4x4 Fat book page

Created this 4x4 chunky book page for a swap on AFTCM with the theme of "an elephant in town".
I created a cityscape a while back for my Valentine cards and I decided to use it for this page as well.  In this case, I watercoloured my laser printed image adding some gray in front of the buildings to simulate pavement.  I thought the whole page needed a bit of a border so I used a black fine tip Sharpie to add my striped border.
I had a little elephant die cut left over from testing a die I bought for my daughter but he was just plain gray so I sponged around his edges using black ink, added a bit of watercolour and then stamped him using a rough texture background stamp (SU) in black all over him.  I used a black fine tip Sharpie to define his toes and added a small black brad for his eye.  That was better!!  I decided he would be carrying a balloon so I used a white cardstock punchie, watercoloured it green and tied on a black thread.  I added my title by hand using a black fine tip sharpie after I penciled in the letters, adhered my elephant and balloon with 3D foam tape putting the thread from the balloon below the trunk of my elephant!! It is a nice marriage of cute and grungy!!  It is off to my partner in tomorrow's mail!!

Therese

Snowflake Christmas cards

Another set of Christmas cards from the supplies I unearthed in my craft room from a box that was packed full of "stuff".  These are the first ones I made.
The backgrounds were ready to go.  They were one layer of paper napkin that had been painted with clear acrylic finish (Future Floor Wax) and dried on wax paper while I was cleaning up my studio before we moved.  They are beautifully translucent and I really wanted to show off their colour.  I layered them onto white, added three snowflake punchies (MS) in graduated sizes over the printed one and attached them with a white mini brad.  These colour printed greetings from my stash coordinated perfectly so I trimmed them with my new label framelits (SX) from the set I bought in Maui.  The little framelit is actually shorter than these but I wanted the shape so I trimmed my greetings to fit inside the width (5/8"), lined up the front of the greeting on one end and ran it through the Big Shot only until I could tell that the end had been cut.  I backed it out and removed the greeting.  I flipped it over and lined up the end of the greeting in the framelit and ran it through the Big Shot until I could tell that the end had been cut.  Voila!  A label that looks just like I wanted it to!!  I attached it to the snowflake layer using two white mini brads and adhered the whole element to my soft sky card front.  Another ten of these brings my total to 44 cards.
In one of my groups we were discussing making washi tape and I suggested that you could easily make your own using double sided tape and tissue paper.  I can certainly see using this technique to seal paper napkins before applying double sided tape to make washi tape!!

Therese

Doodled Tags

 I created these tags to accompany some pencil cases I have made that will serve as silent auction prizes at our family reunion this summer.  I die cut them using a Trio Tags die (SX) from heavy weight chipboard which was merchandise packaging.  I painted the back side and added my name and blog address in sharpie marker.

 I coloured the fronts using distress ink pads in coordinating colours and then added some doodling with a fine tip sharpie marker.  I ran a large permanent marker all the way around the edges to define the edge and finish off the designs.  Finally, I sprayed them with hair spray to seal the surface.
You can see here that I tied them onto my pencil cases using black cotton thread.
It was fun to create the pencil cases with the gorgeous butterfly fabric I scored at the thrift shop a couple of weeks ago and now they have one of a kind tags as well.  I am happy!!

Therese

Masculine card for a young man

Made this card for a young man who has a birthday coming up!!  I love the colour combination!!  I choose the blue and green cardstock, taped them together on the back and trimmed them down to fit on my kraft card front.  I punched the right hand side of my layer with the chevron punch (SU) and taped the green punchie into the top hole.  I embossed the left hand side using a herringbone embossing folder, watercoloured my laser printed owl image (Michelle Perkett Studio) and sewed it into place with black thread on my sewing machine capturing two green ribbon flags in the process.  I watercoloured my laser printed punchie greeting (Birds Cards) as well, added a couple stars in the center and attached it to my layer using a mini black brad.  I adhered this layer to my card front using double sided tape.
Very happy with the look of this card and really appreciate all the artists that are offering their digital stamp for download on line!!  Thank you!!

