Green and red decorative paper with a fun angle

Another Thank you card for this Christmas season!!  I glued three dark green strips of  coordinating decorative paper onto the corner of a white piece of cardstock and trimmed them to the edges.  I embossed the balance of this layer using the Decorative Dots embossing folder (SU) and a hammer as I could not get the sandwich to fit in my Big Shot.  I like using the hammer because it allows a more random embossing of the texture.  I found the chalk board greeting in my little stash bucket, adhered it with double sided tape and then added a red metallic button die cut to which I had already tied some white fiber using two knots!!  A bit of a cooler palette for this card - I have been carrying around this paper for years and it is nice to finally find a great way to use it!! 

Therese

Fabric collage postcard with bunny lace

I created this cool fabric postcard for a birthday swap on one of my lists. I started with a piece of this fabric collage.  The bunny lace comes off of a thrift store find which also had these two bunnies embroidered in the corners.  I added batting and a white backer and then machine stitched all the way around until I had stitched the whole surface finishing with a line in the center.  I stitched a strip of pink plaid to the top of my bunny lace and fused it to the front of my postcard.  I thought it would be cute to use the "some bunny cares" quote on the front so I decided to create a custom collage

button.  You can check out how to make collage buttons by following this link or clicking Tutorials above, scrolling down to the link and clicking on it.  They are a very neat way to make a custom embellishment for your projects.  The process is easy - I adhered a plastic circle die cut to a circle punchie of decorative paper on which I hand lettered the quote and punched two holes to make it a button once it was dry.  I added a coordinating punchie of cardstock and stitched it to the front of my postcard using blue embroidery thread.  I finished the outside edges of my fabric postcard using thin crochet thread in a variegated pink colour using the button hole stitch.  Very happy with how it turned out!!  Therese

September Cardmaking - Faux doodling cards with collage buttons

 These cards all feature collage buttons - you can see all the buttons I created  here.  in the past I have doodled around my collage buttons like on these cards but being a little short on time I decided that I would search the internet for a few digital images I could use instead.  Not sure that I saved any time but I did come up with a few circular frames that I could use!!  The first one I downloaded from Open Clipart.  I did modify the original just a bit by cutting and pasting a flourish to replace a more graphic element that was positioned on the outside border.  The flourish works better for what I was looking for.  The secong one is a doily combined with a circular rope frame which I got from CLKER.  I laid out my designs in Corel Draw by first sizing the graphics to accommodate the 1.5" collage buttons, added greetings and printed them on white cardstock.  Once the buttons were created I chose card fronts and ribbon that coordinated.  I used a large eyed needle to thread the ribbon through the cardstock and tied a double knot to keep the button in place.  I added a length of ribbon between the greeting and the focal element adhering the ends to the back of the layer using double sided tape.  Next, this whole element was glued to a coordinating card front.  I tied another short length of ribbon to the piece on the front using a single knot to add texture and interest.  I am happy with these cards though I would have preferred to use my own doodled designs.  I will be doodling more of these circular frames and will scan them before I use them so I can laser print them for future cardmaking.  I will get a few more made as these are very similar in colour!!

UPDATE:

Here are a few more of the cards I made up from the kits from last week's class!!  Love those buttons!!

Therese

Collage buttons for cards!

 I made a batch of collage buttons for a set of cards for my cardmaking class this week.  It is always fun to make these!!  I used serendipity paper, gift wrap, hand decorated paper, fabric paper, foil, decorative paper from an envelope and several colour washed stamped images.  You can check out the instructions by clicking this link, or Clicking Tutorials on my top bar and scrolling down to click the Collage Button Tutorial. I will be posting the cards later this week and will see about adding a link to that post here once they are up!

Therese

Serendipity heart card

I had this serendipity heart sitting on my desk and decided to create an anniversary card with it. Also sitting on my desk was a few pieces of fabric which I received in a swap a while back so I decided to combine the two.  It originally was stamped with this script stamp and to make it more of a design element for this card I stamped it again using a darker ink.  Really like how that worked out.  I trimmed it down to size, added a bit of glue to my red card front and positioned the fabric in place before stitching it all the way around with red thread.  I adhered the heart to the fabric background using a small piece of double sided tape, layered on a folded piece of red seam binding and then used a white paper button and some gold embroidery thread to adhere them to my card front.  I layered a laser printed greeting to gold foil cardstock, flagged one end and stapled it to my card front incorporating a piece of folded red seam binding in the process.  Love it!

