Birthday card for a book lover!!

While I was getting images ready for these denim and roses cards I decided to create a few more to fill my sheet and print at the same time.  I combined the book image (CLKER) with the quote which I found on line in CorelDraw.  Digging through my scrap bucket I found a few elements to create a background for this card - an embossed rectangle of ivory cardstock which I sponged with brown ink and glued to the bottom of the kraft card front.  I added two pieces of gold embossed mesh which I trimmed with flag ends and adhered them to the top portion of the card with a piece of dark brown vintage seam binding in between.  I distressed the edges of my image and stitched it over the background using brown thread in my sewing machine which neatly attached them all to the card front.  I found the little magical greeting (Pink Cat Studio) in my stash, sponged its edges, layered it onto a dark brown punchie and attached it to my card front using a small piece of 3D foam tape.   Loving the look of this one - a perfect birthday card for any book lover!!

Therese

RAK Challenge!!!

 I signed up for a RAK challenge while I was away on vacation.  I had only brought a limited amount of crafty supplies with me and they were mostly for my quilties so I had to get creative!!  I found this playing card on the sidewalk when we were out walking one day and thought it was worth keeping.  The ribbon was found on a different walk a couple days after Valentines.  Determined to make something with what I had on hand I decided to embellish my card with ink and embroidery!  I punched all the holes with my needle following the lines in the design on the front of the card before I started.  This gave me the guidelines I needed to add the doodling I did on the back.  I cut pieces of heart ribbon to incorporate as on the front as I did my stitching.  It was fun to work with limited supplies and I am happy with the final result.  

I also added four little embroidered flower designs to the envelope which she can incorporate in her art. They can be stitched in place or easily adhered with any of the products created for fusing fabric.

Therese

Three denim and lace cards

Needed a swap card that included denim and a rose so I printed off a few roses (with added leaves) overlaid onto a brick background (CLKER), dug some denim from my mending stash and started playing!!
For my first card, I stamped all over the worn denim using dark blue ink and a set of rose stamps (Stampendous).  I watercoloured my rose image, cut around the petals with my exacto knife, added a light blue background and some short lengths of white lacy seam binding.  I used double sided tape to hold this element to my stamped denim and used my sewing machine with white thread to stitch all the way around.  I trimmed two of the lace ends diagonally and tucked the other two under the denim and then stitched this whole element to a navy card front!! Cutting out the petals really gives the flower dimension!!  I added a scroll greeting which I watercoloured to coordinate with the flower element.  I found that the denim stretches when I am stitching it into place so I will have to stabilize it with double sided tape in a few more places next time.

I used the same flower image (CLKER) for this card.  I watercoloured it and added a piece of denim to the top and bottom of it which I die cut on one edge using a border die (SU).  I added some cotton eyelet trim to the left hand side of the card, overlaid my image over its edge and then my denim pieces over it and stitched everything to a navy card front using white thread.  I added more double sided tape behind the denim this time and it stayed in place much better.  I stitched "kindness" on the bottom right hand corner which was stamped and trimmed from an all over stamp (SU).  It still needed a bit of something so I added french knots on the points using yellow embroidery thread that coordinated with the center of the flower.  Just what it needed!!

For my third card, I used the same flower image (CLKER) which I watercoloured and layered onto black cardstock. I stamped a piece of denim with some flower images in blue ink and stitched it to the left hand flap of a navy gate fold card capturing a piece of lace seam binding in the process.  Next, I laid my layered flower image onto the flap, tucked in a piece of lace seam binding and stitched all the way around my image which very nicely attached it to the flap!! I stamped the same flower images in white on the right hand flap of my card.  To finish off my card, I tied the two pieces of lace in a single knot and trimmed the ends diagonally.  To keep the knot tight I used a dab of glue just beneath it.

One of these will be off to my swap partner and the other two I will use for my monthly card exchange.  I really love the look of white lace with denim and it was fun to use some denim scraps on my cards.

