A birthday card featuring layered stamped floral elements, a paper collage background and a digital greeting

For this birthday card I started by creating a white card to fit in a large envelope from my stash.  I created a paper collage using paper scraps and regular tape trimming it to size before adhering it to my card front.  I found these little stamped floral elements in my stash (SU) and watercoloured them to coordinate with my background.  I layered them onto pink squares once they were dry.  I trimmed the laser printed greeting (Desert Diva digital) to the same size as the floral elements, watercoloured it and mounted it to a pink square of cardstock as well.  I played with the layout of all the elements until I was happy and adhered them to my card front using 3D foam tape.  To finish off my card I added five little clear rhinestones to the greeting.  Done!! Love the colours!!

Therese

Stamping on fabric and another little quilt top

I did some stamping on fabric while working on my little quilt top.  I used a background stamp (Worn- SU) and a dark red permanent ink pad to add a bit of texture to my fabric.  I stamped the strips I had cut for the border.   Worked very well!  I let them dry then ironed them on high to heat set the colour.  I really liked how the texture on the fabric worked with the other fabrics.  

 I started the quilt top with a panel of 2" squares which was already pieced.  I received it in a bag of fabric scraps last summer.  After cutting and stamping my fabric I added a red border around the panel.  I added a strip of gold fabric which I pieced using coordinating fabrics and then added another strip of red which created the proportions I wanted for my quilt.  Next, I cut strips of the golden palm tree fabric and stitched them all the way around.  I really like how it worked out.  I have put it away and am not sure when it will get finished.  I have garden coming in and am looking forward to a trip to go blueberry picking!!

Therese

Thinking of you card featuring a die cut opening of a dragonfly, a pieced collage background of paper scraps and a punchie greeting

We have a friend who had surgery this week after a couple of postponements.  A good thing!! 

I started with a blue card which I created to fit in a large envelope from my stash.  I pieced a paper collage of blue and pink paper scraps for my background and adhered to my card.  Love doing this!!

I attached them using regular tape on the back.  For my focal element I cut a square of blue cardstock, die cut the dragonfly, backed it with foil gift wrap and then added some texture using my pattern tracing wheel before mounting it over my background using 3D foam tape. The greeting was colour printed on gray, layered onto a white circle and then onto a pink scalloped circle (SU).  I pierced all the scallops with a push pin before mounting it to my card using 3D foam tape.  

It will brighten her day!!

Therese

Two all occasion cards featuring butterflies die cut from masterboard, embossing and metallic paper

I continue to make cards from the masterboard I created a while back.  I cut a peach cardstock layer the same size as the piece of masterboard (3 5/8" x 4.25") I had trimmed from my letter sized masterboard . I had to use a small cutting plate (broken piece) to avoid cutting more than the butterfly from my large Sizzix die (butterfly and dragonfly).  I was reasonably successful with two passes.  I embossed the peach pieces - a butterfly and a layer with a butterfly opening with two different embossing folders.  I die cut some bodies from black paper, trimmed them and adhered them to the butterflies.  I swapped the butterflies and then attached them into the openings using two pieces of regular tape on the back - one on the head and the other on the tail.  This allows the wings to be pulled up to give dimension to the card.  

For my first card, I trimmed my large focal element with the butterfly to 4", added scraps of the same cardstock as the butterfly to the top and bottom edge using regular tape and then two small strips of black paper to each edge.  I adhered this large element to the front of a kraft card.  

For my second card, I trimmed my butterfly focal element to 4", added two pieces of turquoise cardstock embossed with the same embossing folder - Swiss Dots - CB to the top and bottom.  I punched a long strip of gold metallic using the Ribbon border punch - SU, trimmed it into two and mounted these over where the two pieces join.  I trimmed the border to the edge of the layer and adhered this large element to the front of an ivory card.  

Therese

Christmas card featuring Saint Nicolas on an embossed layer, aqua and gold gift wrap background and a layered font greeting

Here is another card created with a colour printed image of a St. Nicolas from an image collection CD.  I die cut the right edge using a TH border die and then paper pierced the edge with a push pin.  I added four vertical embossed lines, three to the left of the image and one to the right, using my Score tool.  Next I added two horizontal embossed lines, one each above and below the image to frame it nicely.   I added a layered font greeting which was created with a scalloped oval (SU) cut from gold metallic paper and a little greeting punched with a large oval punch (SU).  I mounted the greeting using 3D foam tape to my layer.  I mounted this large element to my card front which consists of an ivory card and the aqua and gold gift wrap background. 

