Another masculine card!

I am loving this background technique!!  Simply glue coordinating patterned paper strips to a quarter sheet of white bond paper and trim to size!!
For this card I used a chevron embossing folder which worked so well!!  Made a beautiful subtle background for my card.  I added a blue border punched strip on the right hand side, tied on some green fibers and glued the whole thing to my dark green card front. I watercoloured the golf bag stamped image and then fussy cut it.  Love the way it turned out!!  I added it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  The greeting was also watercoloured before I glued it down.
Really happy with this card!!

Therese

More little quilts!

More little quilts!!  I managed to get all of these done in the car on our recent trip.  I am really loving the process and it is fun combining different fabrics and colours.
I can see the benefit of having a wide variety of small scraps for these little quilts because it provides a lot of interest and texture.  Really great when they will be combined for making the journal covers.
I have a mother and several sisters who quilt so I emailed them asking for their small scraps.  It will give me some one of a kinds to add to the mix.
You can see my other little quilts here, here and here.  All Teesha Moore inspired!!

Therese

Wedding card!

I am putting together a few cards for a friend and decided to use this stamped image from an image swap years ago.  I painted the dress, the veil and the bouquet with pearl shimmer paint, added a bit of black watercolour to the groom's hair and shoes and coloured the flowers with blue watercolour.  Then I added a layered greeting.  Again, I kept thinking it needed a bit of something so I created a 3D veil using some shimmery white tulle and glued it over the painted one!  Love it!!  Mounted all the pieces to a blue card front!!

Will be putting together a few cards and packaging them for a friend who has been gracious enough to care for our house while were were away!!  Handmade cards are always a wonderful gift!!

Therese

Purple butterfly birthday!

I have acquired a new little desk for my sewing machine which means that I can leave it out ready to be used in my craft room!  I will post photos later. Thanks, Loraine!!
I collected all of my layers for this card and started stitching!!  I stitched the watercoloured butterfly image (Meljen's) to the coloured layer, the greeting to the coordinating rectangle, layered it onto the decorative paper (wax resist background) and stitched it to the card front.  I love the look of stitching on paper and it is really fun to do!!  I added a short piece of lace to my image and added  it to my card front using 3D foam tape at a bit of an angle.  It still needed a bit of something so I created a flower using the same lace by basting one edge of a short piece, gathering the lace and tying off the threads.  I used a glue dot to hold it in place.  Happy with how this one came together!!

Therese

Series of cards using same supplies

 I found supplies for a set of cards in my stash a while back and they have been sitting on my desk begging to be made up so yesterday I got started.  I laid out all the pieces - card fronts in several different colours, trimmed decorative paper and pieces for layered flowers. No idea what the original sketch was so I decided to see if I could make each one with a different layout. I made a few sketches and here are the first four I made.
I stamped the pink card front with my Worn background stamp  (SU) in pink, layered on my decorative paper and added a punched border (SU) overlapping the top edge.  I embossed my large white flower (SU) and layered on several punchies to create a center.  I found this little punchie greeting in my stash which worked perfectly.  I stamped another word background stamp (SU) several times in several different colours and cut out the words to be used on my cards.  This one features "Friendship".  First time I use this stamp.  I really like the look of those words.

On this card I cut my decorative paper into four squares and layered them over three green rectangles I had already added to my card front.  I had two little pieces of decorative paper left over so I flipped them over to the pink side and glued them down on the right and left of the center section.  I added a punched border (SU) in white, my layered flower accent and another cut out word from my stamped background (SU).  Happy with this layout - quite different than my usual!!

For this card I stamped the green card front with my "worn" background stamp (SU) in green, layered on a piece of white vellum trimmed down to leave an even border and added some faux stitching with a white gel pen.  I cut my decorative paper diagonally and glued the two piece over the vellum.  I added my layered flower accent to the middle section and another cut out word to the lower left hand side.

