Flourished flower cards!

When I was working on thank you cards for my friend I stamped these flourished backgrounds (Impression Obession) to find that they were really not the right colour so I had set them aside along with some coordinating ribbon.  I found them on my desk this week in my efforts to clean up while my sister was visiting!!  She is on holidays and came for a few days of R&R and some crafting time!!  I needed two cards for my card exchange so decided I would use these supplies.  I found these pink Prima flowers which I received as a prize on one of  groups that coordinated with the backgrounds so I got started!!  I added a little white label die cut (TH) which I sponged and stippled (SU) in pink.  I punched slots (SU) for my organza ribbon on each end. I chose to remove the little bumpy centers of the flowers and replace them with a brown brads which will allow them to fit in the postal mail slot.  I added the flowers to the label using the brads.  I ran a length of ribbon through the slots, folded the ends to the back of the backgrounds adhering them with double sided tape and tied on a short length to the front to simulate a bow.  I am loving these scrolled greetings (CLKER) !!  I fussy cut two, watercoloured them in appropriate colours and adhered them below the flower element using 3D foam tape and glued the whole thing to a pink card front.

Therese

"Through the Looking glass" chunky book page

I joined a swap on AFTCM for a fat book page with the theme of "Through the looking glass"!!  I decided to use a frame placed over silver foil for the looking glass.  I downloaded a frame from Graphics Fairy and digitally removed the horses that were inside the frame. I compiled my collage in Corel Draw - starting with the frame, inserting a tree (GF) and creating a stained glass look all the way around it using elements I created. Once I was happy with the look, I laser printed it on a transparency and trimmed it to 4"x 4".  I used alcohol inks and sharpie markers to add colour my design and then left it for a full day to dry completely!!  Once dry, I layered it onto a piece of silver foil which I cut just a bit longer to aid in binding if necessary and attached my looking glass to it using two little mini black brads on the frame.  I added an alcohol ink background to the back and bound the layers using black and white washi tape along the edges.  I added some very cool little metal fasteners which crimped on with pliers  - added just the amount of the industrial look I wanted.  I tied black and white bakers twine to one of them before adding it.  Really happy with how it turned out!!
It is off to my partner in tomorrow's mail!!

Therese

Four Elf shoe Christmas cards for me!

Cleaning my desk!!  I unearthed the remnants of this card this week and finished off another four elf shoe Christmas cards to add to my Christmas card stash!!  My last count (May) I had 74 so that brings my stash to 78 cards ready to go for this holiday season!!
I used a green sharpie to colour clear rhinstones for three of my cards because I ran out of the green ones I used before.  You can see in the photo that the ones on the left are a bit brighter - they are the ones I coloured with Sharpies!  What a great cost saving technique!!  Just buy clear and colour what you need!! I used glittery rickrack, flocked ribbon and added an embossed greeting to my cards.  A note:  Always thermally emboss BEFORE you use Versamark ink on your cards!!

Therese

Alcohol ink play!

It has been a couple of weeks since I went and played with alcohol inks with my sister while she was on holidays!!! Time is flying by!!  We had a wonderful day!  I demoed the "Polished Stone" technique and we made several sheets.  We also played with applying the ink in several different patterns - swirls, plaid, stripes, etc. - each attempt created very different backgrounds. We worked on both glossy cardstock and photo paper. The ink was absorbed differently between those two but both worked well.

 I came home with a pile of paper along with a variety of embellishments too.  We applied alcohol inks to foiled card, foil tape, plastic buttons and charms, plastic die cuts, tiles, etc.  It was a fun creative day and it was great to spend time with my sister and her friends.
Therese

Bokeh Anniversary Cards

It has been a busy few weeks!!  I am working on my cards for September a little later than usual but fortunately these took less time than I expected!!  I went to Splitcoast Stampers for inspiration and found this card which led me to this tutorial for Quick and Easy Bokeh with Dawn Woleslagle!  I was in!!  I had these alcohol ink backgrounds sitting on my desk from my visit with my sister a couple of weeks back and thought they would do the job perfectly!!  I made myself a circle stencil using vellum and punches and used my Brilliance Moonlight white ink pad to sponge through the openings!!  I am very happy with the results!!  I dug out hearts that coordinated from my stash and created the greetings digitally using a scroll from CLKER which I modified by removing the ferns.  I added the greetings in different fonts and laser printed a half sheet.  To create my cards, I trimmed my background to just less than a quarter sheet after they were dry.  I mounted them to coordinating cardstock and adhered my layered hearts using 3D foam tape.  I fussy cut my greetings, gave them a colourwash with watercolour and glued them just below the hearts using yet more 3D foam tape.   

