All Occasion Card featuring a lighthouse, embossed strip and decorative paper background

For this all occasion card I adhered my colour printed decorative paper (SU) to a coordinating card front.  I layered a small strip of gray cardstock over a wider orange one and embossed them (CB).  I added a single rectangle of coordinating blue to the back of the light house after adding some paper piercing.  It was enough!!  I did not colour the image as it worked quite well with the gray in the paper!!

Therese
 

Slow Stitching - embellished leaves for an art quilt cooperative project

I belong to a Grandmothers to Grandmothers  group who is participating in the construction of an art quilt to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  I have volunteered to make some leaves for the quilt.  It will depict a women in a tree that represents grandmothers who have provided strength, nurturing and shelter for those in their communities.  

I have cut five leaves from felted wool which my daughter felted a while back and donated to me for projects.  It provided the heft of fabric which I needed to support the embellishing I wanted to add with embroidery thread and beads.   I really like the mottled look of the wool which resembles leaves and I have added beads by incorporating them into the blanket stitch I added all the way around.  I used chain stitch, stab stitch and back stitch to add details inside the leaves along with a few sequins.  A couple days of slow stitching and I love how they all worked out!!!  Therese

All Occasion Card featuring watercoloured trees on handmade paper, eyelets and cording

Another simply elegant all occasion card!!  I watercoloured the trees (Magenta).  This element was created by placing a piece of stamped white tissue paper over the wet pulp and then couching as usual!!  The texture is really nice!! I added the two half circles to the back of my image, added eyelets and then strung silver cord through them.  I adhered the main image to my pale blue background paper and then secured the ends to the back of my background.  After pressing, I can see the ends from the front which is unfortunate.   I could have been more strategic had I been aware of this consequence but it is what it is!!  Beautiful none the less!!  Therese
 

All Occasion Card featuring embossed & watercoloured butterfly, ribbon and a hand decorated background

A more monochromatic look for this all occasion card!!  The dragonfly (Magenta) was silver embossed on white tissue paper and embossed into the handmade paper during the couching process.  I love the texture!!  I watercoloured the dragonfly to coordinate with my hand decorated background (sanding and wax resist).   I found these two pieces in my stash - they must have been part of a circle at one time - and punched them with the slot punch (SU) and then adhered them to the back of my dragonfly.  I added two pieces of lilac organza ribbon into the slots and then glued this large element to my background.  I tucked the ends of the ribbons to the back and secured them with double sided tape.  I then adhered this large element to my gray card!!  Subtle and elegant!! Therese
 

All Occasion Card featuring hand decorated background, embossed circles and ribbon and watercoloured trees

This all occasion card has a dark green card with a hand decorated paper background (sanding and wax resist)  I watercoloured the trees (Magenta) using glitter on the snowflakes in the sky and shimmery watercolour on the snow at the bottom.  I added three pewter eyelets and inserted three little pieces of ribbon in green, yellow and red.  I just added glue to the back of the ribbon and glued it to the handmade paper on the front and the back.  I embossed the half circles with Swiss Dots and then adhered them to the back of the trees element.  I mounted the focal element with 3D foam tape.  The trees image was embedded into the handmade paper in the couching process.  Really textured look!! Therese
 

All Occasion Card featuring a watercoloured light house, ribbon and circles on a hand decorated background

For this all occasion card I started with a navy blue card and added a hand decorated background (watercolour and plastic wrap).  I watercoloured the light house, added a pewter eyelet and then threaded a navy ribbon in and out and tied with with a double knot.  I did add some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel before adding the ribbon.    I added some circle punchies in red (embossed - Dvine Swirl - CB) and navy (pierced) at the top and bottom.    Therese
 

All Occasion Card featuring handmade paper floral image, ribbon and decorative background

Another card for my stash!!  This one started with peach card to which I added a colour printed decorative paper (SU).  I watercoloured the flowers (Magenta) to coordinate and added several ribbon flags on the right hand side before adding it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I did do some paper piercing on all four sides with my pattern tracing wheel before adding the flags.  This focal element was created during the papermaking process by laying a stamped piece of white tissue paper onto the wet pulp on the screen and couching as usual.  I really love the effect!!  Therese

 

Thank you card with a little leaf on handmade paper, hand written greeting and a gold tie

This card also reused a card front - one of mine from years ago that I gave away and came back with a wonderful message inside.  It is going out again!!!

