Lighthouse Birthday card!

I need a few cards for family birthdays that are coming up, so I started on those today!!
This one features a cool embossed paper frame which I trimmed to fit on a light blue card front. I trimmed out the center squares using an exacto knife and a metal ruler on a cutting board.  I trimmed the light house laser printed image (CLKER) to just fit inside the opening with an even border all the way around and then watercoloured it.  Once I positioned the image in the opening I felt that it would benefit from being framed in a darker colour so I added a piece of darker blue cardstock to the back of the frame.  I added a little ribbon flag to the back of my image using double sided tape and glued it into the opening.  I adhered this element to my card front.  I watercoloured this little fussy cut laser printed greeting (CLKER) to coordinate with my card and adhered it to my card front using 3D foam tape.
I am really enjoying being back in my studio!!  I have been busy with garden clean up and preserving produce for the last month or so and that is finally coming to an end.   I do enjoy gardening and its harvest though it does sometimes lead to full days of preserving when the bounty is ready to be put into the freezer or jars.

Therese

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en!!!

A humorous Far Side Get Well card!

I created this card for my grand niece who is recovering from an injury to her leg.  She is a cool teenager and I hope she will appreciate this Far Side cartoon!!  I bought a 365 day calendar years ago and have about 363 more cartoons waiting for the perfect time to be used for some creative project!!!

I simply cut out the cartoon and layered it onto the top portion of a black card front.  I added the little greeting using a stamp and white embossing powder.

So be on the look out for a cool calendar this fall that will provide you with some cool images for cardmaking for the next year!!!

Therese

A couple more OSW cards!!

A few more One Sheet Wonder Cards!!  These are both using this template which I created a while back for my cardmaking class.  They both feature a 2" x 5.5" piece of decorative paper and a large laser printed greeting.  

On the first one I added a dark green punched border (SU) on either side of the decorative paper and mounted this element to the center of a purple card.  I layered the greeting with light purple and glued it over the center element using double sided tape only on the sides.  That allowed me to slip my flag ended rectangle behind it and position it where it looked most balanced.  I flagged the ends of my 1" white piece of cardstock using my chevron border punch (SU).  The greeting is a digital image from Stampin UP which I coloured digitally to coordinate with the paper and cardstock.  

For my second card, I cut the 2" x 5.5" piece in two and trimmed both of them to 5.25".  I border punched (SU) two lengths of dark brown cardstock with the eyelet punch (SU) and butted them right up to two strips of blue cardstock and then applied regular tape to hold them together. I glued the decorative paper strip to these elements leaving a border all the way around.  I positioned one element with the border facing up and the other with the border facing down on a coral card front.  I added a piece of dark brown seam binding in between which pretty much completely covered the coral strip that was showing.  I glued the ends to the inside of the card using double sided tape and then tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I layered my laser printed greeting (SU) with the same blue cardstock and then glued it to my card front using 3D foam tape overlapping the seam binding.  

I love the versatility of using the OSW technique and once you have your sketches, being able to use scraps to create cards, which is what I did in this case.  The greetings and decorative paper strips were leftover from this cardmaking class.  

Therese

A few more cards!!

I made up a few more cards from card kits I had prepared for cardmaking to send to my card exchange partners.
I love that these kits are so flexible - you can create portrait or landscape cards, you can place your image in either orientation as well.
The first card features a bright floral decorative paper to which I added a dark purple punched border (SU) and added this to a dark pink card front.  I layered the cherry blossom image (Beccy's Place) which I watercoloured lightly onto a green layer and added it to the card front overlapping the purple border.  I added the laser printed greeting onto a Modern Label punchie and added it to the card front using 3D foam tape.   For the second card I repeated the same steps using a portrait orientation and an owl image from Arthur's Clipart.  Quick and easy!!

Therese

Art Quiltie for October!!

