A few more washi tape cards with fun greetings from card kits

I have really enjoyed making these washi tape cards!!  You can check out my wahsi tape tutorial here.
I started by creating a bit of a background wash using ink and water using my handmade foam stamp.  Next, I applied coordinating lengths of washi tape.  The green on the blue card is handmade with mylar tissue and double sided tape.  All three on the "Thanks" card are handmade with decorative tissue and double sided tape.  I embossed both of them manually with a hammer using different embossing folders before gluing them to the coordinating card front from the kits. I watercoloured the fun die cut (SX) greetings (image and regular fonts) and applied them to the front of the cards using 3D foam tape.  Lastly, I finished them off by adding coordinating sequins using double sided tape to adhere them to the cards.  Love the look of these!!  Card kits made these quick and easy cards.!!!                        Therese

For a special guy on this special day!!

I chose to make another of these washi tape cards for my DH for Valentine's!!  I used a light linen distress ink and a yellow Oxide ink to make the background with my new DIY foam stamp.  I added three strips of handmade washi tape created using double sided tape and tissue paper.  You can check out the tutorial here.  The left hand one is red tissue paper stamped with black Versafine ink, the middle one is printed decorative tissue paper and the right hand one is medical tape stamped with a small heart stamp in black Versafine ink.  I really like the combination of these for this card.  After adding the three lengths of washi tape I manually embossed hearts all the way around with a hammer and then glued this large layer to a red card front.  I found some coordinating sequins in green, gold and red and added them using double sided tape.  I watercoloured the laser printed die cut greeting (SU) and mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I added clear dimensional paint to the little heart greeting (image font) and while I was at it I decided to add some "drops" as well which look pretty cool now that they were dry!! 
We never go out for dinner on Valentine's Day though we usually cook a meal together at home to celebrate.  It has been a very busy weekend and the day is upon us so we will be making plans to celebrate in the next few days instead.  Our celebrations always include good food!!

Therese

Washi tape, a stamped greeting and a few sequins over watercolour

I have experimenting with washi tape cards and here is another one!!  I used my DIY foam stamp to create the background using a blue Distress ink pad on white cardstock.  I stamped the little greeting in black Versafine ink once the background was dry.  I added three little strips of washi tape, two of which I made myself using double sided tape and tissue paper.   Love how it looks!  I watercoloured the greeting and added three little coordinating sequins before mounting the whole thing to a turquoise card front.   I don't believe I have ever used this stamp before so this last little cardmaking session has been good in getting the dust off some of my supplies!!!

Therese

CAS - Watercolour background, washi tape and some flourishes for a great birthday card

I have been wanting to play with this washi tape concept for a while and after making some a while back I had a better supply of coordinating ones so I decided to give it a go. 
I used a scrap of foam packaging to create the background along with a pink Distress ink pad and a bit of water in a spray bottle.  Worked out perfectly!!!  I dug through my stamps and found this flourish that I bought years ago and has seen very little use over the years.  I stamped it once in black and then inked only the top third of it and stamped it again going the opposite direction Perfect!!  I added three strips of washi tape.  Can you guess which one is the one I made???  I made the pink checkered one using double sided tape and tissue paper.  You can check out my tutorial here.    I trimmed this chalkboard greeting close and touched up the edges using a black marker.  I used double sided tape to adhere it to my background and thinking it still needed a bit of something I added two little pink rhinestones.  Next, I added three pink sequins in three different pinks adhering them using double sided tape.  I adhered this large element to a pink background and my card was finished!!!!!!!!!  This is probably as close to "Clean and Simple" as I will ever get so I am very happy with how it turned out!!!! 

Therese

DIY foam background stamp

I have been admiring the watercolour backgrounds created by several artists on Splitcoast Stampers!!  They are using products that I do not own so I was wanting to create a similar look using what I had.  So I dug out some foam packaging, a mount, ink pads, some white cardstock and some water in a spray bottle.  I tore a piece of the foam packaging so it would have rough edges and then used a palette knife to give it some texture by just digging it into the surface enough to compress the foam and mark it.   That worked beautifully!! 

