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

Anniversary cards

Created these as anniversary cards but they certainly would do very nicely for Valentine's!! They feature two white die cut hearts (white serendipity technique) with a red fiber heart sandwiched in between, all tied with a silver cord. I added ribbon and red lace to the embossed layer, tucking the ends in behind before I glued them to the red card front. I added three heart rhinestones which was just the right touch of bling!!

Therese

Paper flower card

Made this card for an exchange with my stamping buddies!! I was late getting started so I used items that were close at hand - a paper bag flower I had received in an exchange on AFTCM, background paper that had already been clear embossed, at greeting from my stash of class leftovers and a ribbon just sitting from a past project!! I washed the embossed background paper and the greeting with walnut ink and let them dry while I found some red cardstock. It can together fairly quickly after that - cut background paper to size, glue to card front, add ribbon and glue to inside of card, mount flower with double sided tape and the greeting with 3D foam tape!! Done!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Black Magic

Love the look of this technique - Black Magic!! Again, discovered a tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers for this technique! It is so easy!! Stamp a solid style stamp on black cardstock using white pigment ink, heat set and colour with coloured pencils or chalk!! I am amazed at how great this image looks - the colours pop a little!! I outlined the black cardstock with white gel pen, layered it onto an embossed layer and then onto white cardstock!!

This one is a "quick and easy"!!! Enjoy!!

Therese

Cardmaking - U cards

Have been wanting to make large U cards for a while! I love the graphic look of the large letter U and in this case I let each person customize their card by adding whatever colour they wanted to their black and white card elements!!

For the birthday one on the left - I created a happy birthday element by pairing two fonts, printed a large U which I coloured using colour pencils, a #2 to complete the greeting and continue with the graphic nature of the card and a birthday cake (downloaded from here) embellishment which is also printed and coloured with colour pencils. For the Valentine's card on the right, I used an initial font (Cheltshire Initials) to create the "LOVE" decorative element and added a printed heart embellishment - all coloured with watercolours. The backgrounds are printed as well using a stippling digital stamp that I downloaded off of my sister's blog.

So a card created using digital elements that has very much a handmade look!! Valentine's is the next "big thing" and I am ready with a card for my DH!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Pop up frame card

This card features a pop up frame working well with my theme of adding dimension!! I had seen a card with this frame on a card at Splitcoast and so set about replicating it and later discovered that they had a tutorial for creating it. It does require a ScorePal which I do have so in the end I would have had to work it anyway!! I started with a four square of heavyweight double sided decorative scrapbook paper. If you are making more than one of these the size works well into a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper. By working with a scrap piece of bond I discovered that I needed a square just a bit bigger than 2.75" to score the lines for the folds in the right place. So I cut cereal cardboard to the right size and placed it

diagonally on my square. Originally I was marking the two opposite sides of the square so I could ensure that my square was correctly positioned but a few in I realized that I could use the grid on my cutting mat to line up the centers of the sides with the points of my diagonally placed square - too easy!! So the process of scoring them went much more quickly after that. Once I had the square scored I folded all four corners into the middle and adjusted the fold a little to make sure that my corners were nice and tight. Then, all you have to do is fold the points back to the middle of the side to get your cute little pop up frame. I added a colour printed greeting on a neutral layer and added that to a colourful card front.

Thrifty Tip: I also created the cool little dimensional embellishments which I placed inside the frame. These are fun foam shapes all dressed up!! I used a flower die to cut the fun foam, added some pigment ink to coordinate with my paper, poured on some clear embossing powder and heated it with my heat gun. The fun foam with curl and shrink when you heat it. To create the dimension I used a flourish rubber stamp coated with pigment ink to impress the fun foam while it was still hot. Makes very cool little embellishments that are very economical to create!!

Give it a try!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Tri Shutter Card

I challenged myself to create cards with dimension for my January cardmaking session so I started with a Tri Shutter card!! I have seen many of these cards in blogland and they are always impressive so I decided to give them a try. I found a tutorial over at Splitcoast Stampers. I adjusted the dimensions to make it easier to create in class by making the top and bottom 1.25" (the width of my metal ruler) and then chose decorative paper that had no direction so I could cut all of my pieces from a 4" x 12" piece of scrapbook paper giving me three from one sheet of 12x12. Worked out really well!! Many of the ones I have seen have very little room to put a message so I used the middle section of mine for my message space and left it blank. I stamped a bird for the front and added flourishes to the back one where a greeting can be added. I stamped and coloured three small flowers to add as embellishments and added a ribbon on the front.

