My Art - Cardmaking - fishy!!

This is the most fun card I have made in quite a while! It uses a little ziploc with a bit of hair gel in it to create a window that looks like it has water in it. I just folded back a flap on the front where I captured my little ziploc after I punched a circle for the window. I stamped the little fish inside the card so it would show through the window!!

I got the idea for the gel card off of splitcoast

www.splitcoaststampers.com

They recommend padding the card when you mail it and also maybe not mailing it until after the freezing temperatures are over!! The decorative paper is gift wrap!! So fun!!

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking Triptych

This is another relatively easy card that can be made in any colour for any occasion!! This one features nice soft colours that are great for Spring!! I used scrapbooking paper and created my own 3D embellishment using a plastic butterfly charm, some embossed metal and a scallop punch!! I used a strip of cardstock across the cards but you could easily use ribbon instead.

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking with Wallies

Hey! The next time you are strolling through the home improvment store with time on your hands check out the wallpaper aisle see if you can find some of these Wallies. They are small little wallpaper accents!! Very cool!!

These were the perfect size for the front of a card so I just added a colour printed embossed vellum greeting and a die cut flower!!

Easy peasy!! You might even surprise your partner by offering to come along when he's planning a trip to buy "stuff" and buy some of your own!!

Therese

My Art - Zentangle Monograms

This past week I created Zentangle monograms with my students!! Another very cool way to incorporate your personal art into your cardmaking!! I laser printed some large letters in outline on coated paper and they used fine tip Sharpie markers to fill in the shapes with their own fun doodling! They made several and then choose one that would be featured on their monogram cards in the next class!! They looked great and the students were happy to have their art on their cards!! I scanned their art, reduced them to fit in the space and printed them. The monograms were layered onto black then a colour!!

These are the ones I made!!

Therese

My Art -

I know that Valentine's has been and gone!! I did get my card made in just the nick of time for our Valentine's celebration! We have started the tradition of cooking a meal together for Valentine's. Always a great way to spend time together and eat good food. We went out and bought some really special ingredients and had a great meal!!
My card features a heart background in gold on the red card front. I layered on some stamped vellum and my greeting stamped in red on white cardstock. I created the accent using several punched circles and a red felt heart ( $1 store). The gold layer is actually gold foil (tea liner) glued to cardstock and then embossed with my Cuttlebug!! It was so great to have this cool metal accent!! I used hot glue to adhere the layers so that they would be well stuck to each other and I would not lose the texture of the embossing. Totally fun!!

Saving the foil lids from dips and yogurt, etc and using them to create metal accents for your cardmaking using the embossing folders and punches is a great way to save $$ for rubber!!

Therese

My Art - Serendipity cards

Was teaching some students last week and thought I would get them started with collage art! We created serendipity collages for card making!! The students enjoyed creating their collages with scraps of paper and were very happy to see how cool their cards looked using their own art. We used a variety of accents with a layer to really show off the mini works of art!! Some added greetings using embossing powder!! To the uninitiated, that is always a huge wow!!

For those of you who may not be familiar with serendipity collage it is very easy and can be done in several different ways. In this case, we used scraps of paper in several coordinating colours. These ones used blues and golds. They were all different - teal, green, reds, purples, etc. Using a quarter sheet of cardstock - can be a rejected card, a commercial card, a poorly stamped image or just junk mail - just glue ripped pieces onto to it until it is completely covered. We used pieces about 3/4" - 1" so when we cut our collage we would still see a good amount of different pieces!!

We cut our quarter sheet into four pieces - in half one way and then those in half again. The little collages were layered onto coordinating paper - in this case gold gift wrap - and glued to the front of the card. If you want to add a greeting using embossing powder it is best to do that before you glue your collage to the front. The 3D embellishments varied from metal charms to layered accents which I created with punches and some fun accents!!

This is a great technique for creating a set of cards which can be given as gifts by just varying the accent and greetings!!

