Christmas - embossed elements

I used an embossing Sizzlits die by Sizzix to create these embossed elements!! There are three elements combined in one piece so I cut them apart so I could use the ones I wanted and arrange them to suit me. I simply added the elements to dark cardstock, incorporated a ribbon and a couple of rhinestones and I was done!! You could always add some lines of faux stitching with a gel pen if you need a little more embellishment. This is a quick and easy card!! I will be using this die again!!

This is a different kind of fake bow. For this one, you tie a shorter piece of ribbon to a length of ribbon. It has the advantage of being movable on the piece which allows for adjustment once it is tied. Just one single knot is all you need.

A note on the rhinestones: I bought these on a roll and cut them apart so I could use them individually. I first cut down the middle of the double row with an exacto knife and then into twos for the kits. They are easy to use - simply cut apart and peel the rhinestone off the carrier material and position where you want it!! These were the smallest rhinestones available (3mm) and I anticipate they will not cause problems when these cards enter the postal system on their way to their final destination! There are a LOT of rhinestones in one package and when purchased with a coupon makes them a great value.

I saved the easiest card for last because after a few hours of cardmaking everyone is wanting to get finished and on with their day. We were finished in really good time today!!

If you need more inspiration as you tackle getting your Christmas cards done just click the " Christmas" label in the list on the lower right hand side of my blog!!

Therese

Christmas card - sparkly handmade paper

I kept this card simple to highlight the great handmade paper!! I made this paper this summer using SU cardstock, prismatic gift wrap and some white paper confetti!! You can check it out here!!

I trimmed the handmade paper to leave an even margin all the way around by folding and tearing it to maintain the deckle edge then glued it to the white card front. I layered the snowflakes from large to small (SX dies, MS punch), used a push pin to make a hole in the center and added a brad. The other element on the card is a cute little saying printed on vellum. I played with the two elements until I was happy with the design, pierced a hole through the vellum and card front to which I added the snowflake element. The brad holds all the elements to the card front as I resisted using any sort of adhesive on the vellum. It was fun to create the little greeting which includes the words, a little snowflake and a dotted line that creates the path the little snowflake might have taken on its way down. I think all the elements work very well together - glitter and the look of falling snow in the handmade paper combined with the layered snowflake and the little greeting! We had fun making these in four different colours - blue, purple, pink and turquoise!!

Therese

Christmas card - little round window

Love the simplicity of this card!!

Some of the girls were having trouble with the bows so I suggested that they just try making a fake bow instead. That worked very well and was much easier to execute. To simulate a bow just add a shorter piece of ribbon in a single knot and pull tight. I make the knot loose, slip the smaller piece into it and slowly pull tight adjusting the short piece if needed. A little less bulk that way too.

I layered the decorative paper onto cardstock, punched a window about 1.5" from the top and added the ribbon. By positioning all the pieces on the stamped card front I was able to locate and then carefully glue the coloured image in place so it would be nicely displayed in the little punched window!! I adhered the punched layer to the card front using 3D foam tape. Some of the girls glued the image to the back of the window instead of the card front. That works too!! The stamping on the card front gives just the right amount of texture to the rest of the card!!

The little images are digital stamps that I printed onto heavy weight paper. You can find these two images at CLKER. I used two other ones from Arthur's Clipart - little jingle bells and santa with his reindeer.

Therese

Christmas card - Victorian ornament

Another Christmas card class this morning!! It was so good to spend the morning creating and listening to Christmas music!!

I really love the look of these cards - they have a soft vintage feel!!

The decorative paper is handmade paper with gold embellishment that I bought a few years ago because I really liked the texture of it!! I added a length of coffee dyed lace at the top using double sided tape. Coffee dying the lace was just what it needed - just a little soft colour!! I simply added the lace to some strong coffee (instant coffee and hot water), left it to soak for a few minutes, rinsed it out and hung it out to dry!! Just had to touch it with the iron a bit before using it on my card. Once I added the lace I glued the decorative paper to the front of my card. I added the colour printed punched victorian snowflake image (CLKER) to my die cut ornament (SX) and glued it to the front of the card using 3D foam tape leaving enough room to the right for my stamped NOEL oval greeting (SU punch). The greeting is from Quietfire Design!! I tied a bit of gold cording using a single knot to the lace above the ornament and drew a line from the ornament to lace with a marker to make it look like it is hanging. I drew the line to the top of the handmade paper on the maroon card and I find it is too much. Less is more in this case!!

I am always on the look out for different and interesting paper!! Really glad I picked some of this paper up when I did!!

Therese

Christmas cards - snowman

A wonderful little snowman!!! Used some of these little guys on this card last year!!