Has been a few months since we swapped Art Quilties but we are once again getting that process started.  It was a No Theme swap so I decided to do a fall theme and used the reverse applique technique. Reverse applique means that instead of applying a shape to a panel. you cut out a shape in the panel and back it with something interesting.  I used fall colour scraps and fused them to a backer until I had a piece big enough to fit behind the leaf pattern I had drawn free hand.  I drew the leaf on the blue panel, positioned the fall coloured layer behind it and then stitched a line with yellow thread over the line I had drawn using my sewing machine.  I used sharp pointy scissors to cut away the blue panel fabric inside the leaf as close as I could to the stitching.  After that, I stitched over the edge of the blue fabric leaf outline using a tight zigzag stitch with the same yellow thread.  Worked out really well!!  I backed this piece with a bit of fiberfill and added the stitching all the way around the leaf.  Next, I cut a piece of dark peach fabric larger than the 4" square of my panel, positioned it on the back, folded over the extra to the front and used blue embroidery thread to do blanket stitch all the way around the edge.  Really happy with how well that finished off the edge.  Next, I hand stitched coloured seed beads all the way around the leaf shape and added some veining inside the leaf shape using shimmery yellow thread.  Next, I added some square sequins and dark orange seed beads along the stitching lines and then some gold/copper seed beads in between where ever it looked good.  I did add some french knots to secure the backing fabric to the whole quiltie and then added my credits using iron on label fabric tape on which I had written using a fine tipped Sharpie!!  My art quiltie  - a fabric chunky book page - is already off to my swap partner!!
Lots of fun and I am happy to be making these again!!

Therese

Fall Fabric postcard

Have been working on this postcard for the last few days.  I started with strip piecing three rectangles - a blue one, a green one and a brown one - using fabric scraps.  It is a new technique to me though it is not complicated and worked well for this project.  I trimmed the top edge of the blue one nice and straight and overlaid the green one which I had trimmed with some gentle curves to simulate a treed horizon line.  I machine stitched the green one to the blue one using a zig zag stitch and green thread.  I then trimmed the edge of the brown one, overlaid it onto the green one and stitched in into place using zig zag then trimmed the whole thing to 4" x 6".  On hindsight, the background seems quite busy.  It might have been better to use plains, fabrics with less colour contrast or smaller designs though the brown one works the best.  I added an interfacing backer and stitched lines in each layer in the coordinating colour of thread to stiffen up my creation.  Next, I cut my trees - three circles in different sizes and some brown triangles for trunks.  Again, my trunks are too close in colour to the bottom layer and do not give quite enough contrast.  Lesson learned.  I positioned my trunks first and stitched them into place then positioned the circles and stitched them into place.  I really like how they turned out.  I wanted a simple embellishment so went looking through my sequins to see what I could find.  I found these white iridescent leaves that were pretty close to the right size so I simply modified their colour using Sharpie markers.  Really like how well that worked out.  I positioned them on the trees and the ground then hand stitched them into place.  I cut a white backer that was just a bit larger than my postcard and fused it to the back of my postcard using a light weight fusible webbing.  I folded the edges over to the front and found that the white was much to bright so I watercoloured the edges in autumnal colours, ironed it dry and then pressed the edges over to the front.  That was much better.  I hand stitched the edge using various colours of embroidery floss and a button hole stitch.  Love the way that turned out!!!  Added the postcard details to the back using a fine tip black Sharpie and my postcard is ready to go to my partner at the end of the month.  

Therese

Book page art charms

I am doing a personal swap with another member from the Art Charms group.
The theme for this one was to use a book page.  I have been pondering my creation for a few weeks and this morning I was able to create what my mind had conceived!!  Excellent!!
For each charm, I started with two kraft scalloped circles which I cut with Nestibilities.  I used a 4" length of small black gros grain ribbon which I folded in half and glued between the two.  I used double sided tape to hold the ribbon in place then added white glue, placed the other circle over the ribbon and clamped them down to dry.  For the front I cut a black circle and then layered over it a circle (1") cut from a dictionary page.  I backed the dictionary page with regular bond and positioned the "B" punchie before I punched the circle.  I cut a small piece of paper to cover my special word and sponged all the way around so it would be highlighted.  That worked very well.  It still needed a bit of something so I added dots in each scallop using a fine tip Sharpie marker.  I finished the back with another black circle and an image punchie.  Once they were finished I sprayed the fronts to seal them.  Each has a jump ring to attach the lobster claws which I am including in my swap envelope.  They will be on their way this afternoon!!!

