A colourful heart creates a fun wedding card

I found this card in one of my pressing places in my craft space!! It was a bit of a surprise but because I have several places where I press cards I don't always use the same one.  I created this card while I preparing kits for my All Occasions Card Class.  I had used my pattern tracing wheel on this one and then decided to use embossing folders instead so this one no longer could be used as a sample.  I added the laser printed best wishes greeting to make this one a fun wedding or anniversary card.  The background behind the heart opening is a serendipity collage which has been stamped with a large heart background and silver embossed.  After securing the serendipity piece to the back of the opening a ribbon was added and a short piece was tied to it to simulate a bow.  The little greeting is laser printed font and a label punchie (SU). 

Therese

A quick and easy baby card made from a card kit

I love having card kits on hand because it makes getting a card done a breeze!  This card kit was part of my May class.  The green white core cardstock was embossed with a star embossing folder and sanded to reveal the inner core.  It was wrapped with light yellow raffia and tied.  This layer was then adhered to a light yellow card front.  The rattle image (cre8tive hands) is a digital image that was laser printed and trimmed to size.  I watercoloured it, distressed its edges and then mounted it to the background using 3D foam tape.  I love the soft look of these colours and the sanding provides a soft texture as well which are all great components for a baby card!!

Therese

Airplane postage stamp for a cool card for a pilot

Our son's birthday is coming up next month but we celebrated this weekend because he will be headed back overseas very soon where works as a pilot!!  He has been a plane fan from the very beginning - he knew all their names and numbers!!  This used postage stamp features an F-18 Hornet which is the fighter jet the Canadian Military flies!!  A well known sight and sound of his youth so I thought it would be appropriate for his significant birthday card!! 
I mounted the used postage stamp onto cardstock - navy and yellow  - combined to reflect the colours in the stamp.  I used 3D foam tape to mount this element to a warm blue rectangle of cardstock which I had distressed on all its edges.  I trimmed the bottom edge of the laser printed greeting with Deckle decorative scissors, sponged the bottom edge with coordinating ink and mounted it to the back side of my focal element with double sided tape.  I used a background I had in my stash from when I was creating these fun washi tape cards and embossed it with a timepiece embossing folder.  I sponged the edges with the same ink I used on the greeting and mounted it to a navy card front.  I added a length of white seam binding before adhering my focal element to my card front overlapping it.  The ends of the seam binding were adhered to the inside front of the card using double sided tape and are covered by the insert which I add to all my cards. 
Therese

A fun fold with coordinating layers and greeting!

Another card for my stash from the kits I made up for my March class.  The double sided decorative paper was trimmed to 4" x 5.25" and cut with a 1.75" slit on the center of the right hand side.  I scored between the end of the slit and the both right hand corners then folded the flaps over to reveal the pattern on the back.  I used a little piece of double sided tape to secure the flaps placing the tape right at the fold to keep the tips raised a bit.  I added a length of rose ribbon securing both ends with double sided tape.  I punched a laser printed digital image of a flower using a 1.25" punch and watercoloured it to coordinate with my pieces.  I layered it onto a scallop punchie (SU circle punch) and then layered it onto an orange scalloped circle (Nestibilities).  I manually embossed the right hand edge of an orange card and then added my background.  I mounted my floral focal image over the bottom of the slit using 3D foam tape.  The little greeting is a laser printed font trimmed to the right sized and distressed before being tucked under the flap and adhered into place.  The original ones from the class I had left with out greetings but as you can see greetings can easily be added.                       Therese

Embossing and sanding gives this background texture and highlights the car!

I used a card kit from my May class to create this card.  The focal image is an old car digital image (Arthur"s Clipart) which I laser printed, die cut (Nestibilities)  and watercoloured to coordinate with my background.  I added clear glitter ink to all of the chromed areas - bumper, wheel spokes, lights, etc.  I layered this focal image to a blue layer, added some coordinating green ribbon which was folded, trimmed and glued to the back.  The background was created using coloured cardstock which was colour printed, stenciled, stamped and then embossed with a scroll frame embossing folder.  The embossing was slowly sanding to reveal the original green cardstock.   The sanding adds some soft texture to this background.  The background was layered onto a navy card front and the focal image was added using 3D foam tape.  A fun card appropriate for Father's Day or a guy birthday!!
Therese

Card kits - little birdie cards

A made up a few of the card kits from this March class to add to my stash!! Little birdie cards are very versatile because they can be used for a wide variety of occasions.  

