Tunnel card featuring decorative paper, doily, label die cut and a layered heart with ribbon bow

My third tunnel card is an anniversary one.  You can check out my first one here.  I trimmed my card and tunnel, folded them and then I die cut a label (SX) opening from the center of the tunnel.  I stamped my greeting (SU) on the inside in red and then added some stamped hearts all around it (Magenta).  I adhered the flaps of the tunnel to the inside of my card and then added some coordinating heart punchies (SU) to them. For the front of my card I added a large white paper doily and then adhered the label I cut from the tunnel to it.  I die cut a small oval from pink vellum, embossed it with the Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder and adhered it to my label.  I found a coordinating heart in my stash which I adhered tot he vellum and then added a little pink bow.  I did add some faux stitching to the label because it still needed a "bit of something".  That was better!!       Therese

 

Tunnel card featuring decorative paper, seam binding, die cuts and layered hearts

For this tunnel card I used a nice floral heavy weight paper for the card and a coordinating light weight paper for the tunnel.  You can see my first tunnel card here. After folding the tunnel I die cut the label opening and then used an eyelet border punch (SU) on the flaps.  I created an inner greeting layer the width of the space inside the card between the two flaps using a tag from Calico Collage with a font greeting and laser printed it.  Trimmed it to size, folded it in half and adhered it on the fold inside my card.  Next, I adhered my tunnel to the inside.  I used the label die cut from the tunnel on the front of my card.  I embossed it wih a distress embossing folder and sponged the edges with green.  I added two lengths of lace adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I layered four hearts ( punchies and die cuts) from my stash for my focal element and added a small red confetti heart.  I mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape. Thinking it still needed a "bit of something" I added two lengths of red seambinding (MS) to the corners.  That really was much better.  I tucked the one end inside under the tunnel edge and the other is simply adhered to the back with double sided tape.  FUN!  Therese

 

Tunnel card featuring decorative paper, label die cut, coffee vellum, fiber and a layered coffee cup

For my September family special occasion cards I decided to make tunnel cards.  I checked out several tutorials and decided to use heavy weight decorative paper (12" x12") for the outside and light weight decorative paper (12"x12") for the inside tunnel.  I made them all large cards to fit in envelopes from my stash.  

For this card I started by trimming my heavy weight paper to 11" x 8.25" or so.  The light weight paper was trimmed to 8" x 8".  The scraps will make A2 background very nicely.  I folded the inside in half and then scored 1.5" from each edge to create the tunnel.  I die cut a label shaped (SX) opening in the center fold which allows the recipient to see the greeting on the inside of the card.  I stamped the greeting on the inside of the card and watercoloured all around it in coordinating colours.  Once dry, I stamped several flowers around the greeting to be visible through the tunnel.  I stamped several extra on scrap paper to add to the tunnel edges.  I glued the two 1.5" flaps to the inside of my card laying it flat and lining up the center fold of the tunnel with the center fold of the card.  I fussy cut the extra flowers I had stamped and added them to the side flaps of the tunnel.  I used the piece I had cut from the inside to decorate the front of my card.   I cut a smaller opening in my label and then stamped it with dark brown ink to distress it.  I crumpled some coffee vellum and tore its edges to be just a bit larger than my label die cut.  I tied a coordinating piece of fiber to the die cut and glued it to my vellum and then glued this large element to my card front placing the double sided tape behind the die cut.  I watercoloured a small coffee cup (CLKER) in coordinating colours, punched it with a circle punch (SU) and then added a brown circle behind it.  I added this small element to the opening in my label using 3D foam tape.  