Therese

Fabric collage heart cards

 I have been playing with fabric collage and needed a few anniversary cards so I decided to combine the two and made a few cards.  

To create my fabric collages I simply took coordinating scraps and sewed them to each other by overlapping their edges and machine stitching with a coordinating thread.   

To make my cards I took each collage and cut it into heart shapes free hand.  The first two cards were cut from one collage. For the first card I cut an ivory layer and mounted two strips of green cardstock one on each long side.  Next, I colour washed two strips of vintage white bandaging that looks like cheese cloth with green watercolour and, once dry, I positioned them on the layer and adhered them to the back using double sided tape. Then I positioned my fabric collage heart and overlaid it with a short piece of ivory lace and machine stitched it in place using coordinating thread.  I layered my laser printed greeting onto the same green cardstock I used on the layer and stitched it in place as well.  I found these little ribbon bows in my stash. I placed one over the lace and sewed it on with coordinating embroidery thread tying two knots to keep it in place.  This embellished layer was adhered to a coral card front to complete my card.  Really happy with how this card worked out!  Encouraged by my first attempt I made another one!!  For this card I used a similar piece of ivory cardstock and stitched on kraft cardsstock strips on each long side.  I added some scallop edged tulle (SU) over the middle and gathered the middle portion keeping it in place using double sided tape.  I positioned my fabric collage heart over the tulle and stitched it in place, layered my laser printed greeting onto lavender cardstock and also stitched it in place.  I finished off this layer by positioning a short piece of lace over my heart and sewing on a little bow using lavender embroidery thread knotting twice to hold them in place.  I adhered this embellished layer to a peach coloured card front.  Fun!!!

For this third card, I pieced strips of blue cardstock together by adhering them to each other on the back with regular tape then embossed this layer with a circle/dot embossing folder.  I layered my fabric collage heart over a white mesh fabric, stitched it with coordinating thread and then trimmed the mesh fabric close to the heart.  I positioned this heart on my blue layer, added a handmade collaged heart button and tied them in place using rose coloured embroidery thread.  I layered my laser printed greeting onto rose cardstock and adhered it to the blue layer using double sided tape.  This embellished layer was mounted to a white card front.
Loving the artsy look of these cards!!  You can check out the collaged button instructions by clicking the link in the text or by clicking TUTORIALS above and scrolling down to the Collage Button tutorial.

Therese

Artsy Cards - Collaged buttons with doodling

I needed cards for my monthly card exchange and decided to revisit collaged buttons which I created earlier this year.  They are fun to do and fairly quick.  I combined a plastic circle die cut with some paper scraps and then punched two holes to make it a button!!  Check out the this link to find out how to make them!!  OR click the Tutorial tab above and click on the Collaged Button Tutorial.  I made several and created these cards.  I traced the button onto white cardstock using a pencil and then doodled that line with a fine tip Sharpie and continued until I was happy with the design.  I considered adding colour but so far have not - maybe next time!  I tied the button to the white layer then layered it onto black and then onto coordinating card fronts.  For the top one, I used a black marker on the edge of the white, layered it onto lilac and then onto a green card front.  I added a stamped greeting to one of them.  These were fun artsy cards!!
Therese

Quilted fabric cards

I have been wanting to make some cards with fabric and I decided that today was the day!  I chose a backer piece of fabric and sewed scraps to it using the raw edge applique technique and one of my decorative stitches to sew them into place.  I chose scraps with some blue in them and started on one edge and kept sewing on pieces until I had covered the whole thing.  I then cut out petals using the first one that I cut out free hand as a pattern.  I only managed 11 petals so you can see that one of my flowers is fuller than the other one because that is how it worked out!!  I am good with it!!  I dug through the scrap bucket for some green for the stems and leaves and trimmed them a bit to make them work.  I stitched the leaves and stems on first using green thread and then used blue thread to stitch on the petals using my sewing machine.  I fussy cut some paper buttons (Torico), watercoloured them and tied them on with white thread.  They make wonderful centers for my funky flowers.  Really like how they worked out!  I stitched all the way around in blue thread as well and then mounted them to yellow card fronts.  I added layered punchie greetings (SU -Word Window, Modern Label) with 3D foam tape to finish them off!!  These will be sent to my card exchange partners for this month's exchange!!