Therese

Christmas Card Kits - Card #2 features an embossed ornament die cut, decorative paper and two decorative coloured strips of cardstock

For Card #2 I put together a few elements including some white embossed ornaments die cuts from my stash.  I added a couple of strips of coordinating cardstock.  One trimmed with the Ribbon punch (SU) and the other trimmed to size and the other simply trimmed.  I did embossed some of them.  These are combined with a layer of decorative paper and coordinating card bases.  Again, these kits are easily assembled requiring only glue.  With a variety of backgrounds and coordinating strips every kit has a variety of cards.  I do love putting together various elements and using versatile sketch to provide some interest in these kits.  

Therese

Exchange cards featuring a side flap, decorative paper and laser printed digital greetings

I have made these two cards for my Card Exchange partners for our June Swap.  I have created a flap on the left hand side instead of the top like the front flap cards have made recently.  For the first one, I choose a large envelope and created a panel card with a flap to fit inside.  I simply scored on the left hand side and folded the flap to the front.  I added a piece of light gray cardstock to the flap by butting it up and then adhering it in place using regular tape on the front.  Next, I  added a narrower strip of black cardstock which I punched with my scallop border punch (SU) before adhering it to the light gray piece.  I added two pieces of floral paper  - one to the full inside panel and the other to the front of the side flap which covers the tape I used to secure the pieces to each other.  I punched 1/16" holes in all the scallops on the edge.  I found this little greeting in my stash (Desert Diva) which is digital and I laser printed it on white cardstock after sizing it.  I added a black layer to it and then a coordinating yellow one.  I distressed the edges using my distress tool.  I used double sided tape to adhere the left hand portion of the greeting to the flap.  I added a white bond insert to the back side of the flap for the handwritten message.  

For my second card, I choose a large envelope and created a dark gray panel to fit inside.  I added a piece of floral paper which left a small margin all the way around.  I created a flap for the left hand edge using a light gray cardstock, scored the left hand edge and adhered the little flap to the back of the panel.  I added another piece of floral paper to my flap and then a strip of yellow cardstock which I punched with an eyelet border punch (SU) and then added several embossed lines with my score tool and then passed my pattern tracing wheel to add a row of pierced holes to the left hand edge.  I mounted it overlapping the edge of my light gray flap which finished it off nicely.  Next, I found this greeting in my stash which I created with a Chalk Writing font and laser printed.  I layered it with light gray and dark gray cardstock and then added to my flap using 3D foam tape.  Again, I added a small piece of white bond to the back of the flap for any handwritten message.  

It was fun to change up the flap on these cards.  I really like the look of this floral paper with the gray and yellow cardstock and monochromatic greetings.  

Front flap birthday card featuring decorative paper, ribbon and a colour printed digital image of a birthday cake

I am still at making front flap cards!!  For this one I started with a large envelope and created a pink panel card to fit inside.  I layered on the polka dot paper (SU digital - colour printed) which I trimmed to leave an even border.  I found a piece of blue cardstock that coordinated and then found a piece of paper that coordinated with both of them.  I scored the cardstock at a half inch from the top edge, folded over the little flap and then hooked it on my panel and trimmed the bottom edge.  I trimmed the piece second piece of decorative paper  to fit on the front of my flap with an even border.  The birthday greeting is one I downloaded from the internet and colour printed.  I used a large black permanent marker to colour all four edges of my image to highlight the greeting and coordinate with my decorative papers.  I mounted the cake image so it overlapped half onto the flap and I adhered it in place.  I added a length of pink ribbon at the top of the flap and tied it with a double knot.  Added a message area behind the flap using a piece of white bond.         Therese

All occasion card featuring decorative paper and serendipity heart with a fiber bow

For my oldest daughter I am sending her this very cute all occasion card!!!!!!!!  I started with a small envelope and made a green card to fit inside.  I added a piece of colour printed decorative paper which I printed off a while back with strips of colour and a leafy pattern.  I punched a coordinating serendipity heart  and added a bright yellow layered heart (SU diecut).  I adhered it to the card front using 3D foam taper and then added the little turquoise bow using a small piece of glue dot.  I love the simplicity of this design!!!         Therese

Anniversary card featuring embossed layers, border punched eyelet ribbon and serendipity hearts

