Birthday Card Set - a bold floral wreath on a soft floral background

Birthday cards for a gift!!  You can check here to see why and how I am making this card set.
For this card I started with a dark pink card front and added this piece of decorative paper which came from the same sheet as several of the others I made for this set.  I watercoloured the wreath (Melonheadz), added a coordinating greeting and watercoloured the edges.  I added a coordinating ribbon to hide where they join.  I glued this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.

Therese

Christmas Card Set - Snowman and nativity

Another prize for the silent auction at a family event coming up soon!!  I made eight of each design for a total of sixteen cards which I will package in a Ferraro Rocher box from last Christmas.  You can check out the Birthday card set I made for the other prize here.  These fit in #8 envelopes (6.5" x 3 5/8") which are available in most stationary/general stores in most locations.  I cut the card fronts from letter sized cardstock and added a section on the short end using the scraps leftover and taped them together.  It can be used on the front or the back depending on your design.  For these, I used that section for the front because I was gluing a piece of heavy weight decorative paper to fill the front which helps stabilize the extra piece.  I added instructions on the back to allow the recipient to reuse the card.  

I trimmed two 12" x 12"pieces of heavyweight decorative paper into eight pieces each that measure #3 x 6".  I made the cards just a slight bit narrower to accommodate the best use of the decorative paper.  I designed the greeting using a font called NOEL, laser printed them in a coordinating colour and punched them out with an oval punch (SU).  I punched coordinating scalloped ovals and glued the greetings to them after sponging their edges with a bit of coordinating ink.  I cut strips about 3/8" wide from scraps of coordinating cardstock for each set and tied 1/4" ivory silk ribbon to each using a double square knot.  I used two digital images for Dearie Dolls - a holy family and a cool snowman and printed them onto off white cardstock, trimmed them out and watercoloured them.  To assemble my cards I glued the decorative paper to my card fronts, added the greeting on the lower section then just above that the strips embellished with ribbon.  Next I sponged with coordinating ink all the way the coloured images before adhering them to my cards.   

I am not a fan of making lots of cards that are the same but in order to be efficient I did the best I could.  It was easiest to colour each part of the images at the same time while I had the colour ready to go - so I painted all the sweaters, then all the noses, etc which made it easier to do them all the same though I did deviate a bit as in some cases the sweater and scarf colours are transposed and the scarf accent colours aren't always the same.  I had better luck when I was doing the nativity - those are pretty close to being all the same.  

So another set of cards ready to go!!  

Therese

A card that features a hand decorated background with a serendipity heart punchie accent

The background for this card has been in my stash for quite a while!!  It was double embossed with a heart background stamps in silver embossing powder on a scrap of paper which was painted with leftovers from a project.  I trimmed it to the border and stamped with black in using a script background stamps (SU).  I layered it onto a blue cardstock then onot a black card front. The heart was punched from a serendipity background that coordinated perfectly then layered onto a silver scalloped edged heart die cut  (SU).  I added the laser printed vellum greeting to the back of the heart before adhering it to my card front.  To finish it off I flagged the end of the greeting.  Done!!  Another card for my stash!!
I never waste paint or colour medium of any kind!!  I always have sheets of paper sitting around ready to take another coat of coordinating colour.  It is fun to keep adding layers until you are happy with the paper and then use it in a new creation as a background, to create die cuts or to embellish with embossing powder as I did here.
Therese