Therese

Artsy backgrounds with layered 3D embellishments

 These cards are for my monthly card exchange and I was looking to use some backgrounds from my stash!  This first card uses a piece of beautiful junk mail that I saved a while back.  It features a large leaf in this deep autumnal red.  I cut out the wording and taped the two pieces together.  I auditioned my focal element which was all ready to go and thought it needed a bit of something so I embossed it with Decorative Dots embossing folder (SU).  That was good but still not quite it, so I sanded the dots and that was better but still not perfect, so I sponged some of the areas with orange ink and that was just what it needed.  Perfect!! I cut two thin strips of brown cardstock and laid one over the joint in the paper and the other about a 1/4" below it.  I used double sided tape to adhere them to the background and trimmed the ends to the edges.  I glued the background element to a dark brown card front and then used 3D foam tape to adhere the focal element over them.  The focal element was fun to create.  I started by making a collaged button using clear plastic, a stamped greeting and a decorative paper punchie like I did for this card.  Once it was dry I could not convince myself to punch holes to make it a button so I used it as it was.  I layered it onto a scallop punchie (SU) in gold, then onto a brown & gold texured paper circle and then onto a flower (TH) die cut from hand decorated paper.  I really like the look of this card with all of its handmade charm.  If you know the source of the brown and gold paper medallion I have used for this card check my featured post on the top right hand side of my blog and leave me a comment!!

For my second card I created another funky focal element.  I started with a "be happy" punchie from my stash which I glued to a scallop punchie which I modified with watercolour to coordinate with the orange from the larger scalloped circle.  I layered that onto a collage button which was less than stellar after it was dry and needed to used more subtly.  I layered that onto a scalloped punchie of colourful decorative paper and then to another one of those brown and gold paper medallions. (Look forward to your comments!)  This time I snipped the edge to create little petals and then snipped those twice to make little flagged ends to finish off my embellishement.  I chose this wild background which I created a while back using spray inks, my hot glue stencils and photo paper.  A really fun technique!!  I added a wide navy organza ribbon with a thin yellow satin ribbon over it to my background and then glued it to the front of an orange card.  I tied a short piece of yellow ribbon to the one on the card to simulate a bit of a bow and used 3D foam tape to secure my focal element to my card front.
So these will be off to my swap partners in tomorrow's mail!!

Therese

Scrappy background with a handmade button

I had some inspiration over night to create some collaged buttons!!  I started with some thick plastic packaging and die cut a 1.5" circle using a Sizzix circle die.  I sanded the edges and one side then applied some clear glue and laid the HAPPY word (stamped on kraft tissue) down just below the middle.  I applied glue to the back of the tissue and added a 1 3/8' punchie made from hand decorated paper in red.  I applied glue to the back of that and added a layer of scrapbook paper, trimmed it roughly and applied pressure to make sure all the surfaces were in contact then added binder clips all around the edges to keep them together until the glue dried.  What fun!!  A collaged handmade button!!  I trimmed the paper to the edge of the plastic, sanded the edges to even them up and sponged the edges with brown ink to integrate them into the colour scheme.  I punched two holes in the middle to finish off the button.  I glued it to the center of a rosette of paper in brown and gold and added a brown/gold ribbon tie.  To add texture I snipped the outside edge and cut each petal diagonally on the end to create a pattern.  Really like how that turned out.  I used another of these paper rosettes on this card.   Anyone have a guess as to where these rosettes of brown and gold came from?  I will add a hint on my original post!!
I trimmed my scrappy background in two and then cut one of the resulting pieces in four to create the square background for my card.  I glued those four pieces to an off white piece of cardstock, added some fiber trim and ribbon and stamped my greeting below that in brown.  I used my sewing machine and brown thread to sew all those elements in place, then glued this large element to a red card front.  I used the same ribbon on the card front as I had used in the button to tie them together visually and tied a short piece on the front to simulate a bow.  I used 3D foam tape to add my button to the middle of my background.  Loving the look of the artsy cards I have created so far this year!!!
I have more buttons on the go!  This may become one of my go to projects for "Art Every Day" which will likely only happen weekly with the kind of schedule I have so they may get a blog post of their own.
Hope you are setting some art goals for yourself and I hope you will leave a comment and share what yours are!!