The card front has been stamped with white snowflakes which creates a snowy scene when combined with the ripped white strip at the bottom which simulates a snowbank. The front accent has been trimmed to size, cut with a circle die (NS) and embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. I added a cute little ticket as the greeting on this card. It is a freebie I downloaded from Scribbles by Sandy!! She has a some really neat digital stamps on her site!! I printed the little tickets, added a bit of colour and stapled this one to the layer incorporating a red string which I just tied to the staple. For the class, I decided to use a paper clip instead which works better for the kits I created!! After attaching the greeting I used 3D foam tape to attach this element to the card front. Finally, I glued my little snowman embellishment inside the opening with 3D foam tape!!

Really happy with how this one turned out!!

Therese

Christmas cards - confetti tree

This was a fun card!! I have had these little confetti trees for a really long time so I decided to see if I could come up with a design that would highlight them adequately - they are so shiny and bright!! (Not evident on the scan) Very happy with this design!!

I added shimmer to white cardstock using gold interference Pearl Ex and alcohol in a spray bottle. A beautiful subtle shimmer - just what I was looking for!! Once dry, I embossed quarter sheets using this star embossing folder which is available at Ecstasy Crafts!! It nicely echoes the stars on the tree and creates the perfect little embossed space for showing off this shiny little accent! I adhered it in place using tiny pieces of double sided tape but several girls at class this morning just used glue stick. I added ribbon diagonally to the corners and used double sided tape on the back to hold the ends in place, then glued the whole embossed layer to the green card front. The lower right hand ribbon has a second piece of ribbon tied to it using a single knot which also encompasses several strands of gold embroidery thread. This treatment gives you the look of a bow without the bulk which is often a concern when mailing handmade cards during the holiday season!!

Therese

Christmas Cards - Peace Dove

The little dove featured on this card has been die cut using a Sizzix die that belongs to my sister. I love being able to borrow tools from creative friends and family!! It just expands the opportunity for creativity!!

For this card, I cut two pieces of decorative paper and glued one to the top and the other to the bottom leaving even margins. I added the colur printed greeting between them using 3D foam tape. I layered the dove to a die cut circle (NS) and then to a darker scalloped circle (NS). I embellished the greeting and the dove accent with a clear Stardust gel pen before mounting the accent to the left of the greeting. I love this pen because it lays down just clear glitter - no colour - so you can add it anywhere!! Available locally at Ecstasy Crafts! Certainly, you can use any other gel pen or even glitter glue instead.

Therese

Christmas cards - snowflakes

How is this for non traditional colours for a snowflake card?? I loved this red, orange and white paper the first time I laid eyes on it and after creating cards with it for several card classes over the the last few years it has come to an end!! The small leftover scraps have been added to my box of collage scraps. You can check out the other cards I have made with this paper here and here!

I started with a piece of this great paper which I cut with a wave on the bottom to simulate a snowbank which I layered onto white cardstsock and glued to my red card front. TIP: When gluing thin paper - apply glue to the cardstock and lay your thin paper onto it.

To create the accents, I layered a white cardstock snowflake punchie (MS) to a red circle punchie (SU 1 1/4") then to an orange one (SU 1 3/8"). Adhered them to the card front using 3D foam tape which also captured the white thread I used between them and the colour printed layered greeting. Used 3D foam tape to capture the thread at the top and then applied the greeting!!

It was fun to be creating Christmas cards this morning with a fun group of FLY women. First, Love Yourself - I just love their name!!

So begins the Christmas card making season for me - one class down - three more to go!!

If you need inspiration, just click the "Christmas" label on the lower right hand side of my blog to see what I have created.

Therese

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Natural Christmas card

This doily stamp is my latest acquisition from Stampin UP. I love it!! In an effort to use what I buy I decided to combine the doily stamp with Sylvia's Christmas card challenge - Natural, By Hand's Challenge of using a circle die and CST's challenge of using stitching in the creation of this card!! I am super happy with the way it turned out!!

I stamped the doily on an ivory card front and embossed it with clear embossing powder. To add colour, I used my newly acquired Portfolio water soluble pastels by just scribbling with the pastels onto the embossed image and using a paintbrush to spread the colour. I need a little more practice as I was not able to mix quite the colour I was looking for so I added some sponging once the surface was dry and that was closer to the look I wanted. Just love the way the doily pops!! I laser printed a round greeting and a poinsettia image from Birds Cards for the middle accent. I cut them out with a round Nestibilities, sponged them lightly, added colour with the pastels and layered them onto a brown scallop circle (NS). Added some faux stitching to the circle accent and the card using a caramel coloured marker to continue my soft and subtle look. Mounted them to the card front with 3D foam tape and added a seam binding bow to finish off the card.

