My Art - September cardmaking - handmade paper

These cards feature handmade paper created at home!! The green was created using a variety of green SU cardstock - mostly Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss. I used lace I have had in my stash for a few years on these cards and am happy with the way they turned out. Used double sided tape to attach the lace to the handmade paper. Added some decorative elements (apple punchies-coffee beans) to one set of corners and brads to the other. I put the brads through all the layers to keep all the elements well attached to the card front. I always add inserts to my cards so they hide anything that shows on the inside card front.

Find something in your stash and challenge yourself to use it in your next cardmaking session!! It can be a lot of fun to create with stuff you already have and easier on the pocket book as well.

Therese

My Art - September cardmaking - pressed flowers

We had a large group at cardmaking on Wednesday!! It was great to see a few new faces and a few we had not seen in a while. Because of the number of kits that I needed to have on hand I ended up creating a few Christmas ones!! You will see a similarity between these cards and the one I posted earlier for my exchange card. Same sketch!!
The yellow cards feature pressed yellow and white daisies. I captured them between a piece of cardstock and some tulle which I wrapped to the back and held in place with double sided tape! I partially embossed the card front (CB) and added a greeting on a strip of cardstock which has been distressed or on a ribbon slider (Sizzlets). The focal element on the Christmas card features a piece of "fabric" embossed with silver snowflakes layered on mirror silver cardstock. I added a silver brad to one snowflake to make it stand out from the others.

I regularly press flowers from my garden or the by ways I frequent when I walk for use in my cardmaking. I just pressed some Queen Anne's Lace flowers for creating some unique Christmas cards for my upcoming classes. You can check here and here for ones I have created in the past. I love using natural materials!!

I highly recommend that you create with anything you love!!

Therese

My Art - September cardmaking - leaves

My sister is visiting!! We spent a day last week sight seeing and visited a scrapbook store!! I bought several new embossing folders including this one by Quickutz of leaves!! So fun!! I had not seen QK embossing folders before. It was nice to see some new patterns.

I used it here in a new way!! I added colour using dye ink (SU Basic Brown) a brayer! Open your embossing folder and apply the ink (dye or pigment - NOT PERMANENT- on the side of the folder that has the debossed image - the holes. Using the brayer reduces the chance of ink accumulating in the holes and gives you good covereage. Once the ink has been applied just insert your paper/cardstock and emboss as usual. Gives your embossed papers an entirely different look. Really like the way it turned out!! I added an image that was gold embossed and watercoloured layered on red cardstock as the focal element!!
Fall is arriving here daily! Leaves are turning colour, the sky is blue!! and the nights are cooler.

Therese

My Art - Portfolio

I created this little portfolio for my god daughter for her birthday! Filled it with papercrafting goodies - images, layers, cards and envelopes!! She loves scrapbooking and paper crafting!

Therese

MM - sticky note books

Sticky note books!! A new bunch delivered to Merchants Mill a few weeks ago!! These are a handy little gift which almost everyone can use - by the phone, in a briefcase or purse or on your desk!! They are highly personal and no one will be able to claim them as their own!! They are refillable too!!

The Merchant's Mill is now open Friday, Saturday and Sundaysfrom 10am to 6pm!! Drop by and check out their wonderful selection of great gifts!!

Therese

My Art - Exchange card

Had some friends over the other night to play!! We have decided this year to do Shoe Box swaps as our activity for the year. Each person in the group provides supplies for a little project which we will create during our get togethers. We made Stair Step Cards this month with some boats and a lot of waves!! Fun!!

Here is the card I created for my exchange!! The main element is "holiday gift wrap" sold at Liquidation World a few years ago. It is like woven polyester with silver snowflakes printed on it. It looks like fabric!! Very cool!! I did buy several different ones - used one with snowmen on it in last year's Christmas cards.
I wrapped a small piece of this fabric around a blue piece of cardstock and layered it onto white pearlescent cardstock which I had trimmed with deckle edged scissors (Fiskars). Added a silver brad to the center of the main snowflake to create focal point. I used the snowflake embossing folder (CB) on the right hand side of the card and layered a silver embossed greeting over another piece of trimmed pearl paper and tucked it under the main element.
Really like the look of the card. You will see later that I incorporated this design in my cardmaking class this month!!

Therese

My Art - birthday cards

Created some birthday cards!! I used die cuts (Sizzix) along with a variety of punchies as layers to create the flowers on these cards!! The stems are leaf die cuts (SU). I stippled some of the elements to help them blend and look good with the rest of the pieces. The dragonflies were left over from a previous class. Added some decorative papers and some script stamping!! Was fun to play with lots of pieces and come up with some cool cards!!
One was sent off to a special person! Hope she enjoyed her birthday!! Love you!!