Therese

Quilted look Christmas cards

 A few Christmas cards for my stash!!  I found the supplies for these six cards in a box of miscellaneous supplies that got packed out of a drawer when we moved.  I noticed the box a while back and decided today I should check and see what was in it.  Lo and behold, I had almost all the supplies already cut for these.  I had previously taped several strips of cardstock side by side and trimmed them down to one inch.  I alternated the squares so the colours would be askew, taped the strips together and die cut a label from them using the Ornamental Die (TH).

I embossed each one with a different embossing folder, sponged the edges with brown, added a length of glittery red rick rack and mounted it to a stippled kraft card front.  The greetings (when scrap hits the fun) were already laser printed so I punched out six of them with a 1.25" punch (SU), layered then onto red 1 3/8" punchies (SU) and then onto green scalloped circle punchies (SU).  I mounted the greetings to the card front using 3D foam tape.
There are a few more supplies for Christmas cards in the box, which I will use this year and the rest of the "stuff" will be filed accordingly into my plastic drawers.
I am happy to have made a few more cards for February!!  These were very quick considering that the supplies were almost all ready to go!!  That brings my total to 34 for this year!!

Therese

Christmas card with sponging

While I was at it I made one Christmas card using the silhouette and sponging technique I used for these cards. I kept the colours subtle - white, blue and green.  I stamped the upper portion of the card with an all over snowflake pattern, added a blue scallop punched border and a green strip below that. I added green grosgrain ribbon over the top edge of the border and adhered my layered punchie greeting over it using 3D foam tape.  I gently sponged my silhouette image (CLKER) with blue ink, added iridescent glitter glue to the open ornaments on the tree, layered it onto black and mounted to the top portion of my card.  It needed a bit of something to I added some dots and dashes on the scalloped border.  This is #28 for this year!!  I have not yet finished all the cards I need for February so will make a few more this week.  If you are needing some inspiration for Christmas cards you can check out Sylvia's blog challenge here or see my Challenge Blogs list on the right hand side of my blog.

Therese

Masculine cards - sponging with silhouettes

I am in need of masculine cards for next month's family birthdays so I decided to use these images which I printed when I created this card.  Love how they turned out!!
For the first one,  I started with a laser printed image of a skyline which I downloaded off of CLKER.  To create the beautiful sunset I punched a 1.25" hole in a scrap of paper, positioned it over the buildings I wanted to highlight and sponged in some yellow ink.  Next, I covered up the yellow with the 1.25" circle punchie and sponged on the orange and some dark pink.  Using the edges of a few torn strips I added some purple and blue.

I mounted my image to a black layer capturing my printed greeting between the two, punched some slots on the bottom edge and inserted yellow ribbon. I embossed the right hand side of my dark blue card front, adhered my main element and glued the ends of my ribbon to the inside of my card using double sided tape.  I added a "enjoy life" metal embellishment using a large glue dot.
For my second one, I started with an image of elephants (CLKER) and sponged brown at the bottom to form the earth, added another little layer for depth and then sponged yellow above that.

I added red sponging at the top and then used torn edges as I added a few more light layers of red over the yellow to get a nice gradation in the sky.  I layered my image onto black, layered onto a torn and embossed maroon layer and glued it to my stippled yellow card front.  I added a black ribbon embellishment and a sponged greeting.
For my third card, I started with another laser printed image of a cattail and some reeds (CLKER). I used  a straight edge for the far side of the lake and sponged blue below it.  I covered the blue and added some light green, added a torn edge and added some blue green.  I covered the blue green with a torn edge and sponged on some blue and then used several torn edges to add layers to the blue sky. Finally, I created some mountains by sponging purple between two torn edges and stamped in a few green tree tops.  I layered my sponged image onto black, layered it over my green embossed card front capturing a little flag ended embellishment made from cardstock and ribbon.  I lightly sponged my printed greeting and layered it below the flag end of the embellishment.
It has been a lot of fun playing with ink and sponges!!  The black silhouettes look so dramatic next to the vibrant colours.