Therese

My Art - housewarming card

I created this card for a friend of mine who just bought her first house! They are excited about it and looking forward to moving in and having their family and friends over!! I thought this card would work very well as an invitation for a housewarming party! She thought it was a great idea!!
The house image is one I found on the internet. I printed it onto ivory cardstock, trimmed it, distressed the edge and layered it onto brown. The words are printed right onto the card. I stamped the card to get a bit of an antique look. The keys are printed on transparency, cut out and added to the card front with a brad.
The house could easily be chalked or lightly coloured to add a bit of dimension to the card.

Therese

My art - fat book mingle page

A fat book mingle page! This is the final installment for this mingle! I created two similar looking pages - one in red and one in pink! I will be sending both of them out to the recipients tomorrow!!
I used vintage clipart (The Lady's Closet) I dowloaded from the internet and laser printed. The backgrounds I created using modge podge and tissue papers!! I filled my large L with a lacy background texture which did not show up quite as much as I thought it would. I added a sticker to the front to finish it off. I used a sanded (on the back) transparency of a rose on the other side which I applied with modge podge just to see how it would work. Very reasonably!! I added colour to the back - the sanded side - of the transparency with Memories ink and I like how it turned out!! Added a stitched line to the edge of the transparency with Sharpie marker.
I have really enjoyed being part of this monthly mingle and am looking forward to other monthly projects to keep me making art.

Therese

My Art - Postage book

My postage box with a new book for storing my correspondence items like stamps, return address labels, etc.

Since forever my items for correspondence have been living in a ziploc bag on my desk. Not attractive but close enough to be handy. A few weeks ago I was planning on making mini books with my stamping friends so I decided that a book to hold my stamps, etc would my project. When I dumped the ziploc I also found a glue stick and whiteout in there and thought that was a necessary part of my correspondence items but they would not fit in a book. Then, I remembered that I had bought this gorgeous box about a year ago that would probably be the perfect container for all of these items. Yeah! It was perfect!! I tailored the size and colours of my book to the box allowing room for the glue stick and white out to fit beside it. Worked wonderfully!! I have pages with pockets in my book that hold all the things that I need. To close it up, I just tuck the back flap under the scallop and it keeps everything where it needs to be.

I am very happy with my new little book and its new home - this great box! It looks much nicer on my desk than the ziploc used to and everything is handy. I did rid myself of quite a bit of "stuff" that had accumulated in the bag and really just needed to be thrown out. Because the box will only hold a slight bit of extra "stuff" there will be much less temptation to store unneeded items.

One of the very first projects I made for me!

Therese

Cardmaking - January - Old car

A card suitable for any guy and for almost any occasion!! The decorative paper is gift wrap I bought a few years ago. I will be sad when it is all gone because it makes really nice guy cards!! Will have to keep my eyes open for something similar in my travels! In the past, I have used stamped images of old cars with this paper. I was cruising several font sites the other day and came across this font called - OLD CARS! Downloaded it and printed a few of them onto transparencies for this card. Worked like a darn!! I used a circle of colourful cardstock to highlight the car and make it pop from the background. They are attached using double sided tape behind the brown strip!! The greeting could easily have been added to the brown strip but I decided on a tag instead! I stippled it with brown ink and added colour to the edges to make it pop a bit!!

It would seem that I have a bit of a theme of "use what you have" and "make it yourself" in my cards this month which was not intentional. It is a good practice to make use of the "stuff" you already have!!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Therese

Cardmaking - January - A forest

Had a totally blasty time creating backgrounds for this card!! I hauled out my stamp pad reinkers, rubbing alcohol, felts & wooden block that I use for "polished stone" technique. I used coated copy paper instead of glossy cardstock! I cut the paper into quarter sheets and did individual little pieces of art. The reinkers I used are the really OLD ones for office stamp pads!! The rubbing alcohol worked really well for dispersing the inks and I made a whole bunch of cool backgrounds.

I overstamped them all with this image of a forest from Applalachian Arts Stamps which I have had for many years and just finally inked!! Because they were all different colours I used several different colours to overstamp the image. Amazingly, once stamped the backgrounds looked so great and appropriate!! I punched the card front with my corner slot punch on the the two bottom corners and trimmed my image to fit inside the slots. The greeting is printed on transparency and just placed between the slots and the image. I added a strip of cardstock behind the greeting to highlight it.