Therese

Crazy quilted tree ornament

                               

On one of my groups I joined a Crazy Quilted ornament swap. We could send as many as five ornaments - I decided to do just one.  I machine quilted a triangle using small scraps adding pieces one at a time around the green polka dot square.  It was fun to add a variety of fabrics and colours.  Once that process was finished I trimmed the edges evenly and started adding hand stitching to each seam using a variety of coloured floss and stitches.  Next,  I cut a triangle a half inch wider in every direction in a dark green fabric.  I laid it on the back of my triangle and folded the edge over twice and stitched over it using blanket stitch in green floss.  I had to iron it before I stitched because it was much too unruly otherwise.  Then, I added embellishments - sequins, beads and buttons.  It still needed a bit of something so I added a tiny rick rack garland which I stitched on with red floss.  Lastly, I added a sequin star at the top.  Oh, yes, I did add a rick rack hanger at the top in the process of doing the blanket stitch around the perimeter.  I did add some random red stitches on the back to better adhere the back to the front and added a shrink plastic tag with my credits on it.  This is my first crazy quilted project. I am happy with it how it turned out.  I hope to learn more stitches and to add lace to my next project.  Looking forward to receiving an ornament in exchange.

Therese

Chunky book page - copper wire owl

Joined a chunky book page swap with the theme of Copper and Wisdom.  I recently finished this owl card and thought that owl fit the theme and went looking on line for copper owls!  Wow!  There were a lot of fantastic copper owl designs so I made a few sketches and headed to my craft room!
I decided to use some heavy copper wire for the structure and lighter weight copper wire to tie the pieces together which is how some of the ones I found had been constructed.  I chose some black buttons for the eyes and started forming the structure for the owl's head.  I folded my wire hard to create the beak and then created a circle on each side to accommodate my buttons and finished off with the ends creating the pointy ears that most of them have.  That looked pretty good and the buttons fit inside them nicely.
One of the sketches I had made had a heart shaped body.  Being a bit partial to hearts I decided that mine would have a heart body too.  I made a hard corner in my wire and then curved the two ends into a heart shape and added a swirl on each end.  That would give me a good place to tie him together.  Some of the ones I had seen on line had large beads in their bodies but I decided on another heart for the middle of mine.  I created the heart the same way I had created the body - just made it a bit smaller and made sure it would fit inside the other one.
Using the light weight wire I started by securing the top of the head on one side, wired in the button for the eye and then wired the bottom of that space so the button would be in the right place.  Next, I wired the head piece to the body making sure that my beak was directly over the bottom of the large heart.  Wired the beak in place and then moved on to the other side of the body and wired the head to the body on that side.  I had to play with it a bit to get the second button to be in the right place in the loop but just a couple more loops was good enough.  I then wired the top of the head on that side.  Next, I wired the bottom of the body, added the little heart and wired it into the same section.  Moved on to the top side of the little heart where they met the body.  Looking good!!
After a bit of checking it out, I decided it needed piece that went from ear to ear and completed the top of his head so I wired that piece in.  That was much better!!
I added teal sequins in the eye sockets using glue dots and then added smaller copper ones over them. That finished off the eyes nicely.  I did have a 4x4 on my work surface as I worked to make sure that I did not create him too large for my page.  Once my owl was finished I used a hammer and flattened him out by tapping all the intersections of wire to ensure that my connections were tight and that the wire structures where laying next to each other.  I found this watercolour background paper in my stash, trimmed it and stitched it to my 4" x 4" of blue cardstock.  I decided to expand on the wisdom theme by stamping "be kind" on the lower left hand side. My handmade stamp positioner ensured that my words were exactly where I wanted them to be.    I attached my owl to my page by using large glue dots behind the eyes and ran wire around the middle of the little heart connection through the page several times.
I am super happy with how he worked out!!!  He will be off to my partner in tomorrow's mail.

