Birthday greetings with printed transparency

Had fun making this card!!  I started with a botched piece of alcohol ink background on glossy cardstock to which I added several colours of watercolour and some brown stamping of a vintage map collage background.  It was much improved!!  I added the layered transparency with the car (CLKER) which I had stapled and secured with a little clip with some brown ribbon on it using double sided tape.  I colour washed my greeting, layered it onto a black ribbon slider and attached the ends of the brown seam binding to the back using double sided tape.  I glued the whole element to my brown card front.  Very happy with how this one turned out especially with that rescued background.

Therese

The last of the paper!!

Here are a couple more cards using that wonderful paper!  There are only scraps left which will no doubt end up in a sheet of serendipity paper somewhere down the line.
For these cards I layered the silver gray ribbon over the light rust one that came with the paper using double sided tape.  I trimmed it to length and folded the ends to the inside of the card fronts.  I attached them with double sided tape and added a piece of regular tape over that because they were not staying in place.  I added a 3D embellishment created using a flower die cut, several silk flowers, a copper sequin and silver brad. I sanded the shiny silver brads so they would have a dull finish which worked better with the paper. I watercoloured the laser printed greetings and layered them onto the rust ribbon slides and adhered them to the card fronts using 3D foam tape.
These are my exchange cards for this month and are off to my partners in tomorrow's mail.

Therese

Cards for a gift

Here I am again with this paper!!  I needed a small gift to bring along to the neighbours when they invited us over for dinner the other night.  I quickly made these four cards and packaged them in a folded wrapper tied with a ribbon.  You can see a similar one here.

I prepped the supplies for these cards:  rust card base, a layered diecut and silk flower embellishment, silver gray ribbon, rust ribbon slider and an oval laser printed greeting.  You can see from the photos that I just combined the elements differently to get several different looks including changing the

orientation.

I would normally pull cards from my stash for a last minute gift but since I moved last year and have not taught cardmaking classes the selection in my card stash has been pretty low!!
I will have to make a point of getting at least a few cards ahead!!

I like the summery look of these cards!!

Therese

 

Cardmaking -May - embossed vellum

Embossed vellum!! I am always using Splitcoast Stampers as inspiration when I am cardmaking!! So many cards and wonderful ideas!! I made a little sketch when I was perusing the site - I think I got pretty close to the same look as the one I found there.
Embossed vellum and trimmed it to the edge of the design. Layered that onto coloured cardstock and attached it with with four silver brads. Added the ribbon and attached the ends to the back. Love the way my greeting came together - an oval ribbon slide (CB) with a large oval punchie (SU)!! The large oval punchie fits perfectly into the slots in the ribbon slide to make a wonderful layered greeting!! I colour printed the greetings and just punched them out. Added the layered greeting over the ribbon using 3D foam tape. Had the inspiration to add a punched circle below the bird on the left hand card but thought of it too late to add those to the kits!! I think it would add "a bit of something" to the card.

Therese

Thank you card

A thank you card I created for my friend, Sherry who has been so helpful with the house. I brought her back some cardstock and a cute little stamp so she can get started on her Christmas cards early this year!!

I watercoloured the rose and cut it out. Attached the handmade paper to the card front and then mounted the rose with 3D foam tape. Added a ribbon with a layered coordinating greeting on a ribbon slide!!

You can check out the cardstock I have for sale here:
www.tmalakrsc.blogspot.com

Email me at bmalak at cogeco dot ca if anything there catches your eye!!

Therese

Challenges - Christmas card

Challenges! I have decided to participate in several and came up with this card to satisfy three different challenges - snowflakes on Sylvia's blog, the sketch for C4C20 on Crazy 4 Challenges and an easel card Tracy's Christmas card challenge!! These were very fun to make and I love the way they turned out!! The blue, red, silver and white background paper is from a gift bag - full of wine - we received at a party before Christmas. I really loved the colours so set it on my craft table when we got home. When I decided to get creative with these challenges it seemed to fit the bill perfectly so I cut it up and used the pieces for my cards. I actually made 6 of these cards. You can see that the set of 5 have different ribbon than the single one. I used the single card for the card exchange with my stamping buddies this week. These are easel cards and use the same sketch as my first card for Cardmaking - the one that features the coffee mug!! So I have five Christmas cards all ready made!! This is the first time ever that I have Christmas cards ready before November!! I am really hoping to be able to keep up with the challenges on Tracy's blog and get most of my cards made before the busyness of the season takes over later this year!!
I hope you are making good on your resolutions for this year! So far, so good for me!!

