Cardmakers at my class really liked this one!! I pressed a LOT of Queen Anne's Lace this summer in hopes that I would be able to use them for some sort of craft this fall. They grow wild here so I just took some time on the way home from the gym one morning and picked a large arm load!! Pressed the heads upside down in phone books! Worked really well. Used the medium sized ones on these cards!! Used scallop scissors and a push pin to create the lacy edge. I created a special little greeting for this card. Passed it by my daughter who is a whiz with words and grammar to make sure it was correct. I colour printed the first two lines on the front of the card and the rest on the inside with another little snowflake to accent the words. Worked out really nice!!!! I really like including botanicals in my cards. I will be pressing more for next year and will have to dream up another design!!

I have been remiss in keeping up with my art work on my blog. I am still creating and scanning! Have taught a few classes as well. Had a visit from my daughter and new grand daughter!! Made time to spend with them and it was a fabulour visit and ten days goes by so quickly!! Have much more art to upload and will keep at it. Only one more class to go for this year!!

Happy Thanksgiving to those south of the border!! Count your many blessings!! Have a great weekend all!!

Therese


Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

I know that this one is along the same theme of several I have created this year! Was very happy to find this wonderful olive coloured ribbon in the Holiday Collection at Michaels!! With the stripe of gold it was just what this card needed. Used the D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder on the bottom part of the card and used these velvetty red hydrangeas layered with a small red flower and some leaves for the accent. Used gold Encore ink to stamp some script on the top portion though it is barely showing on the scan. Says Christmas to me!!

Therese

Don't you just love the look of the Snowflake embossing folder from Cuttlebug!! I do! Unfortunately, I have yet to own one!! Thanks to Catherine for lending me hers so I could prep for this class!! Another quick and easy card!! I designed and colour printed the tag, layered it on one larger and attached it with a snowflake brad!! The fiber is one that I bought in a ball combined with another more shiny turquoise fiber. I split off this one because it was sparkly and just the right colour!! I will be watching for sparkly fiber over the next year in different colours to use on future Christmas cards!!

Therese

A quick and easy card for Christmas!! I bought the decorative paper at Chapters last year in clearance. It is a very heavyweight gift wrap with wonderful colours and gold!! Keep an eye open for gift wrap on clearance this coming season for creating your Christmas cards for next year. I always check for solids and metallics which are good for any time of the year! The candle (Hampton Arts @ Michaels) is gold embossed, layered on gold gift wrap and then over the torn decorative paper and layered onto coloured cardstock. I used cardstock in the colours features in the paper!! The candle could certainly be accented with chalk, watercolour, stippling to highlight the body and the flame. Maybe next year!!

Therese

I taught a Christmas card class this past weekend and these are the cards we made. I really like this snowflake from Class Act Stamps. I used several different colours with a differenet embossing powder and metallic layer! Here you can see the red which featured gold embossing powder and gold gift wrap as the accenting layer. Keep your eyes peeled for any interesting gift wrap offered for deep discounts just after Christmas!! You can get a LOT of decorative paper for your cardmaking for a very reasonable price!! I featured silver embossing powder with navy, green with gold embossing powder and this pearlescent snowflake with the light blue cardstock. I had to emboss the snowflake twice to get this look. I first embossed it in white and while it was still hot I coated it with a pearl embossing powder! Gave me just the look I wanted!! I layered these snowflakes with a white Bazzill Bling paper!! Just the look I needed for that layer!! The greetings are colour printed with interesting fonts!!

Therese

Love the way this one turned out! I struggled to get enough colours of cardstock to coordinate with this scrapbook paper!! Certainly one of the benefits of buying paper and cardstock from one maker is that the coordinating is already done for you!! Love this word stamp which I stamped in chocolate brown. Layered onto antique rose. This slider worked perfectly with the 3/8" ribbon! It is cut with a Sizzix die!

It was a very fun class and I enjoy the challenge of incorporating different elements into my cards!! I hope you will be encouraged to try a few die cuts into your cardmaking!!

