November Card Club - embossed ornament framed with cardstock strips over a Christmas background

 This last card was a quick and easy one!!  The embossed and die cut ornament was positioned on the decorative paper background and then strips of cardstock were adhered to each side and trimmed to the edge of the paper.  I started with the top strip and aligned the square end to the left edge of the ornament.  Then just did the same for the other three sides.  Glued this large element to our card fronts and then added little sparkly embellishments to the ornaments to finish off our cards!!   I like the movement in this card and it is so much easier than it looks!!!  Therese

November Card Club - gold embossed nativity scene on a beautiful gold foil background

For our second card we created these cards.  The O Holy Night (inkadinkado) was stamped and embossed with gold embossing powder and trimmed to size.  I had considered adding colour but could not decide just where and with which medium so decided against any colour.  I used my distress tool on the edges.  The layer was punched on the bottom and then the nativity was adhered to it.  A window punchie (SU) was added with a gold brad and adhered on the back.  The beautiful flourished foil paper was adhered to the coordinating card and then the large O Holy Night was added with 3D foam tape.  There were a variety of colours for the cards, layers and window punches which provided some variety to our cards.  

Therese
 

November Card Club - silver wreath, blue backgrounds and embossed greetings

 It was fun to make up card kits for this Christmas card class!!  Always so many options!!  I decided to use a few tools I have had for a while and not used.  I started with this wreath die and embossing folder set which I acquired from my sister, Sylvia.  I tried it in traditional colours but the time it took to get all the pieces finished and the berries dried was longer than we have at Card Club so I went with a quicker version.  I cut these from silver foiled cardstock and then embossed them - done!! The white layer (3") was embossed - I provided a variety of embossing folders.  I used the distress tool on mine.  I added the wreath to the white square using double sided tape being as I was adhering an embossed layer to an embossed layer and sometimes the surfaces are always aligned.  I provided strips of white cardstock and greeting embossing folder and they could chose which one they wanted for their card.  I used two different ones for my cards.  I adhered my backgrounds to my white cards then arranged my elements before adding them to my card.  I used 3D foam tape for the wreath element to give it a bit of dimension.  We all added a few rhinestones to our greetings to finish them off!!  Always the best to spend time being creative with friends!!!  Therese

Wine bottle bag

I worked on a design for a wine bottle bag which was two layers of fabric but not an outer and a lining.  Instead I stitched both layers together and then created the bag.  I made a finished seam on both sides and across the bottom.  I added the handles and the top inside strip afterwards which was interesting keeping the handles in their proper place while using my free arm.  It was a bit easier doing the top stitch because everything was secure.  I hemmed the inside strip by hand to avoid making another row of stitching in the blue outside strip.  I had decided on using the Japanese Knot for the handles but in the end it was not as effective as I had originally imagined and did not any ease of use so I will just do two identical handles next time.  This one is quite spacious at a diameter of 14.5 inches.  More generous than is necessary for a wine bottle but does accommodate almost any other liquor bottle which tend to be a little bigger in there body size.  I boxed the bottom which worked out really well and I will consider adding a cardboard square on the bottom for a neater look but it stands very well on its own as is.  I will reduce the size of the body next time to better accommodate a wine bottle.  It might serve very well as a knitting project bag though only for a single project.  Therese
 

Christmas cards featuring embellished snowflakes and decorative paper backgrounds

Inspired by the last set of cards I made with snowflakes I decided to make a few cards for my Christmas cards stash which has not been fed too many times this year!!  I will be in a time crunch very soon!!!

I started with both pieces of the snowflake die cut - the full quarter sheet as a background and the snowflake die cut.  I found some envelopes in my stash that were just a bit bigger than A2 which worked really well for these cards.  I chose some Christmas decorative papers and then cut cards that coordinated and fit in the envelopes.  I trimmed the decorative paper to size and then added the back of die cut which I paper pierced with several lines using my pattern tracing wheel.  I glued this piece to my background.  I coloured the snowflakes to contrast with both backgrounds.  I added tiny snowflake embellishments with a brad and then the large snow flake and added this large element to my backgrounds.  These were glued to my card fronts to finish off my cards!!  Really like how they worked out!!!  Fun to be inspired by previous projects!!  So I am adding 8 to the stash!!  Therese

 

Birthday card with a large fun greeting with a layered star embellishment and some ribbon flags