Therese

My Art - card holder

I created the template for this little card holder a while back and thought I had already uploaded it to my blog but checked last night and alas I had not!! So here it is!!
I created the template and printed it on the back of scrapbooking cardstock. Once printed, it is just a matter of scoring all the lines, folding them, making four cuts and applying two pieces of double sided tape and assembling the little box!! There is enough space at the top to accomodate a variety of closures. On this one I just punched the two top pieces with oval punch (SU) and added a ribbon to keep it closed. You could punch two smaller holes and thread in ribbon, twine or fibers. You could cut one shorter and fold the other one over it and add a magnet or velcro as the closure, All sorts of options!!
It holds 4 (or more) standard A2 sized cards with their envelopes and makes a wonderful presentation for anyone wanting to gift cards as gifts!! With Christmas on the horizon consider making your office coworkers, neighbours, girl friends, elderly family members, etc some handmade cards as gifts! You will have a great time making them and they will be proud to be sending them to their friends!!

Therese

My Art - invitation #1

These are samples I have made up for a friend who is looking for wedding invitations!! It was so fun to play with paper and create some beautifully embossed cards!!

This invitation has it all - elegance, dimension and some bling!!
Added clear rhinestones to the centers of the white confetti flowers (M) and layered them onto this beautiful ribbon (M). Tucked the ends behind a layer that was embossed with D'vine Swirl (CB). Glued this layer to the front of the white card. Added two red punched hearts!!

Gorgeous!!

Therese

My Art - invitation #2

I used the Manhattan Flower embossing folder (SU) to emboss the vellum on this one and the doily border punch (MS) on the top flap. Tied a short piece of ribbon to the one that goes across to make a soft knot for the top.

Love the soft elegance of this card!!

Therese

My Art - invitation #3

This one is very similar to the previous one! Used the D'vine Swirl embossing folder for the top and bottom flaps as well as the small heart. Cut the hearts using a Sizzix die.

Therese

My Art -- Invitations! #4

Used the Birds and Swirls embossing folder (CB) on each side of this one and added a layered flower embellishment. I cut the flowers with a Sizzix die and embossed the large flower with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (CB) and the small one with one of the birds from the Birds and Swirls (CB) embossing folder.

Therese

My Art - OSW cards #2

Here are four more cards I created with the other half of the "DTP" onto which I stamped a flower in blue pigment ink and embossed with sparkly embossing powder - not very visible in the scan. I used just ink to stamp the little flourishes in between the flowers and then used my stipple stamp to add some texture and embossed those as well. I used blue cardstock scraps with my accents on white cards.
I like the sparkly look these cards have - gives them just a little "wow"!!

We all need a little "wow" in our life!!

Therese

My Art - OSW cards

Had a sheet of cardstock I decorated with the "direct to paper" technique and pigment ink a while back and decided to stamp on it to create a sheet of decorative paper to make a few cards. I cut the sheet in half and stamped this cool flower and "my garden" in dark blue and leaves in green. I cut it up to make the accents and teamed them up with a leaf green cardstock on white cards. The five petal flowers are table confetti available in the wedding section of Michaels - they have a nice pearl finish!! I added blue rhinstones their centers on the card in the lower left hand corner.
It was fun to use different tehniques and add element to create my cards. Dug through my scraps for coordinating pieces and greetings.

Therese

Mini mag holder template/diagram

This is the diagram I created for the mini mag card holder. I scored all the lines to begin with and then cut on the solid lines and folded on the dashed lines. It takes advantage of a full 12x12 piece of cardstock and makes a holder that is 4.5" deep, 6" high and almost 3" wide.

I modified a pattern I found on Blythe's blog!!

Would make a perfect holder to present a "gift of cards"!! Great for teachers gifts for the upcoming holiday season!! It is coming!!

Therese

My Art - mini magazine card holder

Created this cool little magazine holder for cards!! Modified the design I found on Blythe's blog to take advantage of a full sheet of 12x12 cardstock. These are really cool and are the perfect size for holding A2 sized cards with their envelopes!! You could make several for your studio to store cards that are ready to be sent out - maybe one for each month or one for each occasion!

