A funky fabric postcard featuring a pink leaf

I created this fabric postcard for a birthday swap on my fabric postcard group.  I started with a portion of a fabric collage which I created a while back using a variety of strips I purchased at a thrift store.  I had perused my inspiration folder earlier in the day and found one that had a large leaf so decided to make that my theme.  I was having difficulty envisioning anything that seemed reasonable so I went back to the folder to see what had inspired me and I could not find the image I had checked out earlier so I was left to go back to creating without any further input.  I eventually chose this pink solid and floral that coordinated to create my leaf by stitching two small pieces together to create the center line.  I used a pencil to draw the leaf before cutting it out and then I laid it onto my collage.  I thought it needed a bit of a stem but pink seemed out of whack so I chose two pieces of green from my small bits stash.  I layered them and slipped them underneath the leaf before I added stitching.  I used dark green thread for the stitching passing over the perimeter several times.  Next, I did the center line and all the veins several times.  To finish off the postcard I cut a piece of batting and an ivory cotton backer, pinned them together and stitched all the way around the edge and then filled in between the edge and the leaf in an all over pattern.  I dug through the baggie of strips (the same ones I used for the collage) to see if had something that would work for the binding.  I found this great fabric with a greenish background and some flowers some of which worked with the pink leaf so I applied fusible webbing to the back of several strips to create my binding.  It was easy enough to trim the strips to the length I needed and then fuse them one at a time to the postcard.  I started with doing the front left hand side and next I fused the strip to the back.  I repeated this three more times to finish all the sides.  I stitch twice all the way around using pink thread.  I like this binding method.  After a bit of checking it out I decided that I needed to add some yellow green thread to the leaf to help it fit in better with the whole postcard so I dug through my thread stash, found what I needed and added the stitching.  That helped to make it all work together.  I dug through my little stash of inkjet printed quotes and chose this one about focusing on what you want to add to my postcard.  The whole fabric sheet was fusible before it was printed so I simply needed to trim it out and adhere it to my card.  I decided to add stitch just for fun!!!
Mine does not seem to be a beautiful as the one I recollect seeing in my inspiration folder.  I am not sure what I am missing but I expect it has to do with my colour choice.  I did audition LOTS of fabrics before I chose the pink but maybe I should have kept trying.  I am happy with how it turned out but next time I think I will have to create more contrast between the background and the leaf for the whole design to be more effective.  It is always a learning experience!!!!
It will be off to my partner in time for it to arrive for her birthday!!              Therese

A fabric postcard featuring wax crayon fabric and an inkjet printed quote

Time for another fabric postcard for my birthday swap on my group.  I started with a piece of this fabric collage which I created a while back using slim strips of fabric which I acquired in one of my thrift store visits.  In order to have the flower pop a bit I decided to use a piece of the wax crayon fabric I created a while back.  I like that it is a bit stiff because of the wax which means it cuts very crisply.  I hand cut the petals from the pinky purple scrap and laid them out on my collage background.  I dug in my fabric scraps to find some green for the leaves and chose this green and white one.  On hindsight, it does not have enough contrast when compared to the background.  It is a learning curve!!  I trimmed out by hand a stem and two leaves and put them on my postcard.  Once all the pieces were in pinned in place I started stitching starting with the leaves in dark green thread.  Next, I used a deep purple on the petals, then changed to a light purple for the perimeter and then used yellow to accent the center of the flower.  I really like how that worked out.  Then it seemed like the leaves were too dark so I added some yellowy green stitching to them which helped.  I added a layer of batting and a white cotton backer and stitched all the way around the edge and then filled in all around my flower in an all over pattern using a light teal thread.  I really like how that worked out as well.  The stitching does not pop too much but coordinates nicely with the background.  I auditioned several fabrics and chose this purple with swirls which worked well with all the elements for my binding.  I applied a strip of fusible webbing to the long edge of the scrap and trimmed it out with my ruler and cutter.  It was long enough to binding all the way around the postcard so I trimmed out four pieces - one for each edge.  I applied the binding to the front by ironing it into place and turned over the postcard and fused the remainder to the back.  I repeated the same procedure for the other three sides.  I stitched all the way around the edge twice in a yellow green thread.  Really like this binding method because it is very neat.  I added a quote that was printed on an inkjet printer on fusible fabric.  I trimmed it out of the sheet, fused it to the postcard and added stitching at both ends.  Lots of fun to use the fusible fabric to create words that can be used on fabric creations!!  I have used stamps and ink in the past which I like as well but this method allows so much more flexibility in font size.  So now that it is finished I will package it up and send it on its way to arrived at my partners location in time for her birthday.
Therese

A fabric postcard embellished with rick rack, stitching and an appliqued sunflower!!

