Exchange card featuring a woven background, a watercoloured little gnome and a round greeting

One of my exchange cards for October!  I started with a large orange envelope and created an ivory card that fit inside.  I added strips of handmade paper across the card and then wove colourful strips of cardstock to create a back ground.  Once I was happy with it I glued all the ends to the card using glue stick and double sided tape to secure all the  pieces to my card.  I trimmed the top and bottom of the card to create an even edge.  The little gnome (digital from Birdie Brown) was laser printed on white and watercoloured.  I layered it with three different colours of card stock and then mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I dug through my stash of greetings and found this round one (SU) which I had stamped a while back.  I added a little yellow leaf punchie in the center, layered it onto a red circle and then mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.

Therese

Some more pounded flower backgrounds

I did a few more backgrounds the other day after picking my first radishes from my garden. I wanted something that would coordinate with the radish leaves and be different than the geraniums I made last time so I picked some dandelions.  They worked out really well.  It took a bit to figure out the results are better if you break up the flowers into threes before laying them down and it is really hard to get a full on circle flower because they are so thick all you get is a large circle of colour without too much detail.  The radish leaves were very juicy so it was worth having a paper towel handy!!   I did you my Big Shot again to "pound" the flowers which creates more of a problem with run off - I expect that if you used a hammer the juice would be absorbed more locally and the images might be better as well.  I will have to explore that.  It may also be possible to remove the one shim from the sandwich and accomplish the same thing.  Will let you know!!  I hope you will consider giving this technique a try - it is super easy!!  Follow the above link to find recommendations for flowers and greenery which you can use even if you don't have a garden!!  You can even find some options at the grocery store!!
Therese

Hammered botanicals (flowers & leaves) with a Big Shot

 I received one of my exchange cards this week and it featured a beautiful botanical print on the front!!! She mentioned inside that she had created the print by pressing the leaves through her Big Shot.  I went looking on line for some instructions and found this video tutorial  and these step by step instructions.  This morning I thought I would give a go!!  I collected leaves and flowers from the yard and moved my Big Shot to a separate table so I would have lots of room.   What fun!!!!!!!  Just a note to say that the squishing gets a bit messy with the Big Shot so I would recommend adding a layer of paper towel to the sandwich to catch the spills especially at the final end where all the liquids end up.

 So you can see that the papers I created look awesome!!  Looking forward to crafting with them once they are dry.
So you use your Big Shot with all the platforms and two plates.  I put both of the plates on top with my botanical sandwich in between.  You can see here some of the botanicals I used.  You end up with two prints because you put a piece of white cardstock on the bottom, add your flowers and/or leaves and then lay another over top to create your botanicals sandwich.  It works best with fleshy flowers and leaves but they are also the ones that create the most liquid so be prepared with paper towel.

The first one you see there is one large chives head which has been dismantled and distributed over the half sheet of white cardstock.  I split the stem and cut it into pieces and laid them randomly among the florets.  This works very well!!  They are both juicy enough to give a good print.
Next, I used geranium flowers.  These were dead headed off the plant two days ago and were sitting on  a tray drying so I can use the petals in handmade paper.  I used willow leaves with them.  The willow leaves are not fleshy enough but the geraniums are very juicy so together they gave a decent print though there was not very much green in it.

 For the third one, I used geranium buds, mint leaves and a few leaves off my potato plant.  This worked very well though the mint leaves were not a juicy as I originally thought they would be the potato ones were perfect!!!  There a few potentilla leaves as well and they are not really juicy enough either.

For the fourth one, I used geranium leaves and radish leaves.  This combination worked very well and made a very good print.  

Forgot to take a photo of my last print which I made use coleus leaves.  That was perfect too!!

This is so totally fun!!  You don't need a Big Shot - a plain old hammer will do the job perfectly and give you a bit of exercise to boot!!  A little less mess with the hammer because the juices are not being pushed around.  So think slightly fleshy leaves and flowers for this technique.
If you don't have a garden or flower beds or pots consider that you can probably get some at the grocery store - radishes or carrots with the leaves on, any of the herbs, kale, spinach or lettuce might work, thin slices of onion, beets or carrots might work.
On the other hand, any empty lot in town might have a good selection of options - dandelions with leaves, thistles and maybe even grasses might give good results.  Considering checking out the local flower beds for any plants that need dead heading - marigolds, impatiens, petunias, pansies, etc.  Or ask your friends if they can spare a few from their planters or gardens.  One bonus
I ended up washing up my plates and platforms to ensure that the juices I produced with them this morning have all been removed and will not affect my paper die cutting later.
If you give this a try please leave me a message and link to where you have posted the fun papers you have created!!!

