All occasion card featuring a hand stitched fabric patch, handmade paper and a little bow

My oldest granddaughter went on a trip this summer and brought me back a wonderful tea towel and so I made her this fun card.  She is really into creating and art - little crocheted stuffies and patches at the moment - so I made her a little fabric patch!!  Two layers of fabric with flannel in between.  I did blanket stitch in red all around the edge and then added stitching in red and black to keep the little pieces of fabric secure.  I added a little bow to created a focal point!! I stitched it to the handmade paper and then secured the handmade paper to the card front using little staples.  She will be able to remove the patch and add it to her collection!!  

Therese

 

September Card Club - cards featuring photos printed on transparency and mounted to our card over decorative paper

 For our last card I like to make it quick and easy!!  I printed a variety of photo images which I found on Pixabay onto the back of transparencies in reverse so they would show right side to the front.  I have used this technique before but it had been a while.  The last time I used photos I had taken but this time I decided for best use of my time I would pick a few from the site.  I was looking for photos with really good contrast so the backgrounds would have quite a few places to show through especially in the white or highlighted parts.  I was able to find quite a few that worked well.  I printed a few more than I printed for the class so I will have a few spare to add to my stash once I get them made up.  

For card one I layered the swan transparency over a very shimmering blue hand decorated paper which I made a while back - just leftover paint from a project painted onto scrap paper.  It beautiful the way the shimmer comes through the transparency!!  

For my second card, I layered this vintage car over a light blue decorative paper which gave the sky a bit of colour and texture.  

I applied a small piece of double sided tape to the back of the image in a place where it is quite dark.  I adhered this to my background paper.  I placed another small piece of double sided tape to the back of the decorative paper and applied it to my card front.  I pierced a hole in each corner with a push pin and then added a small brad in each one.  This secures all the layers very nicely and leaves the front neat.  I added a full insert in these cards to hide the tangs of the brads which show on the inside of the card.  

Great all occasion cards!!!  Therese

September Card Club - handmade paper sheet embellished with embossed vellum and unique 3D elements

 For our second card I chose to use some of the small handmade paper sheets we had made at our paper making session.  For my first card, I started with a teal card and added a coordinating decorative paper.  I wrapped a strip of embossed vellum around my teal sheet of handmade paper and glued the ends to the back.  I assembled three embossed flowers to which I added a little while eyelet to keep them all in place.  Love this little floral embellishment!! I added it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.  

For my second card I started with a deep plum card and added a piece of hand decorated paper which coordinated nicely.  I wrapped a strip of embossed silver vellum around my sheet and then glued it to my card front.  I layered an "Always" tag to a coordinating tag and added a ribbon with a tiny white brad to create my focal element.  I added to my card using 3D foam tape.  The "always" message can be used for a variety of occasion - always there for you, always my best friend, etc!!!  It was fun to use our handmade paper in our cards.  Therese

September Card Club - all occasion cards featuring embossed handmade paper sheets, ribbon and decorative paper

 It was so good to be back to cardmaking with my friends!!!  So good to see them all!!  Some of us had made handmade paper together at the end of August so I was inspired to create with the sheets we had made.  Our first card was created using white embossed handmade paper sheets.  There was a wide variety of images which helped to expand the occasions they could be used for.  I started my first card with a sheet that featured a rose.  I added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges and then adhered it to my pink decorative paper.  I folded three little lengths of ribbon in half and stapled them over the edges of my handmade paper sheet.  I added a small staple to the lower left hand side as well.  I glued this large element to a light green card!!  My favorite colour combo and a card perfect for a friend's birthday or the arrival of a little girl!!  

For my second card I chose a sheet with a little bird on it.  I repeated the paper piercing and the ribbons. These were all in teals and blues.  Again, a card for any occasion you can start with " A little birdie told me. . . . ." or perfect for the arrival of a little boy!!!  