On my fabric postcard group, Trading Fabric Postcards, I have joined the birthday swap where we make postcards for each participant for their birthday - just over a dozen postcards for the year!! You can make the postcards any time provided you send them in time to arrive for everyone's birthdays.  I like that I can choose any theme or technique for the postcards which allows me to learn along the way!!  For this postcard I started with a section of this fabric collage which I made a while back.  It had a transition from dark horizontal strips to brighter vertical strips so I stitched on a piece of red rick rack to help visually divide my postcard into two areas.  I found the sunflower in my stash and fussy cut it out of the fabric after applying fusible webbing to the back.  I found a little strip of green and a small piece of dotted green from which I cut two leaves.  They didn't coordinate as well as I would have liked so I watercoloured the leaves of the sunflower, the stem and the two leaves until I was happy with how they looked together.  I added two layers to the bottom edge on the right to create "ground" on which to situate the flower.   Once the flower pieces were dry I fused them to the collage above the ground starting with the stem, then the flower and finishing off with the leaves.  I used dark green thread to add stitching to the leaves, the stem and around the center of the sunflower.  It gives them more texture and a bit more definition.  I added stitching to the ground as well while I was at it.  I cut a piece of batting and a white backer, layered them and stitched all the way around the edge in dark green and added lines of stitching in the dark area as well.  I changed the thread to a light purple and stitched all the way around the sunflower going up and down between the different pieces.  I auditioned several fabrics before I found this red one with tiny white polka dots which worked with the colour scheme of the postcard.  I applied two strips of fusible web to the back of the fabric trimming them out in between then cut out the pieces I needed to bind all four edges.  I positioned a strip on the front of the long left hand edge and fused it in place.  I flipped the whole postcard over and fused the remain piece to the back.  I did the same three more times with the pieces I had trimmed out.  I used white thread to add two rows of stitching all the way around to finish off my binding.  I added a little quote which was inkjet printed on white fusible fabric tucking it just below the rick rack at the top.  Very happy with how it turned out and now it will be mailed off to my partner in time for it to arrive for her birthday.     Therese

An Art canvas with a life quote

I created this art canvas for a young woman who is graduating from high school in June and attending university away from home.
I gave the deep 8" x 10" canvas a teal acrylic paint colour wash on the front and sides then added a few blue spatters before leaving it to dry.  I cut the letters from black art paper using a set of Cookie Cutter alphabet dies and used a piece of low tack masking tape as a line to set them all in place and adhered them with white glue applied using a fine tip bottle.  After drying it overnight, I stamped flourishes around the front edge using black Memories ink and a small flower/flourish clear stamp.  I had to apply a little support from underneath in a few places to get a full impression.  I used my stipple stamp (SU) and the black ink to add a bit of texture within the flourishes and the lettering.  I used a black permanent marker to colour the back portion of the sides and used masking tape to ensure a nice straight line.

To seal my canvas I applied a coat of matte Modge Podge to the sides and the front. Once that was dry, I added a length of black cotton lace to the front portion of the sides using a thin piece of double sided tape on the back of the lace to keep it in place and stapling the two ends at top center.  This beautiful fabric flower covers the staples.  It is held in place with a glue dot and a couple staples in the outer layers to ensure it is secure.  I used a black sharpie to colour the staples so they don't show.  I added a hanger on the back and signed it. It is ready to go!!    Really enjoyed making this canvas!!
Therese