Therese

Created the look of a ribbon with paper!!. Nice to have this option when you just cannot find ribbon to match your cardstock!! This one I created from some hand decorated paper scraps I had on my desk. First, I laid one strip down all the way across. Took a shorter piece - 3.5" or so and folded both ends to the back middle and secured them with double sided tape to create the "bow". Used a 1" piece to create the "knot" on the bow. The little flowers is another Magenta stamp as is the border below the paper ribbon!! I watercoloured the flowers!

Therese

Have always loved this Magenta stamp - looks so elegant when it is gold embossed and watercoloured!! Double layered the images and added a tag and fiber to the right hand side. The little tag is cut with a Sizzix die and the accent is punched with a 1.25" (SU) punch!! My sister came up with this design for the colour printed tag and we have created a great variety of them for various cards. We are creating our graphics in Corel Draw. I punched a slot and wound the fiber in and out so that it would not accidently fall off the card. Very happy with how this card turned out!!

Therese

I was featuring tags and die cuts as embellishments in this session. The tag was die cut for me by my sister, Sylvia, with her Sizzix machine! She used some wonderful decorative carstock which made great tags for these cards! I added a colourful stamped image to the tag with a paperclip. Have been wanting to find a way to incorporate paperclips to my cardmaking!! Try it!! The small strip is embossed with the Cuttlebug D'vine swirl folder and I used the SU swirl background stamp below that. The little bit of fiber I added to the large brad (Dollarama) adds some texture to the card and finishes it off nicely! There is room on the lower right hand side to add a greeting to customize this card.

Therese

Criss Cross card

These cards are from my October cardmaking session!! I found this idea - the Criss Cross card - on the Splitcoaststampers.com site - a wonderful resource for cardmaking and stamping in general!! I really like the way this card presents and allows you to tuck a few little things inside - gift cards, gift certificates or a little treat like tea or chocolate!! I modified the original design so it can be made with 8.5 x 11 cardstock. I cut 4.25"x11" and then folded it in half. I cut a triangle diagonally off the front and glued it to the back. In the picture, the fold is on the left and the triangle I glued in place is on right. You have to be careful not to glue too deeply on the right hand and bottom side so the pocket will accomodate the insert. This design is very versatile and can be made up for any season or occasion by varying the decorative paper and the accents!!

Therese

My first ABC challenge: to create hidden tags! Can you guess where the tags are hidden? The tags actually are connected to the letters and are hidden behind the page. I used the fall theme (a challenge on the NG list) for this spread. I started with thick pasty white acrylic paint as the bottom layer on both pages. Layered on some ink in several colours, stamped leaf images, added yet more colour and finally stippled on dark brown ink around the edges to help highlight the real maple leaf I pressed last year. I added more stamped images around the edges of the pages. At this point the acrylic paint is mostly covered up but gives some texture and luminesence to the pages.

I layered several pages on the right hand side so I could cut the slots for the tags and there would be some substance to support the tag. I created the tags, added dark brown letters to the ends then tied on some fiber. Once the slots were cut I applied double sided tape to the other side of the page to create pockets for the tags and glued this page to the next one. Worked very nicely!! I punched some circles from fall images from an old calendar and cut them in half to highlight the slot for each tag. Added some "stitching" with a marker around the edges. I did some journaling on the tags themselves - details about the techniques I used and some thought about the theme and process of creating the two page spread. Thanks to Linda for the challenge!!

Therese

It has been a while since I uploaded any art here. I started this book for the challenges on the Altered Book Canada list I am on. It was just the perfect size - pretty close to 5x7! I thought the colour was perfect for the kind of book it was going to end up being once it was altered. I used my Doodle Block Alphabet dies to cut the letters and just let the yellow of the cover show through. Added black Sharpie to the spine to cover up the title, the edges of the cover and between the spine and the covers - just a little interesting doodling. I will consider adding more doodling to the cover as go along but for now that seemed to be enough. I am looking forward to doing the challenges and filling this book with art. I will add the scans of my first challenge next!