It was fun to do something different and my other cards will show up over the next few days as I get to blogging them.  I really enjoyed using some of the "special" papers that I have been setting aside for special cards!!             Therese
 

Slow Stitching - Houses quilt top

I have finally finished the quilt top around my Slow Stitching - Houses.  I had set aside the fabric for this quilt top a while back and was pleased to find that when I took out the little pile of fabric it made sense.  I had quite a few strips of fabric - 42" in there and also quite a few that needed to be pieced.  I started by stitching together all the strips that needed stitching including the two with little strips, the long strips, the blue blocks and the triangles.  Once I had the strips finished I worked on the layout.  I framed the houses with six strips of the same fabrics above and below.  I really like how the sky pops against the black strip.  I was fortunate to have enough long strips to be able to place one in between all of the stitched strips.  The stitching of the strips went well and I was very happy to have everything line up reasonably.  I did add two strips to either side of my houses to make sure I did not lose too much when I did the binding.  After the stitching I trimmed it to size - 41.5" x 64".  I will be adding a batting, backing and binding for finish it off.  The fabric for this quilt all came from a grab bag of fabric I purchased from a quilter who was liquidating her scraps.  I sorted them all by colour which allowed me to choose all similar colours for this quilt top.  Some of the stiching had already been done - the little strips were stitched four together and the larger strips were two together and a longer piece which I cut into three and added other strips in between.  It is so nice to have this slow stitched piece in a quilt top.  

Therese

Quilt - Red and blue crumb squares sashed with yellow fabric along with some hand stitched daisies

I have been working on this quilt (48.5" x 59.5") for a while off and on between other activities.  I started by adding yellow sashing between the 12 dark red and blue crumb squares which I made a while back.  I added a large yellow border in the same fabric as the sashing, added a thin cotton batting and a dark blue backer which I wrapped around the edge and used to bind the quilt as well.  I added a row of green stitching between the two red ones on the large border and hand stitched red flowers onto the line.  I had to be careful not to go to deep with my stitches because I added the flowers after the quilt was finished.  I am really happy with how it turned out and how well the little stitched flowers finish it off!!  Therese

 

Christmas cards with fun school bus tags on varied backgrounds

Another set of cards for my sister with school buses on them.  These are all Christmas cards and were created with the same sketch but with a variety of different papers and card bases.  These are large cards - 5.5" x 8.5" because she has a supply of this size of envelopes.  I colour printed three different images of festively decorated buses and started creating!!  I created them one at a time  - a card base, then a background that was appropriate for the image and then a die cut tag which I embellished with coordinating layers and the images.  There is some embossing, tearing, texture created with my tracing wheel, sanding of white core cardstock, etc.  Each tag has a yellow reinforcement and then a coordinating fiber, ribbon or raffia tied to the tag.  It is so much fun to just create and try different things and just keep putting together elements.  I am suprised to see that they seem to fall into three collections as they were not created that way!!         Therese

 

Thank you & sympathy cards featuring decorative paper, musical washi tape, punchies/diecuts and little greetings

 I am working on cards for my stash!!  I like to have a few on hand to give in sets as gifts.  You never know what you will need so I have started with a Thank you and Sympathy card.  I trimmed the diamond paper to fit across my white card base and then trimmed the darker piece to finish off the backgrounds.  I simply interchanged the placement and attached them with musical washi tape.  I added three little coordinating punchie flowers adhered with a tiny black brad to the first card and a little thank you greeting (laser printed font).  To my second card, I added a small piece of pressed dusty miller along with a brown die cut branch (Tim Holtz) and finished that arrangement off with a little raffia bow.  I colour washed the little greeting (laser printed font) and added it to my card with 3D foam tape.  It is a start and I will be making more as time permits.     Therese

Exchange cards featuring embossed images on embellished decorative paper backgrounds

For my exchange cards for this month I thought I would go bright and different.  I started by stamping two different Chapel Road stamps onto a sheet of bright colour printed background paper (Morgue File) and embossing them with black embossing powder.  I stamped quite a few, fussy cut them and chose the brightest ones for my cards.  I choose two different purple cardstocks to make my large cards.  For the first card, I added  pieces of bright gift wrap and some glittery gold washi tape to the card front.  Next, I embossed strips in yellow, pink and green that coordinated with my three hearts and embossed them with letters.  I added faux stitching with a black marker to the strips which were trimmed to the edges of the background and also around my background.  I added the strips at different angles and mounted my hearts which were reinforced with cardstock on the back using 3D foam tape.  