I started by scoring all the lines onto the 12x12 cardstock, then made cuts with my exacto knife and ruler where I needed them. I, then, folded all the lines neatly and assembled the holder to see that everything fit properly. I used double sided adhesive to glue it all together. I added a strip of decorative paper and a bookplate (Sizzix die cut) which I attached with a couple of brads. Check the next post for the diagram/template of how I scored, cut and folded my cardstock to create this holder.

Therese

My Art - Thank you cards

Made some thankyou cards this weekend!!! I used a pad of 6 x 6 scrapbooking paper I bought a while back which has a rose theme. These feature three sheets of the same patterned paper combined with caramel, cocoa and plum cardstocks. It was fun to try to do something different on each one. A few have fibers, others have stamping as well and most have some sort of decorative punching (scallop SU, doily MS)!! Very happy with how these turned out!!

Therese

My Art - frame

One of my friends is having a significant birthday - a time for celebrating all that is GOOD!!!

I decorated a square wood frame (Michaels) with decorative scrapbooking paper, grosgrain ribbon and some paper flowers!!

I am very happy with the way it turned out!!

I primed and painted the frame before I modge podged on the papers. Once I was done I sprayed it with matt clear finish to keep it looking good for years!!

I made the card after I had decorated the frame so used the same papers!! The image is one I received in a swap - was just perfect! I watercoloured the flowers and ladybug!! Added a layered greeting over the brown grosgrain ribbon!!

Every day is a good time to celebrate all that is good about being YOU!! Be sure to let your friends know that you appreciate who they are!!

Therese

My Art - altered book page

An altered book page which incorporates an altered puzzle piece that we swapped on one of my groups!! Our theme was summer and Linda created this adorable puzzle piece with a little girl at the sea shore!! This layout sort of just developed - I started by finding hand decorated paper for the beach portion of the left hand page and modified it a bit so the puzzle piece would blend. Tore a blue piece of bond and stippled it so it would blend with the beach and added a horizon. Added the window muntin bars using strips of brown cardstock. The "curtains" are a used dryer sheet ironed flat and cut into two. I used double sided tape to adhere them to the page as well as so attach the brown cornice at the top of the page. On the right hand page I used a swirl stencil and blue and caramel ink pads for stippling the colour on the page after I glued down the blue rectangle and the sand coloured tissue paper strips. It features a poem quote by Charles Kingsley which I laser printed and altered once it was glued in place. I added handwriting to the cornice and along the various lines in my layout!! Totally fun to do!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Therese

My Art - collaged tag

One evening we decided to play a little and created this cool little tag which was inspired by a blog post - one of the many that Linda follows with her Google Reader.
We used plastic packaging for the large clear tag and ran it through the Cuttlebug in the Textile embossing folder. Created a coordinating green cardstock tag and collaged the front!! Added some fibers and voila!! - a cool little tag we can add to our altered books somewhere along the line!!

I would highly recommend getting together with your creative friends and making "stuff"!! It is so fun to have people who understand you and that you can brainstorm with.
We visited some garage sales, attended the Women's Art Festival with a few of her friends and went to a stage production on Sunday afternoon. Great R&R for me!!

I am grateful for Linda's hospitality and willingness to share her life with me. She has a suppotive husband who was gracious and understanding. I am blessed!!

Therese

My Art - first coptic bound book

Linda and I both wanted to learn some bookbinding techniques and decided to start with making a coptic bound book. We perused our personal libraries for instructions and searched the internet for more information as well. We had several books between us that had some instructions, printed some instructions from the internet and found several video tutorials that were helpful. Here is where you will find the video tutorial we found most helpful when we made our books!! It took amazingly little time for us to make our books!! Less than an afternoon to make our covers, signatures and to bind our books!!! They are quite loose because we did not tie off our original thread because we were following printed instructions when we first began. I will be redoing mine to make it tighter!! We used book board which we covered with paper. I used hand decorated paper on mine which was created with the leftover acrylic paint from the creation of the pages for the mini book in my previous post applied to a brown paper envelope from our shopping trip to the local art store. I used 28 lb colour laser paper in my signatures - 4 sheets per signature - 3 signatures. I may consider adding signatures when I redo my binding. I used waxed crochet thread for binding as I did not have any waxed linen. We used a cropadile to make the holes in our covers and an awl to make the necessary holes in our signatures. This technique does create an exposed spine which makes it easy to add danglies, fibers and charms!! With this binding every page in the book opens flat and is fully accessible which makes it a great choice for an art journal or altered book.
If you have been interested in bookbinding I would encourage you to give it a try. Very fun!! Customize a book with your favorite papers for both the covers and the signatures best suited to just what you want!!