Therese

Gifts of Imperfection - journal pages

Continuing on my journey with Brene Brown's Gifts of Imperfection course, I am working on the journal prompts she provided for us to work on until the second part of the course begins at the end of March.   Check it out on Oprah!  I created these pages before I did my journaling.  I started by hand lettering the titles, the separations and graphics using a black fine tip Sharpie. For the textured background I embossed a piece of fun foam in a swirl embossing folder (TH) and used it like a stamp.  For the first two I used my Kaleidacolour pad

- Royal Satin and for the last one I used Distress Ink - Weathered Wood.  I mounted the fun foam to an acrylic mount, rubbed the pad onto the surface, spritzed it with a bit of water and stamped it on the cardstock page.  I spritzed and stamped it several times without reinking which provided graduated colours and some nice watercolour backgrounds. For the last one I used the back side of the fun foam stamp which gave a more solid version of a pattern. I also watercoloured my titles on the last one.  I used colour pencils on the titles of the first two.

Truly, the more we know ourselves the better we can live our lives and love those around us. Creativity and art can be a vehicle for that process!! So be creative every day!!  There are so many venues - art, decorating, cooking, gardening, dancing, etc!!

Therese

Coffee themed card

Morning coffee - nothing better!! For a swap I am participating in I needed to create a coffee or tea themed card that featured a cup!  I acquired this coffee cup stamp (Stamp Barn) years ago and it is still an image I love to use!!  I stamped it on coffee themed vellum, gold embossed it and cut it out using an oval framelit (SX) which I recently acquired while on vacation.  I added colour on the back using water based markers to give it subtle colour.  Using the largest label framelit from the same set of dies, I cut the brown layer from a paper bag which I painted with coffee (instant and a bit of water), stamped some coffee beans (Pink Cat) on the bottom edge and embossed it using a swirl embossing folder (TH).  I layered the two die cuts, inserted a distressed laser printed greeting and sewed on a chipboard button using gold embroidery thread. I layered this element to an embossed maroon layer and used tiny gold staples to adhere all the layers together.  I flattened the tines of the staples using my hammer and glued this piece to my dark brown card front.  
On the scan the cup seems a bit askew which is not as obvious in real life but may be just a tiny bit.  I am happy with the look of my card and really like all the layers.
Just a note, Frogs Whiskers from Campbellford, ON have acquired Stamp Barn and feature all of the stamps on their website.
My card is on its way to my swap partner tomorrow!!

Therese

Mahalo cards - Maui vacation

 Just returned from a week in Maui!!!!!!  What a wonderful trip and a great winter vacation - our very first!!  If you have never been to the Islands - I would highly recommend going - warm temperatures, no bugs, beautiful scenery, great food and friendly people!!
I needed a few cards for people who have helped us make this vacation happen so I created this Mahalo (Hawaiin for Thank you) digital greeting stamp.  I used a public domain font from Open Font Library and added the lines inside the letters to create our ocean view from the beach behind the hotel.  I laser printed and watercoloured the greetings.  Love how it turned out.  My second digital stamp this year.  Here is my first!!
I used a digital image of a hibiscus (they grow everywhere outdoors in Hawaii) which I acquired from Island Paperie - a paper/scrapbooking store in Maui.  I bought Volume II of their digital Clipart collection.  They have a wonderful store - rubber stamps, paper, etc, etc!!  Great place to visit!!

I laser printed the images, watercoloured and then fussy cut them for my cards. I used some Hawaiin scrapbook paper which I just acquired from my daughter which she received in a lot along with other items and thought I could use after our trip. Thanks, Suzanne!!  The label is from a set of Sizzix Framelits I also bought while on vacation at Ben Franklin's in the Queen Ka'ahumanu Mall in Kahului in Maui.  It has three labels and two ovals which nest which I think will layer very nicely.