This card features a yellow card front stamped with my stipple stamp (SU) in green ink.  I cut my decorative paper in four and glued the pieces into the four corners over a rectangle of green which I had glued to the center of my card front.  I added a punched border (SU) both horizontally and vertically and then glued down my large flower accent along with another cut out word.  Loving those words!!

I have enjoyed challenging myself to use different sketches for these cards!  It is good to think outside of the box every once in a while and see what we can do creatively.

There are more to come as there are still supplies sitting on my desk!!

Therese

Another fall card - sunflower!

Another fall card!!  This one features a wonderful sunflower image which I watercoloured.  Have had this stamp for a really long time and still love the image.  Similar to my previous card I started with rust cardstock, stippled it with ink, added an embossed green rectangle and then layered on my decorative paper with the torn edge to the right.  Once my watercoloured image was dry I added a window punchie (SU) in rust with a copper brad and tied on two short pieces of fiber.  I layered this accent piece over my decorative paper.
We saw fields of sunflowers on our trip across the prairies! They are so fabulous!!

Therese

Fall card

Fall is in the air!!!  The warm weather has been wonderful and the trees are showing their colours so I was inspired to make a few fall cards!!
I started with rust cardstock which I stippled (SU) with green ink.  I added a green rectangle and then overlaid a torn piece of decorative paper in fall colours.  I tied a piece of coordinating fiber around the card front, layered a watercoloured image over it and added a greeting.
The decorative paper was created using watercolour and was then embellished with a bit of stamping.  I tore the piece in half and saved the remainder for another card.  Love this little image of a leaf and acorn (Meljen's Designs) which is always fun to watercolour.  My greeting is a combination of a colour printed HAPPY and a stamped BIRTHDAY the result of wanting to use what I had in my stash.
We have spent some time with our grandchildren lately!!  They are grow fast and such cool little people!! I did a bit of crafting with them and spent a lot of time at the park - gotta do it while you can.

Therese

Train card

I was on a roll!!  Another paper scrap background!!  These are so easy - just glue paper strips to a quarter sheet of white bond and trim to size!!  In this case, I used blue strips and embossed the background with a gears embossing folder and used a black stamp pad to highlight the design.  I added a white strip to the top and bottom and glued the whole thing to my blue card front.  Next I assembled my accent - trimmed my train image and added two black strips which I die cut with my film strip die - one to each side.  It needed to be a bit grungy to go with my gear background so I stippled the whole thing with black ink using my stipple stamp (SU). Needing to add a bit of texture I tied on a length of blue seam binding with a double knot.   I am so used lining everything up so this time I put my image on at an angle and in doing so it gave me just the space I needed to add my greeting which I did using two black mini brads!!
Do you have a stash of paper scraps that need to be used up??  Cut as many strips as you can ( 3/4" is what I used) from the larger pieces and make a few backgrounds!!

Therese

Baby card

Once I got started making these backgrounds with the paper strips it seemed so easy to just make a few more!!  The background is created by gluing paper strips to white bond and trimming it down to the shortest strip.  After embossing it, I layered it onto a yellow card front and added the green embossed strip.  I went looking in my scraps to find an image - this little patchwork horse (Beccy's) was perfect.  I watercoloured it then layered a couple times and added glitter glue to the scallops of the white circle.  The greeting I also found in my stash and I embellished it with this beautiful yellow fiber which was just what I needed to finish off this wonderful baby card!!
Never know when you are going to need one of those so it will go into my card stash for now!!

Therese

Four season Thank you!

This card is for a couple we met on that August weekend.  They were so welcoming and friendly - we felt right at home!!
I found this image (Magenta) in my stash and watercoloured it!  I love how it features the four seasons!!  Once coloured, I layered it onto green and mounted it to my embellished card front using 3D foam tape.  The card front was stamped with a stipple stamp and layered with two strips on the left hand side.  After mounting my image I added three dots of green on the blue strip and added the layered greeting (SU).
I love watercolouring and this was a fun image to colour!!