Therese

Heart Art Quiltie for February

I am hosting another Art Quilitie mingle!! The theme for February is Heart - you just need to include a heart in your design any way you wish - fabric, stitching or embellishment.
I started by cutting a 5"x 5" piece of white on white quilting fabric and stamping words on it with my magnetic Making Memories alphabet stamps in "Soft Stone" Memories ink.  The words are the qualities of love - kind, patient, polite, joyous, calm, forgiving, etc. After that I stamped a beautiful LOVE (QF) in red after making a heart outline in pencil to ensure good placement.  I stitched pearl seed beads all along the heart outline, added a 4" batting to the back and sewed on all of my white and pearl buttons starting

with the one at the bottom and adding as I went.  When I got to the middle I added the little red heart button and kept going.   Once, I was finished, I added a five inch square of red fabric over the front, stitched around the edge with my sewing machine leaving a gap to allow me to turn it inside out.  Once it was right side out, I stitched up the gap and added blanket stitch all the way around the edge using white embroidery floss. Traditionally, the line of the blanket stitch is left on the outside edge, instead I stitched mine leaving the line about a quarter inch inside the outside edge giving it a different look.
I love the way it turned out!!  I added my credits to the back using iron on fabric labeling tape, hand lettered a quote with a fine tip sharpie and embellished the whote back area with white french knots.
It will be on its way to my partner by the end of the week.  You can check out the other art quilties I have made  - October, November and January.  I am hoping to continue to get participation so we will all have a good number of pages to sew up into a project.

Therese

Navy and purple felted wool cuff

Another cuff for my giftie swap!!  This one began with a pieced layer of navy blue felted wool (3" x 8").  Because I am using scraps I had to combine two pieces of felted wool to create the length I wanted.  I butted the two pieces up very tightly and sewed them together using a wide zigzag stitch and black thread.  The thread is very matte and therefore pretty much disappeared.  I did position the main focal point - a beautiful embroidered floral design -  over the

seam so it would camouflage it was much as possible.  I started by doing buttonhole stitch all the way around using thin lavender wool yarn (thrift store find).  I positioned the focal element (thrift store find), pinned it in place and sewed it in place using embroidery thread that was the same colour.  I wanted to add yet more texture but not take away from the beauty of the embroidered piece so went looking for seed beads I could use to embellish it with.  I found these that did exactly what I wanted - they almost look like stars in the night sky!!  I sewed them on randomly using navy embroidery thread so the stitching does not show.

 This wood bead was just the right colour so I drilled an extra hole in it to make it a button and sewed it on with navy thread.  I created a wrap by braiding three pieces of lavender wool yarn into a string which will create an adjustable closure on this cuff.
Really happy with how this one turned out and love the colours!
The giftie swap was for Christmas so this is appearing here only after the gift has arrived and been opened by the recipient.

Therese

Calendar with collage photos

I created a calendar this afternoon using 4"x 4" photos trimmed from my little bluebird calendar.  The calendar was a Christmas gift from my sister last year.  She creates 4"x 6" photo calendars for sale using her photographs.  She photographed my little 4" x 4" collages last year and created a calendar with them.
I used the originals on a swap calendar last year and thought it would be really cool to reuse these little images and give them another go around in the world.

I started with six half sheets (8.5" x 5.5")  of black cardstock and stamped a flourish background (IO) on the top portion using silver pigment ink on both sides.

 I trimmed the calendar portion off of my 4"x 6" calendar pages which left me with 4"x 4" photo images.



I created these little buttons for my embellishments.  They are a digital image which I laser printed, punched out, sponged on the edges and added white thread through the holes I punched in the center.

I used double sided tape to glue my blue bird collage images over the stamped backgrounds and used glue stick to adhere my printed calendar pages. The pages were created in Word Perfect inserting numbers into a table.  January to June are on one side and July to December are on the backs.  I wrapped white thread around the calendar between the two pieces and tied the ends off on the left.  I covered that with one of my little buttons using a large glue dot.  On the back, I simply tied a piece of the same thread on the left hand side to simulate a knot and added my button the same way.

