A beautiful leaf with coordinating papers and raffia

I will be seeing my sister in a few weeks and I decided to get a few cards made for her.  She came two years ago to spend some time and we made cards.  She decided to leave her supplies and I would continue to make cards for her.  I have made quite a few but no where near the amount that would use the supplies she left here.  So a few more for her!!
I started by gluing the decorative papers to the red card front - red gingham and red distressed.  I added a strip of red paper and overlaid a brown one overlapping where the papers met.  I watercoloured the leaf image and added some specks of paint by striking the wet paint brush on my finger.  I glued it to the green and then trimmed the bottom off long using decorative scissors.  I used a tracing wheel to add texture to the bottom area as well as the borders of the image.  Really like those subtle stitch like lines!!  I added a piece of yellow organza ribbon to the card front, added green raffia over that and then overlaid my focal element over it using 3D foam tape to adhere it.  Fun to be making large cards again!!!!
Therese

Cards from kits that feature embossing and Cre8tive Hands digital images

A couple more cards made up from card kits from last week's class .  They sure are quick and easy!!
The digital images are from Cre8tive Hands - she has some very cute and versatile images.  I glued the four embossed rectangles to the card fronts and added some fiber, watercoloured and layered the images then adhered them over the fiber using 3D foam tape. 

Therese

Exchange cards that feature white embossing and watercolour

I made up a couple of kits from my last class for my exchange cards for this month.  These are so fun because the design emerges when you apply colour!!  The design is embossed on watercolour paper using white embossing powder so the design is very subtle until you add watercolour.  The gift and teapot stamps have been in my stash for a long while and it had been quite a while since I had actually used a rubber stamp as I am much more likely these days to use digital stamps in my cardmaking.  I also stamped the greetings onto my label die cuts (Spellbinders) using a Versafine Black stamp pad.  I wrapped the fiber around my background and incorporated the greeting label just before tying it off.  These large focal elements were glued to the front of a black card which really highlights the colours nicely!!  

So these are off to my card exchange partners in today's mail!!!

Therese

A couple of fall leaves cards

I created both of these backgrounds will I was preparing for my last cardmaking class but I found it difficult to incorporate the large greetings so I had left them aside.  These smaller greetings work much better so I have two more cards to add to my stash. 
The backgrounds are created by gluing die cuts (TH) and punchies to a white quarter sheet of cardstock and then passing it through the Big Kick using the Lattice embossing folder (SU) which has a very tight pattern and incorporates the shapes into the cardstock and giving  them a fun quilted look. 

Therese

Another fun watercoloured card

I made this card with a kit I made up for my last cardmaking class.  It features white embossing on watercolour paper and the design emerges as colour is applied!  I started with yellow watercolour all over avoiding some parts of the presents as I went along.  Next I added blue to the inside of the presents and discovered that the bottom edge of the design is not closed so the colour ran into the yellow a bit.  Next, I added just a wee bit of red to the heart bows on the top of the presents.  A fun design using a stamp I have had for ages!!  I coloured the greeting with the same colours as the main element though I watered them down some so as to not compete with the front.  I wrapped the fiber all the way around and then incorporated my label greeting in on my last wrap before tying it off with a double knot.  The greeting was stamped with black ink (SU). I glued this large element to a black card front.  Love the bright colours!!

Therese

Card featuring several repurposed card fronts

Was working on a few cards this week and made these three using card fronts that have been donated to me for reuse.  For the first two I simply trimmed the fronts, glued them to purple card fronts and added a stamped greeting which I trimmed real close.  For the third one, I punched a hole in the bottom section and tied on some orange fiber to add texture and interest to my card.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere this large element to a rust card front.  I glued a Word Window Punchie (SU) greeting to the card inside the hole.  Like that look!! 
It is often a challenge to reuse card fronts but these ones were quite easily made up.

Therese

Card kits - quick and easy card with balloons

I was in need of a few cards last weekend so I went looking in my card kits from previous classes and found a few that worked.  This one is from this class.   It made up a fun kids birthday card with its fun primary colours.  The balloons are a digital image from Arthur's Clipart.  I printed them on white and trimmed out the tags.  I watercoloured them, added the seam binding and the trimmed greeting using double sided tape.  I glued the decorative papers to the card front and added the trimmed and embossed strip before adding my focal element with 3D foam tape. 
Love this one!!

Therese

Bright and cheery cards from card kits

I made up these bright and cheery cards from kits from this class.  It sure is nice to have kits on hand as it makes getting last minute card made up very quick and easy!!  