Therese

OSW #7 - 6x6 - 3 cards for cardmaking at home

I had a few friends over last night to make cards.  It has been more than two years since I taught my last cardmaking class and it was great to be at it
again.
I decided to use a One Sheet Wonder template for the card kits I made up and it worked out very well.  I modified the dimensions and one layout from OSW#4 so I have created another file to cover the options in this class.
For my first card I positioned my rectangle (5.5" x 2") of decorative paper on the bottom edge of  my card after I adhered my punched border (SU) to the back of it.  I watercoloured my image (2" x 3") and added it to a layer before gluing it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  I layered my greeting onto its layer and glued it to the front of my card.  These cards kits are versatile as you can play with the layout of the elements on the card as well as change the orientation from landscape to portrait.  As you can see I prepared several options including Christmas cards.  I am a bit behind in my goal of making Christmas cards monthly so the few extras I have leftover will help me with that goal.  These three images are digital and available at CLKER.

 For my second card of the night I chose to put a clean border on each side of my decorative paper before adhering it to my card front.  I water coloured the images (cake and carriage - Black Berry Jelly images, bird - CLKER), glued them to their layers and glued them to my card front.  I glued my greeting to its layer and added it next.  You can see that the orientation can easily be changed. I also discovered that I could punch my printed greeting with the window punch (SU) and that the layer could be punched (modern label SU) from the middle of the image layer which gives the greeting a completely different look.  So many options!!!

I made the last card an easy one.  For this layout the decorative paper (6" x 2") is cut in half to give you two pieces    (2" x 3") which are glued to the card front in opposite corners in the landscape orientation.  The center cardstock strip was trimmed with decorative scissors before we glued it into place.  The images are all colour printed greetings (SU digitals), glued to a coordinating layer and adhered to the card front using 3D foam tape.  This card could have easily been created in a portrait orientation.

Here is the cutting template and card sketches I used in this class.  Again, you can easily and quickly create three cards using one piece of decorative paper that is 6" x 6" and three sheets of cardstock.  A real time saver when you are busy or need cards on a short notice.  It also creates a coordinating set of cards if you are in need of a small gift.

So I am very pleased to have a few people to make cards with and with any luck at all we will be a few more next time.

Therese

Using one One Sheet Wonder sketch for a set of cards

I needed several thank you cards so I decided to use one of the sketches from my OSW #4 set and used scraps I had on hand to complete them.  This process worked very well and is another aspect of the OSW technique that makes them very versatile!!
I printed several images (2.25" x 3.5") along with a variety of greetings with different fonts on white cardstock which will allow me to create several cards.  I dug through my decorative paper stash and cut several 2" x 5.5" pieces from my scraps and then went looking for coordinating cardstock for my card fronts and layering.
For my first card, I choose a floral decorative paper, a green card front and a rosy peach cardstock for layering.  After watercolouring this flower image (Arthurs Clipart) I cut a layer from rosy peach cardstock, punched a scallop oval from the center and adhered my image to the layer.  I added a bit of colour to my greeting and glued it to the scallop oval.  I glued my decorative paper to the left hand side of my green card front, added a punched border of white cardstock to the right hand side of it, adhered my layered image over the border and then used 3D foam tape to adhere my greeting over the bottom of my image.

 For my second card I choose a bright cherry decorative paper, trimmed it to 2" x 5.5", added a punched decorative border (SU) to the right hand side and glued this whole element to the left hand side of my dark green card front.  I cut a layer for my image from a scrap of red cardstock and punched the scalloped oval from the center of it.  I watercoloured both the image (Birdie Brown) and the greeting, layered them onto the red cardstock pieces and added them to my card front using 3D foam tape behind my greeting.

For my third card, I used a piece of decorative paper (2 x 5.5) I created using watercolour and plastic wrap.  I added a scallop border (SU) on the right hand side after I had added a small hole in each scallop using a small hole punch and then glued this whole element to my green card front.  I cut a blue cardstock layer for my cute turtle image (Rusty Pickle) and punched a scalloped oval (SU) from its center before adhering my watercoloured image.  I layered my greeting in the same manner and then added them both to my card using 3D foam tape.