Therese

This is my BH mingle page for October! I chose Gandhi as my theme. What a fascinating person! I really love the research aspect of this mingle. Helps to stretch the mind and become aware of more of the world. The background is actually a letter written by Ghandi which I got off the internet. The photos of him I also downloaded off the internet. A very prolific writer so there was a LOT to choose from to feature on this page. One of his acts of non violence and empowerment for his people was to encourage them to spin and weave their own clothing instead of supporting the British by buying textiles imported from Britian. It gave the poor suitable and affordable clothing, gave them pride in having made it themselves, for some, a means of supporting themselves and their families and a distinctive look all their own in the market place!! It reminded me that we vote every time we choose to spend our time and money on acquiring goods. We truly need to be more aware of what that product has cost - quite possibly sweat and tears and suffering - to be available to us here in this country at a low cost. Awareness and then a willingness to do something is what is required!! It is hard to challenge my addiction to the dollar stores!!!

Therese

Created this fall fat book page a couple weeks ago but only just sent it out as a RAK last week!! Created with a few elements that were sitting on my desk from my cardmaking in October!
I used a foamy coaster as a tool for applying ink. It gives a really interesting pattern. I can see cutting out shapes from this material - foamy coasters and placemats made of this material are generally sold for use on outdoor patio tables in bright colours. Could easily be cut and applied to an acrylic mount to cover the whole front of a card!! Was also thinking that the shelf protector you can buy in a roll would work very much the same way and would have a different pattern. Very inexpensive background stamps. From several lists of my lists I see that people are using their die cutting machines to create shapes out of fun foam for stamping bold shapes. There are certainly some much more ornate dies showing up lately that would make fabulous fun foam stamps!! I am always interested in making more of the tools I already own!!
Back to the page - several layers of decorative paper and an acetate overlay with a leaf stamped on it attached with a brad!! Added some fiber to the front edge to add some interest - especially once the page in bound into a book!!
I am presently working on getting my White on White fat book pages bound. It will be a while yet as they week is already full and I have two Christmas Card classes coming up at the end of the month. It can wait.
I have also worked on a giftie swap and will only be posting photos once the swap is over - after December 25th. There will be 12 gifties for each person for the last 12 days of December. No fun to ruin the surprise for everyone!! My sister and I worked on them for a whole day and they turned out very well.

Therese

I cased this card design from somewhere on the internet! I had downloaded it into my quick and easy folder!! It sure is a quick and easy card. White 4.25"x4.25" card, a layer of scrapbook paper from a Slab a while back which I just ripped along a metal ruler - fast and easy, a double layer of silk flowers, a punchie and a brad!! Though it is a square card I still use an A2 envelope so it can be mailed with a single first class postage stamp!! Thanks to the originator! It is always nice to have a few quick and easy designs for when we are crunched for time and still want to send a handmade card!! Almost any other scrapbook paper woud have worked just as well.

Therese

I am very happy with my little pumpkin!! After searching the internet for one I could trace and cut out without any luck I just decided to try to create my own!! I drew it in Corel Draw and printed it on the orange cardstock!! Drew the stem and printed it on green cardstock!! Each person cut out their pumpkin and stem and then embellished them with watercolours or pencil crayon! They all turned out so well!! I watercoloured this one! Colour printed "Happy" and "Fall" and added watercolour to the tags as well. Stamped the beige card with brown ink and my French Script stamp, glued on the pumpkin, strung the tags on green fiber and glued them behind the stem!!

Sometimes when you cannot find what you need for your art consider just creating it!! I was surprised how quickly I was able to create this pumpkin and how good it looked on the card!!