Casablanca Arch swap

On AFTCM,  I joined an arch swap with the theme of Casablanca.  I did some internet research and found a poet  - Abhallah Zrika - from Casablanca who has been jailed for his prose poetry and a quote where he expresses his wonder at the power of words.  In the process, I found out a lot about the region and their culture.  Beautiful architecture and tiled buildings!  I found a blog that talked about mosaics and how to create some simple patterns so I decided to create a tiled wall for my arch using one of his simple shapes.  I added an inner arch where I

added some arabic words and a hamsa  - a protection symbol that is used to attract the magic of life and repel evil - it is a lovely hand with a heart!!  I added a cage to protect the words and symbolize this poet's struggle with freedom and two white doves to symbolize peace and the pureness of following one's bliss.  I watercoloured all the squares blue - used extensively in their buildings - and added clear dimensional paint to make them look like tiles.  Once they were dry I added a clear sealer to the rest of the wall to make it look tiled.  As a final touch I added a short piece of white seam binding tied to the cage with a single knot and some blue half pearls to the bottom edge to add a bit of texture.
On the back I used the same hamsa symbol and this quote - " Words are a precious thing; everything can live in them." by Abdallah.   I used my "new to me" score tool (Thanks, Carol) to create a cross hatch pattern inside the inner arch and added my own quote in handwriting!!
A totally fun project which I am really happy with!!  It is off to my partner in today's mail.  


Therese

House book

 I have created a little House Book for a swap on AFTCM.  The theme is A Garden Journey, so I created some house shapes and decorated them with garden images.  It has been a fun project.
I started with some very thin corrugated cardboard which arrived last week wrapped around a new "toy"!!  I designed my pages, cut them out and die cut the fence from scraps.  I backed the pages with foreign language book pages.  I stamped the fronts with a text stamp in dark brown and added some stippling as well.  Finished all the edges with a large black permanent marker.

Here is my book all closed up.  I have added a tie on the left hand side that slips around the fence post which keeps it nicely closed.  I have four pieces - the fence, the one storey, the two storey and the large apartment building in the back.  I had wanted to have all of the windows on the buildings be on the front of the pages so it would look like a neighborhood.  Unfortunately, I was not paying as much attention as I should have when I was decorating the pages and you will see that the windows ended up on the back instead of the front. Not wrong, but not what I had imagined!!
The fence is decorated with flower and vine punchies on both sides.

With the fence flipped open you can see the front of the first house.  I added a window and a door with the large marker and filled in the details with a fine tip Sharpie.  I added punchie flowers to create a window box and a grass die cut at the bottom.  In between, I added my wording by tracing a letter template lightly with a pencil and then giving the letters weight using the fine tip marker.  I wanted the letters to be a little sketchy so left them a bit rough.

The back of the first house features an architectural window with a window box, two large flowers, a grass die cut, a butterfly and the continuation of the quote.
The front of the second house features a garden scene which includes a bird on a branch, a small butterfly, a grass die cut and five layered flowers.  These are all punchies!!  The quote continues in the same manner as the previous pages.

The back of the second house features a balcony with flowers in a window box, a grass die cut, a butterfly, some leaves and a large flower along with a few more words from my quote.
On the front of the last page I have created a garden  of love that features a wide variety of heart flowers all growing next to each other.  Added "Sow love!" in the same manner as the quote on the previous pages and some grass at the bottom.

On the back page I drew in lots of windows and gave them all different window treatments.  Each window received a flower box and a tiny heart as well.  Added the saying, some butterflies and some grass at the bottom.
I bound the pages with some cording which I knotted on the outside of the book on the left hand side.

I am very happy with how this little project turned out even with the mishap of the windows.  I liked combining lots of different items and techniques.

My little book will start it's trip to my partner tomorrow and hopefully will arrive there some time next week!!

Therese

Handmade Paper Art book - paper weaving

This page features a panel of woven handmade paper. I cut a piece of white cardstock 5"x5" and added double sided tape to each side. I did not remove the carrier from the tape right away. To start the weaving, the carrier was removed from one side and strips of handmade paper were placed side by side over it adhering them to the square. It was then fairly easy to weave strips into them using just a simple over and under pattern. Once the weaving covered all the white cardstock the carrier from the last three strips of double sided tape was removed and the paper weaving pressed into them to secure it. Any pieces overlapping the edges were trimmed, any ends that were flapping were glued down and the weaving was glued to the handmade paper sheet. Both the quote and the trimmed embossed handmade paper (from the first day) were coloured and layered onto the page overlapping the weaving and attached using brads.

