Father's Day front flap card featuring decorative paper, washi tape, a cute little truck and a fun greeting (digital)

I made this card for my other son in law for Father's Day!!!!! He has been working hard for his family and likes to take bike rides with his kids.  I started with a dark blue panel, added the mottled blue decorative paper (digital) which was in two pieces so I added strip of green washi tape which works to create a horizon line in my background.  I pieces a flap from two pieces of green cardstock and added washi tape to keep them together.  I scored a half in flap at the top and added it to my panel using double sided tape and glue.  The little truck is a download from Beyond the Fringe Crafts which I sized, laser printed and then fussy cut.  I then watercoloured all basic parts of the truck.  I used a clear glitter gel pen on the hubcaps, bumpers, lights, door handle and windows.  I found some die cut stars in my stash that coordinated and arranged them, glued them to each other and then added them to the back of the truck.  Thinking they still needed something I added some details to them using the clear glitter gel pen.  I mounted the truck on the green flap using 3D foam tape and then added the fun little greeting.  It is a digital greeting from Desert Diva which I laser printed, watercoloured, distressed the edges and then mounted with 3D foam tape as well. I do like this little truck and will certainly be using it again!!!          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

Exchange cards featuring resist backgrounds, die cut butterflies, wood grain tags and a bit of lace

I have had this paper in my background stash for quite a while and I believe it is gift wrap from a long ago special gift!!!  I have since cut it up into 4" x 5.25" pieces so I can have handy backgrounds for my cardmaking.  I discovered that the printing very nicely resists watercolour so I stamped on them and then added watercolour to give them a bit of interest.  Next I added a strip of handmade pattern paper washi tape and then adhered them to kraft cards. The wood grain tags were cut from the remnants of our Christmas crackers which our daughter included in our box of gifts.  I embossed them with a wood grain embossing folder and then sponged them with a bit of brown ink to highlight the texture.  I added a little bit of lace, a brown fabric tie at the top and then a butterfly die cut (TH-SX) which I embellished with clear glitter on the body and the wings.  I mounted the tags to my cards using 3D foam tape.  They are off to my Card Exchange partners in this week's mail!!

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

Thank you card featuring gift wrap, die cut gears, handmade washi tape and a little punchie greeting

After the holidays I always send cards to those who have blessed us with gifts over the season!  I got started with this card.  I started with a burnt orange card, added the kraft and black background (gift wrap from England) and then layered on three gears die cuts (TH-SX) in ivory, kraft and black.  I added a length of handmade washi tape from my stash (clothes pattern paper and double sided tape) over the bottom edge of all of them to give me a horizontal element to anchor my greeting.  The greeting ( laser printed punchie - Modern Label Punch - SU) I found in my stash, sponged the edges and added dots using a sharpie marker. I adhered it to my card using 3D foam tape.    I love the look of that washi tape and it is so easy to do.  Click on the link to go to the tutorial.    It is amazing how long supplies last - our trip to London was over a decade ago!!!            Therese

Birthday card with cool tool background paper and fun chalk board greeting

This card is for DH for his upcoming birthday!!  I chose this really cool background paper which I received in a swap a while ago and mounted it to a large black card front.  I cut a fun shape from silver cardstock and added a strip of red and black washi tape down the middle.  After mounting it to my card front I added a fussy cut chalk board greeting which was laser printed from a digital file.  I adhered it with two red brads which are silver brads coloured with a red Sharpie permanent marker.  I really love how it worked out!!!  He is a wonderful woodworker so I am sure he will appreciate the fun paper.  Therese

Christmas cards featuring embossed snowmen, decorative paper and little greetings

 Here are my first set of Christmas cards for March!  I have committed to making Christmas cards every month so that I will have them all made by December!!  I am using up my stash of envelopes so these are long and slim.  I made white cards to fit in the green envelopes and got started.
I dug through my Christmas paper stash and found several that would do.  For my first card I used a leafy blue background paper.  It was just a touch short so I cut it before adhering to my white card.  I added an embossed layer of light blue cardstock and a little strip of darker blue over it.  I mounted the little snowman image onto red and then over the strips using 3D foam tape.  When I auditioned my little layered greeting - laser printed Word Window punchie - Modern Label in red - SU) it seemed a little lonely so I kept digging in my scraps and found a little flourish that coordinated with the darker strip which very nicely added a "bit of something" to my greeting which was just what it needed.  Glued the flourish with white glue and mounted the greeting with 3D foam tape.  The others are very similar but in a landscape rather than a portrait orientation.  I see that I have used the snowmen in both the embossed and debossed versions so this one works in both aspects.  I am happy to have a few cards made for this month.  I am hoping to make a few more by the end of the month.             Therese