Therese

A bit of a change in colours for this one!! Created the flower and printed it on the back of the decorative paper so each person could cut out their own. The center is a 1" punched shape. The front flap of the white card had a pencil line (plate) on it to be cut out as well. I added a coordinating layer of cardstock to the inside which only covered 3/4 of the inside and had shapes punched out of it. I used a corner rounder on the bottom to keep with the circular theme. Used the Slot punch to make a slot at the bottom so the front could be tucked in and added a little flower punchie!! I was happy with how the flowers turned out considering they were printed on the back and I did not have a really good idea of what the flowers were really going to look like once they were cut out. Some very pleasant surprises once they were all cut out and added to the cards!!

Therese

This card features a handmade panel of decorative paper!! I made several sheets then cut them up - sort of a stamping serendipity collage!! On ivory cardstock I started with Caramel Chalk Memories which I clear embossed. Added more leaves in various fall colours with pigment ink and clear embossed. Did the scrolly leaf last and clear embossed it as well. Then I just watercoloured the page with fall colours until I was happy with the overall look! Once dry, I wiped off the watercolour off the clear embossing. Laid the whole sheet over a white piece of 20lb bond and heated with an iron from the back. This melted the embossing powder from the cardstock into the bond paper!! I got this step from the Pressing out the Details technique that was showcased a few years ago. Really love the look. Once they were all cut up into long rectangles it was just a matter of finding coordinating layers and cardstock. Added an ivory ribbon with a small gold maple leaf charm attached with a brad!! Really like creating my own decorative paper. Usually try to remeber to scan the pages before I cut them up so I can use them in my digital collages but I think I forgot to scan these before they were all cut up! Next time!!

Therese

Hey! It has been too long since I posted any of my art here, though I have still been making some!! My sister was visiting so we were occupied with other activities!! Here are the cards from my October card class!!

A real maple leaf!! Just love living here and having nature's most wonderful watercolours just simply falling out of the sky!! I pressed these last year. I mounted the leaf to my own handmade paper ( made from recycled bread bags from the bakery) which I stamped with a script stamp - French Script from SU!! Very happy with that one!! Made up my own transparency with "Autumn" and "Every leaf a miracle" on it and attached all the layers to a dark card with four brads! I really like the look of pressed botanicals with handmade paper!!

Therese

I see that I have been using silk flowers quite a bit lately!! It was not a conscious thing!! Added leaves to this one and really like the look!! The little butterfly is a plastic embellishment that I just glued on. Was the perfect colour to go with the cardstock and the flowers.

I bought some red hydrangeas on Thursday to include in my Christmas cards. They were all on sale for 50% off at Michaels!! The only time to really buy them!!

Have a wonderful weekend!! I will be posting to my MMM later today!!


Therese in Trenton
Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/
My art blog:
http://www.tmalakart.blogspot.com/

Another decorative vellum card!! I really like that I can create the vellum to coordinate with the images I am using!! Another set I bought on the weekend that I am very happy with!! I coloured the white brads with the chalk stamp pad ink and dried them with my heat gun. Be sure you hold them with something that can take the heat - not your fingers!!

Therese

I have come to the end fo the rose silk flower layers and the stickers!! I am amazed at how many cards I have been able to create with these few coordinating bits of supplies. I really like the look of this one!! I used a small Cuttlebug Thanks embossing folder. I used a textured cardstock and it unfortunately smooth out the texture of the carstock when it embossed the words. Good to know for future reference. I ripped it from the card front and used just the part that embossed and that worked very well. Stippled the silks again to help them coordinate with the whole look of the card!!

Therese

Created these for my monthly ATC swap in one of my groups. The theme was Blue - Asian. I had received this wonderful thin blue asian paper from my daughter and it was perfect for these. I added some laser printed images of asian woman from my collection of downloaded images. Added a gold charm and a fortune to the first one, used an asian background stamp gold embossed along with another Dymo printed sticker on the second one, used a greenish blue junk mail background, a fortune and a strip of the paper on the third. On the fourth, I cut out an image of a couple asian girls and added the friends. These were extras from a class I did earlier this year!!

I put all of my extra printed pieces into a file folder when I have finished a project. I am always amazed at how somewhere down the line I will find just what I need in that folder especially for ATCs!!