Take some time to create a bunch of backgrounds with the supplies you already have!! When you create your own background paper your cards and creations have a bit more of your touch in them!!

Therese

Cardmaking - January - Hearts

I cased this idea from someone on Splitcoast. I printed the black circles/dots right on the cardstock and created the b&w designer paper in a layout program (Corel Draw). I created long skinny rectangles filled with black, white & grays and printed it on my laser!! Too easy!! The hearts are cut from a Sizzix die I got for Christmas from one of my sisters! Yeah for getting crafty stuff for Christmas!! I cut two different red cardstock hearts sets and then mixed them up!! I like the little play on texture with two different red colours.
This was my effort for those who might be needing a Valentine's card for next month!! Would also be good for a wedding or anniversary! I created some with pink hearts as well which would be also appropriate for girl friends!!

I challenge you to create some of your own art supplies! My sister has created several different designer papers to suit her projects and colour printed them!! You are capable!!

Therese

Cardmaking - January - calendar flower

January cardmaking was last night!! It was a great night and we had fun making cards with a few new people!!

This card uses a calendar page!! We have all started replacing our 2008 calendars and are often loathe to recycle them because the photos are so nice. Consider reusing them in your art!! You can use them as backgrounds or the base for any background technique or collage, cut them up and use as design elements in your art, rip them up and use them as layers in your collage work, etc.

In this case, I stamped the petal image on calendar pages of landscapes and then embossed them with black embossing powder!! These photographs had sky, mountains, water, tree lines, meadows that were similarly coloured and worked well for this technique. I used any yellow and green to create the centers and the stems. We cut out the petals and created flowers which we layered onto the Cuttlebug embossed backgrounds. This was layered onto a coordinating cardstock. The greetings were either stamped & embossed on vellum or laser printed vellum. We attached them to the card fronts with black diamond brads.
Consider stamping any sort of image onto any glossy page - calendar, magazine, junk mail, etc. You will find that there are a lot of free supplies that you can use in your art just around your house!! Challenge yourself to some GREEN ART today!!

Therese

My Art - Thank you cards!

My Thank you cards for the holidays!! I used the finger painting art I made over the holidays with my grand daughter for the main element. Added a complimentary cardstock below and sewed on an embossed colour printed vellum greeting! They needed just a bit of something else so I added some silk flowers with a brad!! Really like the way they turned out!!

I am so looking forward to sharing my love of creating with my grand daughter - all of my grandchildren actually. We have another on the way!! My other daughter is expecting for the end of February!! Yeah!! I just know that there are a few more yet to come!!
I hope you are back to the routine of your life and feeling grateful for all that you received over the holiday season. Be sure to express your gratitude to those who have blessed your life in any way!! I know there have been struggles as well but as a human being with free will you have the choice to focus on that which you choose. Even in the sea of a struggle you can choose to keep your eye on the beacon of light on shore! Remember, this too shall pass!!

Therese

Shared Art - finger painting!!

Finger painting with my granddaughter - 1.5 yrs!!

My daughter brought along paper and finger paints for us to share over Christmas - she is a great Mom!! My grand daughter was not too sure about just what to do with all this colour - she enjoyed squeezing the tubes and getting the colour on the paper - not quite as keen about getting her hands into it. We were using the tiled kitchen floor of the suite as our format. Maybe not the best choice for her! I noticed that the next morning at breakfast that she had the technique down pat with her juice on the table so next time we will have the luxury of being at home and using the table instead of the floor and I expect she will be much more interested in participating with her cute little hands.
So with LOTS of paint on the paper I decided it was worth taking a few minutes to create art!! This is what it looked like once I was done! I brought the artwork home with me and used it to create my holiday Thank you cards which you will see in the next post!!
Take time to create everyday - make background paper, do a little stamping, colour stamped images, take a photo or two, create a card, ATC, inchies, etc, do some scrapbooking, read a few magazines, etc. Whatever is your fun activity - quilting, felting, painting, drawing, cooking, etc - Just do it!!

Therese

My art - 2009 calendar!!