Therese

Card featuring a ighthouse postage stamp

I found this light house postage stamp and thought it would be great as a focal element on a card!!  I glued it to a light blue rectangle of blue cardstock which I had flagged on the bottom end.  I found several bits of ribbon that worked well with the image and adhered them to the right hand side of the rectangle.  I had another piece of that beautiful background paper which I received from my Secret Sister at Christmas so I layered my element on it and stitched all the way around and then decided to do around the postage stamp as well.  It seemed a bit stark so I used my stipple stamp (SU) and some light green ink to add a bit of texture to the piece.  I adhered this whole piece to the front of a white card.  I sponged the edges of a punched (SU) greeting and added it to the front using 3D foam tape.  I like how this card came together and the colour combinations as well.  I will certainly be using postage stamps in my creations again.  That was fun!!                 Therese

Card featuring a used postage stamp

I made a few cards lately featuring used postage stamps as their focal element.  This one features a round American stamp with the Earth on it.  It is a very cool stamp!!  I layered it on a green circle and then onto a dark blue circle which I cut with Nestabilities.  I still had a piece of this serendipity background so I decided to use it up.  I layered iot onto a medium blue card front and stitched it all the way around with white thread.  I mounted the postage stamp element to an orange rectangle and mounted it to my card using double sided tape.  I found a greeting in my stash that just fit nicely below it so I adhered that with double sided tape as well.  The ribbon I found in my stash as well - I trimmed one end into a flag and cut the other straight.  I glued both ends down with double sided tape and add three blue star brads in between.  Really like the colour combinations on this card!!

Therese

Another pink and green card!!

I am still working through those pink gingham announcements I found in a box labeled "to be sorted"a while back. For this card,  I punched the bottom edge with the scallop punch (SU) and then with the slot punch.  I applied double sided tape to the back of the slots and added green glitter (MS) to the front.  Nice and glittery!  I trimmed the quarter sheet to fit on a purple card and added a bit of stippling with coordinating ink.  I folded my ribbon and adhered it to the card front using double sided tape.  The collage image was adhered over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I like how well the wide ribbon covers the space on the card.  Therese

Hockey postage stamp on a birthday card

Another of the cards I made using used postage stamps.  I started with this stamp that features a hockey player and glued it to the top of a green rectangle.  I used a chevron punch (SU) to add the slots on the left hand side.  I found this background that was perfect to go with this image.  It was in the gift from my Secret Sister at Christmas.  Not sure what was used below but the surface looks like ti was thermally embossed after it was put through an embossing folder.  I trimmed this background, added a length of red vintage seam binding and stitched it to a light grey card capturing the seam binding in the process.  I added a vertical greeting to the side of my focal element, adhered it to my card front with a bit of double sided tape and then stitched all the way around with white thread.  It still needed "something" so I tied on a short length of seam binding to the right of my element and that was just enough texture and colour to finish off my card nicely.
Have you ever used old postage stamps in your art?  If so, post a link to your creation so we can all be inspired to give it a try!

Therese

Dinosaur card with serendipity background

Another grandson with a birthday!! He is into dinosaurs this year so I made him a card that features a brontosaurus. In his case, I chose a realistic image because he knows their names and what they look like!!  I downloaded the image from CLKER, added a greeting in COREL DRAW and laser printed it.  I watercoloured the image and layered it onto orange cardstock which I left long on the right hand side so I could punched it with the slot punch.  I added a coordinating ribbon and layered this element to my card front which features a piece of serendipity paper which I created a while back. The serendipity paper was such a good background for this dinosaur image!!

Therese

Train card

My oldest grandson is turning 6 and is wanting trains as part of his birthday celebration so I went looking for some train images.  I found these full colour ones on  CLKER !!  They are a good marriage between realistic and cute!!  I also found the landscape there which worked really well to create a background for my card.  I placed one on the left and flipped the next one horizontally and put it on the right.  Perfect!! I laser printed the greeting and the landscape in proper relation to each other and the train cars on the same piece of white cardstock.  I watercoloured the background and greeting and fussy cut the train cars and glued them between the two.  I added a length of black cording below the cars to create a connection between all the pieces like they would be in a real train.  I mounted this element to a blue card front and added three little hand cut puffy clouds which I sponged with blue and mounted with 3D foam tape!!!   I am really happy with how this card turned out!!!

