Exchange cards featuring stamped greetings, decorative paper and punchies

For my Exchange cards this month I have made another attempt at creating cards from a card sketch which I rediscovered in my Inspiration file.  These are pretty much CAS cards though they are not necessarily quick in that some thought and auditioning has to be done with the elements you are using to get good balance.  I used rectangles and hearts in my last two cards and I thought that circles might work well so I hauled out my circle punchie stash and put together a few in varying size ( 1", 1.25", 1 3/8", 1 3/4") which I thought would work together.  Next, I went looking for some subtle decorative paper which I could use with my little collections.  After that I created coordinating cards to fit in the large envelopes I had chosen.  I cut the circles in about half - one part just a bit bigger than the other with scissors.  On hindsight, it might have been better to use my paper cutter because it cuts straight.  I found two different greetings  to use and stamped them onto the subtle papers I trimmed out in a coordinating ink colour.  I used a square triangle in order to get the lines of elements perpendicular to the sides of the backgrounds.  My purple greeting was created with magnetic letters - I am still missing my mount - so you can see that the greeting is not really straight but this only became very evident once I was gluing my elements in place so I decided to just go with it!!  I arranged all the half circles until I was happy with the layout of them, moved them up a bit, added a length of double sided tape and then glued the bottom ones in place on the tape and then added the upper ones over them using white glue applied with a fine tip applicator.  The circles give a more balanced look for this sketch but I did have to strongly resist adding dots or "something" to them.  I am enjoying the challenge of this sketch and look forward to using other elements to see if other shapes work better than the ones I have used so far.               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 an embossed circle, a watercoloured heart (digital image) and a font greeting

I am making up the final few card kits from my September cardmaking class.  For this one I embossed the circle and trimmed it.  I adhered the stamped decorative paper onto my aqua card, added a little strip of aqua cardstock from top to bottom and then adhered the trimmed circle to the right hand side of the card.  I trimmed the heart image (Melonheadz) and used a corner punch on all the corners.  I watercoloured the heart to coordinate and then added clear glitter to the dots and in the striped fabric and then sponged the edges with purple ink.  I mounted the heart image over the circle using 3D foam tape.  I tied the purple ribbon to the greeting and mounted it below the image using 3D foam tape.  I did a bit of sponging on the greeting as well to soften the edges so it would blend a little better.

Therese

Christmas card using plank background, a flagged strip and a watercoloured nativity image

This is the last Christmas card I made for my February catch up on my commitment to make some cards every month so I will have what I need when December comes around. 
The background was sitting on my desk since my January card making session.  I created a red card to coordinate with the red envelope I had chosen.  I adhered the black and white wood gift wrap to it and went looking for an image that would work with it.  I found this little nativity which I thought would be good.  I watercoloured it to coordinate and then layered it with green cardstock.  I found the little greeting in my stash and layered it with the same green.  Once I was putting my card together I decided it needed a flagged strip of red behind the image so I added it before placing my other elements with 3D foam tape.  Still thinking it needed "a bit of something" I added three little red circle punchies above the greeting.  That was better!!!!!!  Glad to have caught up on my Christmas cards and will have see about getting my March ones done soon!!!!!!            Therese

A thank you card featuring bright scrapbook paper, a large label and a round greeting

This fun and bright thank you card started with a piece of scrapbook paper which I found last week in a hunt for something else!!!!!  No idea how long it has been "lost" but it was in an envelope so it must have been from a swap so it has been a while.  I trimmed a piece of navy that would fit on an A2 sized card and next trimmed a piece of the scrapbook paper to leave a small border.  I found this orange label in my stash and thought it would be perfect for hosting my greeting.  I dug the round greeting (laser printed digital stamp) and the orange and white scalloped circles (Nestibilities) from my stash.  The white was too bright so I coloured it with a grey stamp pad and then embossed it for more texture.  To create my focal element I started with the orange label (SX) which I sponged all the way around with grey ink.  I layered on two circle punchies on each side - black and yellow to which I added blue brads. I modified the brads with a blue sharpie marker to get them to coordinate more closely with the decorative paper.  I added the large grey circle to the center of the label and added the greeting which was layered on the orange scalloped circle using 3D foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.  To finish off this card for my stash I adhered the background to a grey card front and then added the large label at a bit of a diagonal.  Thinking it still needed " a bit of something" I added faux stitching to the edges of the label with a fine tip black marker. That was better!!         Therese

Large birthday card that features watercoloured digital stamp, fiber and some glitter

I made this card for my grandson whose birthday is coming up next week!!!!  I laser printed several images from Cre8tive Hands on a sheet of white cardstock and trimmed them out last week and I decided to use this little dog for his card. 
I started with a large envelope and I created a beige card to fit inside.  I found a piece of decorative scrapbook paper that coordinated and added a brown punched border (SU) on the right hand side.  I pierced each scallop with a push pin and then scored a line next to them.  I glued this to the back of my decorative paper.  I watercoloured my image and sponged the edge with blue to coordinate.  I added dots with a brown marker to highlight the edges.  To add texture I tied a length of orange fiber around my decorative paper layer and tied a knot on the right.  Wanting to add a bit more interest I dug through my stash of round punchies and found several that coordinated and glued them to the back of my coloured image.  I glued this large focal element to my card front over the fiber before gluing the whole thing to the front of my beige card.  I added some glitter glue in a coordinating colour to the circles' edges and one dot in the middle of the two brown ones.  Once they were dry I pressed my card a bit because the glitter glue had caused the circles to buckle a bit.  Pressing helped them to settle back into place.  This card is ready to go and will be send off when I get his brother's card ready as well.   Therese