So you can see that I made my cards all different using the same basic supplies - green cardstock, 4" x 5.25" decorative paper, a red label die cut, a fussy cut hibiscus, a coloured greeting and some ribbon.

Here are some of the techniques I used:  different orientation - portrait and landscape, background paper - whole or cut up into strips or rectangles, greeting - trimmed with decorative scissors or distressed, label - embossed with two different embossing folders, ribbon - long pieces, short pieces and a flag. One card has no ribbon because I could not seem to incorporate it in the design.
I am happy with all my cards and some will be on their way shortly.  I will be using a couple for my card exchange as well.

Therese

Love cards

 Managed to get my Valentine's card made while I was rushing around getting ready to go on vacation!!  I created this cool little cityscape digital stamp for my card!!  I have been toying with the idea of creating my own digital images for a while and decided to start with something I could manage.  I have seen quite a few cityscape images used on cards and thought I could manage the lines involved in creating one of these for myself.  It required a few basic tools - smooth white cardstock, a pencil, an eraser and a black fine tip sharpie.  Using my pencil I started sketching buildings at the left and just kept going.

 Once I was happy with the buildings I went over them with my black fine tip sharpie then erased the pencil lines.  I scanned the original, cleaned up any stray pixels digitally in PSElements, gave it a transparent background and saved it as a PNG.  I laser printed one image for my Valentine's card and layered several for my other two cards.  I love it!!!!
For my Valentines' card I added faux stitching to the edges of my quarter sheet.  I stamped LOVE in red pigment ink and embossed it in red embossing powder.  Die cut a U from silver cardstock to place next to it.  I added a black ribbon as a base for my letters and a little red heart rhinestone!!  Done!!

For the other two cards which I will be using for a card exchange I added faux stitching to my printed quarter sheets using a black sharpie and used a red gel pen to add hearts in the windows of my buildings.  I stamped and embossed my LOVE word, wrote the rest of the quote in black marker by hand, layered it on black and added it to the front of my cards using 3D foam tape.
On hind sight I could have used more height variance in my buildings but I am happy with my first attempt.  I am very happy to have art of my own to use in my card making!!
Therese

Turtle card for a little boy

My younger grandson will like this little turtle image which I downloaded from Meljen's blog.  I started by laser printing the image and the greeting as I did on the card for his older brother and adding watercolour to both of them.  I created a layered background using strips of decorative paper and added a blue ribbon before I glued it to my yellow card front.  I tied a short piece of ribbon to the right side to simulate a bow.  I added faux stitching with a black fine tip Sharpie to the image before I adhered it to the card front using 3D foam tape.  I trimmed the greeting with scallop decorative scissors, added dots in black and adhered it to the card front using 3D foam tape.  
There are so many cute digital images out there that are perfect for making kids' cards!!

Therese

Boy card with a cat

We have two grandsons with birthdays this month.
For the older one, I created this card that features a cute little tiger looking cat which I downloaded from CLKER.  I laser printed it along with the greeting and watercoloured both in warm tones.  I layered the image over decorative paper and trimmed the right side with pinking shears to echo the little triangles in the image.  I layered the image over a background I created using several strips of decorative paper glued to my rust card front.  I used a paw die cut as an embellishment and adhered it using 3D foam tape.  The greeting was too long so I cut it apart and added faux stitching in black then layered them next to the paw print.
It is fun to make cards for kids!!  You get to use different images, papers and bright colours.

Therese

Digital art for my home

My DH made this beautiful room divider for me years ago and I am finally getting family photos into it.  The spaces are 11 3/4" square so they are easily accommodated by 12x12 decorative paper and I was fortunate enough to find a pad of paper in my stash that would go with the colour scheme in the living room.  It always amazes me when that happens - I feel called to buy something but I am not sure why and then months (sometimes years) later it is the perfect supply for a project.  I went looking on line for a "We are family" layout and found one that I liked but the resolution was too low to allow me to print it 8.5"x 8.5" without a lot of jaggy edges so I decided to recreate it.  I used the original as reference and created the label outline, added a dotted line just inside that one and then added a coloured radial fill using Corel Draw.  The benefit of making my own was that I could use colours  that matched my paper exactly!!   I then used fonts to create my words in the sizes that fit the label frame I had created.

