Shabby chic card

I made this card for one of my friends down east!  I was putting away some of the paper crafting supplies I have won as prizes on one of my groups and lo and behold I found this element and this paper that coordinated!!  I trimmed the Victorian floral element from the sheet it was printed on and trimmed the decorative paper to fit on my blue card front with a small border all the way around.  I added the lace to the decorative paper and then sewed it to my card front with my sewing machine. I love the look!!  I added a couple of ribbon flags to my floral element and glued it over the lace on the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  Dug through my greetings stash and found - happiness - and thought it was most appropriate.  I sponged it very lightly with some distress ink to tone down the white and added it to the front of my card with 3D foam tape.
I love it when things fall into place!!  I managed to finish off the blue cards, create the purple cards, make this card and a sympathy card for my sister today!!  I also did laundry, washed up bathrooms, made muffins and walked to the post office!!  Good enough for today!  I am off to read my book for a bit before heading for bed!!

Therese

Purple and snowflakes!

It is sometimes a blessing to not finish a project all in one day.  I am sure I would have made all of these cards in blue had I made them all in the same day.  It was just the vision I had for them when I started.
Today, when I went to finish them I made three of them blue because those supplies were already cut and waiting for me on my desk.
I was open to be inspired today so started digging in my stash of papers for background paper for the last three.  I found this thin tissue like paper which I thought nicely highlighted the glitter in the snowflakes. I trimmed three pieces to the right size, stamped them with the same flourish stamp (IO) I had used for the last ones in purple.  The stamping did not show up at all - the colour of the ink was tool close to the colour of the paper.  So I decided to use blue instead and that worked much better.  I glued this decorative paper to by dark blue card fronts.  I added silver dots with a gel pen, adhered the snow flake with a brad, added a silver ribbon and mounted my layered greeting over that using double sided tape.  I am really liking how the silver and purple work together.  Gives this set of three quite a different look!!  With these three I am up to 89 Christmas cards for this year.

Therese

Snowflake Christmas cards

I started these cards last week and finished them off today. They are the last few I need to have all of my cards finished for the beginning of December.
The snowflakes were ornaments I bought at a dollar store about a month ago.  They have a thin white plastic armature with glittery fiber wound around the arms of the snowflake - nice and slim.  I went digging into my stash of decorative paper and found this glittery acrylic paint paper I made years ago.  The scrap was less than 4" wide so I had to layer it to get the element wide enough to properly show off the snowflake.  I stamped some flourishes on it in dark blue (IO).  I added a layer of blue cardstock on the back which I punched on the bottom with the snowflake/daisy punch (MS). After mounting the decorative paper I added a length of white gros grain ribbon which I tied with silver cording and glued the ends to the back of the layer.  I adhered the snowflake using a silver brad and then mounted the whole element to the front of a white card.  Lastly, I added a "let is snow" laser printed punchie (SU) greeting which I adhered with 3D foam tape. Really liking these cards!!  I made three of these which brings my current Christmas card count to 86!!
Therese

Sympathy card

This is a last minute card for my sister who's father in law passed away last week.
I used a purple card front which I sponged all the way around and added a layer of decorative paper which I cut so the butterfly would be in just the right place.  I sponged the edges and glued it to my card front.  I trimmed my greeting, sponged it as well and added to the card using 3D foam tape.
Simple but effective because of the layout of the paper!!

Therese

Christmas Art Quiltie

I am hosting a Winter/Christmas themed Art Quiltie Swap in November on By Hand and finished my quiltie last night!! I received some fabric scraps from my daughter a while back and found some wonderful Christmas fabrics among them.  One of them is an all over pattern of this nativity scene.  I love that it is bright and includes the animals, stable and the star.  Unfortunately, because we are doing 4"x4" I had to sacrifice the star so I could keep the manger scene. To keep as much of the image as possible I also chose to construct the quiltie with my sewing machine.  I used an off white fabric with gold stars for the back and sandwiched some batting in between.  After turning it over I sewed a seam close to the edge to give the quiltie some definition.  I added seed beads to the stars on the back and added french knots in yellow in between to create a beautiful starry sky and stamped NOEL(Quietfire) in red which makes it really stand out near the bottom edge.
I started outlining the details on the front in running stitch with embroidery thread.  It gives the individual elements more definition and creates some texture.  I wanted to add a 3D element but was reticent to cover up too much of the image.  After auditioning a wide variety of options from my stash I decided to create a little shrink plastic charm that I could sew on.  I stamped JOY (Quietfire) in red on an oval of rough and ready shrink plastic, punched a couple of holes on either sides and heated it until flat.  I love the way it turned out though I should have used a larger punch for my holes because I ended up having to drill them out to a larger size so I could get my needle through them.  I sewed my little charm on the lower right hand side just by the sheep.  I created a little shrink plastic charm with my swap info as well and sewed it on the back over my starry night.
I am very happy with my little quiltie!!  It will be packaged and sent off to my partner in the next day or so.