 Here are all of the calendar pages I created.

They can be held together with a bull clip at the top and hung on a nail OR stuck to a magnet on any metal surface.

They could also be punched with a small hole punch in the top center and hung on a pin OR strung on a ribbon or cording and hung almost anywhere.

I am in the process of producing several calendars - a couple for swaps I have joined and several as gifts for the holiday season.  I have not yet decided which calendar will go where!!

Therese

An altered cuff with a metal embellishment in a zipper bezel!

Another cuff!!  This is the one I created for the swap that more closely follows the guidelines provided for the Altered Cuff Swap on AFTCM.  I started with two strips of sky blue cotton fabric.  I stitched the lace, piping and teal bias trim to the right side of one of the pieces using my sewing machine.  I cut an elastic to serve as the closure, pinned it at one end, laid the other piece of fabric right side down and sewed both ends and one side being careful not to capture the lace in the seam.  I snipped the corners and turned it over.  I added the white and turquoise ebeads over the teal bias trim using white embroidery thread and then added the buttons using turquoise sewing thread being sure to leave enough room in the middle for my embellishment.  I used clear thread to attach the embellishment to the middle of the cuff.  I really like how the zipper teeth create a bezel for the metal piece!!  After that, I turned it back to inside out and sewed two short seams from each end, snipped the corners and turned it back to right side out.  I pressed the whole thing and hand stitched the opening closed.  I thought it needed a bit of something so I used white embroidery thread to add blanket stitching to both sides.  That was better!! I added yet more stitching - French knots in between the eyelets in the lace and a stitch in the center of each eyelet to help keep it from rolling up.

The embellishment was created using an old earring, a piece of zipper, some sequins and clear thread.  You can check this post for the construction details.  I submitted it to one of my groups in their Zipper Challenge.  

Therese

Winter Fashion Tag

This afternoon I took the time to create this tag for a swap on AFTCM themed Winter Fashion. It was such fun to make!!
I started with corrugated cardboard - light bulb packaging - and cut my tag to 3.5 "x 6.5".  I painted the corrugations with a bit of blue acrylic paint and let it dry.  Next, I used a bit of diluted white glue and added a layer of silver snowflake tissue paper which had previously been painted blue on the back. I used the foam brush to ensure that the paper settled into the valleys of the corrugations.   Once that was dry, I added some lace to the bottom edge, covered the joint with blue ribbon and stitched both pieces to the tag.  I added a bow layered with a pearl button over the lace using hot glue.  At the top, I added a 1/2" circle and punched a center hole.  It still needed a bit of something so I used a small script stamp and randomly stamped it in black on the upper portion, used the black stamp pad to slightly distress the edges and a silver pigment ink pad to highlight the top of the corrugations with a bit of  shimmer.  That was better!!
For the main element I sized, laser printed on white cardstock then fussy cut this dress image from CLKER.  I painted the bodice with shimmer acrylic paint and once dry added a row of clear rhinestones to the upper edge. I adhered some sparkly snowflake fabric (dryer sheet stamped and embossed with silver embossing powder) to the lower portion of the dress and trimmed it to the edge.  Next, I fashioned a billowy skirt using shimmery tulle.  I used a double layered rectangle which I machine basted across the top, gathered tight and tied off to stabilize the gathering.  I folded over the raw edge and machine stitched the top of the skirt to the dress just below the bodice.  To finish it off neatly I added a length of ribbon (same as the tag) over the stitching using double sided tape and also attached the edges of the tulle to the back of the skirt using double sided tape.  I used a brad to anchor the top of the dress form to the tag and 3D foam tape down the center back of the dress to attach it to the tag.  I backed the tag with black paper to hide the printing and the stitching.  I tied a long strip of tulle to the top of the tag through the hole and added a couple of short pieces of ribbon and lace.
I am most pleased with the results of my creative afternoon!!  I really love that image and have used here  previously.  The tag will be on its way to my partner early next week!!