So if you have been looking at these thinking they are too complicated, I encourage you to give them a try. It does require measuring and cutting accurately but the putting together goes fairly quickly. There are many other ways of decorating these cards so Google it and/or check out the gallery at Splitcoast Stamper for some inspiration!!

Therese

Challenge - Easel Card

On one of my groups we have a challenge - make an easel card using cream & aqua and include a doily!! This is the card I created!!

I started with a 4.25" x 11" piece of cream cardstock, cut off 4.25" for my card front and scored the remaining piece at 4" and 6.25" which left a 1/2". I decorated the front with a square of aqua/pearl decorative paper and added a round paper doily both embellished with a bit of aqua ink. The middle section is adorned with a lacy accent which I created by layering two pieces of lace onto double sided tape and adding a light aqua quarter inch ribbon overlapping them in the center. The center features a pearly embossed heart layered onto a pearl scalloped circle with an aqua scallop circle (Nestibilities) below the lacy accent. To create the embossed heart I used a white fun foam heart shape, added some aqua pigment ink, sprinkled on some pearl embossing powder, heated it with my heat gun and finally stamped it with a swirly stamp that had been inked with white pigment ink while it was hot. The corner embellishments were created by punching pearl cardstock with a lace decorative corner punch and trimming away the extra leaving a slimmer edge. They were the perfect accents for the corners. I folded the remaining piece on the score lines, applied double sided tape on the half inch flap and laid my card front onto it lining up the bottom corners of the front to the bottom corners of the back. I decorated the bottom 1 1/4" of the back using a strip of the aqua/pearl decorative paper, another piece of lacy accent to which I added a small heart die cut from the pearl cardstock using 3D foam tape.

The card has wonderful texture and would make a wonderful Valentine's card for someone special!!

Therese

Books

Mini books for my Book Club buddies!! We are meeting to make vision boards for the New year and I thought it would be good to have a few affirmations to go with them. So I made these books for each of us to record them and any goals or resolutions we are making for 2011.

Started with a 4.25" x 11" piece of heavy weight cardstock, scored at it 5.5" and 5 5/8" from the right hand side and folded the back on the fold lines. Then I cut it at 4.75" from the left hand side. I decorated the cut off - cover - using bleach and some of my embossing folders!! I added a little epoxy sticker with our initials to finish them off. I lined up the decorated cover with the little portion of the back that folds to the front - it left about an 1/8" gap - and reattached it using black fabric tape. Cut some 4" x 5 3/8" pages for the inside (25 sheets of bond pretty well fills the 1/8" spine) and used my Cropadile to make two holes - one 3/4" from the top and one 3/4" from the bottom about 1/8" from the spine. I used elastics (hair ones) to bind the book along with a wooden stir stick which was cut to the right length and shaped with sand paper to be nicely rounded like the other end. To bind simply put a loop of the elastic through the top hole (back to front) and insert the wood piece and then make another loop with the elastic and put it through the bottom hole (back to front) and push the wood piece down far enough to insert in into the loop. Center the wood piece on both loops. Because my binding was not as tight as I wanted it to be I pulled one of the long sections from the back tight and then brought it to the front and placed it in the trough of the fabric tape hinge. Nicely tightens the binding and also highlights the cover!!

Had a wonderful Christmas with my family out west and counted my blessings that we still have my parents with us and that so many made it to my sister's house on Boxing Day!! Loved playing in the snow with my grand daughter too!!

A new year begins and I am letting go of some things and looking forward to some new ones in many areas of my life!!

Therese

Holiday greeting card

A holiday greeting card for a couple we know who does not celebrate Christmas. I used textured shimmer paper for the poinsettia, added some detail to the petals and leaves using a stylus and used a brad to hold all the layers together. Added the leaves and a swirl to the back and mounted it on an embossed (Swiss Dots - CB) layer along with a piece of silver ribbon. Mounted this embellished layer to a white card front.

I have very little prep left for Christmas - most of the cards were mailed on Monday, parcels mailed last week and only a few last minute items to prep!!