For my second card I trimmed a letter background (Vintage Feedsacks) with watercolour washes that coordinated with my squares and then used a scribbly stamp to add some dimension to my background.  I added the background to my card front and then layered a black strip of cardstock over yellow and pink strips which were rejects from my first card after I added black highlights.  They worked very nicely for this card!!  I trimmed the strip to the edge of my card and layered my squares on coordinating cardstock and then mounted them to my card using 3D foam tape.  

They are both bright cards but in much different ways! It is always fun to experiment and try new ways of doing things!!  Embellishing decorative papers is a way to make papers that you may not prefer or are a bit boring more exciting, unique and appropriate for the project at hand.   Therese

 

All occasion cards featuring layered backgrounds and a cute little school bus

I made quite a few large cards for my sister early this year and she recently received them through one of my other sisters who lives closer to her.  When I saw her last weekend she thanked me for the cards and I asked her if was still interested in cards.  She was surprised that there were any supplies left.  I ensured her there was plenty and more cards could be forthcoming.  She requested "school bus" cards!!  She owns several school buses and would like to use them for her business.  No problem!!  I downloaded several bus photos -she did not mind some cartoony ones - and printed off six of this one from Klipartz.  After sizing them, I printed off a sheet of six and then fussy cut them leaving a small white border.  Gives them the look of having been die cut!!  Very cool!!  Next, I made some large cards and decorated them with some of the papers from her stash!  It was fun to play and combine different fun papers, add some embossed and embellished strips of cardstock, some brads and even a few places where I punched out some chevrons!!  I have made them all without greetings so she can customize them when she is ready to use them.  I did not plan on having three of each orientation but that is how it worked out.  I will set them aside and print off a few more of a different little bus and get creative with them!!  What fun!!!    Therese

 

Handmade card upcycled into a one of a kind needle case

My daughter gave me this felted wool card a few years ago for my birthday and I have saved it because it was so beautiful and I had been wondering how I could repurpose it.  I found a place on line where a lady was creating a needle case and it dawned on me that I could repurpose this card into a needle case for my slow stitching box.  

It was perfect!!  I removed the paper liner and replaced it with a green felted wool insert layered with a hand cut red felted wool heart.  I stitched them into the spine with ivory thread and I now have a good place to put my needles which in the past have resided in two little quilties.  It fits nicely in my box.  

I am so glad to be able to use it with good purpose and see it regularly when I am stitching.

Therese

Antoher batch of fire starters packaged in upcycled paper bags

 I made up another bunch of fire starters using the papers which I used to reduce the wax in my prayer flags when I was making them. I did augment the wax on these in the same way that I have been making the wax crayon paper.  It has been good to be able to upcycle some of the items that are leftover from other projects.  Once the fire starters were finished I decorated some paper bags ( bananas ) with some of the decorative paper I created with leftover paint when I am working on projects.  I put a dozen fire starters in each bag. They all looked pretty cool!!  I gave them to family members who like to have fires when they are out camping or in their backyards.    Therese

Thinking of you card featuring a large flower die cut, four squares and a layered center

I made this card a while back for a friend who has been healing and I am just getting to blogging it now.  I started with a white card base and added the four lilttle squares that had been trimmed off of a large sheet of decorative paper when I was making a large card.  I added a large orange flower die cut which I had stamped with a homemade stamp in orange and then added faux stitching to the edges using a green marker.  I layered a white five petal punchie (SU) with an aqua six petal one binding them with a silver brad.  I adhered this piece to the center of my flower with 3D foam tape.  I stamped the little greeting below using orange ink.  

I am sure she enjoyed the cute little card when it arrived in her mailbox!!