You can see on the left a bit more of the dimension created by the different layers of sponged circles on the backgrounds.  I need to work on the placement a bit more but for my first attempt I am very satisfied!!

It feels good to be back in my craft room though all the family time and berry picking was also very enjoyable!!

Therese

Large butterfly thank you card

I am enjoying the process of making cards for my friend.  I started with the stamped turquoise layer which I created in the process of making these cards. I added the piece of blue green polished stone over it and found that the silver butterfly which worked very well with all the elements.  I decided on a purple card front, adhered all of the layers and found a colour printed greeting to finish off the card.

Therese

Subtle thank you card

For this thank you card I found the stamped background in my stash - solid flower stamped in blue, outline stamped in pink along with a stamped greeting in blue .  All the images are from SU.  I chose a coordinating pink card front, added a tied vintage seam binding embellishment and glued the layer to my card front.
Another relatively quick card and a stash buster as well.

Therese

Shoe shaped card!

I joined a "Shaped card" swap on AFTCM for a SHOE!!  There were so many possibilities but in the end I found an elf shoe card on Splitcoast Stampers that was really cute so I decided to make one of those.  I made my own pattern and traced it onto a top folded red landscape card and cut it out.  I added a piece of white flocked ribbon which I trimmed by hand into little flag ends. I glued it to the top of my shoe using double sided tape and trimmed it to the edge of my card.  I used double sided tape to create a doubled rick rack embellishment to go over the white and positioned it mid way between the flags and the top.  I added large green self adhesive rhinestone bling to the bottom of each flag - perfect!!  I embossed my greeting using silver embossing powder and then decided the whole thing needed a bit more texture so I stamped the shoe with Versamark ink using a snowflake background stamp.  On hind sight, I should have reversed the order of this process so that the stamping was done first and the embellishing of the top done last.
I will be making a few more of these for my Christmas card stash!!  They are really cute!!!

Therese

Thank you card with silhouete image

Another thank you card!!  You can see the others I made here and here.
Again, I have used the IO flourish background stamped on a card front.  I found an image in my stash that coordinated nicely (black EP on an acrylic & ink background) which I layered onto black.  I added a layered circle punchie greeting below the image.  It needed a bit of something so I added white faux stitching around the bottom section and dots around the image using a white gel pen.

Therese

Magical greetings with serendipity paper

I made these two cards for my monthly card exchange!!  I was working on these serendipities a few weeks ago and because they were still on my desk I chose to use them for these cards.  I cut them with the largest labels framelit (SU) of the set and punched a slot (SU) on one side.  I found two pieces of coordinating cardstock for the backgrounds and embossed them with a swirl embossing folder (TH).  I added coordinating grosgrain ribbon to the left hand one and white vintage seam binding to the right hand one.  I glued the ends to the back of the embossed layers with double sided tape before I adhered them to white card fronts. I laser printed the digital greetings which I downloaded from Pink Cat Studio and embellished them with gel pens.  I die cut them with circle Nesties, layered them over a coordinating scallop circle (Nesties) and added them to the cards using 3D foam tape.
Serendipity is a wonderful technique for using up scraps.  I should use it more often!!  It might be a good "Art Every Day" project for me because I always have scraps sitting around on my desk.  You can check out my other projects using this technique by clicking HERE!

Therese

Thank you card with roses

Another thank you card!  I used a background I found in my stash that was created using pigment ink and window screening as a stencil which gave it a subtle cross hatch pattern.  I stamped it with the IO flourish background stamp in a darker blue colour and glued it to my warm blue card front.  I added an embossed rose image which I watercoloured using very neutral colours.  I sponged the edges, added a colour printed greeting to the side and adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape.

Therese

Thank you card using an ATC

Still making thank you cards for my friend.  This one features an ATC from my huge collection.  The ATC had a blue brad in the right lower corner which seemed to be throwing off my colour scheme so I found a star brad in my stash that was a more appropriate colour and substituted in.  Much better!! I added a colour printed greeting, embossed the background using Swiss Dots (CB) embossing folder and glued all the elements to a very light blue card front.  Makes for another subtle card with a beautiful loon image.

Therese

Thinking of you angel "ATC" card

I made this card for a friend who is facing a challenge and I wanted to send her angel.  I found this bright and cherry angel in my ATC collection and thought it would do perfectly for her.  I added an all over gel pen squiggle to the blue layer and adhered it to an orange card front.  I added the angel ATC with 3D foam tape and hand lettered my greeting just below it using an orange gel pen!!
A hand made card is like a gift to someone who needs a lift or a bit of encouragement.  It is a physical reminder that they were on your mind and the hugs you sent along!!