These fun backgrounds were created with ink I made up from the ink cartridges we removed from our inkjet printer a while back.  I used 4" x 6" photo paper and then colour printed black images over the backgrounds before cutting them apart for my cards.  These digital images are from Melon headz. I stamped the card fronts with coordinating ink and some of my background stamps.  I colour printed the layers with their greetings and assembling the card was pretty simple after that!!

Therese

Cards from kits - embossed rectangles and a printed digital image as a focal element

I needed a few cards this week so I made up some kits from last week's class.   The first one features a sunrise digital image from Cre8tive Hands which I laser printed and watercoloured.  I did add a font greeting before printing and see that it has ended up quite small but that does mean it is somewhat subtle which works for this card.  I layered it onto red and then added four green embossed rectangles to a yellow card along with a bit of blue raffia to finish off my card.  I like the fun image which made a great Thinking of You card!  I made up the second card for a friend who has been in hospital!!  She will be recovering at home and I know she loves cards so I made up this kit for her.  I started with a dark blue card, added four light blue rectangles embossed with two different embossing folders and then added a length of ribbon across it punching a slot in the spine to insert my ribbon.  I glued the ends to the inside of the card.  I watercoloured this cute digital image of a puppie (Cre8tive Hands), mounted it onto a blue rectangle which I distressed then mounted it over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  I tied a short piece of ribbon to the one on the front using one knot to simulate a bow!!  I am wishing her a speedy recovery and hopefully a good Thanksgiving weekend.  

It is really nice to have card kits on hand for those days that you need a few quick cards!!

September Cardmaking - quilted background with a chalkboard greeting

I love this quilted background technique!!   To create this background I laid coloured card stock shapes onto a piece of white cardstock to create a quilt pattern until I was happy with the way it looked.  Next, I passed it through my Big Shot using an embossing folder with a very tight design (SU Lattice) which helps the pieces incorporate into the background and gives the whole layer a quilted look. I downloaded this set of chalkboard greetings for these cards.  I did digitally embellish a blank one I created using a chalkboard font to create a few more greeting options.  I laser printed the tag greetings and provided scissors for the participants to trim them as they wished.  I trimmed mine to leave an even border all the way around.  I used an 1/8" hole punch to punch out the holes on each side.  I threaded ribbon through the holes and added the greeting to my quilted layer gluing the ends to the back using double sided tape.  I tied a small piece of ribbon to the one on the front using a single knot to simulate a bow.  I glued this whole layer to the front of a coordinating card.  Thinking it still needed a bit of something I added an embossed star over the central square.  That was better!!  Here are a few more I created at class.

Again, these are very versatile because the cardstock pieces can be any shape - stars, balloons, flowers, etc and I did use punchies on several of the background I created for my kits but die cuts would work just as well. 
While I was out there cruising the internet I did find a few downloadable chalkboard backgrounds which I will play with later.  It was fun to finally create cards with chalkboard greetings!!
Therese

September Cardmaking - white embossed images with all over watercolour

I have been wanting to try this out for a while and decided to include a card into the class that included white embossed images on watercolour paper coloured in an overall manner with watercolour!!  It is always a bit of a surprise when you start adding watercolour because white embossing powder on white watercolour paper is very subtle!!  Fun!!  I included black cardstock in all the kits because it nicely highlights any colour and it was completely unpredictable what colour the participants were going to choose for their cards.  We watercoloured our focal images and used a hair dryer to encourage the drying process.  Next, we wrapped white fiber which would work with any colour of art around our dried artwork and threaded on our greeting before tying it off on the side.  We did choose to watercolour our greeting slightly before cleaning our brushes so they would coordinate with our focal element.  The greetings were stamped in black ink onto label die cuts (Spell binders).  I did add a bit of double sided tape to the back of my greeting to keep it exactly where I wanted it.  These large elements were then glued to our black card front.  Love the look!!    Here are a couple more with more of an all over embossed pattern. 
Therese

September Cardmaking - embossed backgrounds with laser printed digital images and font greetings