 This card is for another one of my grandsons who has a birthday in November!!  I started with a warm blue card to coordinate with splash in my colour printed graphic from Freepik and layered on a yellow zig zag background (SU) to which I added a strip of black cardstock.  I used a black marker on the edge of the greeting to define the edge and added paper piercing.  I used double sided tape to secure my fabric flags and then added a layered star embellishment to the lower left corner using a brad.  I added this large element using 3D foam tape.  Therese

Christmas cards featuring snowflakes and brads

My sister was in need of a few Christmas cards for her staff as well so I made up a few of these fun snowflake cards.  I used the large snowflake die (SX) to cut them from a quarter sheet of cardstock.  I used the piece with the opening instead of the snowflake.  I chose some snowflake paper from her stash for the backgrounds - three different blue purple pink and one red and green.  I created cards to fit envelopes from her stash.  Trimmed backgrounds from the decorative papers  and then layered on the snowflake openings.  I ran the tracing wheel around their edges to create four paper pierced lines - one on each side.  I adhered the snowflake layer to the decorative paper and then added a snowflake embellishment which I created with a variety of snowflake die cuts from my stash.  I secured them with a large brad to the decorative paper and then added this large element to my coordinating card fronts.  Totally fun!!!  Therese
 

Christmas Card Kits featuring triangle trees and gold stars

 I have made up 40 kits of this Christmas card design for my sister to use with the kids at her daycare.  I trimmed cardstock and decorative paper into a variety of different sizes and then glued them onto

coordinating card fronts which fit in a set of gold envelopes from her stash.  They will be relatively easy to put together.  I embellished mine with dots of glitter glue but they could use paint with a qtip to make white dots or a little snowflake stamp or small snowflake punchies to decorate the background and/or the trees.  Kids have no trouble making things their own so I expect the final results will be very unique to each child.   Therese

All occasion card featuring a collage background with a cute red truck!!!

 I started this card with a dark green card and then found a piece of hand decorated paper I could use as a base for my collage background.  Added brown a strip of orange coloured tissue paper just above the half way mark, then some torn trees and then bits at the bottom.  After gluing my background to my card I added the fussy cut and watercoloured red truck using 3D foam tape.  You can see a bit of blue - that is release paper from my 3D foam tape this is hitching a ride which I did not notice before taking the photo.  It has been sent packing!!!  Had fun making my background and colouring my truck.  This a stamped image - I do not own the stamp so I must have borrowed it a while back.  

I took a photo of my collage background.  Never know when it might come in handy!!

Therese

Slow Stitching - finished up the cute folk art bird from Chloe Redfern

 I have finally finished my little folk art bird stitching project.  I started it in September and it has travelled around with me on several outings and I have worked on it at home as well.  I downloaded the PDF from Chloe Redfern.  I chose to stitch it with the colours she recommended and love how it turned out though I found it quite busy because I reduced the pattern in size to suit my project.  Next, time I will reduce the amount of details I transfer to my fabric and will consider doing it in variegated floss which will mean much less starting and ending which would be less distracting as a slow stitching project.  You can see that the transferred lines have all disappeared after having washed it by hand with which was what I was expecting.  I used the gray marker from the small Ultra Clean Crayola marker set I bought in early September. I am very happy to have a washable marker for my stitching projects!!  The price cannot be beat and you can use the marker closest to the colour of your stitching if you like.  I will now have to find the other squares I cut out at the beginning of this project and the markers which have been misplaced before I can move on with a few more of these cute little birds!!  

I am linking to Kathy's Quilts blog for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Check out the other

interesting projects that this creative group is working on.  

Therese

All occasion card featuring a fun background, a watercoloured truck scene and a key brad

 I am working on cards for my family's special occasions!!  I started with a red card and added this funky background that coordinated well.  The truck is stamped though I do not own the stamp so it was borrowed from someone!! I painted the background starting with the ground and moved up.  I painted the truck yellow and added clear glitter gel pen to the hub caps, lights, bumpers and door handle which would have been chromed.  Added white gel pen to neaten up the white walls on the tires.  I added paper piercing on all four sides before adhering it to a black layer.  I added the layered key brad embellishment to it then mounted over my background using 3D foam tape.  Happy with how it worked out!!  Therese

Birthday card featuring a large watercoloured birthday greeting, god sequin star and colourful borders

 A card for one of my grandsons who is celebrating his birthday in a few days!!  The greeting is from Craft Starters and I watercoloured it to coordinating with my decorative borders (SU).  I layered the borders behind a gold layer, added the star embellishment with the cording and finally tucked the greeting under the star after paper piercing the edges with my pattern tracing tool. I adhered this large element to black card which I created to fit in a luxurious gold envelope I found in my stash!!  Therese