An anniversary card featuring decorative paper, a punched border and a little birdie die cut

An anniversary card for my sister and her DH.  They were married just a month before us many years ago now. 
I started with a large envelope and made a red card to fit inside.  I added a green ribbon to this piece of glittery decorative paper before adhering it to my card front.  I then border punched the right hand side of my card using this sort of ivy leafy punch. I backed the punched area with green in that it was a bit floppy on the ends.  I will consider leaving a solid end when I use it next time.  I had this die cut sitting on my desk from a while back and decided that it would work well with this card.  I watercoloured the birds, the hearts, the wings and the branch.   I slipped the end of the die cut under the ribbon and wrapped the little swirl around the ribbon.  I used small pieces of 3D foam tape behind the birds and a bit of white glue behind the branch.  Stamped the greeting on the upper portion of my card and added the two little hearts as well. Added the wings to finish off my card !!            Therese

Graduation card featuring hand decorated paper, a layered greeting and ribbon

My niece has finished first in her class at university this year and will be working on a Masters next year so I made her a card to celebrate her great achievement.  I started with a large envelope and made a black card to fit inside.  I added this great piece of hand decorated paper which I created a while back with leftover paint from a project after I had added a length of black ribbon.  I trimmed the greeting (Desert Diva) and added both an orange layer and a yellow one with two flagged ends.  I added black dots to the yellow layer and then mounted it to my decorative paper.  I adhered this large layer to the front of my black card then tied a short piece of the same black ribbon to the front of my card to simulate a bow. 
I love making decorative paper with leftover paint - seems a waste to put it down the drain and it so easily makes such a statement when you create with it.             Therese

Sympathy card featuring a layered butterfly embellishment, organza ribbon and a layered greeting

Friends of ours have lost family members on both sides this week so I made up this sympathy card for them.
I started with a large envelope and created an ivory card to fit inside.  I added a very pale yellow organza ribbon to a piece of scrapbook paper which I trimmed to size and embellished with a bit of script (SU) stamping before adhering it to the front of my card.  To create the butterfly embellishment I started with a little champagne butterfly die cut which I got from my sister, Sylvia.  I found the large butterfly in my stash - it was cut from white cardstock.  I set about modifying it with watercolour and shimmer paint until it coordinated with my background.  Once it was dry, I embossed it with a script embossing folder to echo the script in my background.  I used double sided tape to adhere the two butterflies together and a piece of 3D foam tape to adhere it to my card front.  I created my layered greeting in a similar fashion.  I found the greeting my stash (colour printed & embellished with watercolour) and layered it onto a champagne oval which I had to colourwash just a little to tone down its brightness.  I layered these two onto a white scalloped oval punchie (SU) which I embellished with watercolour and shimmer paint in the same way as the butterfly.  I tied a short piece of the same ribbon to the one on the front of my card using a loosely tied single knot securing it with a piece of double sided tape on the back to ensure it did not come undone.  To finish off my card, I added my layered greeting using 3D foam tape.  It will be on its way today!!            Therese

Fashionable Mother's Day card featuring beautiful paper, a punched floral border and a digital greeting

I made this Mother's Day card for my youngest daughter.  She is a seamstress and very much involved in the Slow Movement of making conscious choices when buying clothes.  I thought this paper was most appropriate for her. 
I chose a large envelope and made a navy card to fit inside.  I added the beautiful paper and not wanting to cover up too much of it I simply added a floral punched border where it did not interfere too much with the design and added some yellow dimensional paint to the flower centers.  I added a laser printed greeting (Desert Diva) which I had printed on white cardstock.  I watercoloured it to coordinate with the paper on my card.  I added some faux stitching to it as well to augment the theme.  I applied it to the front of the card using 3D foam tape and I was done!!  Really happy with it!!