Therese

My art - mini book

A mini book to celebrate a gathering of friends!! This is a little memory book we created as a bit of a surprise for those who attended a dinner party that Linda hosted on Monday night!! We collaged coasters for the covers and used food and friend quotes on the inside cardstock pages. Over the evening we took group photos and secretly printed them up. Just before dessert, Linda passed around the books and had everyone glue in the photos. A variety of charms, beads and fibers were also passed around so everyone could embellish their books to reflect their personal style. Totally fun!! The books were bound with black 3/4" Zutter metal bindings.
The dinner party went off without a hitch and the food was so great. The appetizers were potluck! We talked, visited and munched on a great variety of fun snacky food. Fresh salmon steaks were cooked on a plank on the BBQ for dinner and served with fresh garden salad!! The salmon was so good!!!!!!! We had cheesecake for dessert!!
An evening of good food, good conversation and good friends makes great memories!!

Therese

My Art - handmade paper

Taught a papermaking class and made paper with my friends last week!! I really enjoy the process and the end results of making paper!!

The top three include natural elements - flower petals, herbal tea and palm leaves/grass. I started with used white office bond paper that was headed for the recycle bin and added yellow paper for one batch (right) and orange for the other batch (middle). The paper on the left hand side was the leftovers of the two above batches.

The bottom three include hand made paper confetti!! The base pulp for these papers was SU cardstock scraps donated to me by my local SU demos (Catherine and Dorothy). It makes wonderful paper!! Used a mixture of colours so I could have enough to make a batch.

If you are a papercrafter I would certainly recommend that you turn your scraps into handmade paper!! It is fun and easy and requires very few tools. If papermaking is not your thing, try to find a local papermaker and donate your scraps!! It is the ultimate in recycling!!

Therese

My Art - summer puzzle piece

Just returned from a trip out west for a family reunion on my Mom's side and a visit with my daugther, son in law and grand daughter!! It was a good time all around. My granddaughter is just over two and talking miles a minute and always a going concern!! Fun!! Really nice to spend time with our kids!! The reunion was great and so nice to reconnect with extended family members!! Great to be out in the country and feel the breeze and see nothing but fields on the horizon!!

Worked on my Summer Puzzle piece for a mingle on my altered books group!! I glued 9 small pieces together to make the equivalent of an ATC size and then added papers to simulate sea and sky! Added double sided tape to the bottom and glued on some sand and a sea shell - picked on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico years ago!! Added a sequin sun and drew in some birds and sailboats!! A typical scene here on the Bay of Quinte in the summer!!

Great weather here so far!!

Therese

Creative - not papercrafting

Here is the other thing I have been doing this week - valances for the windows!! It is a job I have been putting off and I finally decided on Monday morning to just get at it. I did some on line research and chose to make them very clean and simple!! This is the one above the kitchen sink which had to be made differently because it had to be mounted with a tension rod. The other six will be mounted to wood planks (1x4 for the smaller windows & 1x6 for the patio doors) and attached above the windows with L brackets. The boards have been cut and trimmed with nice round corners on the front and will be primed and painted before the valances are attached.
It is nice to have them done!! Looking forward to seeing how much difference there will be to the look of the rooms once they are all up!! I should take before and after pictures!! I have enjoyed sewing again.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Therese

Refurbished cards for donation

WOW!! I just counted the cards I have refurbished in the last week and it is almost 100!!! The job of refurbishing cards is really easy when there is an insert in the card. I just remove the old one and insert a new one, add a new envelope and the card is ready for donation. This method also preserves the person's artwork and credits!! So if you are making cards I would like to recommend that you start adding inserts - makes adding your message really easy because the insert is a light neutral colour (I use white or ivory) and it makes reusing the card very easy!!
The majority of these are A2 sized handmade cards I have recieved in exchanges or swaps. The others are commercial cards I received from a fellow cardmaker which I have refurbished. I have envelopes donated by another fellow cardmaker which makes refurbishing these cards easier too. The commercial ones are usually large and the larger envelopes make it much easier to make them ready to be used again!! I like the commercial ones especially for sympathy cards because they have such wonderful images!! These will be going tomy local family resource center to use as they see fit - to cheer someone who needs it, for special occasions among the volunteers, for thanking those who contribute time, goods and money for all the worthwhile programs they run, and for the families who have suffered the loss of a loved one!!

So remember, add inserts to your cards!!! It is the green thing to do!!