Our daughter and son in law are celebrating their anniversary this month and I have made up this card for them. 
I started with a large envelope and created a brown card to fit inside.  I dug through my white core cardstock and found this similarly sized off cuts.  I embossed them with different embossing folders and then sanded their edges and middle to reveal the embossed design and them texture.  I adhered them to my card which left a gap perfectly sized for another scrap I had in my little stash.  I did not emboss the green one and trimmed it just a little longer.  I mounted red strip which was punched with the ribbon border punch from Stampin Up before mounting the green strip.  Thinking it needed a bit of something I stamped it with a script stamp (SU) in a dark ink which helped to unify the design.  I added two serendipity hearts punched with the SU heart punch over the green strip and then added three little brown rhinestones.  I found a coordinating greeting and mounted it just below the hearts.    Therese

Birthday card featuring a fun cupcake with a star and some ribbon flags

A fun card for one of my grandaughter's birthday which is coming up soon!!!  I started with a large envelope and created an off white card to fit inside.  I cut the piece of polka dot red paper for my background and decided to embellish it.  With a black Sharpie I added some hand drawn circles and three dots in all the large circles and put a single dot in the each small circle.  Next, I coloured all the circles in with yellow.  Finally, I used the open end of a nerf bullet to stamp red circles in between all the other ones.  The result adds some pizzazz!! I adhered it to my card front.  I laser printed the cute little cupcake (Melonheadz) after adding the birthday greeting, trimmed it to size and then watercoloured it using shimmery paint on the icing and a clear glitter gel pen on the dots and the swirl at the top.  I ran my tracing wheel on three edges and just below the greeting on the bottom.  I punched the bottom with a scallop punch (SU) and then added four shimmery embellishments in the four full scallops.  I layered it with red cardstock and added seven little red checkered ribbon flags on the right hand side.  To finish off my card I used 3D foam tape to adhere this focal element to my card front.  I like how the star echos the little yellow circles in my decorative paper.          Therese

An all occasion card featuring TH wild flower die cut in purple, a strip of serendipity and a layer textured with my tracing wheel

For Mother's Day I created this card for my youngest daughter.  I features a TH wildflowere die cut in dark purple which I layered onto a strip of coordinating serendipity paper which I punched on the bottom using a label punch (SU).  I inserted it from the back so I only punched the edge.  I like the look!!  I added a gray ribbon to finish it off.  I chose a pink layer and tore the bottom edge then ran my tracing wheel all over it to add some texture.  I mounted my serendipity focal element  to it using double sided tape.  Next, I cut a light purple card to fit in a smaller non standard envelope and mounted my large element to it using double sided tape.  After mounting it I decided to add a row of piercings on both sides using my tracing wheel which frames it nicely.    Therese

CAS Sympathy card featuring three decorative papers, a die cut sprig and a little font greeting

Needed a sympathy card this week and decided to see if I could do Clean and Simple.  I admire many of the CAS cards I find on the internet but usually I cannot convince myself to leave so much white space. I did find a few that had a little less white space so I took them as inspiration and got started. 
I started with a smaller envelope and made a white card to fit inside.  I had my green scraps on my desk and decided to see if I could find three that coordinated enough to make a card.  I found these three which worked and so I just adhered them to my white card front.  I found the little diecut sprig (TH) in my little stash of leaves and used white glue applied with a fine tip applicator to secure it in place.  The little font greeting punchie (SU - Word Window) I found in my stash and adhered with 3D foam tape.  I am very happy with the result!!  I made a few more which I will be blogging soon!!

Therese

Birthday card featuring a watercoloured coffee cup, some hand stitching and embossed velvet paper

 I made this card for DH birthday later this week.  I found some brown velvet paper in a box of serendipity supplies when I was making this heart in support of front line workers who are out there every day during this health crisis.  I embossed it with a coffee bean border from Pink Cat Studio which belongs to a set I bought a while back.  I simply laid the rubber stamp on the velvet surface of the paper and passed it through my Big Shot with very little pressure. Worked really well!  I adhered this little piece of embossed paper to a piece of mottled watercolour paper which I had stamped with a script stamp (SU) in brown.  I added a strip of red cardstock which I border punched with a ribbon/eyelet punch (SU).  I added stitching by hand using ivory and gold floss using the holes in the border.  I tied another short end to the left hand side before adhering it over where the two paper join.  I adhered this large layer to a dark brown card front.  For my focal image I chose a large coffee cup (Stamp Barn) which I stamped and gold embossed.  I watercoloured the cup and added a bit of colour to the background to make it less stark.  I used my distress tool on the edge and then smudged it with a brown stamp pad to help it stand out from the background.  I mounted this large image to my card front using 3D foam tape and then trimmed and layered a small font greeting with brown which I tucked under its bottom edge and adhered in place with double sided tape.   Therese

A few all occasion cards featuring stamped backgrounds, die cut elements and ribbon & brads

I am trading handmade cards for seeds!!!!!!!  I was really happy to be able to make a trade with my friend as getting seeds locally might be a challenge during this time of isolation.  She put them in her mailbox and picked them up and left the cards in their place.  