 It is that time of year again!!  We are back to our post summer routines and for me that means back to regularly cardmaking sessions with my group.  It was fun to have a few new people to join us this time around!!
We started with a fairly versatile sketch - a pieced embossed background, some ribbon/fiber and a layered focal element which featured digital images from Cre8tive Hands along with greetings created with interesting fonts. 
For this card I embossed four silver foil rectangles with the Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder and glued them leaving an even margin all the way around onto a gray card front.  I added a length of red ribbon and tied on a short piece with a single knot to simulate a bow before adding my focal element with 3D foam tape.  My focal element features a cute little nativity image from Cre8tive Hands to which I added a font greeting before laser printing onto white cardstock. I watercoloured my image and layered it onto black before adding it to my card front.  Because I chose a smaller image size I have the ability to make these cards portrait or landscape regardless of the orientation of my image.  For some of the kits I embossed the rectangles with different embossing folders and varied the colours to provide a multicoloured background.  With a bit more work the rectangles could have been made different sizes which would have given the background a more abstract look. 
Really happy with how this card turned out!!  Love the image at Cre8tive Hands as well!!  You can see below a couple more cards I made up at class.  I have a couple Christmas ones so I can add them to my stash as I have been remiss in keeping my commitment of making them monthly.  I will have to recommit and catch up!!

Therese

A little birdie on a fun and funky fabric postcard

A fun fabric postcard for my partner in the birthday swap in my Trading Fabric Postcards group.  I started with a fabric collage I created a while back with colourful strips of fabric.  I have recently created several postcard using these fabric collage for the backgrounds.  I knew I needed a bold fabric for my little birdie so I kept looking until I found this fishy fabric.  It was perfect.  I applied fusible webbing to a small scrap, traced the birdie sticky note I used on these cards and trimmed it out.  I had enough to make two so I will have a spare birdie that will show up in a future creation.  I used a punchie of the wing (paisley) to trace two wings as well out of blue fabric which I had also backed with fusible webbing.  I defined the eye and the beak with a black sharpie marker and then fused it to my background.  I fused a strip of green fabric across the bottom to simulate grass.  I stitched all the way around the birdie several times using greenish yellow thread and stitch him legs and feet.  I adhered the wing and added stitching to it as well. Really happy with how it turned out!  I added a piece of batting and a white cotton backer, stitched all the way around the edge to secure all the layers to each other and then stitched around the bird in an all over pattern.  I added fusible webbing to several strips of greenish yellow fabric and used it to bind the postcard.  I cut a length for one long side, positioned it on the front overlapping the edge and used the iron to fuse it in place.  I turned the whole thing over and fused the rest of the strip to the back.  I did the other three sides to finish it off.  I used the greenish yellow thread to add two rows of stitching to the binding which finished the whole postcard off very nicely.  I used a small strip of white fusible fabric for my quote which I hand lettered using a black fine tipped Sharpie marker.  Very happy with how this one turned out!!  It is off to my partner to arrive in time for her birthday.     Therese

White on white with a colourful image/greeting combo

I have been wanting to make a card using white on white for quite a while and I decided to try it with this large card for a friend who will be 98 this month!!  I started with a large white card, trimmed another white piece just a bit smaller, cut it into four pieces and embossed each piece using a different embossing folder.  I glued them to my card front leaving a bit of a margin all the way around all the pieces and in between.  I added a piece of green rafia on the left portion using my slot punch to create a bit of an opening on the spine.  I tied it around the card front an double knotted it on the front.  I layered a colour printed image from Vintage Fan Girl  that features poppies with a greeting, trimmed it and layered it with green before adding a white layer.  I adhered this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape positioning it just over the raffia and covering the joint of the four embossed rectangles.  Really happy with how this one worked out.  I will be using this sketch again for my upcoming classes.      Therese

Another leather leaf on a collage background - birthday card

I need another birthday card so I decided to create a collage background with a few of the supplies on my desk - decorative paper, collage scraps, leaf punchies, mop up paper, book page scraps, ATC, etc.  I used a scrap of cardstock as a base and glued all my elements on until I was happy with the layout.  I added a bit of watercolour to help incorporate all the elements.  I trimmed it to size and mounted it to a rust card front.  I added an embossed strip of mustard coloured cardstock and mounted my stitched leaf over it using double sided tape.  I tied some green raffia to the stem and added a bit of glue to adhere those two elements to the card.  I trimmed a laser printed greeting and layered it onto an embossed piece of orange cardstock, flagged both of the ends and tucked it under the mustard strip.  Love how it turned out!!

Therese

Large card made reusing some elements from a used commercial card

I needed a large card for an upcoming birthday and started with a birthday cake image I found on a commercial card that was donated to me.  I trimmed the image from the front of the card and created a layered greeting using a scalloped circle, a laser printed greeting (The Spruce), a couple of flower punchies, a sequin and a tiny white brad.  I added a short piece of coordinating organza ribbon before adhering my greeting usind 3D foam tape.  I cut a large purple card front and trimmed on of the other layers from the commercial card to fit on it with an even border all the way around and added a white layer to hide the words.  I added my yellow focal element over it using 3D foam tape.  Really liked how this one turned out but was not sure if it was original enough for the purpose I was intending to use it for.  So this one may go to by stash!!