I adhered it my stamp mount and proceeded to play with it and some ink pads to see what I would get.  To get a diffused look I needed a light spray water before stamping and then I just continued stamping in an all over manner without reinking!  The chalk ink pad is the one on the lower right  - much more yellow that I was expecting.  Two different pink stamp pads for the other two.  The one that worked the best was using a pink Distress ink pad and it was the right colour for the card I was making!! 
So I am happy to have "made" myself a fun background stamp and I will be playing with this idea for another while!!  I hope you will all consider experimenting with your tools and supplies when following the inspiration of an online creation!!!

Therese

Two fun cards with reused die cut elements

The focal elements on these two cards have been die cut from used cards!!  They are great!!  

For the first card, I used this cute little birthday card image which was die cut (Nestibilities) from the back of a large card.  I started with a yellow card front which I stamped with a circle foam stamp in yellow. I added a coordinating pink layer with a distressed edge.  I cut a hole in the green layer using a Nestibilities Circle die to accommodate and frame the cake die cut then embossed it with a dots embossing folder.  I tied on a little orange yellow picot ribbon on the right hand side before I glued it to the card.  I adhered the focal image using 3D foam tape inside the hote in the green layer.  I layered a pink laser printed greeting oval punchie greeting to a scalloped oval punchie and adhered below the image.  Cute card for a little girl's birthday!!  

The second card features a little rose die cut which was cut from the inside of a used card.  I stated with an ivory card front and added a dark green layer.  I embossed a layer of pink paper and then layered on two rectangles of pink/ivory decorative paper.  I trimmed a scrap of the green cardstock on both ends and glued it to the left hand side of my card and then adhered the rose die cut over it using 3D foam tape.  Finally, I stamped the greeting in dark pink next to the focal element.  Pink and green - so I am loving it!!

Therese 

Christmas Thanks with a blue feather

What fun it has been to use these gift wrap backgrounds from one of my Christmas gifts!! This piece was a bit short so I cut it into three pieces, stamped them with hand made foam stamps (circle and dot) and a swirl in blue to coordinate with my card front.  I glued the three pieces to my card front starting with the top and the bottom and centering the other one in between.  I added black cardstock strips in between for a nice dramatic effect.  The feather is a foam sticker which I embellished with permanent markers in several colours of blue and black on the outside edges.  I cut a rectangle of blue cardstock and adhered my sticker to it.  It still needed a bit of something so I used blue ink and my stipple stamp to soften its look. Perfect! I adhered this element at a bit of a slant on my card front and added a layered punchie greeting.

Therese

Altered gift wrap for Thank you cards

I like to use a piece of gift wrap that arrives on one of my Christmas presents to make my thank you cards for the season.  This year I chose this very unique snowflake gift wrap in rust and ivory that my daughter wrapped my gift in.
I started by stamping a script stamp all over the paper using a reddish brown ink (Brilliance) and applying gold embossing powder here and there so I would get some gold highlights overall. Once it was embossed the rest of the script seemed to be less prominent so
I decided I needed to add a design

element with a bit more body to offset the delicate snowflakes already there and to provide a darker element to tie in with my tag greetings.  I dug these two snowflakes from my fun foam stash.  To make the larger one more delicate I punched holes in the larger balls using a regular hole punch.  Much better!!

 I used regular glue stick to adhere all the pieces to a clear mount and stamped it all over my paper using the same red brown ink.
On the left, you can see the piece of brown paper I was using on my work surface to catch all the over stamping from altering my paper and my card fronts.  It is looking pretty good and will no doubt end up in a future project as background paper after I have added a few more bits of "left over" paint over it in the next month or two.  I add all my left over paint from any project to paper - either one that already has some on it or a completely blank one if I do not have one that coordinates.  It always gives me very unique backgrounds for my projects.  You can check out the cards I made with my paper here.