Therese

Winter Pocket card

On one of my groups I joined a card swap with the theme of Winter Twilight in Silhouette with the requirement that it also be a pocket card.  It took a while for me to envision a card that would fit all the criteria but when I found a shallow pocket card on Splitcoast Stampers, things started to fall into place! I started by creating my scene using digital images from CLKER and adding a few lines to define the horizon. Once it was laser printed and trimmed down to a tag I cut a mask and sponged the sky and added a bit of blue to the snow creating a bit of shadow for the deer.  I added a border (SU) punched layer of decorative paper (SU) to the bottom of my kraft coloured card gluing only the bottom and both sides to create a pocket.  I added a length of kraft cording to which I had already tied a short length of the same cord over the decorative pocket and then layered on a glittery snowflake embellishment using double sided tape below the cording and a glue dot just behind the snowflake.  I added a rounded tab (SU) to the top of the large tag and embellished it with a kraft coloured snowflake.  I used a Sakura clear glitter pen to add a bit of sparkle to the embellishment and the little snowflake too!!  I will be making a few more of these for my card exchange this month.

Therese

Handmade Wreath Ornament with a Tutorial

I have joined a handmade ornament swap on one of my groups so I went looking for ideas!!  I found an ornament similar to this one that fit my criteria - lightweight, fairly flat for easy mailing and used supplies I had on hand.  I dug out wire, beads and pliers and got started.  I decided to use E-beads because I have lots of them in a variety of colours.  After adding the first row of beads on the outside of the armature - it looked a bit "light"so I added a row on the inside. Better! but it needed a bit of accent colour so I added some different coloured beads to simulate "holly berries".  That was much better.  I added a charm and a bow and declared it done!! Not sure if it will be the one I use but I decided to document the process in case I want to replicate it in the future and no longer have the original!!

Handmade Wire & Bead Wreath Ornament Tutorial

You will need:  (I used)

Wire for the armature    (I used 26 gauge - 4-5 wraps around the jar (36"-40")

Wire for beading    (I used 28 gauge - about 48")

Beads     (Ebeads - 80 of the main colour, 16 or so of accent colour)

A charm       (metal snowflake charm)

A length of chain      (4 links)

A bow      (6" or so to construct a bow)

Thread      (24" or so to sew the bow onto the ornament)

Pliers     (snips and rounded beading pliers) 

Use what you have and adjust where you need to to accommodate the difference in supplies. 

 1.  Make the armature for your ornament.

  I wrapped 26 gauge wire around a jar of UTEE embossing powder 4 or 5 times.  

 Twist the wires to each other and then wrapped them around the loops of wire to secure them to each other.

 2.  Prepare your beads.

I strung my 80 green Ebeads onto a 48" length of 28 gauge wire and made a cluster of loops

at the end to ensure the beads would not fall off and to make it easier to pull through the armature.

 3.  Start adding beads to outside of armature. 

Wrap the end of the 28 gauge wire to the armature where the ends are, a couple of times to secure.

Bring one bead up to above the armature, hold it in place with the hole horizontal, fold the bead wire to the back and pull through the opening in the armature.  Tighten.  

 Repeat 39 more times leaving some room between the beads.  Wrap bead wire around armature to secure.

 3.  Now start adding beads to the inside of the armature by placing the bead horizontally below the armature, holding it in place and bringing the wire up and between the first two beads above the armature.

Bring wire down the back side and up through the opening in the armature.  

 Repeat 39 more times.  Wrap bead wire around the armature to secure.  

 4.  Add contrasting beads onto bead wire.

 Add these beads in between the ones already on the armature using the same technique as above. Start with a couple of wraps, add a bead below, a few more wraps and then add a bead above.  Keep adding beads alternatively until you have added beads randomly all the way around.  Secure your bead wire with a couple wraps around the armature when you are finished.  

 5.  Prepare a charm.  I used a metal snowflake charm and added four links of chain to it to make it hang in the right place on the inside of the ornament.  

6.  Attach charm to ornament.  I used one of the armature wires to create a loop for my charm to hang from.  If your beads are too close together at the top just nudge them gently to the sides.  They will adjust and make some room for you to hang the charm.  

Alternatively, you could use thread to hang your charm by just tying it to the armature hanging at the right height.  