Therese

My Art - Birdie cards

Used my new birdie stamp to create these cards as a gift for the stepdaughter of a friend of mine who will be getting married this summer!! I immediately loved this little swirly bird and thought he would be a great accent on the thankyou cards I wanted to create! I stamped him in a peachy pigment ink and embossed him with pearl embossing powder which just softens the image so nicely. I layered him onto a rectangle of peach cardstock - I distressed both of their edges. Used this 1/2" pink lace as ribbon and just tied it around the card front with a double knot! Love the look!! The decorative paper is scrapbook paper which is layered onto the white card.

I really got the soft wedding look I was wanting for these cards!!

I usually give cards as gifts for newlyweds or new mothers because I know it is a hectic time and with the cards ready to go it is one less thing they have to worry about.

A simple sketch that can be used for a wide variety of occasions by just changing up the components - scrapbook paper, ribbon and an image!!

If the summer is your time to catch up and get more creative time, make up a few cards for the year ahead so when the time comes for those special occasions you will have cards ready at hand.

Happy summer to you all!!

Therese

My Art - altered book page with bird ATC

I worked on my altered book page today and am happy to say that it is finished and I am happy with it. The bird ATC is one I received in a swap. Part two of the swap is to incorporate it into an altered book page. I enjoy the challenge of making art with a jumping off point!! The quote on the ATC - "Birds of a feather gather together. Robert Brown" spoke to me of the comfort of like minded people and I wanted to show through this page that there is a blessing of more vibrancy and sometimes some colourful chaos when we spread our wings and explore the world outside of our comfort zone.
I started with even rectangles on the left and slowly made them with more uneven edges and different sizes until I had four torn edges. Then I just created a serendipity collage with the colours and added a few punchy colours as well. I hand wrote my words with Sharpie markers - first in yellow and then in brown. Different papers affected how much bleed there was to the writing which I think adds some "chaos" to the words as well. I added some stippled swirls as well just for fun!!
We need to be willing to go to unfamiliar places in our lives so we can come to know ourselves better and have a better appreciation of our strengths and weaknesses!! Art is a great place to step out of our comfort zones and try something new!! A new tool, new technique, new paper, different colour, etc!!

Therese

MM - scrabble necklace

Love Scrabble and have bought a few games so I can create with the tiles!! Love them!!

I created these necklaces to bring to the Merchants Mill where I have quite a few items for sale. It is a wonderful little shop with a wide variety of handmade items made by local craftspeople and artists.

Made them as affirmation/reminders of what is important in our lives!! This one is a reminder that BE ing is more important than doing!! I have one of these I wear quite often just to help me stay in the moment and respond to life as positively as I can.

Some of the others are reminders to never give up, to do your best, to choose wisely your thoughts, words and actions because you are in the process of creating your life with them, etc!!


I hope they will find individuals who will appreciate them and take them home!!

We are having a wonderfully breezy totally sunny summer's day!! The best kind in my books!!

Therese

MM - Enclosure cards

I created a variety of encloure cards for sale at Merchants Mill .

It was fun to create a bunch of little cards!! I was often able to find just the right piece of paper or cardstock in my scrap bucket!! I made 36 of them featuring embossed paper (CB - embossing folders), ribbons, lace daisies, stickers, embossed foil, confetti, etc.



Therese

My Art - Bird ATC

I am so happy with my little birdie ATCs!! They worked out better than I had envisioned. I need one ATC for a swap on one of my groups but while I was at it I created these four!!

I downloaded the bird template from Pixels and IceCream. It is a ways down if you are looking for it (2009-02-17). I printed it on the back of the blue cardstock and then cut him out. I added a black brad for the eye, cut out a wing from blue paper and applied it with 3D foam tape, added a swirly tail in silver wire similar to what he had before I cut it off and a little triangle beak!! I highlighted his edges in blue ink.
I created the backgrounds using a few layers of altered paper - stamped, sanded, distressed, ripped, etc, the layers until they looked good with each other. I also created the flowers using punchies (1.25", 1", 3/4" for the bigger ones, 1", 3/4" and 1/2" (handcut) for the smaller ones. I inked them, distressed the edges and then mashed them up before I layered them with a brad. Hand cut some leaves which I also inked up to add depth and glued them to the back of the flowers. Mounted this embellishment to the ATC with 3D foam tape. I was reminded by the roses on Andrea Walford's blog (july1, 2009) that I had seen recently somewhere in my travels an altered flower which was done in a similar fashion. Could not remember the details so just went with it and I am happy with the way they turned out.
I mounted the bird onto the ATC and then added legs using a black fine line Sharpie marker! I like him better with long legs.
So one of these little guys is headed out to my swap partner in today's mail. I have a few more birds in pieces on my desk which I should build while I can still find them all and maybe they will show up in my art down the road a bit!!

