Another very versatile card which can be changed up very easily to accomodate different occasions and themes!! Decorative paper has been added at the bottom and top of the card, a watercoloured image has been layered on the left and a greeting stamped on the right. Quick and easy if you are creating a variety of cards for different occasions - just change the image and the greeting!
The bookplate on this card looks like silver metal but it is not! I used a Sizzix book plate die in my Cuttlebug machine to cut these out of scrap silver coated cardboard!! Worked so perfectly!! I am always saving interesting packaging and recyclables for use in my crafting!!
I used fabric on this card!! There is so much wonderful fabric avaible that can so nicely be incorporated into cardmaking. Consider using scraps from your quilting or sewing. Easily create coordinating cards for gifts you may be giving. A large amount of Christmas cards can also be made in very short order using fabric!! Just keep an eye out for a pattern that is easily cut out!!
The embellishment on this card is a button with some fiber!! I used the SU scallop punch (love it!!) for the bottom layer of the flower with brown cardstock!! Layered onto that rust and peachy circles (1.25" and 1"). Tied the bright yellow fiber onto the button and hot glued it into place. For the stem I cut a piece of green cardstock to which I tied similar coloured ribbon. I stamped the little wish greeting (SU) in olive green. The left hand side is adorned with a floral border by Magenta trimmed to the scalloped edge. Once I glued the border into place I added the stem and then glued the flower into place with hot glue. A little card that heralds the hope that is spring!!
Just found these on my desk!! This month at cardmaking I was featuring cards with embellishments!! I had bought a few packages of these buckles a while back and thought they would fit into this classe nicely. A fairly simple card which can be changed up to any season and occasion by just changing your supplies. I used decorative scrapbook paper which I stamped over to give it a bit more interest. I like doing that!! Added a colour printed greeting that is tucked nicely under the ribbon. The buckle is a ribbon slide which works best with 3/8" ribbon. In this case, I used brown which I purchased last year some time. I added some 3D foam tape under the buckle to keep it secure as it is relatively heavy compared to the card. I nice masculine card!!\
Decided to let the art students have a bit of collage fun so we created coaster calendars last week. I provided each with some coasters and a little baggie of colour coordinated paper, images and bits of this and that!! The coasters were first covered with paste paper and then collaged with a variety of images. It is always fun to have time to play!! We added some 3D elements - one being a shrink plastic charm with the quote "Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life". Shrink plastic was a hit!! We added the calendar on the right hand side in a little plastic pocket which, come the end of the year, can be refilled or can hold a photo!! I really like making these!!
I have been keeping just ahead of a cold - lots of Vitamin C, echinacea and green tea and as much rest as my schedule will allow so it has meant less creative time. Here is the journal I created with my art students. The base is watercolour paper folded and glued together with double sided tape and fabric tape. I hope they will consider added more decorative elements as the mood strikes them. The journal has a stack of pages incorporated into it with a little metal holder. Not sure what they are called - two prongs with backer and metal strip with two holes for the front with two slides that hold the prongs in place. This will allow them to remove pages or replace the whole stack and reuse the journal. We each created our own decorative element for the front and added it with brads. The folded flap incorporates an elastic which keeps it closed. I also created journal prompts for them and a little holder that will easily fit in their journal.
Handmade paper cards!! These are a project I am doing with a school in the area where the students get exposed to a variety of art and crafts! In the first 45 minute session we made the blue paper sheets and laminated the images to a sheet of white handmade paper. The second day we made the cards with the blue paper - just folded them in half, ripped apart the images on the white one and watercoloured them. The images were hot glued to the front of the blue handmade paper cards. Inserts were glued inside and they made envelopes for them using a quick and easy template by Green Sneakers that utilizes a square of paper.
Just had to use my Sizzix die one more time!! Decided to make some white and gold hearts from the leftover Serendipity piece I made for my litte house blessing!! These are for a monthly card exchange I participate in. I layered the heart on gold and trimmed by hand. Makes you appreciate a die cut!! Tried several different backgrounds with very little luck so went with a standby - the Cuttlebug D'vine swirl! I used my to SU oval punches to create a frame from my handwritten "love". Worked out really well. I coloured the edges of the gold frame with watercolour to make it blend with the gold front and it helped a lot to make it look more like a metal frame. I applied all of the elements to a textured premade card!!
