January Cardmaking - bright die cuts, a large greeting and a few sequins

Our last card features a large central greeting (Desert Diva).  I downloaded the greetings and laser printed them large on white cardstock. I trimmed them to just less than a quarter sheet to leave a small border all the way around.  I die cut two pieces from some bright backgrounds made with ink on glossy photo paper.  They are only a portion of a label on one of Tim Holtz's label dies.  These were glued to the top and bottom of the card and trimmed even with the edges.  I embellished my labels for my second card with my tracing wheel, added some rhinestones and trimmed the edges to leave a border all the way around.  Next, we added fun sequins in coordinating colours using double sided tape.  Cards with large greetings are quite popular right now and I am seeing them everywhere!!  I really like these greetings from Desert Diva as they are digital and can easily be made any size you want!! 

Therese

January Cardmaking - die cut openings, thread and some sequins

For our second card I used a card off of Splitcoast Stampers which had openings on the left hand side which had been created using a large floral border die.  I do not own a border die which would be suitable so I decided to use individual dies to create a similar effect.  I used two dies from a Cuttlebug set of four hearts for this card.  I was careful not to have any extra marks on my cardstock as I die cut each individual opening.  Happy with how that worked out!!  I stamped my greeting next and then stamped a script background and a few flourishes to finish off the background.  I tied a green thread from one of the openings to the right hand side of the card and simply let the ends hang.  I used a piece of floral scrapbook paper to cover the back of the openings.  I mounted this large element to the front of a dark brown card.  To finish off the card I added three brown sequins using double sided tape.   For my second card, I used a large star die and them a long reach star punch to create the openings and backed them with gold foil from Ferraro Rocher chocolates.  I added gold embroidery thread and embossed the birthday greeting (SU) in gold.  

It was fun to use a card as inspiration and make it my own using the tools I have on hand.  This sketch is quite versatile as it can be changed up with colour, dies and greetings to accommodate a variety of occasions.    Therese

January Cardmaking - sanded background, thread and a 3D embellishment

Its is time to get back to making cards with friends!!

I started with this fun card that features a sanded background.  I embossed dark peach white core cardstock with the happy birthday embossing folder and then sanded it to reveal the core and give it a wonderful texture as well.  I corner rounded all four corners before wrapping a length of crochet thread around this layer several times and then tying and double knotting the ends over all the wraps to make a focal point.  I cut the ends short so they would be covered by my 3D embellishment.  I glued the wrapped background to a green card front before mounting my little gift embellishment with 3D foam tape.  The little gift was created using a rectangle of serendipity collage to which I tied a length of green crochet thread double knotting it at the top and adding a little bow.  I love how it turned out!!!!   I used aqua white core cardstock for my second card along with brown crochet thread and a serendipity heart in that coordinates.  I added three rhinestones to the heart for a little extra bling.  With no greeting this card can be used for Valentine's, an anniversary or a birthday card for someone you love.  

 A very versatile sketch which can be adapted for any occasion by varying the colour, embossing folder and the 3D embellishment.    Therese

Large anniversary card that features lots of glitter, beautiful ribbon and an oval laser printed greeting

An anniversary card for my sister and her husband.  I started with a large peach envelope and created a dark peach card to fit inside.  I had the dark peach glitter paper sitting on my desk from the last card I made so I decided to see if I could use it for this anniversary card.  I dug through my heart stash and I found the white glitter hear which I rescued off of a different card a while back. That would be perfect!!  I found some dark peach cardstock and traced the heart onto the back and cut it out on the outside of the line with my decorative scallop scissors.  I glued this heart accent to the peach glitter layer and thinking it needed a bit of a focal element I dug through my heart stash some more and found this white heart outline.  Perfect!!  I used a fine tip applicator with white glue in it to adhere it to my white glitter heart.  Continuing the theme I glued this layer to a white rectangle of cardstock and added a beautiful piece of salmon ribbon below it adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I auditioned it on my card and decided to trim the white cardstock just below the ribbon which allowed just enough room for me to add the die cut accents which I had cut from the scraps using a TH label die to be adhered top and bottom.  Excellent!!  I adhered this large element to my peach card front before adding the laser printed oval punchie greeting (Birds cards).  I sponged the edges of the greeting, added a bit of glue below the ribbon to hold it in place before adding the greeting over it usind 3D foam tape.   I added some clear glitter dots with a gel pen to the accent pieces and I was done!!  Love it!!           Therese