Cardmaking - circles of fabric forming a flower

For these two cards I cut three circles from red fabrics and a small one from yellow.  I positioned all the element and then stitched the stem and leaves.  Next, I stitched the largest circle of the flower in place then added stitching from the outside to the middle several times to secure all the other pieces of the flower.  Lastly I stitched an outside border in coordinating thread.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking featuring handmade paper with stitched fabric appliques which form butterflies

I am on a roll!!!!  These cards were all made with the same concept where I used the little triangles cut from darts when making bowl cozies to create wings for butterflies!!!  Worked really well and I was able to make three cards with two butterflies on each card.  I just offset the triangles, applied a little glue with a glue stick to keep them in place and then I stitched them down to the handmade paper.  I added a stitched border all the way around to finish off the top layer and then watercoloured my white cards to coordinate with the elements on the front.  I then adhered the large handmade paper piece to my cards using glue stick.  I pressed them to keep them flat.  I love how they worked out!!!  Therese

 

Cardmaking - handmade paper and layered fabric flowers in pink

 Another one in my current series of cards which features layered pink flowers and green leaves which are stitched with coordinating thread.  The flower layers were hand cut from scraps as were the yellow centers and green leaves.  I added a border of dark pink thread.  I watercoloured the edge of my white card to coordinate before adhering the large element to the card front.  Therese

Crafting - new Sizzix multipurpose platform

 I have pretty much worn out my platform which came with my Sizzix Big Shot when I bought it.  I am not sure how long it has been but it may be twenty years ago!!  It has certainly been used extensively during that time and has held up very well.  My older platform still works but the individual layers are delaminating and no longer very neat.  I was able to buy this one from Amazon.ca as they are no longer available at Michaels.  Looking forward to using it soon!!  Therese

Crafting - slow stitching - final bunch of card holders

I managed to finish up all the cardholders that I had kitted up a while back.  It has been fun but a bit tedious to get these all done but they are now ready for Christmas so I have stashed them away and will be digging them out when the time comes.  It has been fun to see all the bright fabrics and to find buttons coordinate with them.  I think I have just over 50 which I hope will be enough.  Theres

 

Cardmaking - fabric triangles stitched to handmade paper to create a forest

 For this card I used little triangles to create a forest!!!  These little triangles are ones trimmed from the darts made in the bowl cozies I have been making.  I simply removed the stitching and then stitched them to the handmade paper using yellow thread. I did cut a larger tree from a scrap to give the composition a focal element.  I watercoloured the edge of my white card to coordinate with this large composition.  

Totally having fun with this process!!  Therese

Crafting - buttons for card holders using decorative butterflies

 

I have been making card holders for Christmas and thought I would see if I could find some colourful buttons at our local thrift or dollar stores.  Unfortunately, not much was available.  I did find some colourful wood ones but with such bright and busy fabrics they would probably blend in too much.  Maybe it doesn't matter if they blend in???  I will think on that!!  They were $2 for less than a dozen buttons.  So I kept looking to see if I could find any sort of resource with which I could make buttons.  I was successful in finding these plastic butterflies at Dollarama.  There are about 50 in a package for just under $2 with tax.  I brought them home and thought they would make great buttons and fit quite well on the card holders so I made them into buttons.  I used a 5/64" bit in the drill press and made a hole on each side of the body just about where the wings meet.  Worked out really well and they look great on the the card holders.  I put regular buttons on the other side.  So I will be looking for other options in this vein to make buttons with.  In the meantime I bought a few more packages and will make them into buttons and add them to my stash and use them where they work the best.  Therese

Slow stitching - another batch of card holders for Christmas

 I have been busy making up card holders with the kits I prepared a little while back.  It is fun to repurpose unused CDs along with some fabric scraps and buttons to make a functional and useful tool for anyone who has trouble managing lots of cards when playing card games.  I have been raiding my stash of buttons so will be on the look out for a few more for the next batch!!!

Therese

Cardmaking - lots of fun candles made from decorative paper strips, marker wicks and bird wing flames

Another card for a family occasion!!  Lots of candles - paper strips trimmed diagonally and adhered to the long card front.  I added wicks with a black fine tipped marker and then embellished some "flames" punched with the wing of the SU bird punch to more realistic and added clear glitter to give them a bit of shine.  I adhered them to the card front over the wicks to finish my card.  It will be a fun card for a birthday!!  Therese

 

Cardmaking - handmade paper and fabric scraps to make a kite

For this card I used two triangles to create a square and them trimmed the two sides to create the kite shape.  I stitched it to the handmade paper all the way around, added stitching to make the cross in the middle and then stitched the tail by using a very narrow zigzag with very short stitches and added little navy bits as I went.  Worked really well!!!!!  I added the navy border of stitching, coloured my white card base with watercolour and adhered the large piece to the card front.  Really enjoying the process!!