It features a little square of handmade paper, a little pressed leaf and a little gold thread tie.  The greeting below was done by hand with a gold gel pen and traced on a light table using a printed font.  Have not done that in quite a while though I really do like the look of it.  

Therese
 

All Occasion Card featuring an embossed leaf, layered circles, ribbon and hand decorated background

I am making up some cards for my stash to be used as needed so they will all be without greetings.  

This one started with a dark green card and I chose a hand decorated background (sanding and wax resist) from my stash.  I found the leaf in my stash as well (Magenta) and watercoloured it to coordinate.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides to add some texture.  I wanted to add a bit of something else so I had my little container of circle die cut/punchies and thought I would see if I could make some of them work.  I layered two halfs for the top and bottom and added a pewter eyelet.  I glued them to the back of my leaf and then attached this large element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I then threaded green ribbon through the eyelets and glued the ends to the back of my decorative paper.  I glued this larger element to my card front.  The silver embossing is subtle but quite effective when you move the card a bit.  

This leaf element was created in the process of making handmade paper by placing a piece of white tissue paper which has been stamped and embossed right onto the wet sheet of paper and then couching as usual.  The process embeds the tissue paper into the handmade paper.  Works really well!!  Therese
 

All Occasion Card Kits - a colourful background, an embossed strip and a blingy tea pot

The final set of card kits for my friend.  These ones again are variety in theme and colours. 

For this one I added a little blingy teapot sticker to a green die cut and layered it with a dark brown scalloped circle (Nestibilities).  I added a full size background of decorative paper and then added an embossed strip of coordinating cardstock.  

I am sure she will enjoy putting together her cards and will make them her own as she does!!

Therese
 

All Occasion Card Kits - background with a coordinating embellished photo

This is the sample for the second set of cards for my friend.  Quick and easy!!  I added a decorative paper background to my deep red card and then added my embellished photo of  pussy willows with 3D foam tape!!  The photo is from a photo calendar my sister, Sylvia, gave me for Christmas.  She does such wonderful photography and it is so easy to reuse them in my cards!!  I trimmed the photo to size, trimmed top and bottom with scallop decorative scissors and then used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  Ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides to add yet more texture.  Again, these are all the same sketch but a variety of images and colours.  

Therese

All Occasion Card Kits - a flag, embossed strip and a layered flower embellishment

I have been working on card kits for a friend who is an avid card maker!!!  

This set of eight has all sorts of embellishments and a variety of colours.  I made this one up for her so she would have a sample to go by though she is very creative and will no doubt do her own thing!!!

I started with a blue card and added a layer of decorative paper.  I cut the flag from a scrap of blue.  I created the floral embellishment using a variety of die cuts - some from my stash.  I layered them and then added a little star brad to the center to hold them together.  I auditioned both of these on my card front to make sure there was room for the flower and then glued them into place.  I used 3D foam tape on the flower.  I layered two pieces of  coordinating cardstock and embossed them before adding this element over the top of the flag.  There is still room to add a greeting and I have included a good variety which she can add as she wishes.   Therese
 

Thank you card featuring a beautiful pink flower and a few layers

This thank you card features a reused card front with a wonderful greeting and beautiful image.  I trimmed it to size and layered it with a rectangle of black cardstock and then added that to a pink card front!!!

I did run my pattern tracing wheel around the edges for a bit of texture before gluing it all together!!

Therese
 

Slow Stitching - Corner fabric bookmarks

We were away for a bit and just before I left I put together some fabric bookmarks to slow stitch along the way!! They

are made up of two squares of fabric - one 4" square and one 3" square.  I folded the 3" one in half diagonally and then folded the 4" one diagonally as well leaving a margin on two sides and a folded triangle just slightly larger than the three inch one which allows the front one to more easily catch the corner of a page.  I made a prototype before sourcing precut fabric squares from my stash.  I matched up colours and designs which worked well together.  I pressed them all and pinned together the partners to keep them organized.  I managed to get only about half of them stitched.  I used running stitch and embroidery floss to stabilize the triangles I had pressed.  