Therese

Mother's Day card featuring an embossed frame, a little blue bird and a beribboned greeting

I made this card for my Mom for Mother's Day!  I am again using my stash of large envelopes so I found one that would suit and made a white card to fit.  Blue is her favorite colour so I chose a background paper that featured blue prominently though not boldly and trimmed a piece that would leave a small border all the way around.  I added an embossed frame made from silver cardstock.  I love how well it goes with the paper!!  After adhering it in place I created the little blue bird using the SU bird punch.  I punched the bird and the wing from blue cardstock, added a beak with a black marker and filled it in with yellow gel pen then added a tiny black brad to create its eye.  I embossed the wing and sponged it a bit to highlight the embossing and added to my bird using 3D foam tape.  The branch I found in my stash and watercoloured it green. I used white glue from a fine tip applicator to adhere it into place in the frame and then added my little bird.  I added blue ribbon to my little greeting tag (Desert Diva) which I laser printed, trimmed and sponged with blue.  I adhered it to my card using 3D foam tape.  Pretty happy with how it turned out.  Therese

Mother's Day card featuring a hand decorated border, a beautiful ribbon and a digital greeting

I made this card for my oldest daughter for Mother's Day.  Using some of her favorite colours I started with an ivory card with a large envelope.  I added a stamped and watercoloured background and then a gold edged coral ribbon.  The border was one I found in my stash which I created a while back for a different project using the clear embossed resist technique but the colours were very appropriate so I used an eyelet border punch on each long side and mounted it over the ribbon.  I die cut a flower in a coordinating cardstock and then added a layer which was die cut from gold metallic cardstock.  Once layered I adhered them over the circle in the border.  I corner punched my laser printed greeting (Desert Diva), punched a hole in the left hand side and sponged it to coordinate with my card, then added a piece of soft vintage seam binding in a wonderful green colour before adhering it to my card using 3D foam tape.    Therese

An anniversary card featuring two heart die cuts, lacy ribbon and a stamped greeting

My parents have been married 65 years this year!  We are fortunate they are still with us and living independently.  I am grateful everyday!! 

I used a large envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I chose this soft elegant paper and stamped it with a script stamp (SU) in light blue green to coordinate.  I added a layered ribbon/lace combo to the left hand side before I adhered it to my card.  I stamped the greeting in a coordinating colour as well and then added the two heart die cuts using small pieces of 3D foam tape and a bit of white glue on the bottoms. 
Beautifully elegant!!

Therese

Anniversary card featuring two little birds die cut, an embossed greeting and a vellum frame

I made this card for my daughter and her DH for their anniversary.  I chose a burnt orange card and a coordinating decorative paper trimmed to leave a bit of a border.  I wanted to frame the focal element but the paper was too beautiful to cover up so I used vellum to give the effect I wanted without losing the look of the paper.  I stamped my "Blessings" greeting on the top portion of my decorative paper in copper and found that it blended too much so I reheated it and added gold which was much better - still subtle but visible.  I added the vellum frame which I created using a rectangle Nestabilities and then trimmed the outside edge with a wavy blade in a rotary cutter.  I attached it to my background using four tiny antique gold brads.  I die cut the little birds on a branch from ivory cardstock and then watercoloured the birds to reflect some of the blue in the background.  I mounted the die cut with some pieces over the vellum and others behind using small pieces of 3D foam tape behind the birds.  I was then able to add white glue using a fine tip applicator behind the main branch to secure it in place.  I used white glue to adhere the wings to the birds and the hearts around the greeting.  The little birds are very cute and I love how well they coloured.  I did add a bit of black cardstock behind the heads to get the eye to be black and also coloured their beaks black with a marker.                  Therese

Card exchange cards - stamping, ribbon and a large layered greeting

I made this card for one of my Card Exchange partners for May.  I started with an odd envelope and made an ivory card to fit inside.  I chose the decorative paper and then set about making my decorative greeting for the front.  I die cut (Nestabilities) the greeting (SU) which was stamped on white cardstock and layered it onto an orange embossed oval.  Layered next onto a funky oval from my stash which I sponged with yellow and orange.  Next, I added a large label (TH) which I embossed and sponged to coordinate with the decorative paper.  I punched holes in the ends of the label die cut and added a burnt orange ribbon which I adhered to the back of the background using double sided tape.  To finish off my card I adhered this large element to the front of my ivory card.  Still thinking it needed a bit of something, I watercoloured a small butterfly in yellow and added it using a small piece of 3D foam tape.  Better!!          Therese

Card exchange card - a digital of a cute puppy, a little greeting and an embossed strip