Therese

Fall Thank you card

A thank you card for someone who hosted us at the beginning of August and I just remembered today that I should get a card out to him.  Life should not get so hectic that we forget to be grateful and express that to those close to us!!
This was a quick and easy card!  I dug into my stash buckets and found this sunflower image, the beautiful background paper, a coordinating greeting and some sparkly blue fiber to finish it off!!  I added several colours using glitter gel pens to my watercoloured image but is does not show up well on my photo.  The background paper has some silver accents and the fiber has a thin copper line in it!
I am happy with how all of it came together and it is on its way tomorrow!!!

Therese

More little quilts!

I have been working on these little quilts on our various trips in the car this summer!!  They were inspired by Teesha Moore's little quilts which she has used for making up journal covers.  Here and here are the ones I made previously.  It is only a little stash so far but I am happy with my little collection.
These were made up of cotton fabrics and I found them so much easier to sew.
I am looking forward to having enough to make up a journal cover - maybe by the summer of next year.
This is a great way to use up scraps of fabric that are left over from quilting or even from clothing that you no longer wear or have been ruined with a stain (bleach!!)

Therese

Sympathy cards

 I have created three sympathy cards to have on hand.  I thought it easier to make some now than wait until I really needed one.  I used the same angel image for all three which I dug out of my stash.  These photos were laser printed on transparency and trimmed.
For the first card, I layered the image on a very light decorative paper which I ripped on the right hand side and then onto a light ivory card front.  I added four yellow brads to hold the image in place.   I punched a hole in the card front and then used the same punch to created a slot in the fold of the card through which I threaded a length of yellow seam binding and double knotted it on the front.  I added a double layered greeting using 3D foam tape and then trimmed the ends of the seam binding.

For this card I chose another low contrast decorative paper and trimmed it with a large margin all the way around.  I sponged it with ink and then attached my image using two yellow green brads.  I had just enough room to add some ruffled seam binding to the bottom along with a double layered greeting in coordinating colours.  The ruffled seam binding is easily done - apply a piece of double sided tape across the area and then start applying the seam binding to the sticky surface adding folds and bumps as you go.

For this card I chose another subtle decorative paper and cut it to 4"x 5.25".  I layered on the image and attached it with two rust brads and then wrapped a length of coordinating fiber to the right hand side and tied it with a double knot.  The laser printed greeting has been punched with the window punch (SU) and then layered onto a modern label punchie (SU).

I am glad to be able to add a few sympathy cards to my stash. It is always good to let people know you are thinking about them when they lose a loved one!

Therese

Autumn beauty!

A card for a special person!  She loves autumn colours so I incorporated them as much as I could in her card.  I started with strips of brown patterned paper which I glued to a quarter sheet of white bond.  I trimmed it to fit on my card front, embossed it and added a bordered punched layer in a peachy colour to which I had added some peach seam binding by gluing it down all ruffly like over a piece of double sided tape!  Love the way it worked out.  I trimmed the lower edge using pinking shears - really old ones that no longer cut fabric - and then pierced each little triangle.  I watercoloured the gold embossed flower image and the greeting to coordinate.  To add a nice little accent and some texture I added a die cut button tied with embroidery thread over a couple of leafy green punchies (MS).  I did use the back side of the punched border to stencil the top of the card - just a little more texture for good measure!!
I will be seeing her soon! Looking forward to giving her this wonderful card!

Therese

Pink butterflies!