Once back home I sewed them together.  I pinned the smaller triangle to the larger one and then pressed the margins in half and the bottom corners in to facilitate sewing them together.  This allows, for the most part, to hide all the raw edges.  It took a bit to stitch the topmost of the bookmark with all the layers so I trimmed off a small triangle off the top to reduce the bulk of the seam.  I folded in one corner and started sewing there.  Halfway up the side, I took the time to fold and pin the top point which made

sewing that section much easier.  Once down the other side I again folded the other bottom corner in and sewed the last of the seam with some back stitching to finish it off.  

This is how it looks sewn and pressed.  Looks quite good on the corner of this piece of cardstock though I discovered that some of my stitches caught a bit on the corner when inserting the piece into the bookmark.  Not the best for a bookmark that will be used a lot.  So I decided to machine stitch a few and these were quite a bit easier to apply to the corner of a page.  I like that they are quite visible in a book but do not interfere in the management of it.  For example - works well for putting a book back on the shelf or packing it into a book bag.  

Here are all the ones I have managed to make up!!  I think I will be finishing off the remaining ones with the sewing machine as it gives a better finish and is so much more time efficient.  It was a fun experiment and it was a nice small project for taking with me on our trip.  It would be fun to personalize these by using aida and cross stitch on the front and themed fabric on the back.  They make a nice little gift for a reader!!! 

I am sharing this post on Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching!!

Take a break and check out the fun projects others have posted!!

Therese
 

Birthday card featuring washi tape for the candles and the background

Another family birthday card!!  I used washi tape for the background. Layered several different black and white washi tapes over a black and white text paper I had in my stash.  I tore the piece I created into three strips and then adhered them to the front of my large red card.  I used three different washi tapes to create the candles on my focal element.  I stamped the greeting first and then added six candles including wicks added with a fine tipe Sharpie marker. I added the red ribbon over the bottom ends and flames at the tops.  The flames were created using the wing of the bird punch from Stampin UP.  I distressed their edges and then watercoloured them to look more realistic.  I added a little gold charm to the ribbon to echo its gold edging.  Because it still needed a bit of something I added a dashed border around the edge of this large element.  That was enough!!!  Therese
 

Slow Stitching - a crocheted custom cover for a USB charging cord

I took on this slow stitching project for one of my grandson's birthday.  Needless to say that charging cords are always in demand with so many devices and with them all looking very much the same it is hard to tell if it is "your" cord or not and they disappear regularly from anywhere in the house to where they are most in need.  So for his birthday I crocheted a cover for a regular black charging cord using variegated thread which his Mom gave me a while back because it was too thick for her use.  It worked perfectly for this project.  I tied the cording to one end and then incorporated the end inside the single crochets as I began the cover in the cyan colour.  I progress through aquamarine, yellow and finished off with orange which I tied off and used a needle to thread the end into the stitching!! Everyone will know which cord is his!!!  

I am posting this project to Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching.  There is always so much eye candy there so take a break and check out the stitching projects!!           Therese

 

Birthday card featuring a tall birthday cake, ribbon and a fun tag

My second card for my card exchange partners!!  For this one, I used a couple of pieces of hand decorated paper (acrylic paint and glitter) which I taped together and then added fiber (dyed dryer sheet) with a glittery coordinating rickrack over it.  I watercoloured the cake and then added clear glitter gel pen to colour the icing.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides.  I created a large coordinating tag using blue scraps and then punched a slot on both ends.  I mounted it to my card with 3D foam tape then ran green ribbon through the slots and tucked the ends to the back of the background and secured using double sided tape.  I add my cake to the tag using 3D foam tape as well.  Therese
 

Birthday card featuring a beautiful piece of cake, ribbon and an embossed serendipity background