These ones feature decorative paper layered onto coordinating cardstock as a base.  After drawing a beak and inserting a tiny black brad for the eye the bird die cut (TH) was inserted into the bird cage (TH) and secured with double sided tape at the bottom which ends up securing the rhinestones as well.  The wing was added next using 3D foam tape to give it some dimension.  Next, I secured the ribbon into the hole at the top of the cage using double sided tape and used both 3D foam tape and double sided to secure it to my card front.  I threaded the little greeting tag (die cut then stamped using a jig) on the ribbon before securing the other end to the inside of the card front with double sided tape.  I trimmed off the extra length and tied it with a single knot to the length on the front just above the cage to simulate a bow.  I used a small piece of 3D foam tape to secure the greeting in place after sponging it with a bit with ink.  To finish off my card I positioned clear rhinestones into the holes at the bottom of the cage!!              Therese

Handmade cards that feature bunnies and bears with cute greetings made up from card kits

I have made up the last few cards kits from this class in March.  I really enjoyed making witty sayings for these cards!!  They all have decorative paper backgrounds with trimmed laser printed greetings on the bottom edge and embellished with a ribbon and border punched cardstock border (SU) in a coordinating colour.  The bear and bunny are die cuts (SX) with black cardstock glued to the back to fill in the eyes and pink for the bunny's nose.  I used washi tape over oval die cuts to make the egg embellishments for the bunnies and embellished the bear with watercolour and a little heart punchie.  I will have to consider making these guys in different colours next time!!                        Therese

Reused some images from a photo calendar to make a set of cards

 Made up a set of cards for a friend using photos from 4" x 6" photo calendars from my sister, Sylvia.
She is a photographer and produces several photo calendars every year.  She offers them for sale on her blog and also has several locations where she sells them as well.  DH and I are blessed every year to get one each for Christmas.  I love using the images from the expired calendars for making cards.  I used nature and tea related images from several of her calendars in this set of cards.  


 I trimmed the images from the 4" x 6" calendar pages and layered them onto coordinating card stock which I had embossed on the bottom edge using border embossing folders.  After adhering the photo to the layer I added a length of ribbon adhering the ends to the back of the background using double sided tape.  I glued these large elements to the front of white cards.  These are just a slight bit smaller than A2 cards and are perfect for notecards.  I left them without greetings to make useful for any and all occasions!!                 Therese

May Cardmaking - white core cardstock embossed and sanded with fun images

For our last card I decided to do a bit more sanding!!  For these ones, I embossed white core cardstock with two different embossing folders.  Sanding revealed the white core and contrasted nicely with the coloured outer layer.  We tied some fake raffia around the layer before mounting it to a coordinating card front.  The images had their edges distressed.  I chalked the edges of the colour printed owl image (Graphics Fairy) and did not add any colour to the edges of the balloon image (CLKER).  Both images were mounted to their respective card fronts using 3D foam tape. 

Another fun and creative evening of cardmaking!!!

Therese

May Cardmaking - gold foiled tissue with vellum flourishes

I love this gold foiled tissue paper!!!!!!!!!! It is so brilliantly gold - check out the second photo!!!  I added colour from the back side using watercolour.  Once dry, I glued the tissue paper to a 4" x 5.25" white cardstock to keep the colours vivid turning the edges to the back and gluing them in place.  I glued these backgrounds to coordinating card fronts.  I die cut flourishes (SX) to accent my cards.  The two right ones are vellum.  The far right - the vellum was chalked to coordinate with the background.  The middle one was coloured using Sharpie markers which made it very vibrant.  The one on the left was cut from white cardstock instead of vellum in an effort to give it some contrast against the uncoloured tissue paper and in order to keep the whole card elegant.  After some discussion at class I ascertained that I could have cut the flourish from coordinating cardstock to get the high contrast which was achieved with the Sharpie marker.  I used the modern label punch (SU) to punch out some backers for my greetings from some very shiny gold card which coordinated very nicely.  I glued the flourish to the background and then mounted my layered punchie greeting over it using 3D foam tape.  You can see that the card works in both orientations and that the angle of the light really highlights the gold in the tissue paper giving these card a wonderfully fun appeal.            Therese

May Cardmaking - sanded embossed backgrounds with oval images

These were our first cards for cardmaking this time around.  The backgrounds were initially colour printed with an inkjet printer with an all over design in one colour onto coloured cardstock.  After I cut them into quarter sheets for these cards I was looking to strengthen the colour so I added some colour by sponging ink through a stencil and then added a stamped background.  After this treatment they were embossed with a scroll works embossing folder which leaves a blank oval in the middle. 