Therese

Created this little book for my daughter. It is filled with little pages of things she likes to do along with a few practical ideas. I printed the pages and then punched them all in the corner and added page reinforcements on both sides. I made the covers with heavy cardstock and decorated the front one with script, a sticker tag and some Dymo words which I laser printed on label. Easy way to make your own stickers!! I used a screw and post for the corner and added a string so she could hang it where it would be convenient for her to find it when she needed some inspiration!! Really happy the way this little book came together and I hope it will a fun little tool for her to use!!

Therese

These cards are the samples for a Deorative Vellum class I developed and was scheduled to teach last weekend. The class did not run but I will be hanging on to the cards for when I do have the opportunity to teach the class in the future. The class teaches you how to make your own decorative vellum to use in your cardmaking or scrapbooking!! Therese

I needed a few more cards but was having trouble making more exactly the same so decided to make one a pocket card and just left off the embossing on the second one.

Notice that the first one has a debossed design instead of a embossed design. Just put your cardstock into the folder upside down. It is a subtlely different look.

Therese

A few more with the same theme. Here I layered several silk flowers to make a fuller looking accent and add leaves to two of them. The leaves were sort of just hanging around because I had removed them from the stems along with the flowers. I was not sure what I would be doing with them. I like the way they turned out and will consider using the last design for a Christmas card with the red silk flowers,a green or gold ribbon and the D'vine Swirl cuttelbug embossing folder.

Therese

Another one of those quick and easy cards I made earlier in a different colour!!

Therese

Had fun creating these cards! Used scrapbook paper and some coordinating tags. Used my new to me SU French Script background stamp which I bought on the weekend!! Really glad I bought it.

I stippled the flowers to make them work with the cardstock and layout. Very handy to be able to use ink to change the colours of the silks. I used a swirly stencil and my stipple brush again to add some dimension to the cardstock.

Therese

Made a couple of these for my card exchange group. Really like the way that the Cuttlebug embossing folders add dimension to cardstock. I used the Stylized Flower folder on this card. Added some ribbon and a silk flower for a quick and easy card.

Therese

More pages!!

Upper left - vintage men! This image is the back of a playing card. Available on my MMM site - follow the link in my signature. I cut out the money from scrapbooking paper and punched the motif I glued to a green disc from a $1 sticker sheet. The 1/2" SU punch was just the right size to punch it out. Works perfectly on the disc. I stamped several different images on the black background with my White Moolight Brilliance pad. It does not show up well on the scan. There is also a strip of fiber glass screening which I coloured with my green Memories pad under the left hand side of the image and under the disc embellishment. The Friends is a sticker I created by laser printing on labels with the Dymo font.

Upper right - Children's theme. I used a piece of decorative "faux leather" paper at the top of this page. Added the image to the bottom and then cut a scrap strip from a $1 store sticker page as a bridge between the two - worked very well. Added a few flourishes and "share" and I was done!

Lower left - Cut out the image and layered it onto a piece of scrapbook paper which I stamped with my SU harlequim background in White Brilliance. Subtle - exactly what I wanted. Added the B which I created using my new Doodle Block Sizzix alphabet set I got at Michaels on clearance on Saturday!! Yeah what at deal!! Works very nicely in my Cuttlebug!! Added the rest of the quote in marker. Had to redo it several times as the marker was resisting a bit on the Brilliance ink. Added my Dymo sticker and was done!

Lower right - children theme! This was my first one. Stippled and stamped on the scrapbook paper and then layered the trimmed image over that. Just love this little girl. She can be in charge!! I stamped the B with an outline alphabet on a page of text and embossed it. Then cut it out and watercoloured it. Stamped "in charge" on the image and added the rest of the quote in brown Sharpie.

So those are the pages I created over the weekend!! They are ready to be mailed today and one of the extra ones is going out as a RAK!!

Have really enjoyed the creative process!! Thanks to those who are ahead of me in this process for sharing their ideas, images and techniques! There is much wonderful inspiration out there!!

Happy September to all!!

Therese in Trenton
Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

More pages!! I did make a few extra!

