Birthday card featuring a stamped background, handcoloured silk leaves and a layered greeting

 For this birthday card,  I used a stamped background which I created a while back when stamping leaves on a this card.  I started with a large envelope and created a ivory card to fit inside.  I trimmed a piece of navy cardstock to fit on it with a small margin all the way around and then embossed the right hand side with leaves.  I trimmed the piece of stamped paper (Kaleidacolour - Creole Spice) to length and glued it to the left leaving the embossed area showing.  I trimmed a laser printed greeting and tied on a short piece of kraft fiber, sponged its edges with a bit of green ink and then layered it onto yellow/orange cardstock.  I distressed the edges and then layered it onto a navy layer.  I watercoloured the silk leaves to coordinate with the ones on the stamped background.  I positioned them onto the front of my card and added my layered greeting over it using 3D foam tape to accommodate the stem.  After adjusting the leaves I added a small piece of double sided tape below the middle leaf to keep the spray in place.  Love these colours together!!         Therese

Birthday card featuring hand coloured silk leaves, dimensional sticker letters and stamped decorative paper

My oldest daughter's birthday is coming up and I made this card for her.
I started with a long thin envelope and created a dark brown card to fit inside leaving it a bit short so I could highlight the edge with the insert.  I punched the top edge with a scalloped border punch (SU).   I dug out two coordinating scraps from my decorative paper stash and used regular tape on the back to attach them together.  I trimmed the right side to fit on my card front.  Thinking that the edge of the piece on the left needed a bit of something I decided to stamp it with a solid leaf stamp using a multicolour stamp pad (Kaleidacolour - Creole Spice).  I simply inked my stamp and then stamped the edge using a piece of regular bond paper to mask off the music paper.  I stamped the stamp twice - once right next to the edge and another a little farther over which gives are a really nice layered effect.  I added the dimensional letter stickers to spell out my greeting over where the paper were joined.  I added the "HAPPY" stickers to kraft coloured half inch punchies before adding them to my card using double sided tape.  I used letter punchies which I watercoloured before adding clear dimensional dots to create "BIRTHDAY" and then glued those to my card using double sided tape as well.  I started from the bottom for "birthday" so I would have a space between the words.  I watercoloured a sprig of white silk leaves to coordinate with my stamped leaves and let them dry.  I pierced a hole between the words of my greeting and mounted my silk leaves using a square gold brad.  I love how this element adds so much interest and texture to my card!!  I mounted this large element to my card front.  To finish off my card I used a push pin to pierce each of the scallops on the edge of my card.  I cut an oversized insert and trimmed it to the same length as my card on the top and bottom an added a quarter inch on the right hand side to allow the scalloped border to really be showcased!!            Therese

Butterfly Fabric Postcard

I am working on catching up my swaps!! Here is the fabric postcard I created for my One for One July exchange on Trading Fabric Post Cards group.  I just discovered this website as well which explains a bit about the group and how it works.
I have really been enjoying making these postcards.  For this one, I started with some dyed silk which my friend Kate showed us how to do years ago when I lived out east!  It is a fun and easy process and I love the soft watercolour look that I achieved in this piece.  It was just the right size for my postcard so I cut a piece of batting and stitched them together using teal, light pink and dark pink thread in wavy lines across the length of it.  Dug through my stash of little scraps looking for something that worked with the colours and chose these ones.  They were donated to me by my sister after she finished making herself a lovely bag for carting her quilting supplies.  I used a butterfly die (SX) to cut the solid shape out of the lighter fabric and the outline out of the darker fabric.  I stitched the light coloured butterfly down first and then overlaid the dark wings and body which I also stitched into place using dark pink thread.  I did add a bit of watercolour to the body to give it a bit of definition before I stitched it down.  I added antenna using dark brown thread and the flight path was executed with light yellow thread in a couching stitch.  I added some yellow sequins and red Ebeads to the wings for a bit of texture and embellishment.  I fused some interfacing to the back to give it more body and added another layer of fusible webbing before laying my white back over my front and stitching the outer edge leaving a gap so I could turn it over.  Once it was turned inside out, I stitched closed the gap and pressed it neatly which activated the extra layer of fusible web securing my backing to the rest of the postcard.  I added a row of stitching all they way around the edge in dark pink and I was done!!   Added my details to the back and it is ready to be mailed off as soon as I get my partners information.

Therese

My Art - handpainted silk card

It has been a long time since I posted!! I have been teaching, creating, sick and had my grand daugther here for two weeks!! I am still playing catch up so I have a LOT to post to my blog in the next little while. Thanks for checking in!

Here is the card I made for last month's card club exchange! We made some hand painted silk at one of our members home's last month and were challenged to make a card with it for the exchange. I stamped on the silk with brown Memories ink I used my circle cutter to cut a hole in the card front and then created a layer in brown that was just a little smaller. I used glue stick to attach my silk and stretched it nicely in the opening. I added a layer to the inside front to cover up the silk and make a neat finish.
Layered a SU scallop punchie in ivory, 1 1/8" punchie in brown, a rust flower punchie and combined them with an ivory eyelet which I set with my Cropadile. Punched the SU slot punch on the right hand side of the card and ran brown ribbon from the inside through to a slot on the spine. Added my embellishment and stamped Thank you in brown. The card front was stamped very lightly in caramel using my SU Harlequin background stamp.
Over all a wonderful effect and I was very happy with the results of this effort. I have a few more pieces of silk I will play with in my card making!!

Therese