a white backer the same size.  I have a small envelope of fabric scraps which have fusible adhesive on the back from previous projects so I started there looking for little squares and rectangles to create the gifts.  I found what I needed in there - just a little trimming to make them square on the sides and then I layered them onto the front of my postcard making sure that they would not interfere with the seam allowance.  I ironed them all into place once I had the layout worked out.  I decided to stitch around all of them to help define them and that allowed me to add the ribbon/fiber ties I wanted to add to create the bows.  Once the gifts were finished I used my Making Memories stamp set and stamped on my quote in dark blue.  I stitched my batting to the backer and then placed them good sides together and stitched around the perimeter leaving a gap so I could turn it inside out.  The front is fairly stiff with all the fusible adhesive on it so it was a little more difficult than I had anticipated but got it done.  I ironed it flat and then stitched all around the edge to keep it nice and neat. Next, I tied all the bows which I had pinned out of the way while I was sewing.  I am really happy with how it worked out!! I will be packaging it up and mailing it off tomorrow.  It should arrive for her birthday near the end of the month.  I am really enjoying these fabric postcards and the birthday swap is fun because you can challenge yourself to new techniques and ideas!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with stars

A really different look on this one!!  This card uses some of the leftover pieces from the music Christmas gift wrap that I made into backgrounds for my Christmas thank you cards.  I cut the one piece into eight and then glued them into place on my black card front just gluing the ends closest to the perimeter of the card.   I then cut four small rectangles of primary colour cardstock and punched a star out of each one.  I glued these little rectangles to the black card front beneath the other ends of my music gift wrap strips.  Once they were in place I glued the ends of the strips over the punched cardstock rectangles.  I glued the star punchies onto the paper strips above the rectangles.  Really fun design!!  I added a layered greeting to finish off my card!!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with bling

This thank you card features a background cut from music gift wrap from one of my Christmas gifts!  I just stamped it with my stipple stamp (SU) in blue and green ink to coordinate with my focal element and glued it to the front of a blue card. The focal element is an image that I cut from an old calendar - love those collaged images!!  I layered the image onto blue cardstock and used an eyelet border punch (SU) on the bottom edge before I adhered it to my card front with 3D foam tape.  I added a strip of green cardstock below that and layered on a small laser printed & sponged greeting and three little blue rhinestones.  The strip works as a design element and also hides a bit of damage on the background.  A win - win!!

Therese

Cards with paper mosaic backgrounds!

My sister was visiting on the weekend and we sorted through a pile of old Christmas cards making three piles - first, some that I could easily refurbish, second some that needed to be donated as art supplies and the last that I would add to my serendipity supplies which also included any card backs which make great substrates for this technique.  Overnight, I got to thinking if there might be another technique I could use these supplies for and came up with mosaics which I have been wanting to explore for a while.  I chose cards that contained glitter, trimmed them into 3/4" x 3/4" pieces and then

glued the squares from two different cards to black cardstock alternating the squares as I glued them down.  I left a bit of a margin between my squares and my sister left very little.  As you can see she managed to get 35 square on her quarter sheet and I ran out of room!  She brought hers home and will be working with hers and I have die cut mine into a heart and flower.  My sister, Sylvia, made little birdie cards with hers.  You can check them out here.  She is running a blog giveaway right now - you could win one of her beautiful calendars!!!

Here are the cards I created using my two die cuts.  For my first card, I layered my flower die cut (TH) with a black flower punchie (SU), then a foil die cut embellished with alcohol inks and finally a small black punchie and held all of them together with a tiny black brad.  I found the background in my stash - a scrap of white cardstock that has been used several times to clean off a flourish stamp in several different colours.  I added faux stitching all the way around with a black permanent marker, added a black ribbon gluing the ends to the back with double sided tape before I glued the whole element to the front of a brown card.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my focal element and my layered punchie greeting (SU) to the front of my card.  For my second card, I layered my die cut heart (SZ) over a hand painted red background paper and used scallop decorative scissors to trim all the way around.  I found the quarter sheet of white cardstock with embossed hearts on it in my stash and adhered it to my red card front after I added a length of red organza ribbon.  I layered on my heart focal element with 3D foam tape over the ribbon and did the same with my layered punchie greeting. It still needed a bit of something so I added three little punchie hearts in gray, pink and red to the left hand side of my large heart and that worked well.
I have decided to use these two cards for my card exchange this month so they will be off to my swap partners in tomorrow's mail!!
It is always fun to play with a new technique!!  It is interesting that I could make two cards that used such different colour schemes using die cuts from the same piece of handmade paper mosaic background.

Therese

Christmas Thanks with fiber and music

Christmas Thank you cards!!  I am using music gift wrap that came on one of my gifts to make the backgrounds for these cards!  REUSE!!
I used an old multicolour stamp pad to add colour to the sort of glossy paper and then a paper towel to blend it and wipe it dry.  It was not full size so I cut it in two and added a laser printed greeting in between them when I glued them to my black card front.  I tied a length of fuzzy fiber around the card and made a double knot just next to the greeting and left the long ends to add texture to my card.  I really wanted to add a 3D embellishment but did not find anything in my stash that enhanced my design so eventually left it as it was!!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a heart and embossing

For this thank you card I inked the music gift wrap with two different purple inks.  I wiped them off to blend them and to ensure that surface was dry.  I ripped out a strip and glued both sides onto the front of a purple card.  I embossed the space in between with a border embossing folder and then added a stamped quote in a hand cut heart.  I added a coordinating picot ribbon near the bottom.  I used my slot punch (SU) to trim the spine which made a perfect opening in which to slip the end of my ribbon and adhere it to the inside front using double sided tape.  The other end is secured the same way.  I added a sponged greeting punchie using 3D foam tape over the ribbon and then tied a short piece of ribbon to the one on the front to simulate a bow.
A few more to go!

Therese

Christmas Thanks with a flourish and butterflies

I have been slowly making thank you cards for sending to the people who have been a blessing for our family over the holidays with gifts and times of fun and food!!!
This year I have chosen this beautiful music gift wrap from one of my gifts to use as a background.  I unwrapped the gift knowing that I wanted to reuse the paper so I was able to salvage almost the whole piece.  I trimmed as many 4" x 5.25" pieces as I could from the whole and then cut the leftovers into pieces that would be usable.
For this card I started with a full piece and inked it with two different inks - reddish brown and a dark red.  The paper is glossy so it takes a while for the ink to dry so I used my heat gun and then just wiped the surface to make sure it was all dry.  I like the effect - it softly spreads the colour and unifies the colour with the printing.  I cut a large flourish out of the middle and glued the background to the front of a dark red card.  I found the two butterfly punchies in my stash and glued on some gold cording to simulate bodies and antennae.  I sponged my oval punchie greeting (Papercraft Magazine) with ink to coordinate with the other elements and layered it onto a dark red scalloped oval (SU). I applied these three elements to the card front with 3D foam tape.  I will be posting the other cards in the next few days.

Therese