Therese

Pink and green shabby chic card

Yet again, another card made from the pink gingham announcements that I unearthed from a "To be sorted" box!!  I changed it up a bit for this one.  I added a piece of black lace to the right hand side of a quarter sheet of the gingham announcement and added a collage image (designsbymikel) with a black hummingbird just inside the pink border.  I added a laser printed greeting (Pink Cat Studio) which I layered onto green on the lower right hand side and just above it a gold embossed butterfly image adhered with 3D foam tape.  After assembling the elements I thought it needed a bit of grunge so I used my stipple stamp (SU) and added some green stippling around the edges of the card.  That was better!!

Therese

Delicate pink and green cards

 I am in the process of using up some pink gingham announcements from a "To be sorted" box and here are a couple more cards I made.
For these two I simply folded the half sheet announcement in half to make a quarter sheet card.  I used a strip of white cardstock and punched one edge with a scalloped border punch (SU) and the other with the slot punch.  I found some pink ribbon that coordinated and added it to the slots before I used double sided tape to adhere it to the left hand side of the card.  For the top one I used a laser printed tulip image (CLKER). I watercoloured it and sponged the edges in green so it would show up nicely on the card front.  I slipped the left hand edge under the border and glued it in place.  I sponged an oval greeting (SU) with green and added it over the image using 3D foam tape.

For this card, I layered the image over a green backer and used chalks to colour it.  I added a scroll greeting (CLKER) which I chalked to coordinate with the card.

The little girl is a digital image from Lilac and Lavendar. I used this image on these cards as well.

Therese

Heart Art Quiltie for February

I am hosting another Art Quilitie mingle!! The theme for February is Heart - you just need to include a heart in your design any way you wish - fabric, stitching or embellishment.
I started by cutting a 5"x 5" piece of white on white quilting fabric and stamping words on it with my magnetic Making Memories alphabet stamps in "Soft Stone" Memories ink.  The words are the qualities of love - kind, patient, polite, joyous, calm, forgiving, etc. After that I stamped a beautiful LOVE (QF) in red after making a heart outline in pencil to ensure good placement.  I stitched pearl seed beads all along the heart outline, added a 4" batting to the back and sewed on all of my white and pearl buttons starting

with the one at the bottom and adding as I went.  When I got to the middle I added the little red heart button and kept going.   Once, I was finished, I added a five inch square of red fabric over the front, stitched around the edge with my sewing machine leaving a gap to allow me to turn it inside out.  Once it was right side out, I stitched up the gap and added blanket stitch all the way around the edge using white embroidery floss. Traditionally, the line of the blanket stitch is left on the outside edge, instead I stitched mine leaving the line about a quarter inch inside the outside edge giving it a different look.
I love the way it turned out!!  I added my credits to the back using iron on fabric labeling tape, hand lettered a quote with a fine tip sharpie and embellished the whote back area with white french knots.
It will be on its way to my partner by the end of the week.  You can check out the other art quilties I have made  - October, November and January.  I am hoping to continue to get participation so we will all have a good number of pages to sew up into a project.

Therese

Pink and green baby card

I am working on cleaning up my "To be sorted" boxes and in one of them I found a package of pink gingham announcement cards which I bought somewhere for a really good price knowing for sure that I would get some quick inspiration and in no time at all I would have a pile of cute cards.  It has been years and so far that has not happened so this week I thought I would see if I could get some cards made with them.
I started by cutting the half sheet down to quarter sheet and punching the non ginghamed edge with an eyelet border punch (SU).  I backed the edge with a strip of green layer  - two of my favorite colours together.  I found this laser printed vellum with a baby buggy in my image stash which worked very nicely so I trimmed it down to the right size and chalked the back to add colour. I positioned it on the card, punched two holes with my Cropadile and used vintage green seam binding to create an innie - outie bow.  I mounted this element to a white card front to finish it off.
I just remembered that I did use a few last year to create these cards.