Enjoy!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - coffee greetings

It was great to be back at Cardmaking and being creative with a group!! Welcomed some newbies!! A really different set of cards this time around. To start - easel cards. Found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. I modified it a bit to suit my needs - really cool cards!! Substituted hearts for coffee beans and added a stamped greeting to make one of them a Valentine's card. I am happy with both of them.

I really liked this coffee mug but it had a greeting on the curve of the mug which did not always suit so I took my exacto knife and trimmed my unmounted stamp!! It was a delicate operation but all is good and both pieces survived to be used again together or separately. I black embossed the mug for a really nice contrast and it made it very easily to watercolour. I altered my ribbon with walnut ink so it would not be so black and white - worked great!! Some decorative paper and a ribbon slide to complete the card.

This design was inspired by Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C20!! You will see that I have used the same sketch for a Christmas card because I am following Tracy's Christmas Challenge. More about that later!!

Therese

My Art - September cardmaking - pressed flowers

We had a large group at cardmaking on Wednesday!! It was great to see a few new faces and a few we had not seen in a while. Because of the number of kits that I needed to have on hand I ended up creating a few Christmas ones!! You will see a similarity between these cards and the one I posted earlier for my exchange card. Same sketch!!
The yellow cards feature pressed yellow and white daisies. I captured them between a piece of cardstock and some tulle which I wrapped to the back and held in place with double sided tape! I partially embossed the card front (CB) and added a greeting on a strip of cardstock which has been distressed or on a ribbon slider (Sizzlets). The focal element on the Christmas card features a piece of "fabric" embossed with silver snowflakes layered on mirror silver cardstock. I added a silver brad to one snowflake to make it stand out from the others.

I regularly press flowers from my garden or the by ways I frequent when I walk for use in my cardmaking. I just pressed some Queen Anne's Lace flowers for creating some unique Christmas cards for my upcoming classes. You can check here and here for ones I have created in the past. I love using natural materials!!

I highly recommend that you create with anything you love!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards

Just love this black and gold combination for Christmas. I just had to buy this roll of paper when I saw it!! The ribbon matches perfectly and was a $1 store find - it is awesome high quality doublesided ribbon!! I cut the oval ribbon slide with my Cuttlebug and added a snowflake punchie (MS) with a black brad. Used a ribbon saving tip to maximize my ribbon and had JUST enough for all my card kits. The trick is to tie both ends of the ribbon to each other and then cut it to fit the front of the card. We used double side adhesive to attach the ends to the inside of the card. The greeting is gold embossed on the bottom edge of the black card.
Therese

My Art - Cardmaking with Alcohol inks

The large accent on this card was created using foil, cardstock, alcohol inks and embossing (CuttleBug -D'vine Swirl). I glued the foil - regular out of the kitchen drawer - to a sheet of cardstock. I cut it apart and embossed the pieces. Applied alcohol inks to the foil. Fun!!!! On hindsight I found that the inks seeped through the foil which was stressed by the embossing and into the cardstock. Next time I will apply the alcohol inks to the foil and emboss after they are dry. This makes a very sparkly, rich looking accent. Layered the accent and then glued to the front of the card leaving the bottom edge hanging over the front of the card. (3.5"x 11" folded at 6 1/4"). Added a circle (1 1/8") and a flower to the rectangular ribbon slide with a brad to create an embellishment for the card. Would be great for a special occasion - wedding or anniversary!!


Therese

My Art - Antique collage card

My card for the card exchange with my stamping group! We explored antiquing techniques last month so I used a piece of sheet music which was antiqued with walnut ink. I stamped the music image (SU) with chocolate chalk ink and cut the image out closely. Layered them on the top of the card. I used my Cuttlebug and my new ribbon slide dies to cut the oval ribbon slide! These work great!! Layered a brown circle and heart onto it. The heart was silver so I stipplied it with chalk ink until it worked with the colour scheme. I attached it to the slide with a brad. The ribbon slides accomodate 3/8" ribbon the best so I dug out a short piece in a chocolate colour. Used the deckle scissors (Fiskars) on the bottom of the front flap and stamped the composers (SU) on the back inside of the card. This card fits in the #8 envelopes I purchased for the monogram cards.

Antiquing can be done with a variety of mediums - brown ink pads, brown reinkers, brown acrylic paint (burnt umber is my favorite), distress inks, lemon juice and heat, walnut ink, coffee, tea, etc. They all give a subtly different look and it is fun to experiment. Certainly you can use blank paper or cardstock but I like using printed paper - either something I have printed myself or pages from a book or sheet music. Try crumpling the page before you apply your medium. One of the girls used a page from an old magazine and walnut wood stain!! Worked wonderfully!! Keep an eye out for interesting copy when you are putting paper in your recycle bin! Free art supplies means you can spend more on rubber!!

Therese