I am going to be teaching classes at Michaels!! I have scheduled three classes - "Pressing out the details", Rubber Stamping THE BASICS, and Waterfall cards. The first in February and the other two in March!!
This project is a year old.
Art everyday!! 
A Valentine's card for my special guy!! Used more pieces from that heart sticker pack I used earlier this week to create this one!! The tag in the vellum envelope features one of the round sticker tags which I layered onto a white one which is stamped on the bottom with a phrase from SU. This set was a hostess set last catalog and I managed to snag it at the open house my SU demo had on the weekend!! I am getting to a place where I need more time not more stamps!!! The sidebar is also a sticker. I stamped the background with the collage love stamp from my latest SeeD set!! 
Created this layout with the theme of vintage children for the journal group. It was totally fun to do!! I used my Sizzix Alphablock dies to cut out the header letters. Added a strip of white scalloped cardstock between the "bulletin board" and the header. I use my scallop scissors and then a push pin to poke holes in each scallop to create a lace effect. Try using thick fun foam or a foamy mouse pad under your cardstock to get even holes. I created the diamond pattern with cardstock strips over the scrapbook paper. I glued the edges and used thread and white pearl seed beads on the inner junctions so it would be like a real bulletin board and the images could be just tucked in. The images are laser printed to which I have added, in Dymo font, a characteristic of children - wise, loyal, curious, etc. This is for February and I am way ahead of the game!! So new for me!!
A couple more guy cards. On the first I layered a watercoloured
Created this fat book page for the This & That Fat book page mingle. I chose do a page on Valentine's this time around. The background paper I used is actually gift wrap which started out being ivory with tan writing. I colour washed it with acrylic paint to better suit my colour scheme. Worked out very well!! It is always better to colour wash your paper before you cut it to size because sometimes the paper shrinks a little. The top of the image is the back and the bottom is the front. I created a shaker to add to my page using acetate and a frame from the same sticker sheet I used for my coaster calendar. I had hoped the words underneath would be more legible - just a few too many red and gold confettis in it!! The words are repeated on the back so that works. I added some paper lace from a doily, some ribbon, a bit of the border sticker and some handwritten love quotes. I am a bit early with this one - not my usual MO - but I have classes to teach in February which will be taking a lot of my time so I am planning ahead with some of my other projects.
This Valentine's mingle has been going on for a few years and it is always fun to participate!! I decided to step it up a notch for myself this year and created a double coaster calendar!! It was so fun to make!! I covered both sides of my chipboard coasters with my own hand decorated paper. The inside piece had to be colour washed a bit with yellow to bring it up to the same warmth as the stickers I wanted to use. No problem - worked very well. The strips are stickers from a $1 store pack. I created a little acetate pocket for my calendar pages (printed using PrintMaster). It can be filled with another small calendar for the next year or a photo, postage stamps, or whatever!! I attached it with double sided tape. Added ribbon on both coasters for accent and interest. Added a gold embossed heart on the left hand side along with "CREATE"!!
I am part of a new group that was spawned off of one of my regular groups to experiment with altered journals. The eight of us have each chosen a theme and indicated the size of pages we need to tip into our journals. Here is the spread I created for Bettiann's journal whose theme is nature and quotes. I started with light weight cardstock and glued in place two pieces of scrapbook paper which I colour washed with umber to tone them down a bit. I added butterfly borders from a sticker pack. Added a strip of flourishes on transparency and attached it with eyelets in the center of flower punchies. A few of the flowers "burst" with the application of the hammer to the eyelets. They have a more organic look. Real pressed flowers - a pansy and a yellow daisy. A few more stickers, a colour printed quote and some quotes written in by hand. Added a cinquain I wrote several years ago for an exchnage which worked well with the theme. I attached it with corner stickers and leaf eyelets in the top corners to create a pocket. Inside the pocket I added a tag with my info and a photo. I was careful not to add too much bulk to the spine area. Very happy with the way this layout turned out!! We will all have wonderful journals by the end of the year.