My fourth card features a piece of vibrant decorative paper (gift wrap) which in one of my favorites!  I added a scalloped border of white cardstock which I cut using decorative scissors and to which I had added dots using a dark blue gel pen in each scallop.  I added my decorative paper and border to my navy card front, cut an orange layer for my watercoloured image (Arthurs Clipart) from which I punched a scalloped oval before adhering my image.  I watercoloured my greeting and glued it to the scalloped oval.  I glued my image to my navy card front and added my greeting using 3D foam tape.

I enjoyed this process!  I was happy to be able to use some of my scraps will still being time efficient by using one OSW sketch.  Of course, you could do the same with one sheet of 6 x 6 decorative paper and made three cards using the same sketch!!  I am loving the flexibility of this technique!!

Therese

Birthday greetings with printed transparency

Had fun making this card!!  I started with a botched piece of alcohol ink background on glossy cardstock to which I added several colours of watercolour and some brown stamping of a vintage map collage background.  It was much improved!!  I added the layered transparency with the car (CLKER) which I had stapled and secured with a little clip with some brown ribbon on it using double sided tape.  I colour washed my greeting, layered it onto a black ribbon slider and attached the ends of the brown seam binding to the back using double sided tape.  I glued the whole element to my brown card front.  Very happy with how this one turned out especially with that rescued background.

Therese

OSW - 6x6 - 3 cards - #5 - Sympathy, birthday and Christmas!

I worked out another One Sheet Wonder template that allows you to create three cards from one sheet of 6"x 6" decorative paper and three sheets of cardstock - one neutral and two coordinating colours which in this case was green and maroon.
I was in need of another sympathy card when I designed this template to create three cards.  At the same time I created a Christmas and birthday card because that worked pretty well with my decorative paper.  I used digital images from Beccy's Place and added greetings in Corel Draw before I laser printed them on the sheet of neutral cardstock.  I cut all three sheets of cardstock in half and folded one of each colour in half to create my three card fronts.  I trimmed the decorative paper according to the cutting template. cut my greeting/images apart being careful to ensure that I could fit all the pieces I needed in before cutting anything.  I cut three cut maroon layers (1 7/8" x 3") for my images and then cut the other pieces I would need from my scraps.   I used four of the 1" x 3" decorative paper pieces on this card gluing them equidistant from each other and the edges on the ivory/neutral card front.  I sponged the ivory strip with maroon ink after I punched it with the scallop border punch so it would better show up on my card.  I added the green strip and then glued this element over the bottom edge of my decorative paper strips.  I watercoloured my image and adhered it to a maroon layer then glued it to my card front.  I added clear dots of Dimensional Magic to the scallops and let it dry over night.  It adds some subtle dimension to my sympathy card.
Next, I worked on my Christmas one.  I glued the 3" x 3" and one of the 1" x 3" strips to a 3.25" x 4.5" layer of ivory/neutral cardstock leaving a gap in between.  I cut a piece of green cardstock 3/4" x 3.25", embossed it with a wordy Christmas embossing folder and glued it in place over the gap.  I glued this whole element to the maroon card front.  I watercoloured my image, glued it to a maroon layer and mounted it on my card front overlapping the green strip using 3D foam tape.
For the birthday card, I glued the last four strips of decorative paper to my card front (see the sketch) leaving very small margins between the edges and the pieces.  I watercoloured my image, layered it onto a maroon rectangle and mounted it to the center of my green card front.  I added some small rectangles into the remaining spaces, added faux stitching with a marker and used watercolour and my stipple stamp to add a bit of texture to them.
Really happy with how these cards worked out.  There are other variations that can be created using these elements.  If you decide to play with this template I would love to see how you created your cards!!  Leave me a link to your creations in the comments below.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!
Therese

 

More stash busting cards!!

 While my sister, Sylvia, was visiting a few weeks ago I decided to continue to create cards with the supplies my other sister left here.  She is always very busy at the beginning of the school year and knew she would not be getting any more card made for a while so I encouraged her to leave the supplies and I would continue to work on them as I had time.

I am really enjoying making these large cards.  It is fun to go digging through the paper stash and find something interesting and then create any thing I want!!!

Made a few Christmas ones this time and used up some pieces left over from the last session!!