I made another large card using gorgeous ribbon and a leather leaf for my daughter's birthday but forgot to get a photo so I cannot share it here!

Therese

Fun cards from kits

I made up these two cards from kits I made up for this class in May.   I used ink cartridges from the colour printer and glossy photo paper to make up the fun decorative paper and then I printed images on them using the printer.  These digital. images are from Melonheadz.  I combined them with some fun sayings for some fun cards!!  I trimmed the images and layered them onto the yellow layers which were printed with the greetings and then mounted them to the stamped card front.  They were stamped with pink ink using a script background stamp (SU).  I did use a bit of watercolour to add a bit of intensity to parts of the images to give them more dimension.    Therese

Hammered botanicals background with silk flowers and seam binding

I made a special card for my god daughter's birthday!!  I used one of my hammered botanicals for the background and found coordinating silk flowers and vintage seam binding in my stash.  I added a bit of coordinating watercolour around the edges of the background where the white was distracting and glued the 5" x 8" piece to a lightweight green cardstock.  I added a piece of purple seam binding across the length and glued the ends to the back of the layer.  On the right over the seam binding I added a layered greeting which consisted of an oval punched laser printed digital image (Birds Cards), a coordinating purple oval and an oval of vellum which I trimmed with scalloped decorative scissors.  On the left above the seam binding I added three dark purple silk flowers to which I had added tiny iridescent white sequins with tiny black brads.  I tied a short length of the same seam binding in the middle using one knot which nicely simulates a bow and positioned it where it looked like it belonged.  To finish off my card I glued this large layer to the front of a large white card (5.5" x 8.5").   I hope she enjoys it and the little treats I have included inside.  

Therese

Exchange cards with bleached backgrounds and labels with greetings

I set out to make a couple of card for my exchange group and ended up with three!!  All of them feature navy blue background paper that was stamped with bleach when I was playing a while back.  I cut each of them to 4" x 5.25", embossed them with an embossing folder and glued them to the front of a card.  I added embossed labels (TH) which have been sponged a bit with coordinating ink, some ribbon and laser printed round greetings ( Netty's Cards).  I also added some punchies/die cut elements to add a bit of texture to each of the cards.  It was fun to make all the cards different with pretty much the same sketch!!
On the first one I added my background to a blue green card and sponged the ivory label with several inks until I got the colour I was looking for.  I embossed it with a gears embossing folder and positioned the center so the large gear with be featured.  I die cut the greeting and the blue/green layer using Nestibilities.  I used a punch to remove the middle of the greeting and reveal the embossed design which I added to the blue/green circle.  It needed a bit of something so I added a rhinestone which I coloured with Sharpies to get the right colour.  I punched slots on each side and inserted short lengths of navy ribbon gluing the ends to the inside front of my card.  I die cut a flourish, trimmed it into three and embellished the label with them just tucking them underneath where they looked good.  For my second one, I glued my background to a purple card, sponged my ivory label with purple ink and added a length of coordinating ribbon over it.  I die cut the laser printed digital greeting and a coordinating layer and mounted them with 3D foam tape over the ribbon.  I punched a hole in a scrap of paper and sponged the center of the greeting with a bit of purple ink.  The little butterfly punchie was just enough to finish off my card.
For my third card I glued my background to a green card.  I sponged the embossed ivory label with green ink and die cut a hole from the middle.  I punched two small holes in each end and inserted a navy ribbon.  I mounted the label to my card front and adhered the ribbon ends to the inside front of my card.  I sponged my die cut greeting, added a green circle into the center and added a small gold flower sequin with a tiny gold brad before mounting it over the ribbon over the hole I had die cut in the label.  I added a stamped and punched butterfly (SU) to which I wrapped and tied gold embroidery thread to create the antennea.  I used a tiny piece of double sided tape to adhere it to my card front.
So two of these are off to my swap partners and the other will find its way to my card stash!!

Therese

Sympathy cards from kits

I made up these two cards from kits I made up for this class.   The card fronts are stamped - the green one with a blue ink using a script stamp (SU) and the blue one with bleach using a worn background stamp (SU).  The digital images (CLKER) were printed on the coloured ink backgrounds then trimmed to fit on the coordinating layers which have colour printed greetings on them before being mounted to the card fronts.  Quick and easy cards from kits!!       Therese