I printed it in colour, trimmed it close using scissors and adhered it to my decorative paper!!  One of the twelve openings filled!!  Each opening has magnetic holders so it is really easy to make changes.
Here is a photo of the room divider.  I filled all the openings with paper.  I have added photos of my parents, my inlaws as well as each of my daughter's with their families.  I will need to a get a good photo of my son to add there as well.  I think family photos with our siblings and one of me and my twin will go in next.  Not sure what will go in the others but it is a work in progress and I will figure it out as I go along.

Therese

Quilted Nature Christmas cards

A few more Christmas cards!!  I have had this stack of cardstock sitting on my desk since I made these cards.  Today, I decided to make with them into cards.  I used the Stack and Whack technique that I used for the last ones with a much different cutting pattern.  I stacked my four pieces of patterned cardstock - 2 blue and 2 green and made my cuts - ten in all.  There are two that are almost completely hidden by the focal element and could have been eliminated - hind sight is a wonderful thing!!  I deconstructed my stacks and created four unique layouts by arranging the pieces in a different order.  I used regular tape on the back to hold the pieces together during reconstruction, double sided tape to adhere the assembled unit to the card front and added a row of stitching all the way around the outside using my sewing machine and white thread.  I added faux stitching on the green pieces using a white gel pen.  I used a slot punch (SU) to create an opening on the spine in which I inserted one end of a piece of white vintage seam binding.  I adhered both ends to the inside of the card front using double sided tape.  I tied a short piece to the long piece to simulate a bow.  I adhered a decorative label (SU) punchie in red over the seam binding using 3D foam tape and sewed my laser printed greeting to the card just below it.  I watercoloured my oval (NS) laser printed cardinal images (Beccy's), distressed their edges and adhered them to the center of the labels.
Happy to have a few more done.  They are appropriate for Sylvia's February Challenge - Christmas animals. You can find her monthly Christmas card challenge here.  That makes my total 27 for this year!!
Therese

Baby card with star card embellishment

Had this double sided cardstock star tag base sitting on my desk from my practice run earlier and decided to turn it into a card!!  I sponged the edges with pink, added double sided tape to the inside center and folded all the points.  Dug through my stash of greeting punchies and found this embossed scalloped punchie one that matched perfectly - a baby card it is!!  I glued it on the front of the star with double sided tape to finish off my embellishment.  Next, I was lucky enough to find some coordinating pink ribbon which I positioned on the middle of my white embossed layer (CB - Musical Flourish) and attached the ends to the back using double sided tape.  I mounted my star embellishment using 3D foam tape over the ribbon and then tied on a short piece to the right hand side of it to simulate a bow and mounted the whole element to a green card front.  It still needed a bit of something so I stamped "Congratulations" in pink in the bottom right hand corner.
I love the soft look of this embossing folder and it works very well for this baby card!!

Therese

Snowman Christmas card

A few more Christmas cards!!  I die cut the snowmen (TH) when my sister, Sylvia, was visiting the last time and thought I should get them glued up before I lose some of the pieces.  I love the simple look of these guys!!  Once they were all assembled I decided to use a kraft background and a black card which works for the Splitcoast challenge of using non traditional colours.  I embossed my kraft layers using a swirl (TH) embossing folder, sponged the lower section with a white pigment pad to add a bit of dimension, added the laser printed greeting with twine using 3D foam tape and glued the ends of the twine to the back of the layer using double sided tape.  I adhered this layer to the black card front, added my snowmen using 3D foam tape and added three little snowflake punchies.
Really happy with how these all worked out!!  I made nine of them which gives me a total of 23 for this year!!
Therese

Clock has a new face!