Therese
 

Cardmaking - handmade paper and fabric scrap hearts with ribbon

Another card I created recently which follows the same format as the candles ones I made.  This one features two hand trimmed hearts cut from a red/yellow batik scrap.  I added a strip of white dryer sheet fabric and overlaid a gold ribbon and them stitched them down with yellow thread.   I added the two hearts and stitched them with red along with the outside border of stitching.  You can check out my first two cards here.  

Therese
 

Hand stitching - a few more card holders in some fun fabrics

 A few more card holders ready to go!!!  I have a good bunch of precut and kitted card holders which I made up a while back so I did manage to make a few more this week!!  I will add them to the stash - several will be prizes at our family reunion in July and others are ready for Christmas!!

Therese

Cardmaking - white card with watercoloured edges, handmade paper with stitched candles and a stitched border

 Wanting to change up my cards this week I decided to create large cards using handmade paper (I have a large stash) and fabric scraps (I have a large stash).  I trimmed the candles and the flames from fabric scraps.  I embellished the flames with Derwent Inktense watercolours and then dried them between sheets of white paper using the iron.  I used a bit of glue stick to keep them in place and then stitched all the way around using my sewing machine with a slim needle (#11) and thread that I did not have enough on the spool to really sew anything else.  I added a border with the navy thread and then used watercolour to paint the edges of a white card to coordinate.  I made another one with different colours which I have added below.  Worked really well and will be making more of these!!

Therese

Crafting with fabric - three more card holders with fun fabrics

 I have made up quite a few "kits" for card holders (fabric circles, batting circles, CDs, buttons) that are now in line to get made up when I have a bit of time.  I managed to get three of these done this week and I will keep working the system until they are all done.  I did manage to get some free CDs during our last session of Trash to Treasure which was really good!!  Therese

Fabric dyeing - braided trivets, floral fabric, a few cottons and some poly cottons

I played with dying fabric this weekend.  I started with these braided trivets which I made a while back.  The original fabric was multicoloured with red, blue, black and white and I upcycled it by tearing strips of about 1.25" and braiding them into long lengths.  I used navy thread and a wavy decorative stitch when I sewed up these round trivets using a heavyweight brown and navy floral fabric as the substrate.  So the colours were off in regards to coordinating so I dyed them with Navy Rit Fabric Dye!!!  They turned out well in colour but in hindsight I would have preferred to have a finished substrate as the dying and washing frayed it quite a bit.  I will trim off the long pieces and use blanket stitch with navy embroidery thread to finish off the edge of the substrates.  I really like how the front of these look with the original colours providing some variety in the colour and the braiding giving them nice texture.  I have one more length of the braid which I dyed and so will see about sewing that up into a trivet with a more suitable substrate fabric.  I did dye some of the brown and navy floral so I may use some of those pieces.  The two lighter ones were only left for a few minutes and therefore the pattern shows quite nicely.  As the dye became diluted I continued to add pieces of fabric - white cotton, blue cotton with a printed white zigzag pattern, the peony fabric (cotton) had a white background, several pieces of white poly cotton which did not take the dye as easily and lastly a pair of light coloured jeans which are now more a medium tone.  I rinsed them until the water ran clear and then washed and dried them.  New fodder for getting creative with!!!!   I always enjoy dying fabric and am looking forward to doing some red and maybe brown as well.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - small slim cards featuring focal elements from used cards

I made up some slim cards as an experiment and they turned into Father's Day cards and a birthday card!!  I cut the cardstock from 8.5" x 11 cutting two strips about 3 3/8" wide and 11" long.  I used the scrap that was left over to add pieces to the bottom of the fronts to make them the right size.  I used regular tape on the front to keep them in place.  The tape will be covered by the decorative paper.  I added decorative paper to each of them  - had to piece together the one for the flower card.  I added little fishing images from another card on the three cards and added a greeting as well.  I added a strip of rose cardstock to the pink one to which I had added a bit of white seam binding folded over and secure with a flower and brad.  This element was positioned below the focal element to finish off the card.  

I was really glad to find a way to make slim cards with 8.5" x 11" cardstock!!