My other card for my second partner for my May Card Exchange.  Started with an envelope and made an ivory card to fit.  I added an very subtle speckled background paper and then a strip of dark brown cardstock which I embossed and flagged on the end.  I trimmed the little dog image and layered it onto a coordinating yellow before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I found the little laser printed greeting in my stash.  Flagged the end and adhered to my card using double sided tape.  Not a complicated sketch but it works well with the little dog image.        Therese

Crumb quilting

I had a little fun this afternoon doing some quilting!!  It is called crumb quilting and its aim is to piece together all your fabric "crumbs" into a piece large enough to be used for a project.  In my case, I was looking to give my daughter's sewing machine a bit of a go before it heads back home.  It was having problems with the adjustments on the screen so having been reduced to a simple straight stitch with no adjustments she decided to sent it home with DH and see what he could do with it.  Being the guy that he is he was able to restore all her functions by replacing the screen and updating the software.  He did a "hack" job in that he kept costs down to the minimum and found parts that worked and worked out how all the components worked together so he could get it working again.  As always, there were a few necessary tools that were added to his tool box in the process but as we all know the right tool for the job always makes things go well.  So not being a sewer he asked me if I could take it for a bit of a spin and test it before it returned home.  I bought a bobbin and over the course of this past week I found this quilting concept on line  and decided that it would be the perfect technique to experiment with while I was testing her machine.  Now, hers is a computerized one which I had never used before so it took a bit of getting used to and reading the manual to be able to fill a bobbin, then thread the machine and get the presser food up and down but I eventually got the hang of it.  So using this crumb quilting technique I managed to get a piece about 18" long and about 6" wide done this afternoon.  To test the screen I decide to finish off my bobbin trying out some of the decorative stitches.  Pretty cool!!!!    So I would say that it is good to go!!

Therese

Thank you card featuring an emboss background and frame and a colour printed digital greeting

Appreciation for the people and events of our lives is a large part of a good life.

A thank you card for someone special who has blessed us with so much!!

I started with a large envelope and created a white card to fit inside.  I cut two pieces of navy cardstock and embossed them before gluing them on the front of my card.  I added a little strip of pink to echo some of the colour in the focal image.  The image is one I downloaded from KissPng, colour printed on white and trimmed to size.  I distressed the edges as well.  I die cut a square wavy frame  (SX) from silver cardstock and embossed it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (CB) before adhering it to my card front.  I mounted my image over the opening using 3D foam tape.   Perfect!!!!!!!

Therese

Birthday card with a fun digital greeting, a scrapbook paper background and flagged ribbons for texture!

My daughter's birthday is coming up and I made her this card.  I love this fun digital greeting/image which I downloaded from KISSPNG.  I laser printed it on white cardstock and trimmed it to size.  I layered it with pink and orange cardstock and added some fun little pieces of flagged ribbon in coordinating colours.  Ribbon always adds a bit of texture to cards.  I dug through my stash of scrapbooking paper and found this one that worked and already had the layers and colours I needed.  Bonus!!  I trimmed out and piece and adhered it to a pink card front before adhering my greeting usind 3D foam tape.  It will be on its way today!!!

Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - decorative paper, embellished paper flowers and some bling

For our last card we went with quick and easy!!  The kits had one piece of decorative paper which could be adhered to the cardstock layer as one piece either at the top or bottom leaving enough room for the embellished paper flowers to be adhered into place.  I chose to tear my piece for the first one in a curvy line which allowed enough space in between to add my flowers.  I added the final flower at the top along with a little colour printed greeting which coordinated with the paper before adhering to my coordinating card front.  For the one on the right I cut the decorative paper in two, adhered them to the layer and glued this large layer to my coordinating card front then added my little flower embellishments.  The last flower was added over the end of my flagged greeting.  The paper flowers were wedding paper confetti which I jazzed up with little blingy flowers from my local dollar store.  These were sold on a sheet just like the rhinestones. They are very brilliant and catch the light very nicely.  They add a special touch to these cards.  This card sketch could easily be made up without a greeting which would make them more versatile.  A great way to finish off our afternoon.  The ladies were happy with their cards and we all had a relaxing afternoon. 

Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - a decorative paper background, an embossed strip with some ribbon and a glitter embellishment

For our second card we made these beautiful cards!!  I started by positioning our embossed strip over our decorative paper rectangle and punching a 1.75" hole which trimmed our strip and made an opening in the background paper.  We had the option to trim our strips with decorative scissors on both long edges.  I chose to do only one of mine.  We added ribbon to our strip by applying double sided tape to the back and adding a length of ribbon then trimming the excess which we tied to the length on the front with a single knot to simulate a bow.   This large element was then adhered to our coordinating card front.  I did provide laser printed birthday greeting if they wished to have a greeting.  I did not use a greeting on my green one and did add one to the purple card by flagging one end and slipping the other just below my ribbon keeping it in place using double sided tape.  To finish off our cards we added our glittery embellishments - a daisy or a butterfly - using 3D foam tape. 
Therese

All Occasion Cardmaking Class - Paper strips, a 3D embellishment and some embossing

I taught a cardmaking stack class today!  I had two wonderful ladies join me and we had a fun creative afternoon making cards!!  These are the first cards we made. 
We first sorted our little paper strips into an order that pleased us and then we applied a piece of double sided tape across our cardstock rectangle and positioned the ends of our strips on it to keep them all nicely in place.  Next, we adhered our embossed strips of cardstock over the ends.  We glued this large layer to coordinating card fronts and added our 3D embellishments over the embossed strips using 3D foam tape.  To finish off our cards, we snipped the bottoms.  I cut mine on the diagonal but others were cut with decorative scissors both diagonally and even with the card bottom. I love how others always find their own way of making their cards unique!!!  The embellishment on the right is a heart punched from serendipity paper layered onto a die cut heart cut from gold cardstock.  The butterfly on the right is very similar - a punched butterfly layered onto another cut from gold vellum and tied with gold string which gives it antennae.  The middle embellishment is a die cut flower with each petal manually embossed with a small part of an embossing folder.  I added an orange circle punchie and a textured center made from gold hot glue.  This was a sample I made in preparation for my class earlier this week. You can check out the cards here.  I added two sponged leaf punchies to finish it off.  These are very similar to the one of the cards I created for my March Cardmaking class.  To allow cards to be used for a variety of occasions we did not add any greetings.     Therese 

Another baby card featuring a cute rattle, paper strips and an embossed element

I am really happy that I have been able to retrofit several of my kits from the March Cardmaking class to add some cards to my stash!!  I found this image in my stash and was able to use the layer in the kit in a portrait orientation instead of the landscape one which would have been appropriate for the other image.  Excellent!!  I added a strip of double sided tape across my yellow layer and laid the ends of my strips into it.  I embossed a strip of green cardstock and adhered it over the ends to finish that off nicely.  I trimmed their ends diagonally and adhered this large element to my blue card front.  I watercoloured this cute rattle image (Melonheadz) which I laser printed a while back and found in my image stash.  It fit perfectly on the top of the rectangle layer from the kit so I glued it in place and added the vellum greeting adhering both ends to the back using double sided tape.  Again, enough room to trim the bottom edges with scallop decorative scissors.  I paper pierced each scallop with a push pin to add interest and texture before adding this element to my card front with 3D foam tape.        Therese

Special Card class - simply elegant cards with an embossed layer and ribbon that are quick and easy to make

For our last card I made kits that came together fairly quickly.  Though these were quick to make the cards are simply elegant and can be used for a variety of occasions.  The one on the right uses a tree embossing folder (SX) with a quarter sheet of white cardstock which was trimmed after embossing to leave a small border all the way around.  The one on the left uses a floral embossing folder (SU - Manhattan Flower) which I trimmed down to the edge of the embossed flower which reveals more of the card front for a very different look.  I added organza ribbons that coordinated with the card fronts.  We adhered the ribbon to the back of the embossed layer and trimmed off the excess which we tied to the front using one knot to simulate a bow.  I ended up with two black and white ones.  These are always elegant made up in in dark regal colours like cranberry, navy, forest or spruce green, etc.  Again, without greetings these cards can be used for a variety of occasions from weddings to funerals!!              Therese

Special Card class - arty magnets, laser printed greetings and some ribbon and embossing

