Anniversary card featuring die cut hearts, shimmery paper and cardstock and some lace

The last of my family cards for July!!  For my youngest daughter and her husband for their anniversary.  I found several heart die cuts in my stash and added several shimmery pearl hearts to go with them. I chose a large envelope and made a dark purple card to fit inside.  I cut a piece of dark purple shimmery paper to fit on the front with an even border.  I used my fingers to manually emboss this layer with a bit of texture using a texture plate.  It is not visible in the photo and some of the texture was smoothed out in the process of gluing it to the front of my card.  It still had enough to break up the expanse of the shimmery paper which is what I wanted.  I mounted the hearts on the top portion of my card.  I added a piece of lace to the lower section and added a small oval greeting punchie.  I have really enjoyed stretching my boundaries and trying new sketches and ideas for my July cards!!

Therese

Father's Day card featuring real wood accents, a chickadee digital and a little font greeting

My Dad was a carpenter most of his working life and wood reminds me of him.  I am fortunate that my DH is also a wood worker and saves me all the beautiful thin pieces which get trimmed off of his projects.  These little pieces are cedar.  I backed the thin wood with sticky label before trimming the pieces out so they would keep some integrity.  I cut a large brown panel to fit inside the large envelope I had chosen and then adhered the wood pieces to it using white glue in a fine tip applicator.  I immediately put it under weight (encyclopedias) so they would dry flat.  Once the panel was dry I added the front flop which is embossed with a wood grain embossing folder.   I scored a half inch from the top, folded over the flap and adhered it to my panel to cover the gap in the wood elements where I will adhere my insert.  I trimmed my flap to the edge of my panel.  I added a little laser printed digital image of chickadees (clker) which I watercoloured before adhering it to the flap.  I watercoloured the font greeting then added some faux stitching lines with my tracing wheel.  I layered it onto brown leaving a larger border on the bottom which I cut it with scalloped decorative scissors and then paper pierced the scallops with a push pin.  I mounted the greeting to my front flap overlapping my chickadee image.  I really like how it worked out.  I am every grateful that my Dad has been well through this Covid situation as he has underlying health issues.  Everyday is a blessing!!             Therese

Front flap birthday card featuring Canada geese image, embossed flap and some ribbon

I have decided to make a few more flap cards for those I need for my special occasion in June.  For this card I started with a large envelope and made an ivory card panel card to fit inside.  I added a layer of green gift wrap and then a layer of scrapbook grayed paper leaving even borders all the way around.  I found the geese image (CLKER) in my stash and layered it onto blue after I watercoloured it.  Next, I found two coordinating strips of green cardstock.  I used a strip of green backed with double sided tape to hold them together. I left a half inch at the top which is where I scored it to create my flap. I hooked it over the panel and trimmed off the bottom portion.   I embossed the right hand side of my flap with a swirl embossing folder and added a strip of  blue foil paper to the area to the left of the strip.  I mounted my layered focal element so the top and bottom points lined up with the edge of the flap and then I added tape and glue to the area where it overlapped the flapo and adhered it in place.  I found a little font greeting in my stash, sponged its edges with green and blue and then mounted it to my flap using 3D foam tape.  To finish of my card I tied on a length of gray ribbon to the top portion of my flap with a double knot and trimmed the ends diagonally.  I added a piece of bond paper to the inside just below my flap for my written message.   I am enjoying the creation of these flap cards!!  

Therese

Anniversary card featuring embossed layers, border punched eyelet ribbon and serendipity hearts

Our daughter and son in law are celebrating their anniversary this month and I have made up this card for them. 
I started with a large envelope and created a brown card to fit inside.  I dug through my white core cardstock and found this similarly sized off cuts.  I embossed them with different embossing folders and then sanded their edges and middle to reveal the embossed design and them texture.  I adhered them to my card which left a gap perfectly sized for another scrap I had in my little stash.  I did not emboss the green one and trimmed it just a little longer.  I mounted red strip which was punched with the ribbon border punch from Stampin Up before mounting the green strip.  Thinking it needed a bit of something I stamped it with a script stamp (SU) in a dark ink which helped to unify the design.  I added two serendipity hearts punched with the SU heart punch over the green strip and then added three little brown rhinestones.  I found a coordinating greeting and mounted it just below the hearts.    Therese

CAS Thankyou card featuring decorative paper, a font greeting and some tracing wheel texture

Another CAS card that I created with inspiration from some online that left less blank space.  I have trouble leaving a lot of blank space.  I had the green scraps on my desk from another card I decided to see if I could come up with another card from that stash.  I found these scraps and only hand to trim them to length for this card!!  I adhered them onto a red card which I created to fit in one of my smaller envelopes.  I found the greeting in my stash, added two lines of piercing using my pattern tracing wheel and layered it onto a coordinating piece of green cardstock before adhering it to my card front over the decorative paper.  It still needed a bit of something so I added two little red circle punchies which I adhered with my white glue fine tip applicator.  I have made this sketch before but not very recently.  It was nice to be using designs from the past.    Therese

Birthday card featuring a loon, a torn background, washi tape and a layered greeting