Handmade cards that feature bunnies and bears with cute greetings made up from card kits

I have made up the last few cards kits from this class in March.  I really enjoyed making witty sayings for these cards!!  They all have decorative paper backgrounds with trimmed laser printed greetings on the bottom edge and embellished with a ribbon and border punched cardstock border (SU) in a coordinating colour.  The bear and bunny are die cuts (SX) with black cardstock glued to the back to fill in the eyes and pink for the bunny's nose.  I used washi tape over oval die cuts to make the egg embellishments for the bunnies and embellished the bear with watercolour and a little heart punchie.  I will have to consider making these guys in different colours next time!!                        Therese

Mixed media collage card for a birthday

DH has a birthday this week!  I have not been in my craft room in quite a while because of other commitments and having a bit of a cold for just over a week!!  So I headed into my room hoping that something would come to me and I would get a card made. 
I started with a book page from a song book that has been discarded as he is an avid music fan.  I used my new stencils - large circles - to sponge a background all over it in blues. I dug through my scrap box and found the round heart elements which I cut out, sponged the edges with blue and glued to them to the book page.  In my scrap box I also found some coffee themed vellum - he loves his coffee - so I ripped that into strips and glued that down.  As you can see there was no real plan - I was just "going with it".  I wanted to echo the gold in the vellum and circles I had originally stencilled on so I used a polka dot stencil, applied gold pigment ink and the applied gold embossing powder and heated it all over.  I then used a polka dot embossing folder and embossed the whole background and then sponged on the same blue inks I had originally used to highlight the pattern randomly.  I laid my background over a large piece of black for contrast and found that the black border was a bit two stark so I gold embossed polka dots on the edges of before I glued them together.  I wanted to emphasize the collage aspect so I added washi tape to the bottom and top of the background securing the song sheet to the black.  I added a line of blue washi tape which I wanted to use to as a base for my focal element.  I like how well that worked.  As the main focal element I die cut a bare tree (TH SX) out of dark gray and embossed it with a gear embossing folder (TH).  I created a little embellishment using gold embroidery thread and two heart punchies and tied it to one of the tree branches and glued it to my layered background using white glue in a fine tip applicator.  I fussy cut a laser printed greeting, watercoloured it to coordinate with the heart embellishment and glued it over the trunk of the tree. Really liked that!!  It still needed a bit of something so I headed back to my scrap box and this die cut gold key caught my eye!!  I auditioned it and found that it balanced the tree quite well by positioning it below the base line of washi tape.  I mounted this large element to a large ivory card which I had sponged on the front edges with the same blue inks I had used to sponge the original background circles!!!!!!!  Pretty happy with how it worked out!!             Therese

March Cardmaking - bunnies and bears for some very special wishes

For my last card I wanted a fairly quick card so I created these great cards with fun greetings!!  For anyone wanting Easter cards I had a few "hopping" greetings!!  I checked the internet for bunny greetings and found quite a few fun ones which I incorporated into my kits.  The teddy bear also provided the opportunity for some fun greetings which are "beary" special.  I have owned both of these dies for quite a long time and had only ever cut them once to provide a white cardstock sample which I store with the die.  I cut the bunnies mostly from brown cardstock and inserted a pink nose which I die cut from scraps.  I adhered a scrap of black cardstock behind the face to give it black eyes and highlighted the whiskers with a fine tip black permanent marker.  I gave all the bunnies an egg to hold which I created with an oval punchie embellished with washi tape. They look pretty cute!  The die comes with a flower for it to hold.  It will be fun to see how many other items I can find to put in its hands.  For the bear I cut the first one from black cardstock and cut the other little pieces from white cardstock, fussy cut them and glued them in place.  I watercoloured the muzzle and the paws.  Black would not work for eyes on this one so I put a piece of white in behind and added a dot with a black marker to create his eyes.  For all the others I cut them from different colours and used black on the back to create the eyes and watercolour to embellish their noses, tummies and paws.  I added coordinating hearts to all of their bellies!!  I created the coordinating ribbon embellishments as well.  I punched the cardstock strips with a border punch (SU), trimmed out every third set of holes with an exacto knife and then threaded through 1/4" ribbon securing the ends to the back using double sided tape.  I made all of these ahead of time!! 