Remember the spirit of the season - peace and love - when you go about your life this coming week and if possible leave some "stuff" aside and spend time with the people you love - make some memories!!

Therese

Photo album

A photo book for my grandson! He is just over a year and likes to carry things around so I made him a book with photos of his family - Mom and Dad, sister, pets, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. I used a commercially made album and changed up the front and the back to personalize it and filled it with photos!!

Am on the home stretch of having my Christmas gifts ready for sending out in parcels. Christmas letter today!! Parcels should be out today!!

Cards are just waiting for the letter so by Monday I should all the cards on their way!!

Therese

Christmas tag

Christmas tags for my exchange tonight!! Bought this Sizzix die at Sweet Sentiments last week and wanted to use right away so I decided to use it for my tags. I cut two - one red - one green and put them back to back. I used red glitter on the green one and green glitter on the red one. I cut two sticky label when I cut out the ornaments which I used to make the glittery ribbon. I like using labels for glitter because it is a dry glue and does not make a gluey mess with glitter. Once the glitter is applied the sticky side of the label is not longer sticky and has a paper back. I just glue it in place with regular glue. I added glitter to the bulby ends of the ornament as well. I glittered the center using labels as well. I cut the tree - removed the backing selectively - first the tree stem - glittered that, then the snow - glittered that and finally the tree and glittered that (MS). I cut a sticker oval just larger than the opening in the ornament and applied it to the back of the oval opening in the red ornament, placed the glittered tree in the middle of the sticky oval and applied blue glitter all around it. I used a simple white oval in the back of the green ornament/tag to give a place to write and added a red cotton string!!

The rounded oval from the middle of this die is a perfect match to the large SU oval so it will be great for layering!!!!!! I love it when tools coordinate!!

Hope you are well on your way to being prepared for Christmas. We have a bit of shopping to do, some wrapping and a few parcels to prepare for shipping. Hopefully by the end of the week it will be all done!! If your list is too long, check it and see if there is anything at all that can be reduced or completely eliminated. If so, take a break and enjoy the sights and sounds of the season!!

Therese

Altered heart ornaments

A challenge to alter "something" was put out on one of my groups so I decided to see what I could find around the house. I found this small heart shape chipboard board book and it seems perfect for making altered ornaments for a community project called Evergreen Memories - similar to Festival of Trees elsewhere. I cut the binding off and trimmed the pages to round them out nicely. I covered the edges with red tissue paper and used gift wrap - red with snowflakes - on the front and back. I traced the hearts, so, after cutting they were just a bit big to fit really nicely so I crumpled them up and glued them down with wrinkles in them which gave them lots of texture and alleviated any issue of not having a perfectly cut outside edge. Once both sides were done I pressed them under weight to make sure the paper was well glued and to keep them flat. I decorated them today using colour printed vintage images, snowflake punchies, and scraps of lace, tulle and ribbon.

I am very happy with how they turned out and I am sure they will make a welcome addition to the tree. There are over a dozen trees that will be decorated by different organizations on the theme of Peace and will be on display at the museum for a couple of weeks. Over the course of the two weeks the public can drop by, enjoy the sound of music provided by local groups along with a tasty treat and get dose of holiday spirit. After wandering through the display they can choose to buy tickets for the ornament raffle. All the ornaments on all the trees are raffled off at the end of the display in support of local charities and programs. So these ornaments are off on an adventure which will ultimately find them a new home. I send them off with blessings!!

Therese

Cardmaking - December - sanded and resist!

Love the look and feel of this sanded embossed cardstock!! Sanding highlights the embossing and gives the cardstock this wonderful texture similar to suede!! It works only with cardstock that has a different core colour. Check out Core' dinations which a cardstock with a coloured core - very effective for this technique. Several different companies - Close to My Heat and DCWV - sell white core cardstock which is what I used. Just emboss as usual and then sand the embossed side with a bit of sand paper. Do as much or as little as you like!!

Thrifty Tip: you can easily make your own white core cardstock by painting a sheet of white cardstock with any colour of acrylic paint. Once dry, just emboss and sand!!