Therese

 

Cardmaking - a dryer sheet flower with a brad and sequin over an arty background

A card for someone special on one of their special days!!!  I made a dryer sheet flower and painted it blue and yellow.  I embossed a strip of vellum which I embossed with a plaid embossing folder.  I mounted the flower with the gold brad and then found some green yarn to make the stem and leaves.  I pierced the vellum with a needled about every half inch along a very lightly drawn  pencil line on the back and then used a piece of green embroidery thread to couch the yarn to the vellum.  I used the remainder of the yarn to make a leave on each side and a bit of greenery on the bottom also stitched in place.  I like it!!!  I found a green and blue decorative paper which I cut and then tore in two pieces.  I adhered them to my yellow card after adding paper piercing all the way around the outside edges of the two pieces.  I used double sided tape to secure the vellum to the front of my card which is discreetly hidden by the flower and leaves.    Therese

 

Sewing - a set of three little chicken pin cushions

 I worked on these little chicken pincushions this week.  I found some quilt squares which I have acquired over time and chose several to make these cute little chicken pin cushions.  They are constructed from two squares of fabric with some flannel (batting) which I stitched to them following the stitching lines on the squares.  I did peruse several places on line to find instructions and settled for ones with beaks, tails and combs.  The bottom is stitched with an opening for stuffing later, the front is where the beak goes (prairie point), the comb goes on the top and the tail (larger prairie point) in inserted in the back.  You stitch starting with the bottom, then the front and the top.  Then you line up the side seams, insert the tail and stitch this last side. It creates a very cute little triangle shape.  I stuffed them with my "stuffing" and it worked really well.  I did add about an 1/8th of a cup of rice at the bottom before hand stitching the opening closed which gives them a bit of weight.  They sit very nicely - about 3" tall!!!  I stitched on two black beads for the eyes which worked perfectly!!!   A fun experiment which I will likely try again with squares of my own creation next time!!  Therese

Stuffing created using lofty fabrics which I trimmed out for cardholders

 I acquired several pieces of fabric while checking out our Trash to Treasure event.  Items you no longer want but are still useable are set out near your front walk with FREE sign and people can come around and see if there is anything there they want to take home.  We put out a variety of items and all were rehomed.  We had put out 3 toilets but because they are ceramic which if broken would present a danger to workers were not allowed to be picked up by the city after the event so those were brought to the landfill the following week.  I used two little pieces of fabric I picked up and washed to make batting for my card holders!!  I cut up the scraps into bits to use as stuffing!!   No waste!!  Therese

Quilting - four blocks for a memorial quilt for my Mom

I made these quilt blocks a while back and had set them aside so I could hand stitch the little yellow hearts to the houses.  I finally got to that task today!!  It was suggested at a get together last year at my sister's house that we should make a memorial quilt in memory of our Mom.  There were several suggestions and ideas were presented by several of us (I am one of six girls) and it was finally left with these parameters - blue, yellow and white and any quilt block would be fine and that anyone who wanted to do hand stitching could.  It was revived by one of my other sisters recently as we are having a family reunion in July this summer and we have invited everyone who wants to make a square to contribute to the quilt.  Several of my sisters are experienced quilters and several of us seriously dabble and quite often are less than traditional with our approach.  In the extended family the same situation exists - some more serious than the others.  So we are hoping that many will take on the task of remembering our Mom in the making of a quilt square.  These are the four that I made.  My flying geese instructions make four flying geese at a time so I made four of them.   They become the blue sky and white roofs of my houses.  I added yellow and blue strips in a log cabin (generally - but not precisely) manner around the houses until they were 11" square.  Our Mom was the heart of our home and the most important square in the log cabin block is the central block - the heart and hearth!!!!  The blue swirl fabric came from one of my Mom's blouses which I acquired when she passed away.  I am so looking forward to seeing what my family members will be making for squares for this quilt.  One of my sisters provided the quilt block information to be passed on to all of the family through email.  She will be collecting the blocks at our reunion in July and then putting them together into a quilt top and then finishing it.  It will be returned to our next reunion as a silent auction prize.  

Therese

 

Art Date - Dying fabric with paint with my sister

 My sister, Sylvia, was here for a few days and we played with dying fabrics with paint.  We tried a variety of different mediums and techniques which all worked out well.  We washed our fabrics and found that several did lose colour while others did not at all.  It seems more connected to the fabric we used rather than the paints.  We used a variety of white cotton fabrics.  It was a very fun experience and Sylvia is looking forward to using some of these for hand stitching for handmade cards and as background for artwork for shows.  Therese

