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

A shaker card with hearts for our anniversary!

I used an embossed (Lattice - SU) collage background for this card.  Collaging scraps is a fun activity which you can do anytime you have no project on the go or when your mojo is on strike.  You can use almost anything as a substrate - junk mail, a flopped background or a ruined layer!!  Just keep gluing scraps on until you have filled the whole area.  Once completely dry, you can stamp, sponge, emboss and even thermally emboss to make it more than the sum of its parts!! 
I decided to make a shaker card for my DH for our anniversary.  Have not made these often but they are always fun to do.  I cut a square opening with a frame using two Nestibilities square dies nicely spaced from each other on my magnetic plate in my Big Kick. I added a length of white seam binding from the edge of the opening to the right hand edge adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I adhered a coordinating background behind the opening and then layered the whole piece onto brown cardstock and then to a blue card front.  I stacked heart punchies in the opening along with a few micro beads in green.  I added double sided tape to the back of the frame and adhered a small piece of plastic from packaging then added 3D foam tape all the way around to ensure that my little hearts and beads did not escape.  I positioned the frame over the hearts and pressed firmly to adhere my little shaker to my card front.  My shaker is not too shaky as I added a few too many hearts in it but they do move around a bit so it works well enough!!  I tied a short end of seam binding to the one on the front using a single knot to simulate a bow and added a little laser printed greeting using 3D foam tape just below the "bow".  I will be trying this again and will be more skimpy with my inclusions to ensure a better "shake" next time.  Cutting the frame with two Nesties works really well!          Therese

Colour blocked background with a new greeting and some leaf die cuts

One of the last kits to be finished off from my desk.   I used this colour blocked background and relegated the chalk board greeting to my stash.  I added the embossed background to a green card front and went looking for a greeting.  I found this laser printed one (Beccy's Place) which I have found difficult to include in my cards for some reason but it worked perfectly for this card.  I trimmed the greeting and flagged both ends, layered it onto yellow and flagged both ends again before watercolouring the flower and leaves.  I mounted this greeting with a bit of 3D foam tape in the middle and double sided taper on both ends which gives just the right amount of dimension and allowed me to tuck in my leaf die cuts.  I die cut the leaves (SU) from white cardstock and tuck a full one above the greeting and trimmed off the leader from the other and tucked it below the greeting.  I glued them in place with white glue applied with my fine tip applicator.  I love how it turned out!!!!!              Therese

November Card Class - wonky tree

I have used this design in one of my previous classes and with a few leftover "trees" I decided to incorporate it into this class.  I love how unique the trees are because of the randomness of the little triangles which allows everyone to put their own spin on their cards.  The background (light blue floral paper with snowflakes stamped on it) is torn across the bottom creating a snowbank by revealing the white of the card front.  I glued it even with the top of the card.  The torn edged dark blue rectangles were glued in place after that.  To build the tree, I glued the brown trunk onto the snow bank and then glued triangles in place over the trunk until it was tall enough.  I added a yellow punchie star at the top using 3D foam tape.  I layered the laser printed font greeting punchie (SU Word Window) over a red label punchie (SU Decorative Label) and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.

This card uses a different background - a hand decorated piece of paper with light blue/aqua paint on it.  I used a single layer for the greeting and chose to glue my layer just a little off of the top of the card.

A fun card for this Christmas season.  I counted my cards today and I will be short around twenty so I will see about getting some of these cards kits made up after my second class on Monday.