For this card I started with the loon image (CLKER) which I laser printed on white cardstock and trimmed out of a letter sized sheet.  I watercoloured the water and once it was dry I masked and sponged in a horizon and landscape beyond.  I added a row of paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges.  I tore a piece from the inside of an used bank envelope to create my background.  I glued it in place on my black card and then secured it with this fun washi tape which my son gave me for Christmas!!  The pattern is a subtle background with hashed lines in gray.  I mounted the loon image over the background and added the little layered greeting using 3D foam tape.    Therese

Birthday card featuring a puffin, an hand embossed layer and a tiny greeting

For this card I started with this puffin image from CLKER which I laser printed onto white cardstock and trimmed to size.  I watercoloured it, mounted it to a hand embossed orange layer inserting a tiny laser printed font greeting in between before pressing everything down.  I left some an extra border of orange on the right hand side and the bottom which nicely highlights the puffin's beak and feet!!  I adhered this large layered element to a black card front and thinking it still needed something I added dots and dashes around the edges of the image.  That was much better!!

Therese

Birthday card from a kit featuring a die cut doily, a cake image and a layered greeting

Finishing up the card kits from my September  card making class. I modified some the elements from this kit - I cut a doily (SX) from the circle, die cut the cake image (Black Berry Jelly) using Nestibilities and changed up the greeting and tied on the ribbon.  I mounted the background to my blue card, added the doily using double sided tape in the solid center and then mounted the watercoloured image centered over it using 3D foam tape.  I did add clear glitter for the icing and on the flames of the cake and sponged the edges in blue.  I found this long greeting in my stash, flagged the end, layered it with a coordinating blue cardstock and tied on the green ribbon on the left hand side.  I mounted it with 3D foam tape as well below the doily.

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

Anniversary card from a card kit featuring a resist background with hearts, an oval with hearts & sequins and a oval layered greeting

Another card from a card kit from my January Cardmaking class.  I used the heart resist background (silver embossed with watercolour) horizontally for this card.  I changed up the design somewhat by adding two heart punchies and layering them over the vellum.  I added the layered sequins which I assembled with double sided tape using the same tape instead of brads.  I dug through my greetings stash and chose an oval one for an anniversary and layered it using a turquoise scalloped punchie (SU) and mounted it with 3D foam tape.  I have a difficult time making several cards exactly the same as my mind its always figuring out other options.  I will probably have quite a few different version by the time I get all of these cards made up!!  Therese

Sympathy card from a kit featuring a serendipity bird, an embossed strip and a bit of fiber

My last sympathy card for this coming week!  I used a card kit from my January class to make this card.  I mounted my scrapbook paper to a green card front and them flagged the end of my embossed strip.  I tied on my coordinating fiber to the top portion before adhering it to my card front.  I highlighted the beak with a marker, added an embossed wing and a tiny black brad to my bird die cut (TH) to get my serendipity die cut to look like a bird.  I used a bit of colour on the bottom to make the branch seem more like a tree.  I mounted it with 3D foam tape below the fiber and then I added the layered greeting below that.   Therese

Sympathy card from a card kit - TH wildflower die cuts from Hammered botanicals paper, a bit of lace and a layered greeting

We have a service to go to this week and I have prepared the sympathy cards I need from card kits from my last class. I used the Tim Holtz's wildflower dies to cut the flowers on this card from paper produced when I had a go at Hammered Botanicals.  Where the colour was not perfect I simply used watercolour to augment them until they all looked very much like wildflowers.  I added a length of lace to the diamond background paper adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape before adhering this large element to a green card front.  I tied white thread to the lace using a double knot to add some interest and texture.  I used a fine tipped applicator to apply white glue to the back side of the flowers, tucked them under the lace and held them in place for a bit.  I punched the laser printed little font greeting with the Word Window punch (SU) and then layered it onto a coordinating Modern Label punchie (SU) before mounting it to my card front just below the lace and to the right of the flower stems using 3D foam tape.   I love this colour combination and it makes a wonderful sympathy card.  Therese

January cardmaking - a card with a embossed resist background, a layered oval focal element and a small font greeting

I am back to cardmaking with my friends and happy to be at it.  We had very cold temperatures in the last couple of weeks or so and it is nice to have more temperate weather this week.
For our first card, I made up some embossed resist backgrounds using a decorative paper with a very slight floral design in white on blue.  I stamped the designs on the paper using embossing ink and then embossed them with silver embossing powder.  Once they were cool, I watercoloured them to coordinate with a selection of ovals I had in my stash - blue, several purples, turquoise and pink which pretty much completely overwhelmed the pattern which was what I was hoping would happen.  Getting the colours right took a bit of time but I am happy with how they all turned out.  I cut vellum ovals just one size smaller (Nestibilities) and they were dry embossed with a variety of designs/embossing folders.  I added a white star punchie to the purple oval and a white maple leaf to the turquoise one, layered on the embossed vellum oval and secured them together using two silver brads each with a couple of coordinating sequins on them. I adhered my background to a coordinating card and then adhered the oval focal element to it.  I embellished my little greeting with a flagged end and some paper piercing before adhering it to the oval using double sided tape.  It was really fun to be making decorative paper again!!    Therese