One of the cards I made for this month's card exchange.  I started with the serendipity background in green and pinks - my favorite colour combo!! It is nice and subtle because I covered it over with white tissue paper as a final layer.  I embossed it with the birthday embossing folder (CB) and then highlighted the raised surfaces with light green ink.  I added two lengths of pink ribbon - organza overlaid with a satin across the background.  The piece of cake (Wiki Clipart) was laser printed and watercoloured.  I rounded the corners with a corner rounder and then created a tag in green which I embossed with script.  I added pink and ivory organza ribbon in the slot I punched (SU) then secured them with a pink staple.  I layered the cake over the tag using 3D foam tape and then adhered the tag to my card front using 3D foam tape as well. 

Therese

Birthday card featuring mushrooms, a fun greeting and a collage background

I made this card for one of my grandsons who loves his cat and likes words that sound a bit edgy - like shiitake!!  The mushroom & cat  (Kisspng/Cleanpng) were colour printed and trimmed out of the large sheet.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides.  I layered it onto kraft cardstock which has border a punched border and an embossed line.  I used a medium brown for my card and created a collage background on it which I glued into place one piece at a time.  I chose a dark green strip, embellished it with pewter eyelets and the adhered it in place using double sided tape.  I used 3D foam tape to adhere my large focal element to my card front.  

Therese

 

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with a layered poinsettia embellishment

For my last card I went with a Christmas theme and used a poinsettia to stamp my vellum.  I used red on the back and embossed the frame with a poinsettia embossing folder (SU).  I added the white bond on the back to avoid seeing the gap in the background.  I created a large red card and then trimmed a coordinating background a little short so I could tear it in two which would leave a gap of red.  I mounted the framed vellum with 3D foam tape over the gap.  I was lucky enough to find these punchie/die cut elements in my little stash of flower shapes.  I cut apart the green one to create leaves and layered the two red ones and adhered them with three antique gold tiny brads.  Really happy how well it turned out.  Added it to my frame with 3D foam tape.  Therese
 

All occasion card featuring a watercolured fall cabin scene over a collage background

I am working on cards for special occasions for my family!!  This one started with a dark green card to which I glued elements to create a fun background with a variety of papers with different textures.  Really like how it turned out!!  I watercoloured my little landscape with a cabin (publicdomainvectors org) to reflect the fall season.  When it was dry, I added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and three eyelets and then tied coordinating fiber to them.  I mounted it to a coordinating layer, punched the bottom with my scallop border punch (SU) then punched each scallop with a small hole.  To finish it off I added an embossed line using my score tool.  I mounted my focal element to my card using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with a die cut butterfly embellishment

My second last card in this series which features a double embossed vellum focal element.  I embossed the frame (D'vine Swirl - CB), adhered the vellum with double sided tape and then added a piece of white bond to give it a clean look.  The vellum is stamped with a butterfly from Magenta and the back is stamped with a blue green variegated stamp pad.  It used to be three separate colours but over the years of use the colours have blended.  I added the white bond to keep the clean look of the vellum image.  I used these two pieces of scrapbook paper that echoed the colours in the vellum to create my background and added a very small strip of almond cardstock in between.  The butterfly (SU) was found in my little stash of butterfly punchies/die cuts and mounted with 3D foam tape.  Therese
 

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with ribbon and flower embellishment

It has been fun working on getting these cards made up!!  For this card I chose a blue card and a nice nulticoloured floral background paper.  I added a rosy coral seam binding which I added to the background using double sided tape to secure the ends to the back then tied a shorter piece to it using a single knot which nicely simulates a bow.  I added coral dots to the front of my vellum, adhered it to my frame which was embossed with an intricate design (CB) and then adhered a piece of white bond to the back.  This large element was adhered to my card front using 3D foam tape.  The flower (SU) was one I found in my stash and watercoloured to coordinate.  Once dry, I used 3D foam tape to adhere it to my card front.  Therese
 

Happy Hallow'en!!