Therese

Christmas cards with triangle trees and stamped snowbanks

My daughter has been organizing her Christmas list and noted that she needed some Christmas cards for the kid's teachers so I put together some card kits to work on with the grand kids. 
I made up cards for the #8 envelopes.  Because I cut them from letter sized cardstock I had to add a rectangle to the card fronts to make them as long as the backs which fortunately is covered by the background paper. 
For this card I used a light blue floral paper which I stamped all over with a snowflake stamp in blue ink.  I glued it on my card front leaving an even border.  I stamped the greeting (SU) on a strip of 1.5" white cardstock in red ink then cut out a wavy line to create a snow bank.  I ended up using the cut off to create a second snowbank by trimming it's length and inserting in behind the first one.  I glued both ends of my first snow bank down with double sided tape to allow space in behind for tucking in my trees.  The second snow bank was just glued a bit on the bottom edge before being inserted in behind.  I auditioned all the little triangle trees and when I liked the arrangement I glued them down one at a time starting with those at the back and working my way to the front.  You can see that some of my trees are duplex which I created by gluing two leftover halves together.  The halves are the leftovers at the end of a strip of decorative paper after you have trimmed as many triangles as you can in between.  I like the collagey look of them!!  I punched a little star from yellow card stock and glued it above one of the trees using 3D foam tape.  Pretty happy with how they turned out!!  My oldest grand daughter made up a few of these in between the creation of the little felties for her teachers. 
I like that this design is flexible - the background could be stamped or not, you could use as many or as few trees as you wanted, you could use one snowbank or two. Here is one my grand daughter put together.  She is long time card maker so she just did her own thing which was wonderful!!  By the end of the day I had 20 cards ready for my daughter in a variety of colour schemes - another check in the box for Christmas preparations!!  Therese

Christmas card class #2 and #3 - joy with a star

I taught two Christmas card classes yesterday!!  So much fun to listen to Christmas music and create!!  This is one of the card we made.  It is the same as the ones I made for this class a few weeks ago.  

I started by gluing a background to a coordinating card front and then added a colour printed JOY - PEACE ON EARTH trimmed to leave a border on the words.  I used a decorative font to create the JOY so it was easy to change the colour to accommodate the rest of the card.  I watercoloured the inside of the letters then glued it to the front of my embellished card and finally added the little star punchie using 3D foam tape.  The PEACE greeting is from a CD I purchased many years ago which I printed on kraft cardstock.  I added a few lines of tracing wheel texture to the PEACE card and the red JOY card.  I am finding all sorts of places to use this cool tool. 
These were really fun and fairly quick to put together.  

Therese

Christmas Card Class #1 - A joyous card embellished with a star

For my last card I wanted a quick and easy one!  I used a decorative font to format JOY and printed it in dark green onto ivory cardstock.  I trimmed the greeting out and used a fine brush to colour in the three letters with red watercolour - love the look!!  I glued it onto my decorative paper (4" x 5.25") which I had glued to a coordinating card front.  The little silver star punchie which I added with 3D foam tape adds just enough interest and texture to this card and finishes it off nicely!!
Used some beautiful and sparkly handmade paper for my second card!         Therese

Large birthday card with a layered flower embellishment

A card for my oldest daughter who is having a significant birthday this weekend!!!  

She loves autumn colours so I chose a piece of scrapbooking paper that reflected those colours with attitude.  I added a strip of brown grosgrain and a length of lace using double sided tape and tucked the ends to the back.  I created the coordinating embellishment using a large yellowish silk flower, a smaller brown one, a green sequin and held them all together with a dark brown brad.  I glued the decorative layer to a large deep red card front and adhered the embellishment over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I punched out the laser printed greeting using the Decorative Label punch (SU) and punched another in dark brown.  I cut the brown one in half lengthwise and mounted both halves to the back of the punchie using double sided tape.  I mounted the greeting to my card front using 3D foam tape!! 

They will all be here for the day tomorrow!!!  It will be a wonderful day of celebration!!

Therese

Watercoloured cards using ADORN IT images

My sister gave me several images from an ADORN IT scrapbooking page a while back.  These are just perfect for cardmaking!!  I trimmed the edge to be even with the border and watercoloured the image.  I used my stamping jig to stamp a birthday greeting after it was dry.  I layered it with yellow cardstock to coordinate with the bee.  I found this serendipity background which coordinated nicely so I trimmed it down to size and stitched it to a green card front.  I added the focal element with 3D foam tape and my card was done!!
If you have never tried doing a serendipity collage click on the link and go find out how easy it is to use scraps of paper to create something that you can use in your art!  It is a fun reuse for paper scraps!!