Therese

OSW template - 3 cards using a 6"x 6" piece of decorative paper

 I have been playing with One Sheet Wonders in a effort to have a template I like for preparing kits for a cardmaking session I am teaching later this month.  Here is the latest one I have been working on.  With this template you can create three different cards using a 6" x 6" piece of decorative paper and three sheets of cardstock - one neutral and two different colours that coordinate with the decorative paper.
I printed my images (Digital Two for Tuesday) and my greetings onto my white cardstock before I cut it apart to create my cards.  I cut off the bottom to create one card front and then trimmed my images (2.25" x 3.5") and finally punched out my greetings using an oval punch (SU).  I trimmed my decorative paper into three strips of 2" x 6". Then I cut the other two sheets of cardstock in half ( one green, one deep purple) and used one of each to create my other two card fronts.
For my first card, I watercoloured the lily image and cut a layer for it from the other half sheet of green cardstock.  I punched a scalloped oval (SU) from the middle of it to layer under my greeting before gluing them to each other.  I watercoloured my greeting and glued it to my scalloped oval.  I glued my strip (2" x 5.5") of decorative paper near the left hand side of the purple card, added a strip of white cardstock which I cut from the white scraps, trimmed with decorative scissors and then pierced with a push pin to the right of my decorative paper strip.  I added my layered image overlapping the decorative edge and glued it into place.  I glued my layered punchie greeting below it.
The card went to the family of a neighbour who passed away last week.

For my second card I trimmed my 2" x 6" strip in half crosswise which gave me two identical pieces (2" x 3").  I glued one to the lower left hand corner and the other to the top right corner of my green card front.  I watercoloured my image and cut a layer for it from the other half sheet of purple cardstock.  Again, I punched a scalloped oval from the center of it before I glued my image to it.  I watercoloured my greeting and layered onto the purple oval.  I glued my layered image offset enough to the left to allow enough room for my layered greeting on the right hand side.

For my third card, I watercoloured my image and greeting and layered them as I had the previous one using purple cardstock scraps.  I positioned my decorative paper allowing enough room to add two strips of green cardstock which I cut from scraps.  I trimmed both of them using decorative scissors and glued them above and below my strip of decorative paper (2" x 5.5").  I added dots in the scallops using a white gel pen. I glued my layered image to the left hand side and added the layered greeting on the right centered on the lower strip of green.
Very happy with how these all turned out!!  I have more sketches floating around in my brain for this OSW template.

I have provided the cutting template for the decorative paper, the three card sketches, a supply list and some basic instructions.

This One Sheet Wonder template only uses one 6" x 6" piece of decorative paper and three sheets of cardstock to create 3 handmade cards!!   You can easily buy just what you need at your local scrap booking store and have your three cards made in a couple of hours.  If you have a stash of paper and cardstock,  you can shop at home!!

Good luck with creating some cards with this template and I welcome you to leave me a comment with a link to your creations!!

Therese

Birthday greetings with gold embossed tulips

Another birthday card!!  I watercoloured the gold embossed image of tulips and added a red layer.  I colourwashed the laser printed greeting punchie and layered it onto a red scallop which I punched from the same piece I layered on the tulips - always matches perfectly when you do that!!  I glued my decorative paper to my red card front, added a gold ribbon gluing the ends to the inside of the card and then layered on my image and greeting.
Another card for a special person!!

Therese

Birthday card with alcohol ink background

I love this card!!  It features a polished stone background that I made quite a while ago on which I stamped a script background stamp in rose.   I added the rose organza ribbon to it and adhered the ends to the back using double sided tape and then glued the whole element to my blue card front.  I mounted my watercoloured greeting (Black Berry Jelly) to a red layer and mounted it to the front of my card over the ribbon using 3D foam tape. To finish it off I tied a short length of the ribbon with a single knot to the right of my greeting.
It will be off to a very special person come the beginning of September.

Therese

Heart fabric postcard

On my TFPC group I have joined a no theme postcard swap for August. I have Traci Bautista's Collage Unleashed book out of the library and saw that she had created one of her backgrounds using little strips of fabric.  Having seen a bag of fabric strips at the second hand store a while back I went back to see if it was still there.  Yes, it was!!  I brought it home, ironed all the little strips and choose several that coordinated to create my first background.  I have no idea what these would have been cut up for but they were perfect for this technique.