Therese

Laser toner resist/watercolour cards with layered greetings

Another set of laser toner resist cards!!

For these ones I used all over backgrounds from CLKER which I watercoloured with bright colours. Really like how they worked out!!

Once they were dry, I trimmed them to 4' x 5.25" and glued them to black card fronts.   I added a 1/4" strip of black cardstock and black & white punchie greeting to finish them off !!

You can check out the other ones here and here. Just another option for this quick and easy technique.  Give it a try and leave me a comment with a link to what you created!!

Therese

Packaging for gift certificates for a fundraiser

 I am donating some gift certificates for classes to a local fundraiser and was wanting to find a colourful 3D presentation for them. Here is what I came up with and I am very happy with how this project worked out!!
I printed my gift certificates on a half sheet of white cardstock.  I scored a piece of acetate and a piece of cardstock at 1" and at 2.5".  I stapled the two inch flaps to each other near the bottom which created a slot in which I inserted my gift certificate.  I printed a "Creative Play Date" header for each one and added green grass die cuts to the back using double sided tape.  I positioned the header on the front of the acetate and pulled the cardstock up in behind until it made a good footing and stapled it on both side through all the layers.  I inserted punchies between the grass and the cardstock to add a bit of dimension and colour!!                  Therese

4x4 chunky book page - golden strength

 Started on this swap page a few days ago and finished it off this morning.  I am really happy with how it turned out.
I started by gluing silver foil (chocolate = arts supplies) to both sides of a 4" x 4" cardstock substrate leaving wrinkles and texture.  I scribbled some brown and maroon Sharpie marker over the surfaces and then added butterscotch alcohol inks and blended them. Really like the highlights in the gold!!!  After a bit of internet research I downloaded both of the images and printed them on transparency.  I love the strength quote -great affirmations.  The other is a universal image for strength.

I trimmed the images and found that when placed over the gold foil the reflections were a bit distracting in my quote so I added a strip of handmade washi tape across the back which really helped to highlight the word Strength.  I played with my elements until I was happy with their placement, added three short pieces of ribbon at the top right of my front and stitched down the right hand side which secured all the pieces in place.  I added double sided tape at the bottom edges of both transparencies and then added another thin strip of washi tape to each side.  To finish securing the back I added double sided tape below the printing so it would not show.  For the front I found these three foil wine bottle seals in my stash, trimmed them nicely and added them using large glue dots over my transparency which I had secured with double sided tape.  It is fun to play!!!  My swap will be on its way to my partner today!!
Gardening has taken more time in the last few weeks because it was so hot and no rain.  We finally have had two good rains!!  Catching up on swaps in the next few days before having a visit with grandchildren.

Therese

TUTORIAL - watercolour flowers background

Watercolour Flowers Tutorial

Start with a quarter sheet of white cardstock and some watercolour crayons.  

Using different colours of watercolour crayons start making circular scribbles

in groups of five.  Add a yellow circular scribble in the middles of all of your flowers.

Now add little oval shapes with a line down the middle using a green 

watercolour pencil to create leaves for your flowers.

Next spray your decorated cardstock with water and spread the water colour

using a paintbrush.  

Once you have watercoloured all of your flowers leave your cardstock

 to dry.  I used my heat gun to dry it more quickly.

Next, use a black fine tipped Sharpie marker to make circular shapes over

all of the petals of your flowers.  Add dots to the yellow centers.  

Add swirls and dots in between the flowers as you wish.  

Here are a couple more I made using this technique.  On the left, the flowers

are really close together - on the right, they are farther apart.  Either way works well and
gives you a bit of a different look.  I also added dips & lines to my petals in these ones.

This is a quick and easy watercolour flowers technique that you can use to create

backgrounds in minutes.  It is all free form so can be varied as you wish

to give you the kind of background you are needing for your project.  

By making elongated ovals instead of circles you could create dragonflies.

Large squat ovals in two different sizes would create butterflies.

Make only one flower and use as the main element on your project!!

Try it out and see what you are inspired to create!!

You can see a couple of cards I made with my backgrounds here.  

Therese