I like this quote because it emphasizes that our life is the accumulation of days!! It seems more manageable to make changes in your life when you can start with making changes only for one day!!

Therese

Handmade Paper Art book - colouring with paper

This page was fun because we used tissue paper to "colour" our page! It is cool to see the colours that are created as the tissue paper strips are glued down in an overlapping pattern. Each student cut out a house shape, added details using marker or gel pen, stapled it to their tissue paper background, coloured and trimmed their quote and added it with brads and finally glued on their embossed red hearts!! I laid my tissue paper strips to create a rainbow. Each student was provided with a variety of colourful paper strips to choose from so each background was somewhat different. One student glued hers vertically for a really different look!

Chose this quote as a reminder that when we choose to love it has a transformative effect in our lives!!

Choose to think, speak and act more lovingly today!!

Therese

Hands of Time ATCs

I created these three ATCs for a Hands of Time swap on AFTCM!! I used photos I downloaded from The Morgue File - a great resource of photos for free - and added some elements to make them work. The left hand one - I used a dandelion photo, added a clock face and a quote - You only have n o w. Choose wisely. I added some 3D hands with a brad to the middle and added the n and the w with a white gel pen to spell the word n o w. The middle one - I used a photo of a watch, added a quote to the top and bottom and a clock sticky border to the side of it. The right one - I used a photo of a clock mechanism and added a quote with white gel marker.

One swap down - several more to go!!

Therese

Altered page with Nature ATC

Catching up on some projects that were put on the back burner last month!! Created this page around the Nature ATC I received from Linda last month. I love the look of those landscapes put together with Stampscapes stamps. Linda has only recently started with this stamping style but is already very good at it!! I loved this style of drawing when I was in college and thought I would give it a go for this altered page. Though a bit time consuming I love what you can achieve with a couple black markers!!

I created the background by painting white gesso on to the book page and adding some blue acrylic transparent paint I create a while back for this project. Just painted it on and moved it around a bit with fingers and paper towel. Once dry, I drew onto this surface with a black fine point Sharpie creating rocks, trees and water. The dimension in the elements is created by adding dots with a black ultra fine point Sharpie. I used the ATC image as a guide. Added colour with Sharpies as well - gray for the rocks, moss green for the trees and several colours of blue in the water. This quote by Bliss Carman suited the layout perfectly so I wrote it in by hand. The holes you can see in the layout accommodate the shell I glued to my previous altered page in by altered book.

Try a new technique today!!

Therese

ABCanada - Nature ATC

On my Altered Group we are doing a Nature ATC swap!! This is out of my usual colour scheme but I have been working on getting out of my comfort zone so I just went with it!! I punched the flower out of the original layer and attached with 3Dfoam tape just over a bit and backed the hole with turquoise cardstock and added a rhinestone to the center. Overstamped the background with the quote and then added the quote stamped in red on white which I ripped apart to make it fit. Added a turquoise and white fiber tied to the belly of it all. I have sent it along to another player and she will have the fun of including it when creating an altered book page!!
I received this ATC from Linda which I will include in an altered book page sometime this week!! Check later and see what I have created!!
It has been a busy week prepping for my card class.

Therese

Chunky Art Book - # 12 - quote

Watercolour washed background paper, quote, border punched layered cardstock strip, doodled border and swirls,die cut heart and teal rhinestones.

Lots of doodling on this page in both black and white!!

Therese

Chunky Art Book - # 7 - Life

A music sheet stained with walnut ink as background, colour printed images of a window (stash) and door (mine) layered onto black, deckled edged strip, handwritten quote with highlighted letters and 3D punchie embellishment with a tag. I added a doodled border to this page as well.
I have a large collection of door images!!

Therese

Chunky Art Book - # 6 - pouffy flower

Colour washed decorative paper for the background, a pouffy flower with leaves and strips, doodled border, a quote and flower confetti embellishment. The flower charm goes really well with this page. We created these pouffy flowers in one of our art sessions. Eight scallop punchies of colourful tissue paper layered and stapled onto a green cardstock scallop. Starting with the first one - each scallop is tightly scrunched to the middle. Add the leaves (cut from a SU five petal punchie) and fluff the petals - a cute little flower accent. The quote is another of my favorites - one of my own creations!!