I started with a scrap piece of fabric.  It doesn't matter what it looks like because it will all be covered up.  I adhered my strips to my base fabric using "no sew hem tape" which is just heat and bond fusible web in a strip which worked perfectly!!  I cut a strip of no sew tape for each strip and layered them onto my base fabric then passed the iron over it which fused it in place. Repeated until the whole surface had been covered.  Next, I added a 4"x 6"piece of batting to the back and used red thread in my sewing machine to randomly sew all over the surface which bound all the layers to each other.  I added a fabric heart which I stitched in place using several colours of thread and then added black stitching all the way around it as well.  I added a white backer, folded it to the front and stitched all the way around to finish it off.  It still needed a bit of something so I ironed on a little strip of label tape on which I had written "Love is kind".  Perfect!!  I added postcard details to the white back using a black sharpie and it is ready to be mailed off to my partner.
I am really enjoying making these little fabric projects!!  This one is a little more textured because the edges are left just cut but that is the way it is with love and life - it is always beautiful but a little more textured in some cases.

Therese

Zentangle Art Charms

 I have been working on Zentangle art charms for a personal swap.  The above are my first attempts which ended up being much too large to be art charms - the feathers are 2.5"!!  I am very happy with them so they will be put aside and used for a different project.  

I used Rough and Ready Translucent Shrink plastic.  I used a fine tip Sharpie to create my designs on the smooth side and coloured them on the rough back side using coloured pencils except for the one on the far right which I coloured with alcohol inks.  I should have been much more light handed with the ink because once they shrink the colour is much darker.  Lesson learned!!

 So, at my second attempt I created the designs much smaller so they would end up closer to 1.25" once they were shrunk.  I was then able to add the findings and danglies and have them much closer to the 1.5" criteria for the exchange.  I created two so I can keep one and will be sending the other to my partner.  These are the mandalas I created.

I changed up my leaf design on my second attempt because it was harder to created the thin point at the smaller scale.  Still very happy with how these turned out.  I made beaded danglies for them.  

Loved how these turned out too.  I simply reduced my original hand drawn design and tried to replicate my original zentangles but as you can see I had made a few changes!!  I added metal charms to the zentangled ones to create some movement and interest!!  

So I will have these ready to go to my partner in tomorrow's mail.  I am a few days late because of having to redo in the smaller size but all in all I am sure she will be happy with them.  Looking forward to hers in return mail.  

Therese

Stash busting weekend!!

My sister (I have five) is here this weekend and she brought along some supplies for card making!!  She is wanting to translate a pile of card stock and decorative paper into something she can use.  So after a couple days of creating we have over twenty cards made between the two of us. Here's a sampling!!
These are large cards - 8.5" x 5.5"!!  It has been so fun to create with abandon.  She is looking for a variety of cards so pretty much anything goes. I dug out my little boxes of images & greetings, ribbon, the bins of scrap paper and tools and so far we have managed with the supplies we have out.  Great fun!!!            
Therese

 

Raised N postcard with a twist

We have an ongoing swap on one of my groups - postcards with raised letters.  I thought I would give "raised" a bit of a twist and created a postcard where you raise the N using a ribbon!!  Very cool technique I have in the past used with tags and cards.  I created the front on blue cardstock by first drawing wavy lines in pencil and tracing them using a fine tip black sharpie.  I punched the hole for my ribbon, drew in my letters, filled them in and then zentangled the rest of the spaces.  I added the foil elements with a bit of a black strip of cardstock to set them off from the artwork.   I created my back on green cardstock - just postcard elements hand drawn along with my swap information.

 
Next, I created my N.  I started with a small piece of alcohol ink background that was the right colour, hand wrote "never" all over the front and then hand drew the N and filled it in.  I ran a large black marker around the edge just to give it a bit of definition.  I then created the U I needed to hold my N between both layers and glued the front to the back using double sided tape which left a pocket in the middle which will hide my N until someone pulls on the ribbon.  As you pull on the ribbon the N element slowly rises!!  Very cool!!  You can find a tutorial for the pull up mechanism here on SplitCoast Stampers.  It will be off to my partner in the next few days!!

Therese