Assembly was fairly easy.  Glued the backgrounds to the coordinating card fronts - scrapbook paper for the bear and hand decorated watercolour paper for the bunny, added the trimmed and embellished laser printed greetings and then positioned the ribbon embellishments above and over them.  The final step was to add the bears/bunnies with 3D foam tape to give them some dimension. Great cards!!  So glad I finally pulled these dies out and used them!!  They will make fun cards with special greetings!!!

Therese

Card set #4 - washi tape/decorative paper backgrounds with 3D embellishments

For my final set of cards I have these warm and bright washi tapes combined with a very subtle off white and beige scrapbook paper for my backgrounds which I have mounted to off white card fronts. 
For my first card I again went with a bird theme.  I die cut a portion of the bare tree (TH) using a scrap of brown cardstock, trimmed it to fit and adhered it to my card front.  I punched a bird from red cardstock, coloured in the beak and added a tiny black brad for the eye.  I punched the wing from brown cardstock, manually embossed it and adhered it to my bird.  I added the bird to my card using 3D foam tape. 
For my second card I die cut the butterfly from yellow and manually embossed its wings, added a paper butterfly from my stash and layered onto it the brown body/antennae die cut (QK) from a different butterfly die set.  I adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape and added a dotted flight path using a fine tipped permanent marker.  

For my third card I die cut a large flower using the Tattered Flowers die (TH) from maroon cardstock and added some texture by colour washing the petals with watercolour.  I fussy cut this cute laser printed button, used a black marker on its edges and watercoloured it yellow to coordinate with the background before adhering it to the center of my flower using 3D foam tape.  I hand cut from green scraps a stem and two leaves, glued them to my card front and then adhered my flower over the end of the stem.  To finish off my card I colour washed the stems as well for a bit more texture.  

For my fourth and final card I went back to my heart theme and layered several heart die cuts.  I started with a red heart, layered on one with musical notes and finally added a smaller one cut from gold card and manually embossed.  This heart focal element was added to my card front using 3D foam tape.  

I have so enjoyed making these four sets of cards!!!  I love the collagy look of them and that they are very versatile.  I may consider using this concept again for my card making in the future when I am looking to make cards without greetings.  I still have a small stash of washi tape that needs to be used up and certainly strips of paper would likely have the same effect.  Got some of those as well!!  

Therese

Card Set #3 - collaged washi tape with 3D embellishments

Feeling very positive about the results of my first two sets of cards (set 1) I worked on this set!!
I started by gluing my washi tape/decorative paper backgrounds to white card fronts. You can see that the decorative paper has subtle script and design elements.
For my first card, I decided on a layered heart embellishment!! It is such a versatile element appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries, thinking of you, etc.  I started with a small decorative paper die cut which I layered onto a serendipity heart die cut and then onto a large manually embossed heart die cut.  I machine stitched them together with yellow thread gluing the ends to the back with regular tape.  I mounted this heart focal element to my layered card front.
For my second card, I started with a small brown flower punchie, added it to a blue flower punchie made from hand decorated paper and then layered that over a green embossed die cut flower.  I used a manually embossed five petal punchie (SU) in white as the base and tied them all together using a tiny silver brad.   I adhered this floral element onto a manually embossed scallop circle die cut (N) with paper pierced scallops before mounting this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape.

For my third card, I decided on another bird because it lends itself so well with the " a little bird told me..." saying which is a good lead in for almost any occasion.  I punched the bird (SU) from blue cardstock, coloured in the beak and added a tiny black brad for the eye.  I punched the wing from silver card and manually embossed it before adhering it to the bird.  I punched the branch from green cardstock, mounted it to a pierced and manually embossed scalloped circle (N) then mounted the bird above it using double sided tape.  I added the folded piece of ribbon to the back using double sided tape and then mounted the whole element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  

For my fourth card, I layered four stars  (green manually embossed, clear plastic, dark blue, lighter blue), added a green sequin and tied them all together with a tiny silver brad.  This focal element was mounted to my layered card front using 3D foam tape.  Stars are great for many occasion including birthdays, special accomplishments and new babies!!

Really loving this process and finding that these cards stand on their own without greetings.  