Upper left - children's theme. The saying is "Be as children". I cut out a letter from a magazine for the B and hand lettered the rest with a gold gel pen. The colour printed image is trimmed with a yellow strip of cardstock in behind to line up with the curtains in the image. I stamped "DREAM" with my Rummage magnetic stamp set. Added some stars in the upper part with my SU stipple stamp. Sure is a handy little stamp for so many situations.

Upper right - nature theme. Another collage with very similar elements as the rose one below. Added the lady bug sticker because it just needed "something"!

Lower left - quotation theme. Just found that the image and the quote worked well together and did not need much more. I added a few stamped flourishes around the edges of the image!! Done!!

Lower right - birds theme! Discovered I do not have too many bird images or stamps!! The wording, the birds on the branch and the flourishes are all printed on a transparency! I was careful to place the third brad not too close to the left hand side so they would not intefere with binding. I am not sure what I will use to bind my pages and I am hoping that others will share their techniques. Some of the pages I have already received have elements very near the left edge which would be damaged if I used my Ceralox binding machine!

Therese

My 4x4 vintage mingle pages are done!! I had 10 pages to make and was really hoping to get them all done on the weekend and I put the finishing touches on the last page this morning after pressing it over night!!

It has been a lot of fun to work with themes and to find images and supplies to collage. The 4x4 format is very reasonable to work with - allows enough room to be creative yet no so much that it is overwhelming!

The red one on the upper left is for a nature theme. I used part of an old music sheet, dyed paper napkin, paper rose, stickers, a stamped image and a brad. Did some layering, stamping, stippling and distressing. It came out well. Left some unembellished space on the left for binding.

The black one the upper right I did for a travel theme. I did a lot of scouring of my image CDs and the internet to find images for these pages. It is a bit time consuming but you find so many cool images. I used a $1 store sticker, some of my decorative paper, fleur de lis transparency I created, laser printed words using a Dymo font, and some hand embellishing with markers to put this one all together!!
Lower left - open theme - I used this angelic child image which I printed on a transparency. I had to back it with cardstock to avoid seeing the business part of the silver photo corners. The bottom border is a transparency I created as well. The heart and the motif are both stickers. I did a bit of stippling before laying on all the elements and purposely left the little bird on the left visible.
Lower right - vintage ladies theme! The image is colour printed and cut out. I stippled the scapbook paper and stamped it as well. Added some lace on the right and some flower accents. The button and fiber - just because it needed "something"! I do really enjoy the process of creating. Sitting with a layout for a while, rearranging the elements until they look "right", hunting until you find the embellishment that "works"!! It certainly does help to have a stash of papers, images, stencils, stamps, inks, embellishments!! And low and behold, sometimes you even discover you "need" a few more things!!

Therese

Who doesn't need a little photo holder for their desk that holds a reminder of why they do it all in the first place?? These little photo holders are created using 2" ceramic tiles from the hardware store and a medium sized clothes pin. I made a lot of these as well. Some are painted, some are stamped with permanent ink and others are layered with images. I trimmed the clothespins just a little and glued them to the back!

These will hold a photo or a card and are a nice little addition to a side table or mantle!!

So those are the new items I spent the best part of August creating!! It is fun to come up with new items and put a new spin on items that you have made before!!

Be aware that if you are creating items for sale you need to respect copyright!! Use copyright free art or items from companies that have liberal angel policies and give proper credit!! That applies to rubber stamps, clip art sheets, stickers, etc. Of course, consider creating with your own art and images for as much freedom as you want!!

Thanks for dropping by and Happy creating!!


Therese in Trenton
Mixed Media Market
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediamarket/

Brag books are fun to make and can be customized for any occasion!! I made my first one earlier this year for Mina's pictures - my first grandchild!

I made several with different themes - baby, travel, etc!! This one uses the name badge holders from Staples and has a travel theme on the matt board cover!

The one Linda made uses the name badges from Walmart and is perfect for holding ATCs!! Would make a great table top book or for carrying your ATCs to your next trading session!!