Therese

A large snowflake embellishment

Another large card created from my sisters stash!!  I cut two pieces of the round elements decorative paper and left a space in between them for the strip of coordinating striped paper.  I glued the pieces to a dark brown card front.  I layered several snowflake die cuts  - a large brown one (SU-SX), a blue one, a white one and then another blue one all decreasing in size to create a really nice layered snowflake 3D embellishment for this card.  I held them all together using a rhinestone brad and then used a large glue dot to adhere it to the card front with its center on the strip of decorative paper.  I used a colour printed greeting punched with the Word Window punch (SU) layered onto a brown Modern Label punchie. I adhered my greeting with 3D foam tape just below the strip and to the left of the snowflake.  Thinking it needed just a bit of something I added iridescent glitter glue to the snow flake and the greeting.  That was better!!

Therese

Cute bird house Christmas card

I am back to making large cards with my sister's supplies.  She left them here last summer and I have been working on cards for her every once in a while when I have a bit of time.
This one features this very cute and glittery birdhouse paper!!  I cut the paper to the proper width and then measured what I needed once I added the strip of red and trimmed it to size.  I cut it about two thirds down, inserted the red strip of cardstock and butted their edges to each other and used regular tape to attach them together.  I butted the other piece to the bottom of the red cardstock and taped them together.  I now had an integral piece which I glued to my dark brown card front.  I layered my red laser printed greeting to a layer of brown and mounted it onto the red strip.  I cut one bird house from the scraps and mounted it next to my greeting using 3D foam tape.
I am enjoying making these large cards - 8.5" x 5.5". They are a real change from the A2 and it is fun to be using someone else's supplies as well.

Therese

A couple more OSW cards!!

A few more One Sheet Wonder Cards!!  These are both using this template which I created a while back for my cardmaking class.  They both feature a 2" x 5.5" piece of decorative paper and a large laser printed greeting.  

On the first one I added a dark green punched border (SU) on either side of the decorative paper and mounted this element to the center of a purple card.  I layered the greeting with light purple and glued it over the center element using double sided tape only on the sides.  That allowed me to slip my flag ended rectangle behind it and position it where it looked most balanced.  I flagged the ends of my 1" white piece of cardstock using my chevron border punch (SU).  The greeting is a digital image from Stampin UP which I coloured digitally to coordinate with the paper and cardstock.  

For my second card, I cut the 2" x 5.5" piece in two and trimmed both of them to 5.25".  I border punched (SU) two lengths of dark brown cardstock with the eyelet punch (SU) and butted them right up to two strips of blue cardstock and then applied regular tape to hold them together. I glued the decorative paper strip to these elements leaving a border all the way around.  I positioned one element with the border facing up and the other with the border facing down on a coral card front.  I added a piece of dark brown seam binding in between which pretty much completely covered the coral strip that was showing.  I glued the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape and then tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I layered my laser printed greeting (SU) with the same blue cardstock and then glued it to my card front using 3D foam tape overlapping the seam binding.  

I love the versatility of using the OSW technique and once you have your sketches, being able to use scraps to create cards, which is what I did in this case.  The greetings and decorative paper strips were leftover from this cardmaking class.  

Therese

Using one One Sheet Wonder sketch for a set of cards

I needed several thank you cards so I decided to use one of the sketches from my OSW #4 set and used scraps I had on hand to complete them.  This process worked very well and is another aspect of the OSW technique that makes them very versatile!!
I printed several images (2.25" x 3.5") along with a variety of greetings with different fonts on white cardstock which will allow me to create several cards.  I dug through my decorative paper stash and cut several 2" x 5.5" pieces from my scraps and then went looking for coordinating cardstock for my card fronts and layering.
For my first card, I choose a floral decorative paper, a green card front and a rosy peach cardstock for layering.  After watercolouring this flower image (Arthurs Clipart) I cut a layer from rosy peach cardstock, punched a scallop oval from the center and adhered my image to the layer.  I added a bit of colour to my greeting and glued it to the scallop oval.  I glued my decorative paper to the left hand side of my green card front, added a punched border of white cardstock to the right hand side of it, adhered my layered image over the border and then used 3D foam tape to adhere my greeting over the bottom of my image.