Therese

 

Anniversary card featuring Calico Collage images, an embossed scalloped circle and a stamped greeting

 My last July card for my youngest daughter on her anniversary!!!!!!!  I trimmed these previously colour printed images from Calico Collage, markered their edges with a black Sharpie and then adhered them to a large red card.  The heart is also a Calico Collage image which I cut with my circle cutter and also markered its edge with a brown marker.  I found a circle in my stash that was pretty close to the right colour so I die cut a scallop circle from it, chalked its edges and then embossed it with the "Subtle Texture" (SU) embossing folder.  Perfect!!  I mounted the image to the scalloped circle and adhered it to my card using 3D foam tape.  I found the stamped greeting in my stash.  Add two rows of paper piercing and then tucked it just under the edge of my scalloped circle.    Therese

Birthday card featuring a serendipity background and a large tag with a greeting and some watercoloured candles

Another July card for the special occasions in my family!!  I started with a large kraft card and then created a large serendipity background using scraps of paper in coordinating colours.  Once it was dry, I trimmed it to size and ran my pattern tracing wheel on all of its edges to create some texture then adhered it to my card. I die cut a brown tag and them embossed it with the "subtle texture" 3D embossing folder (SU).  Perfect!!  I trimmed yet another piece of the white cardstock I had stamped with the candles (SU) to the width for my tag and then tore the top and bottom.  I stamped the greeting, watercoloured the candles, added texture with my pattern tracing wheel and then a little tab with a tiny brad.  To finish it off I added a kraft hole reinforcement then tied on a length of gold/ivory fiber.  I mounted my tag to the card using 3D foam tape.  It is so nice to have time to be cardmaking!!          Therese

 

Birthday card featuring a striped collage background in blue and yellow scraps and little tag focal element with a bouquet of flowers and a layered greeting

 This card is for my Mom - her favorite colour is blue!!  I added a bit of yellow when I used all these strips of decorative scrapbook paper from my little stash of blue papers.  They coordinated so nicely and I simply taped them together on the back.  I layered the background onto a piece of yellow scrap book paper and then onto my large blue card.  This image is one of those I stampd a while back from one of my older SU sets - candles, flowers, leaves, a rabbit and this bouquet.  I thought it would be handy to have stamped images ready for creating cards.  Needless to say, I have a little stash of black and white images now!!  I might have gotten a little carried away - it was a bit of ink and scrap pieces of white cardstock!! I watercoloured my flowers to coordinate with my background, added a green ribbon and a layered oval greeting (font - laser printed) to the lower section then added a few lines of paper pierced texture with my pattern tracing wheel.  To finish it off I added some blue watercolour to the edges and mounted it to a rectangle of textured yellow cardstock.  I punched the bottom edge with  scalloped border punch (SU) and punched tiny holes in each scallop.  I mounted this focal element to my card front with 3D foam tape.  

Therese

Birthday card featuring a background made of scrappy strips, a little digital greeting and a layered length of watercoloured candles

 Still working on large cards for the special occasions in my extended family.  This one started with a deep rose card and I created a strippy background for it.  I tore my strips and adhered them to a 5.5" x 8.5" scrap piece of bond paper until it was completely covered.  After it was dry, I trimmed it to size and stitched the edges with rainbow thread which I used on my prayer flags which added more colour and texture to it before adhering it to my card front.  I die cut two scallop borders (SX) from pink cardstock and layered my focal element - a whole row of watercoloured candles (SU)  - with a rectangle of green cardstock.  I had already added two rows of paper piercing to it to add texture.  I layered the borders to the top and bottom of the green rectangle and added paper piercing to the scallops with a push pin.  I added a little laser printed digital greeting (Desert Diva- digital) which also was embellished with paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel to the upper edge and then mounted this large element to my card front with 3D foam tape. Pink and green - my favorite colour combination!!!!!  Love how this one turned out!!