We had a great Canada Day!! Started with breakfast in the park (thanks to the LIONS) and ended with fireworks!! We are very fortunate to have a very decent display of fireworks (15 minutes!!) considering we live in a very small city!! We are also fortunate to be able to watch them from home from our second story window!! A bit of rain in between but we need the moisture to keep everything growing!! Celebrate all that is good each and every day!!

Therese

My Art - Baby cards

It is always a special time when a baby is welcomed into the world!! Our neighbor had a baby girl last week so I made her some cards that she can use for sending thankyou notes for gifts, etc. It is always a busy time when there is a new baby in the house and having the cards on hand expedits the process of getting the notes on their way!!
The giraffe is a SU image from the Little Hello's set. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the white layer and the SU border punch on the upper edge of it.

Therese

My Art - June cardmaking -

Here is another quick and easy card!! The front features double sided cardstock which happens to be some I printed myself but there is a wide variety of double sided paper/cardstock in stores which can be used instead. The image is stamped in a coordinating colour, the edges are ripped and it is mounted with 3D foam tape to add dimension. The corner is folded over to reveal the other side of the cardstock and held in place with spiral clip! I bought these at a garage sale but have bought them at Staples in the past for other projects. I used double sided tape to keep the clip in place because most of it is on the front. There is room for a small greeting in the lower right hand side to quickly customize this card for a special occasion!!

Therese

My Art - June cardmaking - gel card

I must have been in a turquoise mode! I see that I have three cards that feature teal colours!!
I made the background paper for these cards! Total blast! I combined glitter glue (old and not very runny), fabric paints and inks!! Just plastered on the colours and glitter in washes until I was happy with they way they looked!! Once dry I cut down the letter sized sheets into quarter sheets and ran them through my Cuttlbebug with the D'vine Swirl embossing folder to give the look of water and ocean. I colour printed the fishes from some clipart from a word processing program. Created a window using two punched out holes and mounted my gel filled ziploc baggies (4 small drops per bag) behind them. Added the fish last so I could position it just the way I wanted it to show through. Found the "best fishes" greeting a several cards on the internet so colour printed that as well and added it below the layer.
A really fun card for the summer!! Best to mail these off with a little protection and not when there is a chance of them freezing!

Therese

My Art - June Cardmaking - altered book page

I applied walnut ink to book pages to make the altered paper for this card. Some of the girls did not want to put the words upside down so just put the altered paper on the other side instead. Works perfectly!! We used staples to attach the short ribbon pieces to the blue layer.
Thrifty tip: attach short pieces of ribbon with staples!!
There were a good variety of images and colours for this card set that all coordinated with the brown layer - pink, blue, purple and green!! Once the ribbon was stapled the layer is glued to the brown and then to the card front.
Nice to have a few quick and easy sketches for cards!!

Therese

My Art - June cardmaking - baby wipe card

This card is the result of a challenge I set myself at my All Occasions card class. Several of the girls were using baby wipes to keep their fingers from getting too sticky while they were creating. At the end of the class the pile of used baby wipes was headed to the garbage and I decided instead I would see if I could create something art worthy with them. I brought them home and rinsed them out to get any leftover solution out of them and then applied inks to them while they were still damp. The inks ran very nicely and as I stacked them one on top of each other they ran into each other as well. Made some very interesting background material. They are very light and airy and I decided to use an iron to hurry them along - NOT a good idea!! They are very sensitive to heat and melt quickly. So I thought that using the heat gun would be a better option. Only a very slight bit better. The heat did melt the babywipes but I did find that it took a little longer and it was more controllable so you would get some neat effects by melting in some areas and not in others. Not what I needed for this project so in the end, they were left to air dry!!
On this card the top part is a piece of cardstock that has been embossed with a Fiskars texture plate using a silicone mat and my Cuttlebug in the right sandwich. Happy with the way it turned out. Somewhat more subtle than using the embossing folders just because of the nature of the tool. The bottom part is altered baby wipes. I just ripped the top edge and then glued it to the card front and then trimmed it to the card edge. I added a silver embossed image on pearly cardstock which I coloured in with watercolours. Some of the girls used chalks and that worked very well too. I expect markers might be Ok as well. Added the pearly flower which is table confetti sold at Michaels in the wedding section. They are sold in a little bucket in a variety of colours. I thought the white was most versatile because they can be coloured with markers, inks, etc to suit what you need for your project!! Used my distressing tool (SU) on the edges of the layers for the image.
If you use baby wipes for cleaning your stamps yours are already altered by the time you are finished using them. Consider using them in your art!! I expect these would be very nice included in fabric art as well because the material has a nice texture and I expect it would sew up nicely.
Challenge yourself to use or repurpose some items that you use regularly in your home into your art!! Maybe cardboard packaging from a tissue box for ATCs, clear plastic packaging for making clear accents on your cards, etc. Use your imagination!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas Cards - Swirls