 For my second card I choose a bright cherry decorative paper, trimmed it to 2" x 5.5", added a punched decorative border (SU) to the right hand side and glued this whole element to the left hand side of my dark green card front.  I cut a layer for my image from a scrap of red cardstock and punched the scalloped oval from the center of it.  I watercoloured both the image (Birdie Brown) and the greeting, layered them onto the red cardstock pieces and added them to my card front using 3D foam tape behind my greeting.

For my third card, I used a piece of decorative paper (2 x 5.5) I created using watercolour and plastic wrap.  I added a scallop border (SU) on the right hand side after I had added a small hole in each scallop using a small hole punch and then glued this whole element to my green card front.  I cut a blue cardstock layer for my cute turtle image (Rusty Pickle) and punched a scalloped oval (SU) from its center before adhering my watercoloured image.  I layered my greeting in the same manner and then added them both to my card using 3D foam tape.

My fourth card features a piece of vibrant decorative paper (gift wrap) which in one of my favorites!  I added a scalloped border of white cardstock which I cut using decorative scissors and to which I had added dots using a dark blue gel pen in each scallop.  I added my decorative paper and border to my navy card front, cut an orange layer for my watercoloured image (Arthurs Clipart) from which I punched a scalloped oval before adhering my image.  I watercoloured my greeting and glued it to the scalloped oval.  I glued my image to my navy card front and added my greeting using 3D foam tape.

I enjoyed this process!  I was happy to be able to use some of my scraps will still being time efficient by using one OSW sketch.  Of course, you could do the same with one sheet of 6 x 6 decorative paper and made three cards using the same sketch!!  I am loving the flexibility of this technique!!

Therese

One Sheet Wonder #2 for a 6x6 to make 4 cards

My second set of cards using my OSW template for using a 6" x 6"piece of decorative paper to make four cards.  I used a piece of birdie decorative paper from the same collection as my last set so the colours were very similar.
Here is my first set.

I used digital images and greetings which I colour printed onto white cardstock and then trimmed to 2"x 3".  The tree is from an unknown source, the little birdie parade is from Torico, the cupcake is from WhenTheScrapHitsTheFun and the flowers with BEST WISHES is from BlackBerry Jelly.   I really enjoyed challenging myself to use the same template, cut the pieces differently and combine them with images instead.  Really different looking cards but the same supplies used.  It was also interesting this time to use paper that was directional - all the birds needed to be standing up.  I started by cutting my 1.75" x 2.75" layers of coordinating cardstock in half diagonally and layering them -  two pieces each -  behind my watercoloured images.

#1   I cut the my 4.5"x 1.5" piece of decorative paper in half  and used some of my .75 inch strips to layer the two pieces on two sides.  I just butted the strips where they met and trimmed them off. Make sure to do opposite corners if you have directional paper.  I stipple stamped (SU) my blue card front and mounted each of my decorative pieces to opposite corners.  I mounted my image overlapping both of them using 3D foam tape.
#2   I cut my 3" x 4.5" piece in two lengthwise and layered a .75 strip of coordinating cardstock between them, offset them and taped them to each other using regular tape.  I cut two little squares from the decorative paper and mounted them to two opposite corners behind the decorative paper and then glued this element to my blue stippled card front.  I mounted my image overlapping both of them using 3D foam tape.
#3  I cut my 1.5" x 4.5" piece of decorative paper in half diagonally.  I cut a strip of .75 coordinating cardstock strip to 4.25" and cut it diagonally.  I mounted the cardstock triangles to the back of the decorative paper triangles leaving a margin on the corners.  I glued these to opposite corners of my yellow stippled card front.  I mounted my image overlapping both of them using 3D foam tape.
#4  I border punched (could have used decorative scissors instead) a strip of my coordinating cardstock with an eyelet punch (MS) and adhered it to the left hand edge of my yellow stippled card front.  I glued my 6" x 1.5" piece of decorative paper next to in and trimmed off the excess.  I mounted my image overlapping both its right hand edge using 3D foam tape.

I specifically chose to make different occasion cards this time to highlight the flexibility of the OSW design process.  Again, this process is perfect for making four cards quickly with minimal supplies and makes a perfect set of cards for gift giving.