Therese

Gifts of Imperfection - journal pages

Continuing on my journey with Brene Brown's Gifts of Imperfection course, I am working on the journal prompts she provided for us to work on until the second part of the course begins at the end of March.   Check it out on Oprah!  I created these pages before I did my journaling.  I started by hand lettering the titles, the separations and graphics using a black fine tip Sharpie. For the textured background I embossed a piece of fun foam in a swirl embossing folder (TH) and used it like a stamp.  For the first two I used my Kaleidacolour pad

- Royal Satin and for the last one I used Distress Ink - Weathered Wood.  I mounted the fun foam to an acrylic mount, rubbed the pad onto the surface, spritzed it with a bit of water and stamped it on the cardstock page.  I spritzed and stamped it several times without reinking which provided graduated colours and some nice watercolour backgrounds. For the last one I used the back side of the fun foam stamp which gave a more solid version of a pattern. I also watercoloured my titles on the last one.  I used colour pencils on the titles of the first two.

Truly, the more we know ourselves the better we can live our lives and love those around us. Creativity and art can be a vehicle for that process!! So be creative every day!!  There are so many venues - art, decorating, cooking, gardening, dancing, etc!!

Therese

Technique book pages - moldable foam

I have joined a Technique Book Swap on AFTCM. I signed up for five techniques and this is my first one - moldable foam backgrounds. I did some research on line to see what others were doing and tried the few I had supplies for. I have some Penscore which I used for some of these backgrounds. There is also a product called Magic Stamp which is very similar and works the same way. This foam can be heated and impressed with any texture so the sky is the limit for what is possible.

This next photo shows all the pages I made for my swap using moldable foam!! Top row - PS, cedar sprig imprint and multicoloured dye ink, moldable foam packaging (packaged with a unmounted stamp to be used as a stamping surface), embossing folder imprint and blue dye ink, PS, heart buttons imprint and red dye ink. Row two - fun foam heart, part of a rubber stamp imprint and blue dye ink*, PS, cedar sprig imprint and brown dye ink, moldable foam packaging, part of a floral rubber stamp and blue dye ink. Row three - PS, lace imprint and pink dye ink, moldable foam packaging,

part of a floral rubber stamp and blue dye ink, PS, pressed leaf imprint and green dye ink.

You can see here the little fun foam heart I used to create the blue background* in the previous picture!! It turned out very cool and made a very interesting background. Who knew that fun foam could be used so creatively!!

To create the stamp, heat moldable foam about 10 seconds with a heat gun until it gets soft and smooth and immediately press it into your texture! Hold for 30 seconds or so and you have a new stamp!! The fun foam works pretty much the same way - the thicker fun foam is better for creating stamps this way. Just use a bit of double sided tape to hold the fun foam to a solid surface - piece of wood or thick plastic works well - which you can use as a handle for impressing it onto your texture. Now just apply your ink and stamp away!! They can be cleaned and reused many times if you choose to keep the design you have created. To impress a new design - simply heat again and apply to new texture!! A new stamp!! I have kept a few of the ones I have created in the past because I really like the look of the stamp and how well it makes backgrounds. You can also use foam trays in the same manner but there are warnings on the internet about health risks to heating the foam. It solidifies much more quickly so you really have to be ready when using this type of foam.

If you don't have a heat gun you can use another source but you will have to experiment to see what works and how long it takes to soften the foam. I do not recommend any sort of open flame!!! Consider using a light bulb or electric stove element.

Be on the look out for moldable foam that is disguised as garden kneelers, visors, etc. Anything that has feels like fun foam (spongy) will probably work. The thicker fun foam works better - 1/8" or more.

There is a lot of die cut fun foam available so buy the shapes you want. Otherwise, buy sheets and cut with a die cut machine, scissors or an exacto knife. You can create your own shadow stamps for any of your regular stamps by just stamping the image on the fun foam and cutting out the shape. If you have a Cricut consider using a deep cutting blade to cut out shapes!!