Therese

Monochromatic thank you cards

These are the first of several thank you cards I made for my friend.   I found the three images in my stash and went about finding some coordinating cardstock.  I stamped each card front in a coordinating ink using a flourish background by Impression Obsession.  I added colour printed greetings - either attached to the image as in the blue one on the right or layered with a label as the turquoise and green ones to the left of it. I love the softness of these monochromatic cards and feel that the image is appropriate,

Therese

Sympathy card with polished stone

A friend has lost a loved one this week! It is never easy when someone passes away.  We are often at a loss as to what to say and do.  I have made a card and will be sending it on it way tomorrow along with a variety of thank you cards which is something I can do.
I used a piece of polished stone cardstock I had in my stash and stamped it with a wildflower silhouette stamp (SU) using Concord Distress ink.  I stamped it first in the center and then again to one side then the other.  I used an eyelet border punch (SU) on the bottom edge and sponged all the edges using the same purple stamp pad.  I added a length of yellow ribbon gluing the ends to the back using double sided tape and tied a short piece to it using a single knot which makes a simple looking bow.  I adhered this layer to a yellow card front and added an oval colour printed layered punchie greeting over the ribbon.

Therese

A card created with pieces

I needed a card for a family birthday and created this one from the pieces left on my desk after creating this card.   I started by embossing the left hand side of my yellow card front using a QK embossing folder.  I sponged the embossing a bit with read ink and used my stipple stamp (SU) to add yet a bit more texture with the same red ink.  I added the strip of red origami paper to the right hand side.  I love the serendipity flowers!!  I added some sponged yellow punchies in their centers to finish them off and used double sided tape to adhere them to the embossed side of my card.  I wanted a nice prominent greeting and found this one in my stash.   It was laser printed on white so I simply watercoloured it using coordinating colours.  It is a greeting from Birds Cards.  Really happy with this one too!!

Therese

Another Serendipity card

I had this serendipity background sitting on my desk and needed a card for special someone so decided it would do perfectly.  After stamping it in red with my stipple stamp (SU) I trimmed the background to have an even border on a quarter sheet card, die cut a label out of the center portion and backed it with a piece of yellow cardstock.  I had a die cut greeting which I had punched the greeting out of for something else so backed it with this transparent greeting (laser printing on transparency) and it was just what it needed.  I sponged the outer edges to soften the look and adhered the whole element centered in the hole I had die cut in my background.  I added a short piece of red ribbon to the card front using a star brad!!  Really happy with how it worked out!!  I used a similar piece of serendipity for this card!!

Therese

Anniversary card

For card for my daughter and her husband whose anniversary is this week!!
This is another successful washi tape card!!  I added a white embossed layer to a pink card front.  Added three little strips of washi tape that coordinate and added the black and white chipboard heart to which I had tied a short piece of pink ribbon.  I added the laser printed and punched (SU) greeting to which I added a bit of pink sponging and some dots with a fine tip Sharpie.
Here is the first card I made with my washi tape.  It would seem I am sort of getting the hang of it!!

Therese

Window Clings!

 We had a great time with this project!!  I had covered my basement windows with cling a while back so we could enjoy the light from them without feeling like we were in a fishbowl.  The rolls were a bit too wide so I had cut them off which had left a roll about 5 inches wide.  At the time I thought they would make great window clings!! And they did!  We drew our images on quarter sheets of scrap paper, put our small pieces of window cling over them and traced our images with coloured Sharpies!!  My granddaughter made a few free hand ones as well.

I was more structured with my designs and used black Sharpies around the edges which gave them a more stained glass look.
You simply peel off the backing cellophane and apply to the window!!
Had we trimmed them close to our images we would have had a more custom look.
This was a fun creative project that has inexpensive besides!!  We got about 20 clings from one roll end.

Therese

Bottle cap pendants

Another project we tackled when my grand daughter was visiting.  We had collected several bottle caps from an event we attended and thought we would apply some creativity and turn them into pendants.
It took a little more effort to flatten these ones as they had already been crimped onto bottles.  Read - lots of prying with pliers and hammering iwth mallets!!
We printed the sayings off of the internet, glued them into our bottle caps and added beads and bling.  For some of them we also added some clear dimensional paint (clear sun catcher paint). Once they were dry we added a string and some danglies using jump rings.  We created our own jump rings using paperclips.  You just straighten the paper clip, wrap tightly around a skewer, remove and cut down one side with wire snips - quick and inexpensive jump rings!!  She took a few home to continue to craft with.

Therese