We started by sanding the embossing in order to reveal the colour of the cardstock.  The yellow one provides less contrast than the blue one but you can see the scrollwork's yellow line.  We glued our backgrounds to coordinating card front.  Oval focal elements work well so I laser printed some digital images  (flowers -Blackberry Jelly    bear - Birdie Brown) and trimmed them from the sheet by die cutting them with my oval Nestibilities.  Next, I used the next sized oval Nestibilities and cut a coordinating layer from cardstock.  I watercoloured the images, adhered them to the coordinating layers and then mounted my large focal elements to my card fronts using 3D foam tape.  I still felt like they needed a bit of something so we coloured clear rhinestones with coloured Sharpie markers and adhered them onto the images.  Really like how these cards worked out and it was fun to see how the sanding worked on the other cards.  

Therese

Anniversary card in very neutral tones

I created this card using an embossed layer I created while I was making these cards for my large all occasion card class.  It had some residual lines from the die cutting process which were not masked by the embossing.  I used some black fiber tied over the affected area to camouflage the lines.  I glued some serendipity paper to the back of the heart opening and added a small laser printed greeting.  I adhered a piece of black paper to a white card front and glued the large embossed layer over it leaving an even margin all the way around.  Works so well!!! 

Therese

Baby cards using cute images from La Petite Femme on Pixabay

 I love this image from Pixabay (La Petite Femme) and it is perfect for making baby cards.  I sold all I had and needed some in a hurry so I dug through my image stash to see what I had and found the pink one.  I wanted to make a gender neutral one as well so I experimented to see if I could digitally change the colour of the balloon and found that it was very easy in Photo Elements!!  Excellent!!  So I printed off a few in different colours - green, blue and yellow which should make a few more baby cards when I need them next.  Yeah!!!!!!
The first card features a green card layered with some swirly green and white decorative paper cut just a bit smaller than the front of my card.  I laser printed the image after I digitally made the balloon a coordinating green and added a greeting, trimmed it to size and layered it onto grey before mounting it over my decorative paper background using 3D foam tape. 
For the second card I used a larger image which I had already printed with pink balloons.  I cut a pink layer for the image.  I layered a laser printed circle punchie greeting onto a silver circle punchie and adhered it to my image.  I punched a larger circle from the middle of the of my pink layer before adhering it to the back of my image and then I mounted the circle behind my image so it would highlight the greeting.  Really like how that worked out!!  I manually embossed a grey card front around the edges before mounting my focal element to it using double sided tape. 
Loving these cards!!
Therese

A bear with apples and a primary colour scheme!

A few more cards for my stash!!  I love this image of the bear with the apples by Birdie Brown which is laser printed on white cardstock and trimmed!!  I also highlighted the edges with a black marker.  The background features blue decorative paper and a red embossed panel with yellow gros grain where they meet with the ends glued to the back.  This is mounted to a white layer and then to a brown card front.  The image is watercoloured to coordinate with the background.  No greeting makes this card versatile and appropriate for a fall birthday or a thank you card!!

Therese

Two cute truck cards with laser printed special occasions greetings

I love this little truck die cut which my sister cut for me when she visited earlier this year!!  I made up some kits for my January card class and am making up a few kits for my stash.  These have fun greetings!!   I mounted some blue decorative papers to the black card fronts to simulate a sky and then overlapped a torn piece of green decorative paper below that to simulate roadside greenery leaving a strip of black at the bottom.  I added white strips to the black strip to simulate pavement.  I coloured in my little truck - black for the tires and glitter pen for the headlights, windshield, bumper, hubcaps and door handle.  I added balloons to each of them in a different way.  For the one on the left, I printed a balloon bouquet, fussy cut it and mounted it over the back of the truck.  For the one on the right, I added balloon punchies and used a fine tip black marker to draw in the strings.  I mounted the trucks over the ends of the balloons and then added my fussy cut laser printed greetings to make them look like they are being flown from the back of the truck cab.  I have a few more so there will at least a few more that will appear in a bit.  