You can use a wide variety of colour mediums with these stamps - ink pads, acrylic paint, textile paints, etc. You can also stamp on wide variety of substrates - paper, cardstock, fabric, wood, etc.

As for textures - the sky is the limit!! Consider rice, pasta, rubber bands, pressed botanicals, rubber stamps, shells, buttons, lace, fabric, placemats, plastic canvas, beads, combs, texture plates, embossing folders, etc. Consider that the image will be reversed so in some cases writing or numbers is not your best option.

Foam trays and fun foam can not only be impressed with an image but you can also add details by using a pencil or pen and scribing the surface. Consider though that this may damage the surface enough that it cannot be heated and reused but a great way to add details to a basic shape.

Foam stamps need to be neatly stored so their surfaces are protected from contact with hard edges which over time will impress their surface and possibly ruin their impression. Thin fun foam ones can be stored in CD cases.

So buy yourself a few sheets of fun foam (craft foam), start playing and make yourself a few stamps!! Enjoy!!

Therese

This card features some holiday gift wrap I bought on sale last year after the holidays!! It is a very subtle pewter with shiny gold leaves. Very nice! I layered this onto a dark pewter cardstock and added a greeting I laser printed on oatmeal cardstock. Added some stitching with a black marker and two gold eyelets. The heart is a fun foam stamp! I made it myself by cutting out the shape out of fun foam and mounting it to a small clear acrylic mount with double sided tape. As you can see it stamps very nicely and the cost was almost nothing!! I also cut a fun foam stamp for one of my snowflake stamps for my OSW class. Stamped the snowflake on fun foam and then cut out the part I wanted to stamp in a solid colour! Worked wonderfully!! So save yourself a few dollars by making your own solid stamps! You will have the advantage of being able to make coordinating solid stamps for some of your other stamps - lady bug, flower, star, etc. More money for rubber!!

I have been checking out the gift wrap in the stores I visit! There are some very nice pearly ones at Michaels as well as some very elegant and funky ones that would be great for cardmaking all year round!! A gorgeous red and silver swirl that would be great for Valentine's! Consider getting together with a group and buying a few rolls to share!! There are, of course, a lot of wonderful Christmas papers that would be great for your Christmas cards next year and will be deeply discounted on Boxing day!! I am always on the look out for getting supplies for cardmaking at a discount. I am hoping to find a nice snowflake paper for next years cards!!

Therese

Created this fall fat book page a couple weeks ago but only just sent it out as a RAK last week!! Created with a few elements that were sitting on my desk from my cardmaking in October!
I used a foamy coaster as a tool for applying ink. It gives a really interesting pattern. I can see cutting out shapes from this material - foamy coasters and placemats made of this material are generally sold for use on outdoor patio tables in bright colours. Could easily be cut and applied to an acrylic mount to cover the whole front of a card!! Was also thinking that the shelf protector you can buy in a roll would work very much the same way and would have a different pattern. Very inexpensive background stamps. From several lists of my lists I see that people are using their die cutting machines to create shapes out of fun foam for stamping bold shapes. There are certainly some much more ornate dies showing up lately that would make fabulous fun foam stamps!! I am always interested in making more of the tools I already own!!
Back to the page - several layers of decorative paper and an acetate overlay with a leaf stamped on it attached with a brad!! Added some fiber to the front edge to add some interest - especially once the page in bound into a book!!
I am presently working on getting my White on White fat book pages bound. It will be a while yet as they week is already full and I have two Christmas Card classes coming up at the end of the month. It can wait.
I have also worked on a giftie swap and will only be posting photos once the swap is over - after December 25th. There will be 12 gifties for each person for the last 12 days of December. No fun to ruin the surprise for everyone!! My sister and I worked on them for a whole day and they turned out very well.

Therese