7.  Add the bow.  I constructed a bow from ribbon and then sewed it to the top of the armature using embroidery thread.  

Alternatively, you could tie the ribbon to the wires that are sticking up and make a bow.  

I twisted all the wires together and snipped them even about 1.25 inches above the top of the ornament and used rounded beading pliers to make a loop hanger.  

Alternatively, you could add a jump ring using the wires to secure it and then snip them.  

Once you are finished, shape your ornament to get it nice and round. 

Very happy with my wreath ornament!!   I hope you will find this tutorial useful.  

If you use this tutorial, I would love for you to leave me a comment on this post 

and a link to your project if you have it online somewhere.  

Thanks for joining me!

Therese

Red and gold birthday card

Another card for my stash!  I started with a dark brown card front onto which I mounted a red layer which I stamped with a word background stamp (TH).  I found this warm coloured alcohol ink background which I also stamped with the same background stamp using red ink.  In my stash, I found this serendipity label which was left over from this card.  I layered an oval greeting over it which I had sponged with yellow ink to coordinate with the colours in the serendipity.  It still needed just a bit of something so I added red in the scrolly part using a bit of watercolour.  Just what it needed.
I started by mounting the alcohol ink background to the left of my card front and then added the ribbon across the middle of the card gluing both ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape.  I adhered the label/oval element to the card front with its center aligned with the right hand edge of the background piece.  I tied on a short piece of ribbon to the left of that which nicely simulates a bow.
Therese

Circle themed card

Have a few guys to send cards to in the next few weeks so I have started on some cards for them.  I have seen several circle themed cards on Splitcoast Stampers lately and thought I would give it a go.
I started with a small piece of decorative marbled paper which I cut apart and layered onto black - love the stone look of it.  I added some blue and silver circles halves to each side of this element by just taping them to the back once I had placed them where they needed to be.  I embossed a dark blue card front using a circle embossing folder (CB) and then glued my focal element to it using double sided tape.  It still needed a bit of something so I used a silver gel pen and added some dots to the blue half circles and that was enough to make it work for me.  I trimmed a greeting and layered it onto black and mounted it over my element using double sided tape on one side and 3D foam tape on the other.
Really loving the look of that marbled paper!!

Therese

Fall card with an ATC

I made this fall themed birthday card for one of the guys in my family.
I started with a rust card that I embossed with a leaves embossing folder (QK) and then distressed with my stipple stamp (SU) and then sponged all the way around with brown ink.  I added a strip of decorative mesh (window screening that has been embossed with gold embossing powder) which I cut with flag ends and adhered with two pieces of handmade washi tape.  The bright background is from an ATC which I dismantled and it worked perfectly for this card.  I added a watercoloured laser printed greeting to the back using double sided tape and adhered this focal element over the mesh.  I found some wonderfully autumn looking paper in my paper stash, glued it to some cardstock to add some heft to it and die cut several leaves (TH - Tattered Leaves).  I embellished it with several colours of ink using a sponge and added some veining with watercolour.  Attached the leaf to my card front using 3D foam tape.

Therese

Cute pirate card

My grandson's birthday is coming up and he is having a pirate themed cake!!
I found this cute penguin pirate on CLKER
which was just the look I was going for  - not too scary!!  I added "ahoy matey" in a fun font and colour printed the image.  I trimmed it, distressed the edges, layered it onto black and added a small laser printed greeting.  I used a red card and layered a piece of blue decorative paper to which I had added a pierced wavy border of blue cardstock.  I added some orange fiber to the left hand side and added the focal element I had created centered on the decorative paper using 3D foam tape.  Love it when the creation matches the vision that you started with!!

Therese

4x4 art card!

For a swap on one of my groups I needed an alcohol ink background so I played a bit and ended up with a few.  I created these cards as well as these while I was playing.
I decided to doodle some funky flowers for my 4x4 art card.  I love the bright colours of this background and thought the funky flowers would show it off nicely.  I started by tracing the shape of the button on the background and doodled my flowers from there using fine tipped Sharpies in several different colours. I used black to create the stems and the border as well as a couple of layers on my flowers.  The buttons are colour printed and punched out - I like the way they look so real!!  I punched the holes out, sewed in some coordinating thread and used half inch glue dots to attach them to the center of my flowers!!  I am loving the contrast between my plain paper buttons and the bright glossy background.  If you are interested in making some 4x4 art cards I would recommend checking out Joggles art card video!! This one will be on its way to my partner in the next couple of days!!

