September Cardmaking - quick and easy cards with laser printed digital images, some sponging and embossing

This is a great go to design if you need cards in a hurry!  I print four images in the center of four quarter sheets on a letter sized piece of white cardstock and then trim them apart.  I use the Swirl Frame embossing folder (CB) and emboss around the printed image.  I have hand cut oval stencils which just fit inside of the embossed frame which I use to mask the outside edge while I sponge the inside of the oval.  It is fun to mix colours and create dimension and texture.  I used a torn piece of paper to create the horizon line of trees behind the car.  Once the sponging is done, I trim the outside of the quarter sheet to the edge of the embossing and mount this large element to a coordinating card front. I did add a bit of watercolour to the bouquet and the car to give them a more realistic look.  I did sponge a bit of yellow in the center of the flowers to give some contrast.  I usually leave these without greetings and I continue to find new images which work well with this technique.  The dandelion flowers are from CLKER, the car is from Arthur's Clip art and the little bouquet is from Beary Wishes.  I expect there are other embossed frames I could use to create a similar look but for now this one works really well.  This was our last card last night.  I always try to make it an easy one and this one qualified perfectly!!

Therese

September cardmaking - decorative paper, an image and ribbon for these birthday cards

For our second card I combined decorative paper (colour laser printed digital images) with coordinating cardstock.  Next we added coordinating ribbon gluing both ends to the inside front with double side tape.  The images were then layered and added with 3D foam tape over the ribbon.  To finish off the cards I tied a short piece of ribbon to the one on the front with a single knot to simulate a bow!!  I did add a punched and layered font greeting to the one on the right.  The pink birthday greeting is from Kisspng which I colour printed and the poppies is from CLKER which I watercoloured - both digital image sources.  This is a very flexible sketch which always makes great cards!            Therese

September cardmaking - Birds, hexagons and birch tree embossing for great birthday cards

 It is time to get back to our regular activities and so I hosted three ladies for card making last night!!  I love creating the kits and having the ladies add their own creativity to end up with cards that are not the same!!
We started with some serendipity hexagons!! The hexagon die (SX) is a new to me die which my sister was liquidating from her extras and I was happy to add to my tools!!  Hexagons have been around for quite a while and they are so fun to create with!!  Everyone took some time last night to play with theirs and they all came up with a layout that they were happy with.  We added a circle greeting that was just the right size as well.  I features stamped words (SU), a flower sequin held in place with a brad.  We just mounted them with foam tape.  You can see that the right hand edge was embossed with a birch tree embossing folder (SU) which works so well with the little birdie die cut.  The little bird die is from Impression Obsession.  I die cut it from coordinating cardstock, watercoloured the wings to coordinate gluing them to the birds and glued the whole element in place using white glue in a fine tip applicator (repurposed paint bottle).  I am happy with both of my cards!!           Therese

A beautiful rose, some ribbon and a sanded and embossed background for this anniversary card

An anniversary card for my stash!!  I sanded this white core card which I had embossed with a heart embossing folder which nicely revealed the white core.  I added a length of ribbon, layered it onto an off white layer and than onto a green card front.  The rose is a digital image from CLKER which I laser printed onto white cardstock and trimmed to size.  I added to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I found this coordinating font greeting in my stash.  I flagged the end, adhered it with the other end inserted below the rose image and added three clear rhinestones to finish it off!!  Therese

Friendship card that features a layer from a commercial card!

I loved this wonderful card front from a commercial card that was donated to me for cardmaking!! The poppies are beautiful and glittery!!
I trimmed the card to size and added a little green strip to the right hand side before gluing this large element to the front of a pink card.  Quick and easy!!!!  The message continued inside the card so I trimmed it and added to the inside because it was so nice!!