Therese

Chunky Art Book - # 5 - leaf

An alcohol ink background paper with doodled trees and birds, layered cardstock strip borders with doodled edges, watercoloured colour printed tag with quote and leaf charm layered on gold and black cardstock mounted with 3Dfoam tape!
The colour printing bled a little with the watercolour but in the end I really liked the effect. I added a bit of blue watercolour to the background paper to help it blend with the quote.
You can see the heart charm better on this page.

Therese

Chunky Art Book - # 3 - angels

A colour washed background paper in black tones, a laser printed angel image layered onto red paste paper, embellished strips and a cute little tag with the angel quote and paper ribbon!! I added a doodled border all the way around with a black fine tipped Sharpie. The charm features a quote about art which is one of my favorites and is attached with some loopy fiber!

Therese

My Art - All Occasion - quotes

This set of cards featured quotes - there are so many great quote stamps out there now!! The quotes were stamped in brown on white and we embellished them with decorative scissors, push pins and chalk!! The bottom of the card is embossed with an embossing folder I created. I wanted the embossing to go all the way across the bottom of the card. To create the embossing folder I cut wavy lines in a piece of cardboard that was wider than the 5.5" I needed for the bottom of the card. I created a cardboard folder to hold my embossing layer and glued every second strip to one side and all the other ones to the other side. It worked very well but cardboard does not hold up to a lot of use as does the plastic ones that are commercially available. I am very happy with the results and expect I will probably create more as I want a look that is not yet commercially available!!
Decorative paper and silk flowers complete the look of this card!!

Therese

My art - cards for gift

More cards!! Made a set of twelve of these as a wedding gift for my cousin who is getting married soon. I have not used this stamp set much - Happy Harmony (SU) and wanted to make it work for a set of cards. The wonderful wedding invitation was ivory and chocolate - really awesome looking so I decide to stay within that family of colours for the cards. The central image is the flowers from this set stamped three times without reinking using a dark chocolate ink. I layered them onto chocolate brown. The base is taupe cardstock which I stamped with my stipple stamp (SU) and then passed through my Cuttlebug with the Textile embossing folder (CB). I added the focal element with 3D foam tape and stamped the words below and to the left of the embossing - great quotes!! I used three of the quotes in the set because I thought they made really great all occasion cards!!

I hope they have a wonderful wedding day and remember to always stay in touch and respect each other and themselves!!

I did make a couple extra which are on their way to their destinations as my CCE exchange cards for September!!
I am really enjoying this cardmaking streak I have been having!!

Therese

My art - mini book

A mini book to celebrate a gathering of friends!! This is a little memory book we created as a bit of a surprise for those who attended a dinner party that Linda hosted on Monday night!! We collaged coasters for the covers and used food and friend quotes on the inside cardstock pages. Over the evening we took group photos and secretly printed them up. Just before dessert, Linda passed around the books and had everyone glue in the photos. A variety of charms, beads and fibers were also passed around so everyone could embellish their books to reflect their personal style. Totally fun!! The books were bound with black 3/4" Zutter metal bindings.
The dinner party went off without a hitch and the food was so great. The appetizers were potluck! We talked, visited and munched on a great variety of fun snacky food. Fresh salmon steaks were cooked on a plank on the BBQ for dinner and served with fresh garden salad!! The salmon was so good!!!!!!! We had cheesecake for dessert!!
An evening of good food, good conversation and good friends makes great memories!!

Therese

My Art - Collaged Art Canvases

Loved doing these canvases!! These are 8x10 canvases which I first treated with gesso and in the process added some tissue and embossed paper for texture. Once that layer was dry I added some colour using (pink and blue & yellow and brown) colour washes with acrylic paint. The elements (hearts and B letter) were created using book pages coloured with acrylic paint. These were collaged onto the canvas using modge podge. Not sure this was the best option because the edges wanted to roll up. I did add a bit more acrylic paint to blend in the collage elements into the over all design. Using Sharpie markers I added my quote - all handlettered. The whole surface was then treated with a coat of Modge Podge to seal it including the edges. Found inspiration for these on several blogs including this one: Lost and Found. I would highly recommend this process for creating art for your craft space, home or work place!! This was one of the projects I did with my high school students and they really got into in and enjoyed the process of creating their own art and using art as a form of self expression. They all did a great job!!!
Therese