Therese

Cards, Cards, Cards - Christmas - Vintage look

Christmas cards with a bit of a vintage feel!!  These cards feature images from a font called Christmas Cheer which I downloaded from the internet last week.  You can find it here.  I used the JOY, PEACE, NOEL and the winter scene with the house for these cards.  In Corel Draw, I sized the images to fit nicely in my largest oval Nestibilities, laser printed them eight to a page and cut them out individually.  I sponged the edges of my oval, my card and my button and watercoloured my image. I added a black label frame die cut (SX) embossed with a victorian embossing folder and placed some vintage seam binding in between.  These were layered onto a card front which was stamped using my Worn background stamp (SU) in brown.   I added a button and a bow which is a new technique I picked up this week off of Nancy Ward`s blog - Paper Friendly.  You can find the tutorial on Vicki Wizniuk`s blog - Wizards Hangout.  Basically, you take a length of ribbon, cross the ends, bring the center of the loop to the cross over, insert it into a loop of twine on the back of the button, tighten and tie off with a double knot.  Check out the tutorial and you will see how easy it is!!  I used a chipboard button which I die cut from a cereal box which was just the right colour to go with this card and used black cotton crochet thread to tie off the bow.  We used glue dots to attach this embellishment to our card fronts.
It is fun to create Christmas cards in non traditional colours though this one is starting to be one of my favorite combinations.  Check out these cards and these ones we made last year.  Here`s a few more and some more made a few years ago.
Don`t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to colour combinations and images for Christmas cards.  One of the girls at class today said she would probably use these bird images for making a few Christmas cards.  I think they would make wonderful Christmas cards!!

Therese

Cards with handmade paper!

I love crafting with kids! They are so spontaneous and do not second guess themselves!! I had a little friend over today to make cards with the handmade paper we made last week. She loves pink and purple so those are the colours I started with.

For this card I started with a sheet of purple handmade paper and added some wriggles all around with the glitter gel pens she brought along to share. I stamped a darker layer with her butterfly rubber stamp, embossed it using the D'vine Swirl (CB) embossing folder and glued it to the front of my white card. I added glittery dots to the outside edge, glued on my handmade paper to which I had tied a piece of glitter purple fiber, using 3D foam tape. The greeting is a digital stamp that I downloaded from Birds Cards. It has been trimmed with decorative scissors, embellished with glittery dots & flowers and glued to the card front, over the fiber, using 3D foam tape. A few glitter dots on my butterflies (SU) and they were also added using 3D foam tape.

One of the best things about crafting with others is that you can bounce ideas off each other and learn a different way of doing things. It is a bonus that you can share tools and supplies. Very happy with this card!!

We were very productive today!! I made two cards and she prepped two cards and a tag.

This card features a pink handmade paper die cut (SZ) butterfly which has been embellished with glitter gel pens and a shimmery body. Its companion is a butterfly that my friend stamped, coloured and cut out for me to add to my card. I added a little quote and a button to my card front which had been layered with a blue embossed layer and a small sheet of blue handmade paper.

It was a fun cardmaking day!! Make some time this coming week to craft with a friend! We had rain this morning which was a wonderful break from the HOT weather we have been having!!

Therese

Star card - reuse

With Earth Day coming up I thought I would see how much I could incorporate the three R's - reduce, reuse, recycle - in my card designs this week.

On this card I am reusing a piece of corrugated cardboard (1) from a box that was in the recycle bin. It took a bit to get the knack of undoing the laminations of the cardboard to expose the corrugations but more about that in a different post!!

It has a neat kraft look so I decided to use that as my colour theme. For my main element I designed a star, made myself a template and cut one from the corrugated cardboard. For the top layer I used an old music sheet (2) to create another star - another reuse item because some of these booklets are in poor shape to be used as music sheets. I traced my cardboard star onto the paper and cut inside the lines to give me a perfect star layer. I found this perfect metal button (3) - another reuse item - in my button stash and tied in some coordinating string to finish off my accent. The embossed background (4) is my next reuse item - it was sitting on my desk because it was rejected when I was creating this card. I added some mesh (drywall tape) and a leftover birthday greeting (5) layered onto a scrap of cardstock (6)!! Six reused items in this card!!

I challenge you to incorporate some reuse items in your creations this week!! I will be using this theme for my cardmaking cards this week as well.

Therese