This paper is gift wrap I bought last year!! It is so cool - red background, orange and white swirls with white snowflakes!! It is not traditional colours but I thought it worked wonderfully!! Ripped the red layer to reveal the stamped greeting and then the paper to reveal some of the red layer and then glued them to the white card front. The embellishement is a 1 3/8" orange punchie, a 1.25" red punchie and a white snowflake attached with a silver brad. It is attached to the card front with 3D foam tape to give it some dimension! Really love the way this one worked out! It was one of the favorites at class.

I hope you have been inspired to start on your Christmas cards!! Some have bought the kits and will be making them up over the summer at the cottage or by the pool!! It is great to have one step up towards preparations for Christmas!!

Have a great summer! I will be taking a break from Cardmaking classes over the summer and will be back on September 16th with some new cards!!

I will publish the yearly schedule later on this week!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards - O holy night

More of this night sky cardstock!! I had some black and some navy so each person received some of each colour!! I silver embossed the star and tree on the card front. Stamped the tree trunk and O holy night in colour on a quarter sheet of white. We just ripped the white into snowbanks and layered them on the bottom of the card and trimmed them to the card edge. I ripped the greeting snow bank first and then the one with the stem. The leftover was ripped twice more to make two more snowbanks!! I love the texture of the ripped snowbanks!! Click on the image to get a closer look!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas - Silver tree

I used a gray with red for this card for a softer look!! Really like the way it turned out. I distressed the edges of the tree layer (silver embossed) and added the ribbon on the bottom with double sided tape to the back. I tied the ribbon with a silver string and then added the brad over it. Some of the girls added the image to the red layer and then added the ribbon and that worked well too.
A quick and easy card!!

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards - Vintage Santa

Love the vintage images! Have been wanting to incorporate some of these into my Christmas cards for quite a while.
I laser printed several images and chose layers and papers to coordinate with them so there was a variety of cards for each person. I tied a square knot in the ribbon and then cut it so that the knot would be where I wanted it on the card. This process saves ribbon!! Once I had layered the image I glued it in place and added the snowflake with a silver brad. The background is navy with white specks that really looks like a night sky! I added some swirls stamped in white.

There are many places on the internet that have images you can download. These images come from a CD.

Therese

My Art - Christmas cards - snowflakes

For those who took the Christmas Card class today they've started on their preparations for Christmas and it isn't even July!!! Yeah!!
The center panel of this card is paper napkin that was laminated with Modge Podge because the layers would not separate nicely!! It gave the paper a nice textural quality - a bonus!! We ripped both edges and glued the middle portion to the trimmed embossed background (CB Snowflakes) layer and then glued the edges to the back of it. This whole layer was then glued to the card front. Tied on the fiber and finished it with a double knot. The snowflake was one that I bought last year at a dollar store. Just nipped off the circle for hanging and it is now a 3D embellishment for this card!! Glued it on with a glue dot. Glue dots are great for adding any sort of 3D or heavy embellishment to your cards.
Always keep an eye out for interesting papers and supplies for your cardmaking!! I am always on the look out!!
There are quite a few who are making their Christmas cards monthly - what a great idea!! I will have to consider that for the fall!!

Therese

My Art - Dad cards

Dad Day cards!! It is coming up so quickly!! I made these up and will have them off in the mail this afternoon in hopes they will reach their destinations by Friday!!

I used printed newspaper (foam stamps and black acrylic paint) as backgrounds on these cards. I had created them for another project and it did not turn out but worked wonderfully on these ones. The little metal letter discs I found at a dollar store which I don't often frequent often so I bought a few packages!! It was fun to go digging through my images for ones that would be appropriate for these cards for some special guys!!

I hope you will celebrate with all of the guys who have or do play a special role in your life.

We are blessed by the men who so willingly participate in our lives and do their best to give us what we wish for and want!!

I am prepping for my Christmas Card class on Saturday!! It is a head start on Christmas which will all make us feel good this year because we will be ahead of the curve in preparation for Christmas!!