Thrifty Tip: I created the bow using two pieces - one straight across the card and another folded in thirds tied to the middle of the other one with cording. It gives a nice bow with a very flat center which keeps costs down when mailing your cards because they will fit through the slot!!

So another 3 cards added to the stash - total count for this year so far 84!!

Therese

Wax paper resist!

One of my blog visitors wondered if using wax paper over white cardstock in an embossing folder would transfer enough wax to the cardstock to be used as a wax resist. I gave it a try because all the tools were sitting right at hand. Unfortunately, not so! You can see to the left my experiment. The second from the left is the cardstock I put through the embossing folder and painted with watercolour. It has a nice relief but it did not resist the colour. I decided to transfer the wax to cardstock using heat. I placed my embossed wax paper over a piece of white cardstock and wrapped it in white paper and applied heat with my iron. The cardstock has a VERY faint image of the design once colour is added - it is the far left. The cover paper I used had a much better image and resisted the colour very nicely - it is second from the right. On the right is the wax paper!! It looks interesting enough to be used as a layer on a card!!
My visitor does not have an embossing machine so I tried using just crumpled wax paper and created the paper on the left - wrinkled wax paper (left) and the resist paper on the right. You can create all sorts of patterns in wax paper - fold, draw, etc - that can be used for wax resist.

Thanks for asking!!

The two following scans are of the tissue I used as a paintbrush for the application of colour in the above experiment and the two sheets of copy paper I used to dry them with the iron. I did not expect the colour to transfer.

So one little experiment!! 10 pieces of paper I can use in my paper crafting!!

Everyday is a good day to play!! I may use these later today when I am working on challenge cards!!

Therese

Fragment Charms!!

More charms for a swap on AFTCM!! Our bracelets are going to be great!!

Fragment charms was the theme this month so I used these plexiglass shapes as my base. The little rectangular ones were clear - the larger ones were red!!

These were fun to create!!

From my collage box I chose little images and papers for each side of my charms. I used Dimensional Magic to glue the focal element to the back of the plastic shape so it would show through the front.
I glued the back paper/image to the back of the focal image so it would show at the back - a double sided charm. It was fun to cut out shapes and create small collages!!

You can see here the fronts of three charms on the left and the back of the same charms on the right.

I coated the sides and backs of the charms with Dimensional Magic to nicely seal in the images. How do you do that without holding them, you ask?? I attached the front of the charm to the top of a push pin using double sided tape. Planted the push pin into a strip of styrofoam which gave me something to hang on to while I was applying the finish. Worked like a charm!! You need to make sure the charm is level to prevent the finish from pooling but you don't get your fingers gummed up and they can stay there until they are completely dry!!

I drilled holes near the top edge for a jump ring and my charms were finished!! I have mine packaged and ready to go to my partner in the mail today!!

Therese

Cardmaking - October - Handmade paper

I made handmade paper several times this year so my box is overflowing!! Several batches were such nice bright colours - yellow, blue and pinks which I created using SU cardstock scraps donated to me by several local demonstrators. The paper is beautiful and I wanted it to be prominent in my cards so I decided to use a full sheet (8.5" x 5.5") as my card base. I most appreciate the deckle edge on handmade paper but the sheets were not all exactly the right size so I pondered the task of trimming all the errant edges by hand which is how I normally do it. That was going to take a while!! After a bit of experimenting I came upon the idea of using my distress tool on any edges of the paper that had to be trimmed with my cutter. Worked beautifully!! Nice straight edges with a soft deckle look in a fraction of the time!!

I layered three embossed cardstock die cuts - Tattered Flowers TH (SX) and attached them to my card front with a brad. Trimmed my colour printed greeting and glued it into place!!

Love the way they turned out and my favorite is the pink and green combination!!

Therese

Cardmaking - October - Serendipity

I love creating serendipity backgrounds for cardmaking!! It is a process that does not require too much attention and only a few supplies - paper scraps, glue and a substrate. A great activity when you are feeling less than inspired but still would like to do something creative. You can check out these other projects I have created using this technique here or click the Serendipity Label - lower right hand side of my blog.

I created a few full sized pages earlier this year and in September dug out several kits I had prepared for a class a couple of years ago and decided to just get them made up.