The main element features a clear thermally embossed flower image that has had a watercolour wash added to it! Once the watercolour has dried you simply buff the embossing with a cloth or tissue to remove any that may have dried on it and the image "pops"!! Great little technique!! Added a colour printed greeting punched with the SU word window punch!!

Love the simple elegant look of this card!!

It is the beginning of December and we had a wonderful snowfall yesterday!! Huge fluffy snowflakes falling gently to the earth!! What a treat to see the great snowman built by the neighbors and their kids when I got home from class!! Went over and took a couple of pictures after I shoveled the drive way!! I may take another couple today in case he melts away in the next couple of days!! So it is, life is filled with little blessings, everyday!!

Therese

Cardmaking - December - glittery!!

Glittery cards!! This sketch features textured paper, a corner rounded embossed rectangle, three flower confetti with glittered centers, some fiber and a decorative strip that was created using blue pigment ink and Star Dust embossing powder!! I created the decorative paper to help the turquoise paper to coordinate with the sparkly fiber, and then, the flowers were screaming for some glitter of their own!! In the end, it all came together but it was a bit of a process to get it there.

The confetti was selling at the craft store last fall as part of a Paula Dean table ensemble. The little bags have a lot in them!! I used only half the bag on this set of cards - I have another bag!! So come spring there will be more cards created with these little turquoise flower confetti!! I added blue glitter glue to the centers. The fiber I added as the last element by centering the glittery accent in the middle of the strip and wrapping the two ends around the brads trimming off any excess afterwards.

Cards with glitz are just fun!! Some of the girls brought their own shimmer spray to class so theirs got an extra layer of shine as well.

Therese

Cardmaking - December - tag cards

Another shaped card!!!! I trimmed the corners on the decorative paper first, glued it to the card front and then trimmed the card!! Much easier than cutting the card first and trying to get the decorative paper right!!

This sketch features a decorative paper background (right hand one is pieced from scraps), a ripped greeting "snow" layer and a tree die cut!! I love this little tree - Marianne Design - which you can get at Ecstacy Crafts. It is so versatile!! I will be using it for Christmas cards next year!! I added double layered circle punchies (3/4" and 1/2") punched with a 1/8" hole at the top of the card, punched through the card front and threaded through some fiber which I tied on the front with a double knot. This gives less bulk at the top of the card which makes it easier to insert into the envelope. Again, if you preferred not to make this a thank you card you just could reverse the greeting layer and glue the plain side up.

Therese

Cardmaking - December - pleated paper

At my cardmaking class last night we made thank you cards for blessing those who will bless us over the Christmas season!! It is really nice to have your cards ready to go so you can immediately acknowledged a gift, a great meal and the thoughtful gestures that will come to you over this wonderful time of year!!

This card sketch features a piece of decorative paper, some pleated tissue paper, ribbon and a stacked flower embellishment attached with a brad. I provided coordinating colour printed greetings as well which allowed the participants more flexibility - without it the card can be used for another occasion!!

Thrifty tip: I have seen quite a few cards with pleated ribbon lately and love the look so was wanting to add this accent to one of my cards. I read on Andrea's blog that she had used brown paper from lunch bags to pleat so it started me thinking about using paper!! I finally decided on tissue paper because that is what I had that was the right colour and it is super flexible. I crumpled the tissue, ripped it into strips - some thin others a little wider. I layered the thin ones over the wider ones and used my sewing machine to sew them together adding pleats as I went along. I created a very long piece by just adding pieces where I needed them as I went along and cut it into smaller sections later. FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will definitely be doing that again!!!!!! It is great because tissue paper comes in so many colours and designs and is relatively inexpensive!! Be sure to be saving any of the great tissue paper that shows up over the holidays for your cardmaking!! So versatile!!

Be grateful for everything in your life - friends, family, getting together, gifts, kindnesses, love, laughing, joy, fun and all that happens!! Christmas is a special time of blessing - both in what you give and what you receive - do both!!

Therese

Altered CD - vintage Santa

An altered CD for a swap in one of my groups!! The theme was Vintage Santa so I dug up some scraps of decorative papers and got started. First thing I did was make a sketch of each section - front cover, inside cover, inside back and back cover. I decided which elements would go in each section - images, decorative paper, cardstock, etc. After working out the layering on each section I started cutting paper and gluing it into place. I used LOTS of double sided tape to make sure all the pieces will stay put. The front cover features a colour printed vintage Santa, a stamped "memories", decorative paper, a little strip of lace, olive ribbon with a burgundy "bow" and a piece of burgundy cardstock. The lace and ribbon wrap to the back of the cover and are hidden by the pieces on the inside front which is why I worked out all the layering before I cut and glued anything to the CD.