The top two cards were made with backgrounds from my stash which were debossed with a circle Nestibilities and stamped with the Worn background (SU) and green ink while masking the center of the circle.  I found the serendipity circles in my stash and they very nicely fit in the debossed circles on the backgrounds.  I added a watercoloured cross on one and a glittered butterfly on the other.  Layered them opposite in colour - lavender on green and green on purple.  

For the next two cards I used some clear embossed resist backgrounds which I made in preparation for this class in January.   After clear embossing I watercoloured the backgrounds with coordinating ink which provided nice contrast and highlighted the resist.  I layered them onto coordinating card fronts and then cut brown leaves (TH) for the brown one and blue wildflowers (TH) for the blue one.  I added a ribbon held in place on one end with a coordinating star brad on the brown one and mounted the blue ribbon all the way across and added the silver star brad to the right side.  I mounted the elements to the card fronts using white glue in a fine tip applicator and tucked them under the ribbon before pressing them into place.  

These are mostly all occasion cards which can be used for a variety of occasions from birthdays to sympathy.            Therese

All occasion card featuring a beautiful butterfly, an embossed background and an embellished border

For this card I started with the butterfly image which I downloaded from Pixabay.  Once trimmed from the letter sized sheet of white cardstock I distressed its edges and then added a line of paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel.  To highlight the yellow in the wings I layered it onto a light yellow piece of cardstock leaving a bit extra on the bottom for embellishing.  I punched it with the scallop border punch (SU), punched 1/16" holes in each one and then added two lines of embossing using my scoring tool  I really like all the texture on this piece.  I embossed a weathered brown cardstock with a swirly background, added a small strip of aqua over it and mounted this large element to an aqua card.  I mounted the large butterfly element over the strip using 3D foam tape to finish off my card.  Love the colours of this one!!  Appropriate for sympathy, get well, thinking of you or just as a note card to a friend!             Therese

Birthday card from a kit featuring an embossed circle, watercoloured funky flowers and a stamped and layered greeting

Still working on getting the final bunch of card kits from the September card making class made up into cards.  For this one I embossed the circle and trimmed off a sliver and mounted it to my card to which I had already adhered my background of scrapbook paper.  I die cut the image of three flowers (Black Berry Jelly) using my Nestibitilities, watercoloured the image and the sponged the edge with blue and green ink.  I mounted this focal element to my card front overlapping the circle.  To continue the theme I created a layered stamped greeting.  I stamped the greeting in green, punched it with a 1.25" punch (SU) and then layered it onto a 1 3/8" turquoise circle punchie.  I added a blue sequin flower using a green  rhinestone brad and mounted this little greeting to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Enjoying the process of using card kits and changing up the sketch.

Therese

Birthday card from a kit featuring a stamped floral motif with embossed layers, a layered greeting and colour printed background paper

I really modified the components of this card kit which is from my September cardmaking class.  I trimmed out the circle to make a long sort of tag shape.  I trimmed the stamped image and then used the bottom edge of the tag to trace the curve on the back of the image then fussy cut it to coordinate.  Once trimmed I used an embossing folder and manually embossed around the little floral stamped element.  I layered the image onto the tag and punched two holes at the top and used the ribbon to make an innie-outie bow then added a bit of colour with markers and added a bit of glitter using my clear glitter gel pen.   I mounted the colour printed background to my green card, adhered the finished tag to the front on the left and then added the little layered greeting (font greeting with Window Punch - Modern Label Punch  - SU) to the card using 3D foam tape overlapping the tag.  I am really making interesting cards with these kits.  I would not likely think of this sketch if I was starting from scratch to make a card.  It is fun to be stretching my creativity with these card kits!! 