 Wishing you all a wonderful Hallowe'en!!!!!   We have no snow and the temperatures are above zero - great conditions for a prairie Halloween!!!!!!!!  The little pie pumpkins are carved, the seeds are soaking and will be roasted with supper and our snack as we welcome Trick or Treaters!! Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with a layered die cut floral embellishment

Here is another of my double stamped vellum cards.  This one features a dotted flower (SU) and I stamped the back of the vellum with three colours - yellow, orange and red.  I mounted it into a frame (SX) which I embossed with a script embossing folder (CB) and then added the piece of white bond.  I trimmed a red card and then some coordinating scrapbook paper which was a bit short on the width which left me with a gap after I tore it in two.  I dug through my flower punchie stash and found four flowers which were the perfect colours to make a layered die cut flower embellishment for my card.  I used a silver brad to hold them all together.  I adhered my frame with 3D foam tape and then added my little flower with 3D foam tape as well.  Therese
 

Birthday card - mushrooms with a fun greeting, a bit of brown raffia and some ribbon

 This is my card for my second card exchange partner!!  A very different look using another mushroom (digital - Pixabay) image which I colour printed and trimmed out of the large sheet.  I left a lot of room around this one so I could add the raffia and added a bit of watercolour to remove the starkness of the white cardstock.  The brown raffia was embellished with brown and red ink to coordinate better with the background.  I wrapped the raffia around my mushrooms after I had added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  A bit more texture was added by applying 3 eyelets to the top right corner.  I layered this element to a kraft rectangle and distressed all the edges.  I trimmed the background, added a length of red ribbon and mounted it to my large dark brown card.  The mushroom focal element was added to my card using 3D foam tape.    It is off to my partner in today's mail!!  Therese 

Birthday card - a fun greeting on a card featuring mushrooms and collage background with eyelets and raffia

 I was playing with the fun greeting referring to a "fun- gi" combined with a mushroom for a card which will show up later because it is not quite finished yet. I made this card for one of my card exchange partners for October.  I am late getting these out but they will be in the mail today!!!  I started with a beautiful cluster of mushrooms (digital - Kisspng/Cleanpng) with a fun font greeting which I colour printed and then trimmed out of the large sheet.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel around all four edges and then layered it with green cardstock which I distressed all they way around.  I created a large dark brown card and then created a collage background using two different papers.  To add some texture I added six pewter eyelets and then ran some brown raffia through them creating a bit of a diagonal element on my background.  I adhered my background to my card and then added my mushrooms using 3D foam tape.  

Halloween treats - hot chocolate!

 I made up these cute little pouches to package hot chocolates for Halloween for grand kids!!

I used two pieces of 6" x 6" pumpkin scrapbooking paper which I glued to a 2" x  6" piece of cardstock which I scored and folded and became the bottom of the little pouch which allowed the pumpkins to all be upright.  I wrapped the hot chocolate in white tissue paper, inserted it into the cavity, added the green stem and then punched two holes where I added a length of ivory raffia to hold all the pieces together!!  Cute and relatively quick!!!  Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with leaf die cut embellishment

Here is another one of the cards I made with my pieces of double stamped vellum.  I stamped this one with a beautiful leaf and used my Creole Spice stamp pad on the back.  I embossed my frame with a leaf embossing folder (QCutz) and added the vellum along with a white bond backer.  I trimmed a piece of decorative paper a that coordinated a bit short and tore it in two which left me with a green gap.  I mounted my leaf focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape and then added three little leaves (TH) in green, purple and orange tied with kraft raffia as my embellishment also adhered with 3D foam tape.   A nice fall card!!

Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a framed with some fiber and lace and a stamped heart punchie

A few weeks ago after reading about the double stamped vellum technique on Splitcoast Stampers I decided to give it a go!!  I choose some stamps and dug out the white embossing powder and vellum.  Most of the stampers had used some sort of frame so I dug out a large frame die (SX) which would make it easy to adhere the vellum.  I cut the vellum just a bit larger than the opening and stamped both sides with the same stamp - the front was embossed with white embossing powder and the back was stamped with a colour.  I had cut six pieces of vellum so I die cut six white frames to go with them.  Life got busy and I did not get back to them for a few days and have been making cards sporadically as time allowed.  This is my first card.  I embossed the frame with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (CB), adhered the heart (SU) stamped vellum to the back using double sided tape and then backed it with a piece of white bond paper which gives it a nice clean look.  I wrapped a length of white fiber to the frame tying a knot on the upper left hand corner.  I added two lengths of scalloped lace to my background before securing it to my card front.  I added my frame to my card using 3D foam tape and then embellishing the card with a coordinating white embossed heart punch in pink.  This will be great for a little girls card, Vallentine's or an anniversary.  Therese
 