Therese

Birthday card featuring a collaged background, fabric lace and ribbon and a long row of watercoloured candles

 Another card for July birthdays!!  I started with a large coral rose card and created a collaged strips background that coordinated.  The strips were gleaned from my little stash of decorative papers which were sitting on my desk from a previous cardmaking session.  I tore the paper into strips and adhered them side by side on a piece of 5.5" x 8.5" of scrap bond.  Once it was dry, I trimmed it to size.  To give some soft texture I handstitched two lengths of off white lace to each other on their straight edges and adhered them to my background securing the ends on the back using double sided tape then added a shimmery ribbon across the stitching also securing the ends to the back with double sided. tape.  I had chosen this length of stamped candles as my focal point so I watercoloured them to coordinate and finished off the flames with some clear glitter.  I added a row of paper piercing on the top and bottom of this layer and then adhered it to my card using double sided tape and glue.  I did tuck the little font greeting (laser printed) in before pressing the card.  It has a row of paper piercing too.    Therese

Thread holder using a pegboard

I have repurposed a pegboard that I used for my craft sale set up into a thread holder.  I ordered 6" peg board hooks from online - they are twice the price locally - and was able to put up all of my large spools.  There is evern room for more than one on a peg in some cases when the spools are different sizes and also room for bobbins on the end so they can live together.  I have not yet decided to add the regular and small spools as it would be more difficult to see the colours of them.  I have them in trays in drawers now and it is really easy to find the colour I am looking for when I have a project I am working on.  Brian was able to make the modifications required and attach it to the wall just above my sewing desk.  As you can see there are several other items that have found their way to the bottom hooks which were scavenged from my craft sale display box.   Therese 

My "tree" quilt is finally finished

I have finally finished the hand stitching of the leaves on this quilt top (51" x 39.5").  I like how it came out but stitching in the middle of the quilt was harder than I had expected due to the weight of the fbric and backing.  I pinned the leaves in place one at at time and used green embrodery thread and running stitch to secure them to the quilt next to the "trees".  I placed the next one over it once I had finished the first one and repeated 18 more times.  I really like how the quilt feels so now I have to find a backing to sandwich my polyester batting into the quilt. 

I found a dark green cotton polyester piece that was the right size for the back and there was enough from the other scraps to make a binding in the same colour.  Perfect!!  I added some vertical stitched lines using an off white thread on the front and dark green on the back once I got the backing pinned into place.  After that I stitched on some outline leaves with the same thread placing them next to the lines on the front to simulate a forest in the background.  I had one leftover leaf and so I traced it with a pencil where I thought leaves would look appropriate then roughly followed the line to create the outline leaves.  I really like how that looks.  I cut 3" strips for my binding and stitched them together.  I decided to use a wavy decorative stitch to stitch it into place because I usually miss the back portion when I use a straight line and have to go back and finish all those places by hand.  I had folded the edges of the 3" strip into the center and then in half so I would be assured that as long as I caught the back with stitching it would be secure.  I am pretty happy with how it worked out.  The wavy line does not distract from the quilt and it certainly ensured that I did not have to do any handwork once I was done.  I washed the quilt after I finished it to wash out the pencil lines and to see that it all held together.  The hand stitched leaves are now a little fuzzy but that is fine.  All good!!!!!  I have a special purpose for this quilt which I will share later.    I have several possibilities for the next quilt - will have to see which one calls to me.  I have also started on another hand stitching project which features stitching decorative fabric elements to solid coloured 6" squares.  I will blog those once I have started the first one.     Therese

 

Exchange cards featuring cool light bulbs and fabric paper backgrounds

These are my two cards for my exchange partner for this month.  I have seen quite a few cards online with light bulbs and when I found a great image on Beyond The Fringe Crafts I downloaded and used it for these cards.  I sized the images for large cards and printed them on white cardstock.  I fussy cut them, watercoloured them and the bulbs a coat of clear dimensional paint.  I used two larger kraft cards which have coordinating envelopes for my card bases.  I added some fabric paper which I had on my desk since creating cards for Father's Day.  I added embossed borders to each of them - one on the bottom and a rick rack border to the other one.  I added a row of machine stitching to the edges and then mounted them to my card fronts.  Once they were dry, I added the light bulbs with 3D foam tape.  I did add some words to the digital I downloaded. There are so many great saying out there so I just chose two that spoke to me.  They are on their way to my partners in this week's mail.  Therese