Summer is on its way here in south western Ontario!!

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - border punchie

One of the girls who comes to Card Club brought this idea several months back. It uses the SU scallop border punch to create an embellishment for cardmaking. I expect you could use any border punch!! I cut a 2.75" square of cardstock and centered and punched each side to create a decorative slot!! Each was decorated differently - I stamped a coffee cup with bleach on the brown one, embossed flowers in silver on the pink one, silver embossed candles on the blue one and added layered punchies with a bard to the yellow one. It creates a frame that can be filled with just about anything.
I added a rectangle of embossed cardstock into the slots and a rectangle of scrapbook paper to the front of the card before all the other elements were added. Again, a greeting can be added on the lower right when the time comes to send out the card.
I always enjoy finding news ways of using the tools I already have!! Not sure where the technique originated but thanks to all those who create and share which inspires the rest of us to get at making art!!!

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - Be happy

These are quick and easy "Be Happy" cards!! Cut the cardstock to 4.25" x 11" to make it easier to emboss it with the Swiss Dot embossing folder in my Cuttlebug. The "Be Happy" is stamped and then punched with a 1" punch, layered onto a 1.25" punchie, onto a 1 3/8" punchie onto a scallop punchie!! I applied double sided tape to the inside front of the card to hold the ribbon in place which is just below the embossed design on the card front. A greeting could easily be added to the lower right hand of the card.

Very versatile design!! The embellishment could be situated anywhere on the ribbon - I happen to like the left hand side.

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - Glitter paper

These were such fun to create!! I had wanted to use my glitter glues but when I dug them out they had dried somewhat and were quite thick and would not squeeze out nicely. I decided that I would make my own glitter paper with them so I dug out some fabric paint, acrylic paint and inks and got about making my own decorative paper. I used a foam tray as a palette and loaded on a variety of mediums as well as a blob of glitter to use on each sheet. I started with white cardstock and used a wet brush to help loosen my paints and make them more transparent. I just started painting on colour using the most vibrant first and toning down with the lighter colours. Along the way I added the glitter glue which also benefited from the extra water to help them spread nicely. Made several sheets of each colour. It can be a bit messy so it worth making a few extra sheets while you have all the tools and paints out. It is hard to see in the scans - these are shiny and glittery!!
Once they were dry I cut the 8.5"x11" sheets into quarters and embossed them with different embossing folders using my Cuttlebug. The embellishments are all different - round sequins on a string on the blue one, punched daisies with a brad on the turquoise one, punchies and a brad on the black one and punchies and a large sequin star with a brad on the red one!! Greetings can easily be layered onto these cards for any occasion. I thought that the black one would be good for a teenager who likes music!! The sequins on the blue one reminds me of jewelry or patio lights!!
I did forget to scan these before I used them as I have in the past to create my own digital art resources! Always good to have your own graphics to use when creating digitally!!
I hope these will provide you with inspiration to create your own decorative paper!!

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - Manhattan flower

Using my newly acquired Manhattan Flower (SU)embossing folder I created some embossed cardstock. Trimmed them to the edge of the rose pattern then trimmed them to fit evenly on the card front. I used silver foil on the black one. The foil is an acquired craft material - the result of a chocolate treat!! I just glued the foil to cardstock, cut to quarter sheet size and embossed it!! The greetings are colour printed to coordinate with the card. I tied a short piece of ribbon into the knot of the longer piece which creates the same effect as a double knot.

THRIFTY TIP: To use up short pieces of ribbon just add them in the knot of another piece to create tails. They do not have to be the same ribbon or the same colour. I save my small pieces in ziplocs and look there first when I am looking for ribbon. You can use a piece as short as 2.5 inches!!

Therese

My Art - All Occasions class - alcohol inks

My Cards, Cards, Cards - All Occasions class was this past weekend! It was a great morning with some very creative and interested participants! It was so fun to prepare the kits for this class. We made twenty cards and all are different because that is really what works best for those who are participating!!
I created the alcohol ink backgrounds using glossy white cardstock, alcohol and reinkers. Mostly they were SU classic pad reinkers! I love this technique!! Always get such vibrant and interesting results. I did quarter sheets (4.25"x5.5") then stamped them with the flourish stamp in black Staz ON. The stamp is from a SeeD set called Bella Flora. I trimmed them to evenly fit on the card front and added a ribbon at the top that is tied in a square knot. You can just stamp on a greeting that suits the occasion when you are ready to use them.

Therese