Therese

Quick and easy card which features a reused card front and a vellum greeting

I like making a few quick and easy cards when I am in production mode.  This one reuses a card front with some cute little robins in the snow.  I trimmed it to 4" x5.25", added a little stamped vellum greeting from my stash which I folded over the edge and adhered on the back with double sided tape before  adhering it to a green card front.  Too easy!!       Therese

A birthday floral handmade card with a decorative paper focal element and a gauze tie

Another card for my stash!!  For this one I used an element which I found in one of my boxes of unsorted bits.  It had this wonderful piece of decorative paper which features watercolour and a stamped resist technique.  I love the colours.  It was framed in a neutral cardstock layer with swirly punched corners.  The bottom edge was ripped but it was mostly covered by the elements that I added.  I started by adding a sponged border on the bottom to which added the width I needed for this card front.  I chose to mount this focal element to a pink card, added a stamped & sponged label (SB) greeting attached with a gauze tie with a double knot on the left hand side.  This gauze is so soft that it ties beautifully and adds much texture to the card.  To finish it off I added two little rhinestones to the greeting!!  I love this colour combination and it was good to use this little bit from my stash.  Not sure what the original intention for it was but it worked perfectly for this card.  Therese

Birthday card for a special little girl!!

Our youngest grandchild is having her birthday soon and I made her this card!!  I used a fun card front that features flowers and a little bird!  I mounted it on an embossed green card front and added a little laser printed greeting on the lower right which I embellished with my pattern tracing wheel!  Little girls like bling so I added two coordinating butterfly embellishments and a little heart on the greeting. 
We look forward to seeing her later this fall!!

Therese

An anniversary card that features a chalkboard greeting and a flourish!

Cards for my stash continue!!  I have been experimenting with large greetings for a while and this is one I printed a while back using a chalkboard background and a chalkboard font.  I laser printed it and trimmed it to size.  For this card I glued a laser printed digital background which I trimmed to fit on an A2 sized card.  I added the yellow flourish (SX) and nestled the greeting into it.  Worked very nicely!!  The two hearts are part of the flourish die which worked well for the anniversary theme.  After gluing everything into place I added yellow dots to the flourish using a gel pen.  Therese

Friend handmade card with a great digital greeting and some fun digital colour printed paper!!

I am making cards for my stash and decided to make a few for special friends when the time is right!!  This one features a large greeting by
Desert Diva which I laser printed onto white cardstock and trimmed to size.  I wanted to see if I could get the yellow "Friend" to stand out more but unfortunately the green water colour I applied did not help any.  It took me a bit of time to see what could be done to salvage the greeting but I finally decided to stamp over the letters with a small stamp set.  That worked better than I had expected.  I used my tracing wheel on the four sides to add some texture.  I added a yellow label punchie which was cut in half and mounted each piece to the long edges and then pierced the edge with a push pin.  I tucked in a dark blue half circle in the center of each one and finished off the greeting with a clear rhinetstone in each half circle.  Pretty happy with that!  I adhered a quarter sheet of decorative paper (Pixabay) to a coordinating card front and then mounted my embellished greeting over it.  Pretty happy with the over all look of this one!  I am stretching my comfort zone using large greetings.  Therese

Thank you card - cherry blossom digital image, embossed white core layer and a bit of ribbon

This card features a digital image from KISSPNG, a new digital image site I discovered in the last few days!!  I colour printed the image, trimmed it to size and distressed the edges.  I mounted it to an embossed layer in the same peachy colour as the flowers.  This was white core cardstock so I sanded it a bit to highlight the embossing which is a nice floral design (SU).  I adhered the image to the embossed layer, added a small piece of brown folded  ribbon using a tiny black brad and glued this layer to a dark brown one which I had trimmed with scallop decorative scissors.  I pierced each scallop with a push pin - an easy way to add texture to this card.  I mounted this large layer to a white card front and added a small laser printed greeting (Desert Diva) which I had flagged and sponged in brown to finish off my card.  Love how everything works so well together!!             Therese

Serendipity hexagons, sequins and a colour printed greeting

I made this card for a lady who has not been able to participate in our card exchange this time around but as a enthusiastic cardmaker she certainly would appreciate a card!!
I have been gifted some new craft supplies by my sister though we might yet work out a trade.  One of the items I received is a Hexagon die by Sizzix!!  The die cuts six at a time and they are the perfect size for cards!!  There has been a serendipity challenge on Splitcoast Stampers and I have been inspired by what others have done so I dug out my little bag of serendipity papers - I have made some ahead when I had the time and it has come in handy.  I chose several pieces that coordinating somewhat and cut as many little hexagons as I could out of the pieces.  Next I decided on a five hexagon layout - there are a lot of options - and chose the five from my little collection that would work best together.  I chose a yellow card front and stamped it with the Worn (SU) background stamp using brown ink.  I added some stippling with my little stamp (SU) and a warmer brown ink.  Next, I sponged the edges of my hexagons with brown ink and adhered them into place using a combination of double sided tape and white glue leaving the bottom one until last so I could glue down my greeting before put it into place.  The greeting is colour printed, trimmed and flagged and sponged a bit.  I had decided to embellish with sequins so I dug out the bag and auditioned quite a few until I had what I thought worked best.  I used glue dots to adhere them into place.  Still thinking it needed a bit of something I added some drops of clear dimensional paint on the card and drops of gold glitter on the hexagons.  With those in place it was just a matter of waiting until they were dry and the card will be on its way to her.   Therese

A birthday card that features a bluebird, organza ribbon and an embossed background!