Therese

Always have journals at my sales! I usually cover these with handmade paper and add a "faux leather" paper spine. Decided to be differently creative this year and painted the covers instead! I sanded the covers and painted on a layer in a light colour. Stamped on several images in permanent ink and then added several layers of paint over the top! Finished off with a bit of a metallic!! Very happy with the way they turned out!!

Therese

These so made me think of Harry Potter!!
I created them from plastics which I melted together and embossed with a stamp!! You just never know what you are going to get when you start creating these and that is what I love about the process!! Used some metallic paint to highlight the texture!! I embedded a hanger and added a cord to make a pendant. The center of this one is clear but some of the others have different coloured centers!! Very cool!!

Therese

I made made my little bottle caps with artitude into magnets!! I glued Lee Valley rare earth magnets to the back. I always use their quarter inch magnets because they are so strong - they hold up to 10 sheets of paper to a metal surface!! I also glued large paper clips to some of them for a little added interest and fun!! These easily hold a list or photo while looking pretty on your fridge!! The large paperclips are available at Staples and possibly at your local Dollarama store!!

Therese

Made a whack of these bottle cap magnets!! If you have never tried working with bottle caps I would encourage you to try! They are so versatile and in the end quite slim once they have been pounded!!

To pound the bottle caps: you need unused bottle caps. These can be purchases on line or locally at a beer making supply place. Place them crimped side up and whack with a hammer. The crimps will start to roll and soon will be rolled all the way around leaving a nice little depression that can be filled with art!!

Inspired by Sally Jean I created my own little collages for the center of my bottle caps! I used copyright free art and a layout program to create the little collages which I punched out with a 1" punch. They fit perfectly in the centers!!

Therese

I attended the Women's Art Festival in Kingston as a vendor last weekend!! It is a wonderful outdoor festival with music, children's activities and music - all by women!! I created a few new items for sale this year which you will find in the following posts!!

Created these cute little pins! They are based on the Big Blossom from Stampin UP which was a feature during Sellabration earlier this year and made from shrink plastic!! I paint and stamp then shrink them!! Added some glass beads in the centers for texture and interest!!

Sold quite a few!!

Therese

Handmade paper!! I had a few friends over last week to make paper!! So much fun!! I prepared the pulp and we spent the afternoon making sheets and visiting. Had some tea and goodies too!!

The ivory, blue and white are confetti papers.

To the ivory I added glittery bits of gold - curly ribbon, regular ribbon, foil, embroidery thread. It turned out very nice - I expect there will be Christmas cards made with this one!!

To the blue I added yet more glittery bits!! Iridescent blue green "basket straw", blue foil (Hershey Kisses), several blue curly ribbons, blue lame threads to add glitter and texture. I also added some primsmatic silver gift wrap cut into wee bits. I had a square left over which I blended and added!! Wonderful little glitteries!! These settled on the surface of the paper and most stayed in place once dry! I am thinking snowflakes would be perfect with this paper.

To the white pulp I added black fabric bits, silvery foil, silver curly ribbon bits, silver threads! Makes a nice classic paper which can be used for most anything. Maybe for very classy and simple Christmas cards with some silver accents.

To the pink pulp I added some lemon herbal tea (used) and some red geranium petals that had been dried. I love the look of naturals in handmade paper!!

In the end, everyone took home what they wanted and I dried what was left. I have a neat little stack of 8.5" x 5.5"papers I can reuse in my art!!

I would like to encourage all papercrafters to recycle their paper scraps into more paper sheets!! If papermaking is not your thing, consider passing off your scraps to a papermaker who will make good use of them For those of you who scrapbook, it is a wonderful way to recycle your acid free scraps into paper for your albums!!

I sell the moulds and deckles in four sizes - 3.5 x 4.5 for card fronts, 8.5 x 5.5 for cards, 8.5x 11 for larger projects and 12x12 for scrapbookers, if you are interested in giving it a try!!

Therese