I bought this clock a while back in hopes of altering it for my craft room.  I have finally taken the time to change it up!!  Firstly, take the cover off and remove the hands.  Tech support was out getting a haircut so I checked the next best thing - You Tube.  Found a video that showed exactly how that was done.  Very easy!!  The Pooh was attached with double sided tape so it was fairly easily removed.  I measured the face - 8.5" - perfect for printing on letter size paper.  I found a clock face on CLKER and sized it to fit my clock in Corel Draw.  I went digging through my stash of decorative papers to find something that would appeal to me, was light enough to print on and would go with the white frame.  Yeah! I found a piece that worked perfectly.  I trimmed the 12x12 down to 8.5 x 11 and ran it through my printer.  Trimmed it with an exacto knife.

Here is my clock with its new face!!!!  I am very happy with it.  It was an easy project and I can change it up anytime I want.  I will consider doing it again when I get the chance to paint my craft room and decorate it more to my liking.  In the meantime, this will do wonderfully!
It was fun to alter this clock!  I purchased it at a second hand store and as you can see with very little work I have changed up the look significantly.  So if you are needing a new clock consider altering one!! You might even have one around the house that needs a bit of a lift!!  Go for it!!

Therese

Winter Fashion Tag

This afternoon I took the time to create this tag for a swap on AFTCM themed Winter Fashion. It was such fun to make!!
I started with corrugated cardboard - light bulb packaging - and cut my tag to 3.5 "x 6.5".  I painted the corrugations with a bit of blue acrylic paint and let it dry.  Next, I used a bit of diluted white glue and added a layer of silver snowflake tissue paper which had previously been painted blue on the back. I used the foam brush to ensure that the paper settled into the valleys of the corrugations.   Once that was dry, I added some lace to the bottom edge, covered the joint with blue ribbon and stitched both pieces to the tag.  I added a bow layered with a pearl button over the lace using hot glue.  At the top, I added a 1/2" circle and punched a center hole.  It still needed a bit of something so I used a small script stamp and randomly stamped it in black on the upper portion, used the black stamp pad to slightly distress the edges and a silver pigment ink pad to highlight the top of the corrugations with a bit of  shimmer.  That was better!!
For the main element I sized, laser printed on white cardstock then fussy cut this dress image from CLKER.  I painted the bodice with shimmer acrylic paint and once dry added a row of clear rhinestones to the upper edge. I adhered some sparkly snowflake fabric (dryer sheet stamped and embossed with silver embossing powder) to the lower portion of the dress and trimmed it to the edge.  Next, I fashioned a billowy skirt using shimmery tulle.  I used a double layered rectangle which I machine basted across the top, gathered tight and tied off to stabilize the gathering.  I folded over the raw edge and machine stitched the top of the skirt to the dress just below the bodice.  To finish it off neatly I added a length of ribbon (same as the tag) over the stitching using double sided tape and also attached the edges of the tulle to the back of the skirt using double sided tape.  I used a brad to anchor the top of the dress form to the tag and 3D foam tape down the center back of the dress to attach it to the tag.  I backed the tag with black paper to hide the printing and the stitching.  I tied a long strip of tulle to the top of the tag through the hole and added a couple of short pieces of ribbon and lace.
I am most pleased with the results of my creative afternoon!!  I really love that image and have used here  previously.  The tag will be on its way to my partner early next week!!

Therese

Landscape birthday card

Today, I created this masculine birthday card using a landscape stamped image from my stash.  I watercoloured the water and the sky and then created a line of trees at the horizon.  I layered the image onto green cardstock, trimmed it leaving a large margin on the right which I cut using an angled border punch (MS).  I embellished the edge with a couple of lines and some dots using a silver gel pen.  I used silver ink to stipple (SU) the edges of my black card front and adhered my image leaving an even border.  I added a layered greeting which consists of a laser printed greeting punchie over a dark green scalloped oval (SU) on the top right section of my card.
Makes me think of the Thousand Islands - a place with the most beautiful natural scenery!!

Therese