I created this card for someone special who is becoming a teen!!!  I used paper strips in two different pink patterns and glued them to a layer of white cardstock trimmed to fit on my pink card front.  I added faux stitching to the left hand side with a white gel pen.  I trimmed notches into all the ends for a cool look.  I punched the butterflies out after I had glued down the strips which was not very convenient.  Next time I will position and trim my strips, mark where I would like holes and then punch each strip individually before I glue them down.   I added tape to the back of one of the punched holes and applied pink glitter to the front.  I applied glue through a stencil (punched shape in cardstock) and applied glitter to the glue.  Not the best result because my substrate was a bit too thick to get good glue coverage but it does add a bit of sparkle. I punched a few white butterflies and added them.  Also glued several of the pink butterfly punchies to the white layer and added some dots with a pink gel pen.  I added a window punchie greeting (SU) using two white brads.
I am really happy with how this card came together and I love the the look of it.
I started out wanting to use up some of my scraps - 3/4" strips which I had cut out previously for making paper beads for one of my classes last year.  I will be working on some other cards that feature strips in the next little bit!!

Therese

Light house card

The last card I included in my set of gift cards.
I started with a navy card, added this cool piece of paste paper which I created years ago, added a strip of distressed yellow cardstock, wrapped some coordinating yellow fiber around the card front then added my layered light house photo (taken in PEI).  This greeting matched perfectly so I trimmed it, layered it onto navy and attached it with 3D foam tape.

I am enjoying making "one of" cards!! I can use supplies from my stash of images, papers and fiber to create some unique cards!!

I forgot to take a photo of the wrapped cards.  I used a square of decorative paper folded into an envelope and tied with fiber.   Check out this posting to see another example and a template.
Quick and easy!!

Therese

Colourful flower card

My third card for the set!!  I started with this double embossed background from my stash and tied on a bit of fiber that coordinated with my image.  It adds some great texture. I layered my image onto yellow, bordered punched (SU) the bottom edge and pierced the scallops.  I attached the background to my navy blue card front and then adhered my image using 3D foam tape just over lapping the fiber.
The image was stamped over a hand made transparent acrylic paint background with black pigment ink and embossed with black embossing powder.  I really like the way the high contrast silhouette of the image works with the background and how the fiber adds some softness.
An any occasion card!!

Therese

Angel card

Another card for giving!!  I found the angel (laser printed on transparency) in my stash.  This blue glittery hand decorated paper I made a while back worked well with the image and I found this greeting that did the same.  I attached the image to the decorated paper using black mini brads, tied on some black fiber and then glued the whole element to a black card front.  I ripped the edges of the saying, chalked them then added it to the card front using 3D foam tape overlapping the fiber.
It was fun to work with fiber again!!  It is amazing how many options there are for decorating cards!!

Therese

Cat card

I have been working on a set of cards to give a good friend who has been taking care of my garden (four tomato plants, some herbs and an orphaned spruce tree) over the last few months.  I so appreciate her willingness to help me and really wanted her to know it.
This is the first card I made.  I received both images in swaps years ago and always thought they would go well together.  I trimmed the stamped image of the cat (unknown) and used a black permanent marker to add a nice layered look to the edge.  I trimmed the fish bone background (Magenta), layered it onto red and then added it to the black card front.  I glued the little laser printed greeting that I found in my stash to the back of the cat image and glued it to the front of the background.  I really considered colouring the image but in the end decided I liked the simple look of black and white with one colour.
I would highly recommend giving all your non cardmaking friends some handmade cards!!  They are useful creative gifts which can give as a unit or sending along to their family and friends!!  It is a win-win gift!

Therese

Handmade paper

Our last day we made some handmade paper!!  I had brought the paper pulp ready to go - blue and yellow.  We started with the blue and chose the additions from a variety I had brought along and made a few small sheets of paper (3.5" x 4.5").  We drained off the blue from the vat and added the yellow pulp to which we added a variety of paper napkins snippets and made a few more sheets.  We then added the left over blue pulp to the yellow we had in our vat and made the "green" ones.  They are not as green as we were expecting and certainly were looking quite unappetizing when they were wet.
Not sure what she will do with her sheets!!  I may see if I can make some Christmas cards with my blue ones because they have some nice gold scraps in them.  The yellow ones are nice and bright and lend themselves nicely to floral cards.  The "green" ones will need some creativity to turn them into cards.  They may get a wash of colour to help them along at some point!!

A week of fun and creativity!!

Therese