Therese

Card set #2 using collage washi tape backgrounds and 3D embellishments

I am working through the backgrounds I created using decorative paper and washi tape to make sets of cards for gift giving.  You can check out the first set I made here.  For these cards I used a off white and green decorative scrapbook paper that has a somewhat watercolour/tie dyed look.  I trimmed the paper to fit on my off white cards (just a bit smaller than A2), glued all my backgrounds to my cards before getting started on my embellishments.
For my first card, I took inspiration from my other set and created a layered heart embellishment.  I used a serendipity heart die cut which I found in my stash, layered on a tiny red heart die cut and then machine stitched them together using yellow thread gluing the thread ends to the back with regular tape.  I dug through my stash and found a green die cut scalloped circle which was sponged around the edges which coordinated nicely.  I manually embossed some texture using an element from one of my floral embossing folders and then mounted my heart element to it with double sided tape.  I mounted my heart focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape.
For my second card, I die cut part of this bare tree (TH) from brown cardstock and mounted it to my layered card front.  I punched the bird (SU) from blue cardstock, coloured in the beak and added a tiny black brad to create the eye.  I punched the wing from shiny silver card and manually embossed it with a round element before mounting it to my bird using double sided tape.  I mounted the bird just touching the branch using 3D foam tape.

For my third card, I thought I would give a nod to Christmas and created a little tree embellishment.  I dug the green tree from my stash (a die cut shared by a friend) added a triangle of red in behind which shows through all the opening and added the gold sequin star using a tiny gold brad.  It still needed a bit of something so I used a clear glitter gel pen and highlighted all the scallops and added dots all over the tree.  Once finished I mounted my little tree embellishment to my card front using 3D foam tape.  

For my fourth card I created a star embellishment by layering a silver sequin over, a yellow star die cut, over a clear star die cut over a manually embossed light green star die cut and holding them all together with a tiny black brad.  I layered my star onto a red circle punchie and then paper pierced around the edge with a push pin before mounting this focal element to my layered card front.  

This process has been very enjoyable!!  Looking forward to working on the other sets!!

Therese

Cards with fun collaged washi tape backgrounds embellished with 3D layered elements

 I have decided to make several sets of cards to give as gifts and was really pondering what I should use as my backgrounds and if I should include any greetings.  Cards without greetings are always more versatile in that they will be appropriate for more occasions but they need good sketches to work.  Because I had washi tape sitting on my desk I decided to play a little and see if I could make up a few backgrounds.  In an effort to reduce the size of my paper stash I wondered if it would work to use decorative scrapbook paper for my backgrounds.  I went looking through my stash and found a few sheets that I thought might work as they were somewhat subtle in pattern and intensity of colour.

So I cut up this sheet of paper - a checkered background with quite a few different colours finely spattered over it.  Next, I checked out my washi tape supply and found a few that worked reasonably well with the paper.  I simply cut or tore the washi tape into strips and applied them to my trimmed pieces of decorative paper.   While, I was at it I made four sets of backgrounds using four sheets of decorative paper.  I put those to press and started dreaming up some embellishments that would be substantial enough to balance the backgrounds I had created, large enough that they would not need greetings and versatile enough in subject matter that they would be appropriate for more than one occasion.  I started by digging out any dies I had that fit the bill as to size and subject matter - hearts, flowers, butterflies, birds, etc.
For my first, card I layered three different sized hearts. The large one is a die cut (CB), the middle one is an embossed heart die cut (SU) and the final one is die cut (SX) cut from white solid core cardstock which I embossed and sanded.  I put just a bit of glue between them to hold them in place and machine stitched them to each other adhering the thread ends to the back with regular tape.  I glued my background to an off white card (a bit smaller than A2) and then adhered my 3D embellishment to the card front using 3D foam tape.  That worked pretty well!!  Now the challenge was to see if I could come up with a few more embellishments that worked as well.
For my second card, I cut a maroon flower (SX), manually embossed it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (CB) using a hammer, added a manually embossed circle in the center then two leaf punchies which were also manually embossed and mounted this focal element to my card front to which I had already mounted my washi tape background.
For my third card, I mounted my washi tape background to my off white card and then worked on my embellishment. I cut this paisley pattern (SX) from both dark pink and yellow.  I swapped the pieces to create a yellow paisley with a dark pink heart and a small yellow heart and secured them with tape on the back.  The holes were too hard to situate so I simply cut a dark pink shape that was just smaller than the whole and glued it to the back and shows in all the holes.  Decided that it looked a bit like a cute bird with a heart wing and added a tiny black brad for an eye, a tiny brown triangle for the beak, swirly wire tail feathers and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Finished it off by adding two legs with a black permanent marker!!
For the fourth card in this set, I die cut a butterfly (SX) from yellow cardstock and overlaid a paper butterfly that I had in my stash and to finish it off added a body and antennae that I die cut (QK) from a butterfly die set.  I glued them together just in the middle so the wings would be free to flutter.  Added it to my layered card front using 3D foam tape and used a black permanent marker to add a dotted flight path.
I am pretty happy with how this set of cards turned out!!  So I will continue to work on my other card sets and will share them here as I finish them up!!