These cards feature some arty magnets which I found at a thrift store a while back.  There were nine of them so they suited this class perfectly!!!!  I invented some appropriate greetings for the magnets and printed them on white cardstock and them trimmed down.  We used a corner rounder on the corners of these layers to mimic the rounded corners on the magnets then added our magnets with a small piece of double sided tape.  It makes a fun card to have a little gift included as well.  Next we worked on our ribbon.  The ribbon was positioned between the magnet and greeting and attached to the back using double side tape and the excess was trimmed off and tied to the front with a single knot to simulate a bow.  We trimmed our ends neatly.  Next we embossed our large background layers before adhering them to the front of our coordinating cards.  I chose to corner punch this layer as well on the red card which worked very nicely.  I used Swiss Dots on the red card and the SU dots one on the purple card.  To finish our cards we simply attached our magnet layers to our card fronts using 3D foam tape.  What fun cards!!  With the arty magnets it was great to be able to add appropriate greetings which could be used for different situations which come up with friends and family.  

Therese

Special Card class - card featuring a fun fold, double sided scrapbook paper and a 3D embellishment with a textured center

One of the girls who comes to my regular cardmaking class asked if I could put on a class for her daughter and some of her friends.  For sure!!!  I am always up to spend some creative time with like minded people.  They were over this week and here is the first card we made.  

For these kits I used double sided scrapbook paper and cut pieces that measured 3 7/8" by 5 1/8". I then cut each of these into four - at 1 15/16 and then again 2 9/16" to get four equal sized rectangles.  Next I created a folding template so they could consistently score and fold the little flaps.  For this paper we had to be careful to score the right corner in order to keep the bunnies with their heads pointing up.  On some of the other papers it was less important and some mixed their papers so that two had one pattern and the other had the other pattern on the front.  Once all the rectangles were folded we glued the four to a coordinating card front.  For the embellishment in the center I punched coordinating 1 3/4" circles which we embossed with circle elements from embossing folders - clocks, gears and a medallion.  The other elements were also embossed - flowers or gears.  Next, we had fun and created these fun textured centers using hot glue and a texture mat.  

We started with an eighth inch disk of gold hot glue which we placed on a scrap of paper and heated with a heat gun over a foil wrapped piece of cardboard until it had melted into a puddle.  We moved the paper/puddle to a sheet of paper and poured gold embossing powder over it then removed the extra.  The embossing powder sticks to the hot glue puddle and starts melting.  We put the puddle/paper back onto our foil surface and heated it through which melted all the embossing powder as well.  We gently laid a silicone texture mat which had been inked with gold pigment ink over the puddle and let it sit until the hot glue solidified.  Well, actually we put them the freezer for a minute or so because we were anxious to see what they turned out like!!!  If you try to remove the mat before the glue has set you have a mess of hot glue with stringy things - not good!!  We removed the mat to reveal our uniquely textured centers!!!!  We pulled off the paper from the back which left enough paper to allow us to glue our little gold embellishment to the middle of our flowers or gears.  That was how I made my samples but a wide variety of sketches played out as the girls did their own thing and rearranged their elements to follow their own inspiration.   After gluing the textured centers to my flowers I glued the flowers to the embossed circle to complete my 3D embellishments.  These were glued in the center opening created by the folded back flaps. I provided greetings but this sketch does not really require a greeting so it was up to them whether to adhere their greetings or not.  These are both greetings are both punched with the Modern Label punch (SU).  The one on the left is a combination of a digital oval image and a font greeting.  The one on the right is just a font greeting punched out.  I added a bit of colour to both of them so they would blend with their backgrounds nicely.   They were a creative bunch though several had not made cards before.           Therese

Graduation card featuring a gold metallic die cut fern, beautiful decorative paper and a gold embossed greeting

Thought I could use another graduation card so again checked to see if I could modify one of the card kits I had on hand.  Was happy to find that I could modify this kit which I created for my March Cardmaking class.   I used this great rubber stamp and gold embossed the greeting on the bottom of the white mat which I had created using my Rectangle Nestibilities.  I adhered the beautiful decorative paper to the back of the mat and adhered this large element to the front of a kraft card.  I used a fine tip applicator to sparingly apply white glue to the back of my fern die cut (TH) and gently positioned it on the front of my card so it overlapped the mat.  Really happy with how this one worked out and that I was able to retrofit a card kit!!

Therese