Therese

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OSW#2 6x6 May 2015

Supplies for making 4 cards:
6" x 6" decorative paper
2 - 8.5" x 11" coordinating cardstock
1 - 8.5" x 5.5" different coordinating cardstock
4 - 2" x 3" images on neutral cardstock
Glue
3D foam tape (optional)

- Follow this cutting diagram to get your decorative pieces ready.
- Cut both large cardstock in two to make 4 cards
- Images/greetings can be stamped or colour printed
- Cut smaller cardstock into four 1.75" x 2.75" pieces for layering and the rest will be trimmed into .75 strips for accents.

One Sheet Wonder - 6" x 6" template makes four cards

My sister was visiting last week and she has been working on One Sheet Wonder cards. She is working on ones for a 6" x 6" piece of decorative paper.  She has developed one or two which create 3 cards and was currently working on one that creates four cards. I decide to challenge myself and see what I could design.

Here is what I came up with.  I am happy with the results of this effort.  Below is the template I used to cut my decorative paper, the supply list for four cards and the instructions on cutting the rest of the supplies for creating the cards.
Wanting to add a bit of interest to my card fronts I stamped them with a background stamp (SU -Worn) in coordinating ink before I started assembling my cards.  I colour printed my greetings (SU) on white cardstock,  cut them apart to be 2" x 3" and layered them to their layers.  Each card gets one half inch strip of accent cardstock.  The layouts are quite easy and can be modified as you wish.

#1 - glued the three 1.5" decorative pieces across the bottom of my stamped green card front, added two short pieces of .5" red accent strips just above them and used 3D foam tape to adhere my greeting over them.
#2 - Glued my two pieces of decorative paper (3" x 1.5") to diagonally opposite corners of my brown stamped card front, added two short strips of .5 red accent cardstock across the middle and added my layered greeting over them using 3D foam tape.
#3 - Glued my 3" x 4.5 inch piece of decorative paper to my stamped green card front, added two short pieces of .5 red accent cardstock to the top and bottom and adhered my layered greeting overlapping it using 3D foam tape.
#4 - Glued a long strip of .5" red accent cardstock to the left hand side of my stamped brown card front, glued my 1.5" x 4.5" piece of decorative paper next to it and adhered my layered greeting over it using 3D foam tape.

All of my greetings were HAPPY BIRTHDAY but of course you could print or stamp whatever greetings suit you when you are preparing your cards.  Consider as well that all of the pieces do not need to be cut up.  You could leave the long side whole and just trim off the half inch instead of cutting it in half like I did.  The same with the last 1.5" x 4.5" piece - you could use it whole or cut it differently which can also be said for any of the other pieces.  I think I will play with the pieces the next time I work with this template and see what I can come up with.  You can also consider adding images instead of large greetings to change up the look.

One Sheet Wonders are great for getting cards made fast!!  They are also wonderful for making cards for gifts because the four cards coordinate and look pretty as a set.  So for both reasons it is worth considering using a One Sheet Wonder template for your next cardmaking session.   Have fun!!

Therese
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OSW 6x6 May 2015

Supplies for making 4 cards:
6" x 6" decorative paper
2 - 8.5" x 11" coordinating cardstock
1 - 8.5" x 5.5" different coordinating cardstock
4 - 2" x 3" greetings on neutral cardstock
Glue
3Dfoam tape (optional)

- Follow this cutting diagram to get your decorative pieces ready.
- Cut both large cardstock in two to make 4 cards
- Greetings can be stamped or colour printed
- Cut smaller cardstock into four 2.25" x 3.25" pieces for layering and the rest will be trimmed into .5 strips.


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Cards for a baby gift

A new baby!!  New Mom's are always short on time and resources so I made a set of cards for my friend's daughter who just had a baby boy!!
I used green card fronts and layered on a trimmed quarter sheet of embossed decorative cardstock. It is green cardstock that was colour printed with an all over design using an inkjet printer.  I embossed it using a star & frame embossing folder and I sanded it to reveal the cardstock.  Love this technique!
I stamped the greetings (SU) in blue on white cardstock, trimmed them close and watercoloured the borders green.  I added a length of navy gros grain ribbon across the embossed frame and mounted the greeting over it using 3D foam tape.  I wrapped the cards in hand decorated paper and tied the package with bakers twine.  A little gift all ready to go!!