Therese

Christmas cards with washi tape, embossing and die cut greetings

I usually include a few kits for Christmas cards in my classes in case anyone in the group wants them and if not, they it guarantees that I have a few Christmas cards for my stash!!  These were as much fun as Christmas cards as they were for the all occasion ones I made!  There are quite a few if you check back on the blog.
I made colour washes on white cardstock for my backgrounds using my DIY foam stamp and some ink pads.  Once dry, I added my trimmed washi tapes - all of these were handmade using decorative tissue paper and double sided tape.  You can check out the tutorial here.  I used a hammer and an embossing folder to add texture to the outside edges of my background and then glued it to the card front.  Next, I watercoloured my greeting which I created using two fonts - a regular one for the words and an image font for the little images.  I laser printed them and then die cut them using the Deco Label Thinlit set (SU).  I did add some rhinestones to the snowflakes on the blue one.  I adhered the greeting with 3D foam tape to the front of my cards.  Just realized that I forgot to add sequins to these two!!  I will rectify that when I put them into my Christmas card box!!                    Therese

DIY washi tape, colour wash, embossing and die cut greetings

I am working on clearing my desk and have made up these two cards for putting into my stash.  Really loving these!!
I started with a little colour wash on white cardstock for the background using my little DIY foam stamp.  All four of the washi tapes on the pink card are ones I made using tissue paper and double sided tape or medical tape.  The blue and green are commercial ones and the other I made using stamped pattern tissue and double sided tape.  I used different embossing folders to manually emboss the edges of both backgrounds and them glued them to the coordinating card fronts from the kits.  I watercoloured the diecut greetings which I created using both regular and images fonts.  I mounted the greetings using #D foam tape and then embellished the cards with sequins which I adhered with double sided tape.   

Therese

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

Baby card with washi tape, sequins and a bit of watercolour

Another washi tape card!!  I sure am loving this design!!  I needed a card for a baptism today so I made up with baby one!!  I added green and blue distress ink my DIY foam stamp and stamped it onto my white cardstock which I had spritzed with a bit of water.  Quick and easy background!!  I added three strips of washi tape - the one on the left is commercial and the other two are handmade using coloured tissue/gift wrap and double sided tape.   I put the background in an embossing folder and manually embossed the edges using a hammer.  I watercoloured the laser printed die cut greeting (image font and regular font) and mounted it over the background using 3D foam tape.  I added sequins using double sided tape - five this time instead of the usual three.  I mounted this large element to a green card front. 
The congregation and the extended family were all invited to a potluck meal after mass and it was a wonderful time for everyone!! 

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

Two sympathy cards from card kits

I made these two cards up from card kits which I made up for last week's class.  Check out the others here and here.  I used subtle colours on the left hand card because it is a sympathy card.  I did a light blue wash on the background, added three strips of washi tape (tissue paper and double sided tape) and did some manual embossing around the edges with a hammer and a soft flourish embossing folder.  I watercoloured my die cut greeting and mounted it to the front of the card using 3D foam tape.  The butterfly is a digital stamp (SU).  

The right hand card features a quarter sheet of decorative paper trimmed to leave a bit of a border on a dark brown A2 card.  I layered the laser printed greeting over a red strip of cardstock and added the short length of ribbon on the left hand side and tied another short piece to it to simulate a bow.  The butterfly is a punchie (SU) which I embellished with a bit of stamping and then added a body from a QK die which features antennae as well.  That will die will come in handy.  Have not used that one a lot but I can see that it works very well with this punchie and probably will as well with several others I have.  I mounted the butterfly using a small piece of double sided tape in the center leaving the wings free!!  

Therese