Cardmaking - embossed pearl backgrounds with butterflies and greeting for IWIN

 I have incorporated some of the pearly backgrounds I made last week into cards for IWIN.  I got the butterfly diecuts at a garage sale a while back thought they would complement each other well.  I dusted the pearl background with a bit of powder to ensure they would release well from the embossing folders and then added fiber or cardstock strips then adhered them to coordinating card fronts.  I then added the butterflies with 3D foam tape and the layered "Thinking of you" greetings with double sided tape.  They turned out really beautiful and I know they will bless those who receive them.  IWIN  rescues persons from human trafficking and gives them a chance to start a new life.  Therese

Cardmaking - pearl acrylic paint backgrounds on white cardstock

 I worked on backgrounds last week in an effort to sort through some of my paint stash.  I used up some pearl acrylic paint housed in fine tip bottles meant for a variety of techniques.  I found more than a half dozen which had solidified beyond use and several that still had viable paint so I tore apart some cardstock postcards that I had in my stash and used those as substrate for these fun backgrounds.  Generally, several colours of coordinating colours of paint dug out of the bottles and smeared with my fingers into some painterly backgrounds.  I spritz water on those who were too thick to spread well and then mixed in other colours which made some very cool backgrounds.  So in the end, several bottles were put in the trash and the others returned to their bins with more room.  I will be making more of these as time goes on!!  They are very pearly!!!  Therese

Cardmaking - a rainy scene with a man with an umbrella

A fun card featuring a man with an umbrella in the rain!!!  I am sure everyone is wishing for rain and this person loves to garden so I am sure they are wishing for some!!  The background is from Morgue File and has been sitting in my stash for a while!!  It thought it was perfect to simulate a storm.  I added rain with a clear glitter pen!!! I added "Joie!!" in glitter as well on the orange strip as that is how it feels when you get want you want!!!  

Therese

Cardmaking - a harlequin background created with squares and a fussy cut rose in a large circle

I started by fussy cutting the rose and its colours inspired the rest of the card.  I trimmed a green card and then dug into the stash for the little baggie of red squares.  I laid them out roughly and they seemed to work reasonably well for making a harlequin background.  So I played with the squares until I was happy with the lay out, drew some vertical lines where the points of the squares would line up and then just glued them into place one row at a time.  Worked out perfectly!!!!  I adhered my rose to a round circle and added a dashed line in green pen all the way around.  That inspired the wiggly lines in the green squares.  I mounted the focal element to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.   Love the card!!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - a leather oak leaf on an embossed tag over a collage background

Another card for a family occasion!!!  I started with a dark brown card.  I pieced a decorative paper background -  I like the spots of colour it adds.  I added a strip of brown cardstock at the top and added four pewter eyelets.  I muck one but I could not get it out with wrecking everything so I left it in.  I stitched the leather oak leaf to the embossed tag (birch trees) and then added it to the decorative paper using a letter brad  I adhered this large layer to my card front to finish off my card!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - embossed tree with a maple leaf punchie over a striped background

Working on cards I need for June!  It is fast approaching!!

I started with a dark brown card and cut some striped decorative paper into strips and adhered them into place.  The embossed tree is an element I had in my stash which I then created a background using scraps of cardstock.  I added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel around the edges of the image and then on the green edge of the layer.  I trimmed the green edge along the line of paper piercing. The tree needed a bit of something so I added a piece of cording which I tied on the front and then overlaid a maple leaf punchie.  That was much better.  I layered it onto the layer I had created and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I added some white brilliance ink to the top of the tree with a stamp pad.  Adds some dimension!  

Therese
 

May Card Club - Card #3 - fun little trees made with the chevron punch over some funky word patterned paper

For our third card we assembled these fun cards!!  Wanting to use my chevron punch I had done an internet search to see what others had created.  I found these fun little trees which were trimmed from green cardstock strips (1.25" wide) which were punched repeatedly or not using the punch.  The pieces created with mixed up and reinserted into openings in trees of different colours.  The tops and bottoms were trimmed to give them their tree shape and the little trunks were fashioned from scraps of brown cardstock.  We embossed our trees to give them some texture and little more character.  We tore our background paper into two pieces and adhered them to our light colour card fronts.  Added our trees and then their trunks.  We generally added 3D foam to at least one of them for a bit of dimension.  As a final touch we added a yellow moon (1")!!  Done!  Everyone liked this interesting and different take on trees!!  It was a fun evening and fortunately a beautiful evening.  Several just walked home as they live close by!!  No cardmaking sessions this summer though we may have a creative gathering to make some handmade paper!!  Therese

 