All Occasion Card - simple flower on a bright and textured background

I found this background under a box I had been using for pressing finished cards a while back and with no idea of the original concept of the card I was going to create I just went with a new one!!  I added a purple ribbon across it and adhered it to the purple card I found with it then tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I dug through my stash of images and found this simple rose (CraftStarters) which I watercoloured to coordinate.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel around all four sides of the image before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  A quick and easy card!!!

Therese
 

Christmas Card kits - Card #3 - colour printed tags over a torn background

I always make my last card kit a quick and easy one!!  This one features a colour printed tag (Homemade Gifts Made Easy) which I downloaded from the website and colour printed then trimmed leaving a white border.  These are all different which makes the cards all different because I simply chose coordinating papers and cards.  I did add a coordinating simple ribbon embellishment to the tags by adding a bit of ribbon from the front and securing the front and back with double sided tape and then flagging the ends.  I downloaded several sets of tags which worked very well for making focal elements on Christmas cards!!  

I cut a four inch square of decorative paper and tore in into two pieces and then mounted them to my card front.  I added 3D foam tape to the tag and positioned it over the gap at a bit of an angle.    Therese

 

Christmas Card kits - Card #2 - a snowflake wreath with a bow and a printed greeting

For my second card I chose to create a wreath with colourful snowflake punchies.  These were punched from a variety of scrapbook papers - mostly scraps in several greens, dark maroon and gold.  I printed a guiding circle on the white layer to help situate the punchies in a wreath shape. At the same time I added a printed a coordinating font greeting.  Once the wreath is created I added a colourful gold bow and adhered it with a glue dot.  This large element was adhered to a dark maroon layer and then to the dark green card.  The snowflake punchies (MS) make a very effective wreath with nice feathery edges.  

Therese

 

Christmas Card kits - Card #11 - peaceful dove with an embossed vellum greeting

A friend of mine who is an enthusiastic card maker has asked for a set of Christmas card kits.  She is very creative and likes to make the card her own.  

For the first card I worked around a white dove die cut (SX).  I layered this one over a dark purple oval (Nestibilities).  It was mounted over a mottled paper (printed digital background) to which I had added a stamped and embossed PEACE greeting (Recollections) on vellum simply folding the ends to the back and securing with double sided tape.  The torn edges of the greeting go well with the mottled background.  The dove is mounted over the oval using 3D foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.  

I made a few different colours to give a bit of variety to the kits.  

Therese
 

Slow Stitching - five more little cats embellished with stitching

 I have been working on and off in the last few weeks on these cat squares.  I have added a variety of hand stitching to frame them nicely on their black squares.  These will be added to quilts somewhere along line as I get back to quilting.  It has been a busy summer with a variety of events and family occasions.  The fall has been beautiful with no hard frost yet so more jobs around the house have been added to the TO DO list.  

I acquired this wonderful vest at a sale at put on by the Ujamma Grandmas.  It was very well suited to me in the way of the colours, the french and english stitched words and the fit!!!  

I will be sharing with the others on Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching!!  Be sure to check them out as there is always something to inspire there and lots of links to their projects and other stitching challenges. 