Therese

Doodled alcohol ink backgrounds on cards

The card on the right was left partially assembled on my work surface after making these Bokeh cards.  I found it as I was trying to find enough space to create today so I finished it off!!  I layered a stamped butterfly punchie (SU) over a white one and tied them together with silver cord to create my focal element.  It works out well that the ends of the cord creates antenna for the butterfly.  I added a dotted trail below the butterfly using coloured fine tip Sharpies, trimmed and sponged my greeting and adhered it in place over the trail using 3D foam tape.  Another card for my stash.  

I do love those alcohol ink backgrounds!!  

The card on the left I will be using for my card exchange and features another alcohol ink background onto which I doodled with gel pens - several colours of blue and both a thick and fine nibbed white one.  I created some flowers and added an uneven doodled border.  I added a white punched border that features dots and flowers which I backed with some blue metallic paper trimmed to the edge of the border.  I layered this element to a dark blue purple card front and added an embellished colour printed greeting punchie (SU).  

Therese

Cards with alcohol ink backgrounds!

I am working on a swap that needs an alcohol ink background so I thought I would play around a bit and see what I could come up with.  While I was playing I came up with what I needed for my swap and made a few other cards as well.  Above on the left, a Christmas card.  I created the background by using my busted baster to create circles in green and red on the light red alcohol background.  I also added some thinner red lines using several size of lids which I have been saving out of the recycle bin.    I stamped my greeting in green and to give it a bit of punch I decided to add a bit of a bokeh effect by adding white pigment ink from my Brilliance Moonlight stamp pad sponged through several different sizes of circle stencil.  I stitched it to a red layer.  It has four embossed ornaments on the left hand side which I had to do by hand (hammer on a sturdy surface) because the orientation is wrong to get the whole thing to run through my Big Kick.  I added an embossed line around the rest of the main element using my scoring tool (MS).  

This adds one to my current count of 82 giving me 83 Christmas cards ready for this holiday season!!  

On the right, I added some thin red circles (lids), some solid circles (foam stamp) in red and yellow  and a bit of bokeh (Brilliance Moonlight ink) to this alcohol ink background.  I inked the leaf stamp using yellow, red and green ink and stamped it onto the 4x4 background.  I reinked it four more times and stamped it around the first image.  I added two orange strips which were embossed with a wood grain embossing folder and sponged with brown ink.  I added a colour printed greeting layered onto dark brown over several lengths of unraveled hemp cord.  

Really happy with these cards!!  I believe that the leaf stamp had never been inked before!!  I will be using the leaf one for my card exchange!  

Therese

Cards using ATCs

 On Saturday, World Card Making Day, I spent some time in my craft room making some cards for donation.  I decided to work with my stash of ATCs which usually makes the creation of a card quick and easy!!
These two embossed metal heart ATCs are ones I created years ago for trading.  You can read more about them here!!  I added a layer to each of them (black on left, orange on right), added them to red card fronts and stamped greetings.

I used alcohol backgrounds on both of these cards and ATCs from my collection!
I added a bit of script on the left hand one before I adhered the ATC along with a flagged greeting.

I love this ATC - a bit of a sewing theme!!  I adhered the ATC to the card front and stamped a small greeting on the right hand corner.  Love it!!

For the one on the left I added a multi layer background and a yellow one before I layered the ATC element onto the coordinating alcohol ink background and rust card front.  I added a small stamped greeting to the right hand corner.

For a friend who needs to know that we are thinking of you her I have created an angel card using an ATC I created years ago for trading. You can check out the details here!  I stamped the greeting on the watercolour background first, added it to my blue card front and then adhered my angel ATC equidistant from the top left hand corner.  I like the way the colours coordinate so nicely!!  I hope my little angel will be a comfort to her while she heals!!

Therese

Fabric 4x4 quiltie

On one of my groups I am hosting a 4" x 4" fabric quiltie swap!  The theme is open and all that is required is that the quiltie have fabric on front and back with batting in between, some hand stitching and is embellished a little.
 This is the quiltie I made for the swap.  It looks a little different than the little quilties I have been making for my journal covers.  I did buttonhole stitch all around this one instead of the overcast stitch I have been using for the others.  The front is pieced from a few small pieces - flowery for the bottom edge, green for the horizon and floral blue, pink and white for the sky.  The pieces were sewn together by machine and then I trimmed my piece to about 4.75" so I would have enough to roll over for my edge and have it be a 4" x 4" finished size.  I dug through my fabric scrap stash for the house body, the roof and the door.  I applied "iron on hem tape" to the back of each piece using release paper to prevent the iron from sticking to it.  I ironed on the house first, leaving the bottom up from the edge a bit to allow for the border, then I added the brown triangle for the roof and added the door last.  I added the batting, my back and stitched all the way around using white thread and the button hole stitch.  Next, I added extra stitching.  I used brown thread to add several layers of stitching to the roof and then added beads (bugle and ebeads) in brown around the perimeter.  I added a stitched half round window to the door and button hole stitch around the perimeter then I added a yellow ebead to the door to simulate a handle.  I added French knots to all the flower centers on the body of the house and used stem stitch to add some definition to both sides.  Added chain stitch to the top and bottom edges of the green landscape/horizon layer.  I added some random stitches to the sky to give it some texture.  Finally, I added two butterfly beads and a little metal silver heart above the door.