A friend of mine asked for a birthday card for her bluebird loving friend which featured a blue bird.  I found this bluebird digital at Clipground which I laser printed on white cardstock and watercoloured.  I pieced a layer of scrapbook paper which coordinated and added an organza ribbon before adding my blue bird.  I mounted this layer to an embossed (CB) beige layer which was mounted to a blue card.  To finish off my card I added a small greeting (digital from Desert Diva) which I laser printed, flagged and sponged before adding it with 3D foam tape.    Always fun to challenge myself to create custom cards!   Therese

Thank you card with a fall leaf, fiber and a stamped greeting

I always like to acknowledge the kindness that others have bestowed on us!! 
This card features a stamped leaf which I watercoloured.  I trimmed it down, pierced the edges with my tracing wheel, tied on some green fiber and mounted it to a dark red layer of cardstock.  The green fiber adds a bit of texture.  I glued this large element to an embossed (leaves) brown card front and added a small stamped greeting on the lower right hand corner. 

Therese

A birthday card that features a large birdcage embellishement, a small greeting and some embossed papers

Another card for an upcoming birthday!!  This one features two pieces of embossed cardstock for the background.  The top one has the embossed areas highlighted with coordinating inks.  The bottom piece is white core cardstock which has been embossed with a script embossing folder and sanded to reveal the white core.  A fun technique!! They are adhered to a brown card front and a strip of green cardstock which has been embellished with my tracing wheel has been adhered to where they join.  I added a little gold embroidery thread hanger to this beautiful printed bird cage embellishment before adhering it to my card front using double sided tape behind the printed areas.  I finished off my card my slipping a small distressed and sponged laser printed greeting us under the edge of the green strip to the right of the large focal element.     Therese

A fun image for this pink and green anniversary card

I created this image after a fun day in the snow creating hearts with my boots!!  I found this boot image on CLKER and thought how fun it would be to create a heart with it.  I duplicated the image in Corel Draw, overlapped the two and laser printed the image.  For this card I watercoloured the boot heart and layered it with green and pink cardstock.  I found this fun background which I created using a laser printed text background which was over stamped with a handmade "rubber leftover" background stamp.  I added a green border punched (SU) strip to the back of the background before adhering it to a coordinating pink card front.  I added a length of lace which has both ends adhered to the inside of the card using double sided tape.  The focal heart element was added to the card using 3D foam tape and the greeting was slipped under the image and the lace and trimmed on one end which is concealed below the lace and the other was trimmed to the edge of the card.    I added a little clear rhinestone to finish off my card.             Therese

A large chalkboard greeting, a few heart punchies and some ribbon for this anniversary card

I am trying to get ahead of the curve and preparing my cards for next month while I have a bit of time this week.
This anniversary card came together fairly quickly.  A piece of colour printed digital paper for the background glued to a coordinating card front.  I added the gold ribbon gluing the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape. I found this chalkboard greeting in my stash and adhered it with 3D foam tape and then added two embossed heart punchies above it with 3D foam tape as well.  Thinking it still needed a bit of something I tied a piece of gold embroidery thread to the ribbon to create a bit of dimension and texture!!!!              Therese

Love this quick and easy technique and made a few more cards!!!!

This is my third set of cards using this technique!!!!!!  Check out the first set here. I combined large digital greetings from Desert Diva's blog with digital images from CLKER electronically in a layout program (Corel Draw) and then laser printed them onto white cardstock.  After cutting them apart I sponged them in appropriate colours.  I enhanced all of these images with watercolour to add definition to the images.  I like the way the sponging gently fades to nothing before touching the greeting.  What a versatile technique!!  Won't be the last time I use this for making some quick cards for myself or giving as gifts!!  Therese