Birthday card featuring my doodled art, handmade washi tape and a tiny greeting

Still working on family cards for January!! 
For this card I started with a small envelope (great thrift store find) and made a deep rose card to fit inside.  I embossed the right hand edge of the front with the Swiss Dot embossing folder.  I found a piece of navy in my stash and embossed it with the Paisley embossing folder and then trimmed it to fit on my card.  I rummaged through my stash of handmade washi tape and found this piece that coordinated perfectly!  I cut a length and added to the navy layer before adhering it to my card front.  I found the laser printed flower  image - my own digital art - which I watercoloured.  I added some watercolour on the edges as well and then ran my tracing wheel on each side in a wavy line.  I mounted two strips of tan cardstock to the back which coordinate with the washi tape before mounting it to my card front.  The little punchie greeting was sponged before being added using 3D foam tape on the left and double sided tape on the right.           Therese

Sympathy card featuring wild flower die cuts, paste paper background and a glittery butterfly

 In need of a few sympathy cards this week.  This is the first one I made.  I started with the butterfly which is an embellishment I have had for a while.  I found some coordinating paper in my purple container of scraps which are actually paste paper from a while back. I trimmed the three pieces to fit on the front of a large white card and adhered them into place.  I decided to use these wild flower die cuts (TH) which worked perfectly with the paste paper strips.  I used white glue in a fine tip applicator to adhere them to the card front.  I trimmed my little font greeting, sponged its edges and adhered it to the front of the card.  I applied 3D foam tape to the butterfly and adhered it over the edge of the greeting. 

Therese

Cards featuring illustrated panels, ribbon and little font greetings

I am finishing off a few more cards today for my stash.  Always handy to have a few cards on hand for when you need them for friends and family going through a rough patch in their lives.  These cards feature calendar pages which were trimmed to fit on coordinating card fronts.  For the first one, I punched an opening on the top left, tied on a little bit of white fiber and then adhered this large element to a red card front.  I added the little laser printed punchie greeting in the opening with double sided tape.  

For the second card, I added a length of blue ribbon to my illustrated panel and the adhered it to a coordinating blue card front.  I finished it off by tying on a short piece of the same ribbon to the one on the front using a single knot to simulate a bow and added the little laser printed font greeting punchie using 3D foam tape.  

For my third card, the trimmed panel was not long enough to cover the whole card front so I adhered it to a yellow layer and adhered it to a black card.  I stamped the greeting and then dots above the image and below the greeting to finish off my card.  Made the overstamped edge a design feature using a fine tip marker.  

Therese

Christmas card featuring a reused card front, layering and a small layered greeting

Stash busting in support of stash building!!  Creating Christmas cards with a stack of used cards that were donated to me!!
For this card I trimmed the central image to fit on the front of an A2 sized card and added two small strips of red on each side before adhering this large element to the front of a green card.  I punched a Modern Label from a scrap of the same red and added a small font greeting punched with the Word Window punch (SU) over it and then mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.

Therese

Christmas cards made by reusing card fronts, some ribbon/fiber and a greeting

I am finally getting started on Christmas cards and have decided to reduce my stash of old Christmas cards and therefore will be refurbishing some for this season.  I started with these two which simply needed to be trimmed to fit on an A2 card front.  I added a flagged red ribbon and layered round punchie greeting on the top one and a piece of red fiber and a layered oval greeting made from punchies (SU) on the second one!!  It is a beginning and I hope to get a few more done this week.   Therese

Sympathy card featuring a colour printed decorative paper, ribbon and a layered butterfly and greeting

For this sympathy card I started with a light aqua card and added this colour printed decorative paper (digital image) to which I had added a gray ribbon with both ends adhered to the back with double sided tape.  I found the two butterflies in my stash and added blue foil to the silver one before adhering them together.  I mounted the butterfly to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Next, I tied a short piece of ribbon to the one I had on my card using a single knot to simulate a bow.  I used three punched oval shapes (SU) to create my greeting.  First, a small oval punched greeting, next a large oval punched from the same blue foil as the butterfly backed with a piece of cardstock to give it some structure and finally a large scalloped oval punchie cut from silver cardstock.  After adhering all of them to each other I added it to my card using 3D foam tape.   Really like this one!!!  Therese

Another sympathy card featuring a 3D butterfly embellishment, decorative paper and a laser printed greeting

For this sympathy card, I started with an ivory card.  I added a dark green layer and then trimmed a piece of laser printed decorative paper to leave a border all the way around.  Next, I punched a 1 3/8" opening on the lower right hand side and adhered this layer to the front of my card over the green cardstock layer.  I sponged a bit of colour to the laser printed punched greeting before mounting it to my card using double sided tape on both ends and a small piece of 3D in the center which gives it a bit of dimension.  The butterfly was discovered in my stash and was the perfect colours for this card.  I did add a bit of clear glitter to the body so it would coordinate with the spots on the net wings.  A nice simple sketch which nicely features this beautiful paper and a butterfly.     Therese