I used navy fabric with a white grid for the back and filled in the squares using several different stitches in several different colours of thread.  I added my copyright using Iron On Label - I simply wrote on the label tape using a fine tip Sharpie and ironed it onto the back.  I added the swap credits and info on a tag and pinned it on the back as well.

It was fun to make a quiltie with a theme and do a a variety of stitches.  I printed off instructions for a few more so I can add more variety next time.
I hope there will be enough interest to make several more of these so we can all have a few pages to bind into a book!!

Therese

An altered cuff with a metal embellishment in a zipper bezel!

Another cuff!!  This is the one I created for the swap that more closely follows the guidelines provided for the Altered Cuff Swap on AFTCM.  I started with two strips of sky blue cotton fabric.  I stitched the lace, piping and teal bias trim to the right side of one of the pieces using my sewing machine.  I cut an elastic to serve as the closure, pinned it at one end, laid the other piece of fabric right side down and sewed both ends and one side being careful not to capture the lace in the seam.  I snipped the corners and turned it over.  I added the white and turquoise ebeads over the teal bias trim using white embroidery thread and then added the buttons using turquoise sewing thread being sure to leave enough room in the middle for my embellishment.  I used clear thread to attach the embellishment to the middle of the cuff.  I really like how the zipper teeth create a bezel for the metal piece!!  After that, I turned it back to inside out and sewed two short seams from each end, snipped the corners and turned it back to right side out.  I pressed the whole thing and hand stitched the opening closed.  I thought it needed a bit of something so I used white embroidery thread to add blanket stitching to both sides.  That was better!! I added yet more stitching - French knots in between the eyelets in the lace and a stitch in the center of each eyelet to help keep it from rolling up.

The embellishment was created using an old earring, a piece of zipper, some sequins and clear thread.  You can check this post for the construction details.  I submitted it to one of my groups in their Zipper Challenge.  

Therese

Felted wool cuff with layered flowers

I created this felted wool cuff for an Altered Cuff Swap I am participating in on AFTCM.  I used felted wool that my daughter gave me along with some coordinating fabric.  I pieced three pieces of navy together to create the base onto which I sewed the teal flower die cuts (TH) using turquoise thread.  I used heat and bond to adhere two strips of fabric together to create the smaller flowers.  They were die cut using the smallest flower on the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die.  I sewed them on over the teal ones stitching over each petal as close to the center as possible.  As a final embellishment I added a large turquoise sequin with a gold bead in the center.  I added two small snaps as a closure for this cuff!!    I really like how it turned out!!  

Upon rereading the guidelines it would seem that I have strayed too far off the mark and will be making another that complies more closely.

Therese

Zipper Challenge

On MMS, they issued a Zipper Challenge - create something using a zipper!  I decided to use part of a zipper as a frame on a project I was working on.
I cut one side of a zipper just long enough to frame this metal embellishment and sewed the ends together and then sewed a basting stitch through the fabric part of the zipper and gathered it in to create a flat bezel.  The metal  embellishment is an old earring from which I removed all of the innards and replaced them with turquoise sequins. I placed it over the zipper bezel  and sewed them together using clear thread.  Worked out perfectly for what I wanted for the project I was working on which I will share later.

Therese

Alcohol ink & ATC birthday card

This card features an ATC I made a few years ago.  I had these scraps of alcohol ink background left over from a "make & take" at the local scrapbook store - Scrapbook Lane - which is located in the Pharmasave in town!!
I cut some of the scraps into 1" squares and glued them down the two sides of a black card front and then measured the space in between and cut two pieces for top and bottom to complete the frame.  I added the ATC in the center using 3D foam tape.
The ATC was created using a slide mount (SX), an image printed on transparency, an alcohol ink background and a quote handwritten with a silver gel pen.  You can check out the details here.
I stamped the tiny greeting (SU) just below the ATC using black ink.
I love the vibrancy of this card!!

Therese