Therese

Vintage looking Valentine's card for a special guy

I created this card for my DH for Valentine's!!  I started with a black quarter sheet of cardstock which I trimmed slightly to leave an even border all the way around. I stamped it with a flourish background (IO) and embossed it with red embossing powder.  It worked out great!!  I rubbed on a bit of gold mica powder to add a bit of depth to it and stitched it to the front of a kraft coloured card using black thread.  I added a red layer (ATC from my stash) that had a metal butterfly, some black stamping and a gold shimmer finish over which I mounted a square of serendipity background in reds and golds.  I created my focal element using a laser printed digital image of a heart with leaves (CLKER) which I trimmed and watercoloured.  Once it was dry I added some clear dimensional magic to the heart and berries.  Once that was dry I mounted it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I really like the vintage look in the red, white and black colour scheme!!

Therese

February card exchange cards with hearts

I made these two cards for my February Card Exchange.  I started with an alcohol ink background that I had stamped over with black ink.  It is on the top of the pile here. I added a few more images to fill it out and then cut it in half.  I layered each piece onto black cardstock and added a slim strip of black cardstock across the middle.  On the left hand card I also added a length of black 1/8" ribbon tied with one knot.  I created the hearts using scallopped die cuts I had received from my Secret Sister that were covered with Sookwang tape.  I added the little hearts in the center of the tape and applied red glitter to the rest of them.  That worked out very well.  I mounted them to the alcohol ink pieces using 3D foam tape.  I worked out my designs, stamped the red card fronts in black with a script stamp, added two quarters of a little white doily to each card and then mounted my main alcohol ink elements to my card fronts.  It was fun to create one portrait and one landscape!!  

Therese

Cards using transparent diecutsI

A few cards I made in the last week or so using die cuts that I received from my secret sister, Rena for Christmas.  Out of the collection she sent I used the cups and the large birdie with a cloud.
For the birdie card, I embossed a red frame and mounted it over my "grass" which was several layers of green die cuts which I had stamped a bit to provide some texture on a kraft card base.  I mounted the bird over the frame using a small piece of double sided tape and did the same for the little cloud.  I added a dyed piece of crochet thread across the top and mounted a round birdie greeting (Bird's Cards) over it using a mini brad.  I included a red sequin below the brad to embellish the greeting.  Afterwards, I added a bit of watercolour to the greeting because it seemed to "bright" compared to the rest of the card.
For the cup cards, I layered the cups on white using double sided tape, layered that onto a coordinating coloured cardstock and then laser printed a greeting on white card fronts and layered the cup elements just above  using 3D foam tape.  I really like the Clean and Simple look of these thank you cards.
It was fun to use these die cuts and I expect the others will show up in future cards.  Thanks, Rena.

Therese

Pink serendipity heart card

I found this pink serendipity heart in a "To be sorted" box this week and decided to just make a card with it right away!! The scalloped layer was with the heart so I just layered them.  I added a green embossed layer over a pink card front and added the wide pink ribbon that matched perfectly gluing the ends to the inside of the card. I added the heart element using 3D foam tape and lastly, added the laser printed greeting (CLKER) that I had trimmed closely and watercoloured.  Another one for the stash!!
I am seriously trying to keep my crafting area neat & clean and have set the goal of going through my boxes of "To be sorted" which have been sitting there for more than a year!!!  So far so good!!