Therese

Bags, babies and beyond - Ujamma Grandma sale

I bought this wonderful wreath made up of cotton bolls still attached the stems on which they grow!!  It was a wonderful find at the Ujamma Grandmas - Bags, Babies and Beyond sale on the weekend!!  It was a room full of wonderfulness!!  Beautiful bags of every ilk, Christmas decoration, packaging, gifts, wall hangings, etc!! Delicate beautiful shawls in a rainbow of colours which would do any outfit proud!!  Jewelry, tags, pot holders, jar openers, mug rugs, table runners, coasters, napkins, etc that would suit so many occasions in style.  There were mittens, slippers, toques and hats made of so many ways from knitting to felted wool. A whole table dedicated to babies from blankets to leggings!!!  I went with my daughter.  She managed to buy quite a few gifts and I brought home this beautiful wreath which I will hang with an ivory tulle bow on my front door for the Christmas season.  The prices were all very reasonable and all the items were made by the members of the group and were of exceptional quality and workmanship!!!!  Therese 
 

Cards as a gift - Little cards using art from a daytimer calendar

My friend is treating me to a bag of cherries so I made her some little cards as a Thank You!!  These images were part of a daytimer calendar I used a few years ago.  The art is wonderful and they made wonderful little cards.  I used heavyweight 12"x12" paper for the card bases and then layered each image with green cardstock and then adhered each one to a card.  They make a nice little gift!!!

Therese
 

A birthday card with a cake, a fun background and some shiny threads

 For this card I used a dark pink card and pieced a background using two pieces of paper.  I tore the black one with shoes and added the polka dot one in the gap before adding it to my card.  I wrapped the front of my card with shiny thread in silver and pink creating an abstract pattern and securing the ends under where the image was going to be.  I watercoloured the cake, added some clear glitter then ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges.  I mounted it to a black rectangle and then mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape overlapping the threads.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a row of cute flowers with a coordinating decorative paper background

I love pink and green together!!  The floral graphic (Clipartix) in pinks and greens was the starting point and I found this coordinating piece of decorative paper in my stash!! Perfect!!  I adhered the background to my pink card.  I cut the top and bottom of my stripe with scallop decorative scissors and used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  I added an embossed line next to the scallops uisng my score tool.  With a bit more distance on the top I added a line of paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel.  I tied on a piece of pink ribbon and secured both ends with double sided tape.  I tied the remaining piece to the front one using one knot to simulate a bow then trimmed the ends.  I mounted my flowers to my card using 3D foam tape.  Quick and easy!!  Therese
 

All occasion cards featuring a trio of candles on handmade paper, eyelets and gold thread and a hand decorated background

The little candles are really the star of the show on this card.  They are a stamped image (white tissue paper) layered onto white handmade paper in the process of making the paper which incorporates it seamlessly.  I watercoloured them to coordinate with my card and background and added a little bit of clear glitter using a gel pen.  Once it was dry, I added four rows of paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and adhered it to a piece of dark purple cardstock.  I trimmed the bottom of the cardstock with a scallop border punch (SU) and added clear glitter dots to each scallop.  I embossed a line just above them using my score tool and then tied on a piece of gold embroidery thread after wrappin it around several times.  I tore my background paper (hand decorated iwth acrylic paints) and inserted a piece of colour printed decorative paper which coordinates well with the candles.  I glued my pieced background to my dark purple card front and mounted my candles element over the torn gap using 3D foam tape.  A versatile card!!  Therese
 

Birthday card featuring a floral cupcake (digital), ribbon and decorative paper background

For this card I choose this fun floral cupcake (digital) from Cre8tive Hands.  It was laser printed, trimmed from the sheet and watercoloured to coordinate with my background.  I like that there is good contrast in the paper and it combines blue and orange!!  I ran my tracing wheel around the edges of my cupcake and then layered it onto orange.  I added a red & orange ribbon and three little coordinating square brads to my background before adhering it to my blue card front.  I added the cupcake layer using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

Birthday card featuring an owl (digital) with collaged paper as a background

Working on a few birthday cards!!  This one features an owl (CLKER) with a font greeting which I laser printed, trimmed out of the sheet and then watercoloured with a large moon in the background.  Really like how that worked out!!  Will be doing that again.  I mounted the owl to a black flocked paper which I punched on the bottom with a scallop punch SU) and then also punched each scallop with a 1/16" punch.  I scored a line just above the scallops with my score tool and then added three pewter eyelets.  I collaged some papers to a dark brown card to create a background and added my owl element to it using 3D foam tape.    Therese