Happy New Year!! Many you all be blessed in 2009 with all that is good!!

I created a 2009 calendar for my kids as Christmas gifts!! Each page has a photo I have taken with a calendar page below. I created it 8.5x11 (double sided) because that is the format of the calendar program (Print Master) I was using. The pages were colour laser printed and then bound with my Zutter Bind it all!! The first binding was a little wonky but the others were much better!!

It was very fun to create the calendar but getting it to print was a bit more of a challenge. I am hoping to create another one next year so have already started thinking about what sort of photos I will need for it. Winter photos for December need to be taken now!! I do not have photos of all the pages! Needless to say, I was in a time crunch just before Christmas!!

A calendar is a really fun gift that can be personalized for each person! You can use all sorts of your art - cards, scrapbook pages, 3D and mixed media items, quilts, etc - whatever you are creating!! I think I will be seeking out another calendar program that has more options for sizes, etc.

Therese

My Art - mingle page

A mingle page to finish off the year!! I created this snow themed page using a piece of alcohol ink background in blues onto which I stamped the trees from Lovely as a Tree (SU). I layered several white ripped pieces over that and sewed them together. I added a stencil that I altered with ink and stamping which I attached with eyelets. I tied on the snowflake embellishment and then glued this layer to the back layer with the saying and the snowflakes!! As you can see there are two of these so someone will be getting a RAK in their mailbox!!

I bought myself a small craft sewing machine a few weeks ago and was really wanting to try it out. Works very well!!

Wishing all of you peace this Christmas season and may you be blessed with all that is good in the new year!!

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking #4

I love the look of navy and red!! Really worked well in this card. I had several images for this card set - a dragonfly by Magenta, a butterfly collage by SU and this saying. Love it! This was a going away gift from the girls at my last stampin group!!

The images were stamped in navy blue Memories, cut closely and layered onto navy cardstock. The scrapbook paper was layered above the embossed distressed stripes (CB). I attached the ribbon to the inside of the card again with double sided tape. Used 3D foam tape to attach both the heart punchie and the layered greeting.

So I hope you are inspired a little to get your thank you cards made early so they can be sent soon after the holidays before life gets back to normal and they get lost in the shuffle of everyday life.

When we express our gratitude for our blessings we focus on what we have which blesses us with yet more!

So I wish you a wonderful holiday season with good times and good food shared with your family and friends. Choose peace and love!!

Therese

My Art - Cardmaking # 3

This card worked out so well but it is a bit involved in that there are several components some of which are layered. The background is some really nice gift wrap I bought years ago. I still love the look of it with the gold highlights! I cut the piece larger than I needed and just trimmed to the card's edge with scissors. That ensures that it covers the card front perfectly without having to cut it perfectly and then try to line them up perfectly.
I stamped the green with the Baroque swirl (SU) and used a round dish to draw a line to cut on. I was sure to cut on the inside of the line so there would be no pencil on my half circle. The floral motif is stamped and cut out to the edge of the design and then layered onto a black circle.
I backed the ribbon with double sided tape and applied just the very edge of the lace to the back of it and then glued it to the red piece. Once the components were ready I first glued on the red piece, then the green half circle and the floral motif over that! I did stamp "thank you" on after I was finished!! If left off it gives you a card that is suitable for other occasions!! I was happy with the mildly vintage feel of this card created by the floral motif and the lace.
Therese

My Art - Cardmaking #2

Another relatively quick and easy card. The green layer is gift wrap - I bought a roll of it because I just love this colour! Layered on the twice stamped rectangle and then the ribbon which is tucked to the inside on both sided and kept in place with double sided tape. The embellishment consists of - pink scallop punchie, 1 3/8" green punchie, stamped in pink greeting punchie and a pink flower punchie. I used a push pin on a thick mousepad to make the holes in each scallop. I did add a bit of green stippling to the right hand side of the card to reduce the starkness of the white.

Just a note about punching thin paper. Sometimes it is difficult to punch thin papers so to help the process along do several layers at a time and place a regular bond paper scaps on both sides and the papers in between will punch perfectly!! Good for paper napkins, tissue and thin gift wrap.

Therese