Therese

Monoprinting using a gelatin plate

My sister was here this past weekend and we played with the gelatin printing plate that I bought a while back.  We hauled out all sorts of paint, marking tools, stencils and paper and got started.  We had watched a couple of online video tutorials earlier in the day and we quickly realized that it was not as easy as it looks!!  All in all, we were happy with most of our prints.  She managed enough pieces to use in her next card making class and I have several sheets of background paper which will be added to the stash and used in future projects.  We used old greeting cards, maps and brown paper as our substrates.  We used glaze and acrylic paints for colour and a variety of items as stencils to make marks in the paint before we made a print.
The plate I bought is made by Stampendous and is about a quarter inch thick.  It has a plastic protector on both surfaces.  We just peel off one of them before we started printing.  It worked reasonably well but I am wondering if the GelliArt plates work better because they are thicker and therefore a bit more flexible.  It is possible that our results were more about the paint we were using rather than the surface.  We will try it again and may have a better perspective then.
If you have not tried monoprinting, consider trying!!  It is a lot of fun. You do not need a gelli plate to mono print - you can easily use a white garbage bag or a silicon sheet on your kitchen counter as your plate.  I like the unique look of the papers that we created which I digitize for future use before I use them up!!

Therese

Studio improvements!!

I am fortunate to have a very capable and willing partner who this past week created for me a paper storage rack.  It was specifically designed to fit on the top of my file cabinet and arrived ready to go - paint and all!!  It reaches to the ceiling and features fifteen openings that will be used to hold all of my paper that is on rolls.  I previously had a 4 cube moving box up there laying on its side with all of my paper rolls in it.  It did the job reasonably well but it was hard to access the lower rolls because of the weight of everything that was piled on top of them.  This will work much better!!  I have emptied the box and there is now paper in each cubby hole but everything fit in and there is space to access all of the paper very nicely.  I did cook him a good meal in appreciation for his effort.

On the weekend, I also gained the benefit of some new lighting thanks to the same wonderful guy!!  He replaced four fluorescent bulbs in two fixtures with 14 tubes in four fixtures!!!  WOW!!  What a difference that made!!  They are now the T8 bulbs which are much more energy efficient and also provide more light.  It has made such a difference!!! I am grateful for his time and effort on my behalf!!

Therese

Journal page - Solace

I joined a Journal Page swap on one of my groups.  The theme for the year is Nature's Blessings and Solace is the theme for January!!  Solace is different for everyone but it does serves us well to know what comforts us because it allows us to go there first instead of spending time numbing or distracting ourselves when in fact we need to be loved and nurtured to feel better.  This subject was covered in the Brene Brown course - The Gifts of Imperfection - so I just went back through my notes and knew exactly what I should include in my journal page - a walk in nature, a cup of tea with a book and a good soak in the tub.  Works every time.
So I went looking for images to use on my page.  I found most of them on CLKER.  The book page I found on Morgue Files.  I imported them into Corel Draw and sized them to fit on an 8.5" x 5.5" page.  I printed the book page, tea cup and bathtub on one half and the road and road sign on the other half of the letter sized sheet of white cardstock. The half with the tea cup became the base of my journal page and I fussy cut the road and the road sign from the other half.

I started by adding blue watercolour at the top for the sky and then added green blending it gently into the tea cup area to start my collaged landscape.  I added a layer of blue paper napkin to simulate mountains.
I slit the edge of my tea cup with an exacto knife to allow the road to slip in behind and then glued it into place.  I glued a torn strip of green scrapbook paper over the end of the road to simulate the tree line and added a couple of other pieces on each side to fill in the gaps.  I added watercolour to the green paper to help it look more like a trees. I added some little bits of green paper napkin to either side of the road to add texture and colour and also added watercolour to the tea cup so it looked like you could see the road through the transparent tea cup and added the tea as well.  I love transparent tea cups!!!!
Next, I watercoloured some striped wall paper behind the tub, added brown watercolour to simulate the floor and watercoloured the water in the tub.  It was coming together very nicely.  I added a towel to the right of the tub - a strip of white fabric draped over a wire which I attached to the page using two silver mini brads.  I coloured my road sign and added it to the left of the tea cup using 3D foam tape.
Very happy with how it worked out. I added a piece of watercoloured cardstock to the back where I added my journaling and my credits!!
This is my first journal page!! It will be off to my partner early next week.

Therese