Therese

A cute bear die cut makes a beary special card

This bear die cut (SX) is so conducive to making these special cards!!  I created kits for my March class and am just getting to making up a few kits for my card stash. 
This one features a lavender bear die cut with its details watercoloured in pink.  I added a little white heart punchie to his middle and positioned some black cardstock behind his eyes and nose to get them to show up nicely.  I used decorative paper that features a rainbow as a background which works perfectly.  I trimmed the laser printed greeting on the bottom edge with decorative scissors and glued it to bottom of my card front. I border punched a piece of coordinating pink cardstock and cut a slot on every second set of holes in which I threaded through a white satin ribbon adhering the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I positioned this embellishment over the top edge of the greeting using double sided tape to keep it in place.  I added the bear tucking one of his legs behind to border to give the card a bit of depth. 
Therese

Love this cute little bunny with a balloon tied to his foot

Love the bunny!!   A digital image from Pixabay which is an amazing image gallery!!!  One of my latest go to places for digital images. 
I printed the image on white cardstock and trimmed it to size.  I found some pink cardstock that coordinated and embossed a quarter sheet  with a fun diamond pattern.  I glued the embossed layer to a white card front and added a black fiber across the card and then tied on a short piece.  I glued my image over the fiber and added the laser printed greeting just above the fiber embellishment.  I dug into my sequins stash and found a few that coordinated.  I added four - two little pink ones, one medium white iridescent and one large one with a very pink iridescence - using small pieces of glue dots. 
I had to talk myself into not using more layers and I like how the greeting still stands out from the focal image because of the layering of them. 

Therese

A card that features a butterfly opening, ribbon and a little greeting

While I was making the kits for this card for the All Occasion Class I made this card!!  It uses a spoiled embossed layer in that because I misjudged the location of my little cutting plate I cut part of the die next to the butterfly on this large die.  I burnished the slit closed and added regular tape on the back and it still showed after I embossed the layer so I decided to use this one to make a sympathy card and simply added a little greeting over the the mistake and no one is any the wiser!!!
So this card sketch works with or without a greeting!  You can check the ones without a greeting here that I created for my All Occasion Class last week!!

Therese

All Occasion Stack Class - Card #3 - a wide strip of decorative paper, a thin strip of cardstock and a die cut focal element

This is card #3 in the All Occasion Stack Class this week!  I always make the last card easy because as the evening moves on some are getting tired and are having trouble staying focused!!
This is a quick and easy card!!  It features a wide strip of decorative paper (3" x 5.5") glued right up to the top of the coordinating card and the sides as well.  Depending on how accurately I have cut the pieces there is usually a bit to be trimmed on one side or the other.  Next, the thin strip of coordinating cardstock (.5 x 5.5") is glued over the bottom edge of the decorative paper.  I added three passes of my trusting tracing wheel to give this piece a bit of interest and texture.  Finally, the 3D embellishment is added over the thin strip using 3D foam tape to give it some dimension.  This one is a star die cut which I manually embossed using a hammer and a star included in an embossing folder.  Gives it a bit of texture and interest!!  Without a greeting this card would be appropriate for a new baby or a three year old's birthday!!  Therese

All Occasion Stack Class - Card #2 - embossed backgrounds, fiber and colour printed focal elements

Here is my second card for the All Occasion Stack class this week!!  I went through my stash and discovered two sets of colour printed flowers - these blue Lily of the Valley and beautiful red poppies!  I trimmed them apart and layered them where needed to create my focal elements.  Needing a few more I decided to visit one of my sources for free to use colour graphics - Pixabay!  I found a new person who does the equivalent of loose pen and ink sketches of everyday things and adds a bit of colour.  Love them!! I printed out a few of those and a good variety of others which means that we will not have to colour images in this class.  Again, a good variety of images yields a good selection of themed cards.
So we will be gluing our embossed layers to our coordinating cards and them wrapping our fiber around several times and tying them all together on the front using a couple of knots.  Spreading the fibers apart adds interest and definition to this wonderfully textured aspect of this card.  The colour printed focal elements will be added over the fiber using 3D foam tape.  This vintage image includes a greeting but the others do not therefore keeping the card appropriate for a variety of occasions!
Therese