May Card Club - Card #2 - dryer sheet flowers over handmade paper

For our second card we played with making flowers using used dryer sheets!!!!  So fun!!  I have made some of these before but on a smaller scale on these cards.  After ironing (low) them smooth I cut the dryer sheet to approximately 3" x 4" rectangles - a sheet into four pieces.  We folded them in half along the length and then then three times across the new length.  Next, we folded that sandwich in half with the fold at the bottom.  We then trimmed the top with all the single edges into a nice round shape starting at about half way up the side and finishing at about half way on the opposite side which creates the petals.  It is only one option - they could be skinny, pointy, wavy, etc. as petals on flower can be very many different shapes.    We opened up the sandwich to be flat again and gathered the width in the center and tied it off in the middle with thread.  We then coloured our flowers to coordinate with our handmade paper backgrounds.  They got very wet so I had the heat gun setup on LOW so we could dry them before we went to the next step.  It is possible to colour them flat but it is harder to estimate what they will look like!!  We added a gold brad to a coloured flower sequin and inserted the brad into a hole in the center which we had made with a push pin.  We used the push pin to make a hole in our background as well and installed the flower.  To finish off the flower we hand cut a stem and leaves from scraps of green cardstock.  Once they were glued into place we adhered this large element to our card fronts.  Therese

 

May Card Club - Card #1 - bright punchies, white seam binding over an embossed grid

It was so great to see everyone again!!!  We started our creative cardmaking session with this card which features little punched shapes - flowers, butterflies, leaves, hearts, etc.  I punched these from glossy paper which had been coloured with ink pads by tapping the pad on a piece of plastic packaging, spritzing water on the ink and the placing the piece of glossy card into the puddle.  Totally fun and unpredictable but always fabulous decorative paper for creating with!!!  I decided on a grid for the punchies so I used a plaid embossing folder and cut the white cardstock to be just the size I needed for 12 space with a border all the way around.  We added white seam binding to the middle strip of squares, added a short piece and then installed at square brad to keep everything in place.  Easier said than done but we got it done!!!  We added the shapes any where we wanted on the remaining space - generally in the remaining squares.  We did add a bit of detail to our shapes with glitter pens just to give them some character.   

I finished the top five cards with butterflies and flowers and will be adding these to my stash of cards for IWIN.  The fall will come sooner than we think and it is fun to add cards as I create others as they then all have different looks which makes it easier to suit the people who will be receiving them.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - March Card Club kits made up - serendipity birds, butterflies and flowers over sanded backgrounds

The balance of the March Card Club kits which I found when I started prepping for May Card Club!!!  Amazing that things get put off for so long!!  I made these up this week so I could put in my current card kits along with my supplies and tools!!!

Theresse
 

Cardmaking - extra card kits from March Card Club made up - strips and long slim images

I also found these card kits in my March Card Club box which has been sitting for a couple of months!!  

It was fun to finish up these cards and I went looking for more horizontal images in my stash to replace the Easter ones I had with two of the card kits - a bouquet of flowers and some dragonflies!!  Works well for spring which has finally arrived!!! Adding these to my card stash.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - more cards from March Card Club kits

 I am prepping card kits for my May Card Club and I found the box from March Card Club with all the leftover cards and kits!!  Life has been busy!!! 

These ones featured fun pinwheels for the background and lovely little circle images layered onto scalloped circles.  These will be added to my stash!!

Therese

Quilting - a scrappy potholder quilt using some orphan blocks and pieced pieces from my stash

I made up this potholder quilt this past week.  I cut the backers from a light green cotton sheet and hand dyed them to give them a bit of texture and interest using diluted green acrylic paint. Worked very well!!!  

A note to say that I did not do a traditional potholder quilt.  My mom assembled her squares by sewing the backers to each other and then doing the self binding to the front with each row and then doing the same for each long row and then finishing the outside edge the same way - self binding to the front.   The fronts were all made up from orphan blocks or pieced sections which I have inherited from a variety of places.  I store them in a ziploc bag so I can use them as a base for quilting squares, potholders, or any other project.  I made four different dimensions of blocks (6", 8", 10" and 12") all 10" wide with 12" backers.  It allowed for being able to offset the seams and made for a bit more of a scrappy look in the whole quilt.  I just picked through my strips to make up the area around the block/piece until I had the right length.  Once the fronts and backs were all ready I trimmed some polyester batting to the same size as the front, laid them onto the backers and added some lines of quilting to hold them all together.  After getting them all done I started piecing the vertical rows that were 10" wide into rows self binding as I went and them stitched the rows to each other and used the same technique to bind them all together.  To finish off the quilt I did the self binding all the way around!! 

Here is a close up of one of the blocks. The pieced front with the quilting lines and the binding on the piece all the way around.  

It is somewhat of a quilt as you go technique.  

Another one to go to Linus project!!

Therese