Therese 

Sympathy card from a kit featuring a watercoloured floral image, a layered punchie greeting and an embossed circle

I found another few kits when I was cleaning up my desk and because of the pieces I decided to make up the cards because there was not too much flexibility in the pieces without a bit of a redo of most of them.  They are from my September card making class.
To change it up a bit I trimmed the large circle and embossed it with a soft swirl embossing folder.  I adhered the background paper (stamped decorative paper) and the circle to the purple card front.  I trimmed the image into a rectangle and punched the corners using a little corner punch.  I found this fiber in my stash and ran it around the image and tied it off at the top.  I mounted this focal element to my card overlapping the circle using 3D foam tape.  I had punched a scallop oval out of the circle before adhering it to my card.  I used it to layer the font sympathy greeting which I sponged with a bit of green before layering them.  I mounted the greeting with double sided tape on the top portion and 3D foam tape on the bottom.             Therese

Christmas cards featuring red and blue plaid paper, a variety of images & greetings and some ribbon

I am committed to making Christmas card regularly over the course of this year so I will have them ready by December when I need to have them mailed out.  I decided to use up a piece of foil gift wrap that was around one of our gifts this past season.  It is a red and navy plaid so I just cut what was usable from the piece and got eight 3.75" squares.  I found cardstock that coordindated  - one red and one navy and cut eight cards and the corresponding navy layers for each card.  I dug through my Christmasimage stash and found a few that would work with this sketch and colour scheme.  I also dug through my stash of Christmas greetings and found some that would also work.  I created the cards one at a time after that.

The first one features a Melonheadz image of Santa and the baby Jesus.  I trimmed the image into a square, watercoloured it and added faux stitching all the way around using a permanent marker.  I mounted the navy layer to the red card, added the plaid paper square then mounted the image over the paper using 3D foam tape.  I added a strip of the same red cardstock below the image and mounted my laser printed greeting over it using 3D foam tape.
The second one has a similar sketch.  I added a length of white seam binding to the navy/plaid paper layer before mounting my sleigh image (Black Berry Jelly) with 3D foam tape.  It is watercoloured, glittered and layered with navy cardstock. The greeting is stamped in blue, layered on red and flagged on the right hand side and mounted with 3D foam tape.
The third one features a snowman paper cast which I made a long while back to which I added a little turquoise snowflake with a tiny silver brad.  The paper has turquoise lines which only show when you look at it from an angle.  The laser printed greeting is layered with red, has a folded ribbon on the right hand side and is mounted below the focal image with 3D foam tape.
The fourth one is a bit of a departure from the sketch.  Because the image was larger I tore the square in two and mounted the two pieces to the top and bottom of the navy layer.  I watercoloured the angel (SU) and ran the tracing wheel on all the edges before mounting it to the layer with 3D foam tape.  I punched a Modern Label layer from a scrap of foil turquoise paper which is glued to cardstock to make it stiff enough to mount.  I added a small laser printed turquoise greeting.  I mounted the greeting overlapping the image and added a bit of 3D foam tape to the bottom edge when it attaches to the background.

The fifth card has the plaid paper adhered to the navy glued to the red card.  I layered a die cut nativity image (reused card) onto a white scalloped circle (Nestibilities) which I mounted with 3D foam taper for the plaid paper.  I layered the stamped greeting (SU) with red and mounted it with 3D foam tape.  To finish it off I added a length of white seam binding below the elements and adhered the ends to the inside of the card with double sided tape.
The sixth one has a very similar layout featuring a layered image of a couple of friends out for a walk in a winter wonderland (reused card) layered onto a white scalloped circle with a laser printed image layered with red below the plaid square.  I trimmed the red cardstock with decorative scalloped scissors, paper pierced the scallops and added a couple of embossed lines to each side of the greeting.

For the seventh one, I embossed the navy layer and mounted the paper over it.  Not the best idea with foil paper.  I layered the image of a beautiful house all ready for Christmas (reused card) with turquoise and mounted it this layer using 3D foam tape.  I adhered this large layer to the red card.  I layered the laser printed greeting with red before mounting it to my card front using 3D foam tape.
The eighth and last card features a small die cut ornament in navy.  I used glitter pens to colour the top and the wavy band and added dots of clear glitter to the rest of the ornament.  I mounted it to a white embossed strip with 3D foam tape, added a red ribbon to the top and flagged the end of the strip before mounting it to the navy/plaid paper layer.  I added clear glitter faux stitching all the way around the navy layer and below the plaid paper.  I trimmed a laser printed greeting, layered it with red, flagged both ends and added some embossed lines on each side before mounted it to my card front.
It was really fun to be back making Christmas cards after a bit of a break.  I am very happy with how they all worked out and that they are all a bit different.               Therese