I silver or gold embossed my sheets before cutting them into squares and rectangles. Each card has 4 squares and 2 half squares. There are a variety of layouts you can use but I decided I would offset the half ones - one top right, other bottom left. Because each one is like a little piece of art I usually use minimal embellishments. This time, I added a small embossed butterfly punchie!! Click on the photo and check out the cool way I made a body, head and antenna for it!! I saw this on a blog recently - sorry not sure where!! Here's how you do it - fold your cording in half, place the butterfly's midsection inside the fold, tie two knots at the top of the midsection and trim the ends. Voila!! - a body, a head and antenna!! Not sure who invented this cool idea but it works so well!!! I attached my butterfly with 3D foam tape just below its body so the wings can be folded out.

I love the glitz and bling of these cards!! Would be great for Christmas cards in red, green and gold!!

I have a couple of links to tutorials on my April 2011 blog post here!! Have fun!!

Therese

Cardmaking - October - step card

Have been seeing step cards on blogs for a while and thought I would give it a go!! I watched a few videos, checked out a few tutorials and decided for my first attempt I would create only one step. You can check out this tutorial over at Splitcoast Stampers which gives step by step instructions for a center step card. They are some times also referred to as stair cards if you want to search for a few examples or tutorials.

Once I figured out my dimensions, I designed a layout with the cutting/folding lines and printed them on the back of the cardstock which made the process of creating the cards in class much less time consuming.
We made one cut and scored three fold lines. The last fold (bottom of the step) was created during the process of getting the card to fold flat. Worked out quite well!! To decorate the front panel I cut a small piece of decorative paper into three little rectangles, trimmed the tops into a slant, and positioned them making sure there was enough room for the flames above them. Glued them into place and trimmed any over hang at the bottom. Added wicks with a black sharpie marker and glued the flames into place with 3D foam tape. The flames are actually wing punchies from the SU bird punch!! Love versatile tools! I added some colour to my flames to give them a bit of dimension. I used watercolour on the top one and chalks on the bottom one - some used pencil crayons in class. Tie fiber to the card front overlapping the candles. With no place for a regular insert in this card I decided to add a flap with a greeting so there would be a place to write a message. I created this cool digital stamp!! I really liked the one put out by SU recently in their Delightful Dozen set so I decided to create my own. I used Corel Draw to lay out all the words in different fonts. Really happy with the way it turned out!! Can see a few more of these greetings in my future. Printed them in colour on white cardstock to coordinate with the card front, folded them and glued the back flap to the back of the step. The front flap can be tucked inside the step as well.

I really like the look of this dimensional card!!

Therese

Cardmaking - October - Rainbow Wishes

Love these rainbows!! I was inspired by this card from Splitcoast Stampers!! I dug through my cardstock scraps and started cutting little rectangles in seven different colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink. Made a pile of each colour and then started matching them up - some more pastel, some more muted and others very strong and bold. I made a few specialty cards with what I had left over - all pinks or blues for baby cards and this green, orange and yellow combination for a Halloween card!! We did all sorts of embossing on our cards last night - some did just the elements others did the whole card front!!

I gave each person a scrap of white paper to glue their rainbow pieces to which allowed them to emboss the rainbow as an element before gluing it to the card. The greeting is laser printed onto white and then the pieces were trimmed apart (3/4" and 1.25") After embossing the elements were glued to a black card front. A bit of ribbon, a die cut, a stamped image or a few rhinestones would all be great 3D elements to add a bit more dimension to these cards!!

These are a quick and easy card once the rainbow pieces are cut. I have a lip on my trimmer which easily allows me to cut 3/4" strips so it was fairly quick to cut the scraps into strips. I really enjoyed matching up the colours but you could easily plan your colour combination in advance and only cut the pieces you need.

Consider red and green for Christmas cards!! A simple 3D element or some ribbon and you could make a bunch of cards in one day!! Are you inspired?? Make a few cards to add to your stash today!!

Therese

Fall Fairy!

A fall fairy!! I have a swap on Just Cards for a Thank you or Thanksgiving card so I decided to use some fall colours which worked in perfectly with the Fall challenge over at Class Act blog. The challenge at the By Hand blog is to use Pennants so I decided to add my greeting using little pennant triangles. I really like how that worked out!!

There have been all sorts of options explored in the creation of this card before this one finally emerged. I created the background using my new Fancy Fan letterpress plate (SU) inked with yellow and green craft inks in a random pattern. I created a new sandwich to allow me to use my silicone mat when I put it through my Big Kick so it would emboss the design as well as print it!! Loving the look!! I trimmed this layer and added to the top of a card front in the same red colour. Added a strip of green cardstock to which I glued my little pennants. I watercoloured my alphabet punchies and added them to the pennants using 3D foam tape. I watercoloured my image (Class Act - fairy), trimmed it close and layered it to a yellow rectangle which had been distressed a bit with ink using my stipple stamp then attached it with a couple copper brads.

I am really loving the bright warm colours of this card!!