Journal page - Solace

I joined a Journal Page swap on one of my groups.  The theme for the year is Nature's Blessings and Solace is the theme for January!!  Solace is different for everyone but it does serves us well to know what comforts us because it allows us to go there first instead of spending time numbing or distracting ourselves when in fact we need to be loved and nurtured to feel better.  This subject was covered in the Brene Brown course - The Gifts of Imperfection - so I just went back through my notes and knew exactly what I should include in my journal page - a walk in nature, a cup of tea with a book and a good soak in the tub.  Works every time.
So I went looking for images to use on my page.  I found most of them on CLKER.  The book page I found on Morgue Files.  I imported them into Corel Draw and sized them to fit on an 8.5" x 5.5" page.  I printed the book page, tea cup and bathtub on one half and the road and road sign on the other half of the letter sized sheet of white cardstock. The half with the tea cup became the base of my journal page and I fussy cut the road and the road sign from the other half.

I started by adding blue watercolour at the top for the sky and then added green blending it gently into the tea cup area to start my collaged landscape.  I added a layer of blue paper napkin to simulate mountains.
I slit the edge of my tea cup with an exacto knife to allow the road to slip in behind and then glued it into place.  I glued a torn strip of green scrapbook paper over the end of the road to simulate the tree line and added a couple of other pieces on each side to fill in the gaps.  I added watercolour to the green paper to help it look more like a trees. I added some little bits of green paper napkin to either side of the road to add texture and colour and also added watercolour to the tea cup so it looked like you could see the road through the transparent tea cup and added the tea as well.  I love transparent tea cups!!!!
Next, I watercoloured some striped wall paper behind the tub, added brown watercolour to simulate the floor and watercoloured the water in the tub.  It was coming together very nicely.  I added a towel to the right of the tub - a strip of white fabric draped over a wire which I attached to the page using two silver mini brads.  I coloured my road sign and added it to the left of the tea cup using 3D foam tape.
Very happy with how it worked out. I added a piece of watercoloured cardstock to the back where I added my journaling and my credits!!
This is my first journal page!! It will be off to my partner early next week.

Therese

Sympathy card

This is a last minute card for my sister who's father in law passed away last week.
I used a purple card front which I sponged all the way around and added a layer of decorative paper which I cut so the butterfly would be in just the right place.  I sponged the edges and glued it to my card front.  I trimmed my greeting, sponged it as well and added to the card using 3D foam tape.
Simple but effective because of the layout of the paper!!

Therese

Birthday greeting with that same paper!

I used more of that wonderful paper!!  I used it for my last couple of cards!  Check them out here and here!!
I love this decorative paper and am finding ways of using it up!!  For this card I used a stamped image of a sunflower which has a very different feel from the last one I used - much more artsy!!  I used my watercolour pencils as well and like the look I was able to achieve. I trimmed the image, distressed the edges and added a green greeting which was also distressed.  I decided to gather my ribbon for this card.  I simply sewed over the folds as I created them.  I added it over the decorative paper on my card using double sided tape and added a 1/4" gray ribbon over the middle to hide the stitching.  I like the look!!  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my image to my card front over the ribbon.
The summer has begun here!!  School is out and the temperature is rising!!!

Therese

Thank you card

Another card with this wonderful decorative paper!!  You can see the previous one here!!
I love this decorative paper and for this card I layered it onto a deep terracotta card front.  I used watercolour pencils to colour this stamped image.  I just loosely coloured in the different elements of the image using several different colours of crayons.  Afterwards, I used a wet paintbrush to reconstitute the colour and blend them nicely.  I have not used watercolour pencils this way before and I think it works pretty well.  I do not have a large selection of colours but they worked quite well for this image.  I will have to try mixing colours next time I use them. Convenient when you don't want a wet palette - like at a class or on a trip.  I layered my image on gray, mounted it over the ribbon which I layered over my card front and glued the ends to the inside of the card.  I added a small colour printed greeting which I layered on darker gray and mounted to the card front using 3D foam tape.

Therese