To the left you can see the front and back in one scan. The back features coordinating decorative paper, an ivory cardstock strip trimmed with scallop scissors and embellished with dots and a line in burgundy marker, a strip of olive cardstock and some burgundy cardstock at the very top. Went with cardstock because I wanted the back to have very little that would interfere with the CD laying flat. The inside cover (left) features burgundy cardstock, a scallop border punched piece of olive cardstock embellished with burgundy ribbon and a layered strip of decorative paper. I cut little notches for the plastic edging so that all the piece fit in neatly. The back cover (right) features a layer of decorative paper, a burgundy strip of cardstock trimmed with scallop border punch and an accordion book which has been embellished with some decorative paper and a little boat sticker which I received this week from my Secret Santa and it was the perfect colours for this project!!!!!!!!

On the left a photo of the accordion book inside the CD. Four and a half pages in ivory cardstock embellished with decorative paper and two more stickers!!

All of the pages and sections were stippled with ink to give them a nice vintage feel.

The recipient will be able to add a few photos and have a cool little album for her 2010 Christmas memories!!

I loved the challenge of creating this project and am very happy with the finished product. Would make a wonderful gift for grandparents filled with photos of their grandchildren. Certainly done in other colours would make a cool little brag book for any event!!

Therese

Home for Christmas tags

Created these house tags for a swap on one of my groups. Theme was Home for Christmas so I searched for images on a clipart CD until I found a couple that spoke to me and I created tags using them as inspiration!!

The first one reminds me that Christmas, at one time, was all about the basics - friends, food and family!! People were grateful to be home with a fire burning and loved to prepare good food and plenty of it so when friends and family dropped they could share from their bounty. Stories were told, experiences were shared and a year's worth of blessing would be acknowledged. It was all about getting together and sharing!!

To create this tag I applied white gesso to a book page and stamped it with a large background stamp to add texture. Glued it to the house shape and trimmed it to the edges. Outlined the house with a black Sharpie and added yet more texture with a fine tip Sharpie marker to the interior surface of the house. Added the heart and framed photo with 3D foam tape and wrote the words and hearts by hand.

The second one reminds me of Christmas when I was a kid. It was always exciting to see cars pull into the yard one by one spilling people, food and presents as they came. Often, people had traveled distances in cold and less than desirable weather to be part of Christmas at our house. Cars would be plugged in or run several times during their stay so they would start, in the well below freezing temperatures, when it was time to head home. We would go to church and open presents when we got home. We always hoped that our one big present would be one of the items we had picked out of the Sears catalogue after months of perusing and making lists. We played board or card games, ate sweets, played outside and went for walks or ice skating!! It was about family and getting together.

For this one I added a bleached navy cardstock to the top and bottom and layered colourful scraps in between. Over the center section, I added a strip of sheet music. I coloured the frame black, mounted the image and added it to the tag with 3D foam tape. Added stitching with a black sharpie on the light areas and with a white gel pen on the dark areas. The heart is also mounted with 3D foam tape and the words are hand written.

I am getting into the Christmas mood. Have been creating Christmas card all year long and just all kinds for classes during the month of November. This was a fun little project and I am happy with the way they turned out!!

Therese

Cardmaking - November - Christmas Santa

I love this swirl embossing folder (Crafts Too)!!! You can check it out along with several others I have used at Ecstacy Crafts!!

I do find that you have to cut your cardstock just a slight bit over the 5.5" so the swirl pattern doesn't fall off the edge of the card but it is such a versatile design!! I used it last month for this card. I colour printed a vintage Santa from a clipart CD that fits nicely in the opening. Created the scallop greeting using a scallop punchie (SU) and a 1 3/8" punch (SU) to cut out the colour printed greeting. The metal embellishment used to be a brad but getting it properly positioned was going to be difficult so I snipped off its tangs and added 3D foam tape to the back which worked perfectly!! Another quick and easy card!!

Therese