Therese

Christmas cards!!

Pink Christmas cards!! Have been wanting to make some pink ones for quite a while, so with a card swap on Just Cards themed The Letter P I decided that pink and peace would work for the month of October and made it happen. It also works for Sylvia's Christmas card challenge for September which was Non Traditional colours so I am on a roll!! Come to think of it, the challenge on CST is monochromatic and this card will work for that as well!! Wow - lots of bang for the effort. I created 7 of these - one will be sent off for the swap and the others are headed to my Christmas card stash!!

If you haven't started your Christmas cards yet, check out Sylvia's blog for her challenge - she has had a monthly challenge since January - and get started with any of the challenges that catches your eye. A few cards per week until December 1 and you will be happy!! There are other challenges available. Just do a search or check out the ones I have listed on my right hand sidebar!!

As you can see there are two versions of this card - the simple and elegant one which I started with and as I proceeded card #4 received some bling and so did a few others!! I am of two minds about whether they all should have bling or not!! It is so like me to not be able to make more than a few cards exactly the same!! I will have to sleep on it!!

I cut the ornament (SX) from shimmery pink Core di nations cardstock! I cut the wave from shimmery white cardstock (Bazzill) using a Quikutz Cookie Cutter die I recently acquired!! I also cut the hanger from the same shimmery cardstock layering them onto the main ornament with a bit of white glue and trimming the wave to the edge. I stamped Peace (Chapel Road - Class Act) onto the lower bottom corner of a piece of white cardstock in pink and embossed the whole thing with Musical Flourish (CB) embossing folder. I mounted the ornament to the embossed layer using 3D foam tape incorporating a pearly string beneath the hanger, used double sided tape to hold the free end to the back of the card and added a length of shimmery pink and white ribbon about a half inch from the top by gluing both ends to the back with double sided tape. I glued this layer to pink, trimmed it close and mounted it to a white card front. I decided to add a short piece of string to the pink ribbon. Simply tied it around the ribbon with a double knot and situated it to overlap the ornament's string. I like the look!! The last few got some bling!!

Still have one more card swap to finish and a few other projects on the go!!

Class Act has a new challenge on their blog! You could win some rubber!! Go and check them out!!

Therese

Spooktacular card!!

Another card which is not typical of the cards I usually create!! This one is for the Technique swap - TORN - on Just Cards combined with the challenge on the Created By Hand blog which is OVAL. I was perusing this on line e zine called Crafting Ireland and on page 77 found a card tutorial for a mummy which used an oval and torn fabric!! Just what I needed as inspiration for this card!!

I cut a black oval (NS) and wrapped it with torn strips of white tissue paper. Initially, the strips were about an inch wide but in the end I trimmed them down to about a half inch to be more in scale with my oval. I applied glue to the ends of the strips and started wrapping them around the oval leaving spaces for eyes and a mouth. It looked too ghoulish with just blank spaces for eyes so I decided to use my punches to make some. I started with one large black oval (SU) and glued on a small yellow one. I cut that in half and added the two ends of a large oval with the middle perpendicularly punched out of it using the large oval punch. Unfortunately, I had to use two ovals because one of the ends fell inside my punch!! Who knew there was even an opening there!! So, I now have two pieces of cardstock inside my punch. Yes, two!! I did it again!! I will have the punch doctor (DH) take a look at it and see about extricating the pieces before they get lodged somewhere that interferes with the workings of the punch!! I added the details using a black fine tip Sharpie marker. I eased them under the tissue paper a bit which made them look more real. I mounted this to a purple card front on which I had dawn a haunted house, a cemetery and some bats and added a round punchie in yellow for the moon! I coloured in the details with glitter gel pens - I am loving those!!

Lastly, I added the laser printed spooktacular greeting with mini black brads and the two letter punchies using 3d foam tape!!

Very happy with how this "one of a kind card" turned out!! It was fun to do some hand drawing right on the card and embellish it with the gel pens!!

Therese

Handmade paper swatches!

Handmade paper swatches - all ready to go!! I signed up for a swap where paper makers from everywhere will be sending in little swatches of their handmade papers and one blessed soul will be creating a book for each of us - 56 of us!! There will be page for each sample along with the recipe!! They had scans of previous swatch books and they looked so cool and what a resource!! So I managed to get my papers made, my swatches ready along with all the other required elements like payment and a return address label, put all the elements into a large bubble envelope and sent it on its way yesterday!! Not sure how long it will take to get a book back but I am hoping that maybe by Christmas though it may be the new year if any of the swatches are delayed for any reason! Regardless, I am sure the book will be a feast for the eyes when it finally arrives!!

Therese