We had a wonderful time and everyone applied their creativity to their cards to make them truly their own!!!    Therese

Sewing - casserole carrier with one of Mom's quilted squares

I made up a square casserole carrier using a quilted square that was in her stash.  I had to add a border to make it 22" but I found a large piece that worked perfectly for the border on the front, the inside of the carrier and the handle.  These are my Mom's colours - just what she loved most.  I found some blue scraps to create the loops and got it done!!  I will offer it to my sister who shares the love of blues.  

Therese

 

Large all occasion card with a watercoloured lake scene over a stamped and pieced background

This lake scene is from Public Domain Vectors.   I laser printed it, trimmed it to size and then watercoloured it.  Fun to try something new - reflection of the sky on the water in yellow, oranges and reds.  I wanted a textured background for this beautiful scene so I found some gray paper and then stamped it in a light gray ink with this harlequin stamp (SU) but because this stamp is hard to clean I got a very grayed brown image.  It worked so I just kept going.  I stamped "worn" (SU) over the top in black and that was even better.  I collaged two strip of gray to a black one and embossed that with a diamond embossing folder.  Added three pewter eyelets and tied in a piece of black ribbon.  I adhered this background to a dark gray card and then mounted by lake scene over the strip using 3D foam tape.  Very happy with how this one worked out.  Theres
 

Quilting - QAYG modified with lots of poly cotton scraps from Mom

I have finished my QAYG experiment where I have stitched scraps of fabric on one side of my flannel batting and then did the same on the other side leaving an extra seam allowance on all sides.  I did the same colour on both sides of the squares so they could easily be laid out.  I stitched the rows first finishing the seams as I went.  To finish the seams I cut strips of fabric about 1.25" wide and then folded in both sides and ironed them down.  I used a cardstock strip 1" wide to make sure that my strip would over the seam allowances after I pressed them open.  

You can see where the green square is joined to the blue square on the left hand side of the photo. The seam has been pressed open and I have the piece that will cover it laying over the open seam.  There is already a blue one stitched in place on the right.  I simply pinned it in place and stitched both sides down through all the layers.  This method makes the quilting more integral and with the seams reinforced less likely to unravel if there is tugging and so on.  I added the same sort of strips over the seams which I used to stitch the rows together. 

Here is one side of the quilt.  Here you can see all the small strips I added to cover the seams between the squares and the rows. In this method of assembly the binding only shows on one side of the quilt as it is stitched to the outer seam allowances on each side and then folded over twice onto the quilt and stitched in place.  I did the top and bottom first and then each side with square corners.  I am really happy with how scrappy it looks!!!!!  Both sides!!!!  Therese

 

Slow Stitching - a cute little folk art bird

 I found this little bird online. It is offered by Chloe Redfern - Folk art Bird.  I sized it for my piece of fabric and traced it with a Crayola Ultra Clean gray marker.  Christi Johnson in her Mystical Stitches book indicated that she had good luck getting this ink to wash out after finishing her embroidery.  With school supplies on sale last month I picked up a set of 10 for about $4 which I thought was pretty good.  I have been working on it off and on and will be posting an update very soon!! 

Therese

Papermaking session

I have a few of my friends over to make paper a while back.  We started with white paper and made a few embossed sheets that are the perfect size for the front of an A2 sized card.  I have quite a few moulds I made using hot glue so I dug out a few and everyone could choose the ones they wanted.  

 I had several batches ready to go so we made some sheets with blue paper that incorpated snippet of blue paper, white paper with geranium petals, teal paper (white coloured with paper napkin), purple with snippets, ivory with onion skins, green with snippets, warm green with naturals and snippets of paper and dark teal with snippets.  It was a very fun evening and everyone took home their stash of little sheets and laid them out so they could dry.  Mine took a little longer than I remembered - the better part of overnight and the next day.  

I used up the leftovers from the session making the larger sheets - 8.5" x 5.5".  Ivory and petals, pink and petals, more pink and tissue paper snippets, yellow with onion skins, several more batches of greens and browns with naturals as I combined previous batches with others to finish them off.  Finally, the greens and teals and the purples and I was done.  I have a stack of new papers which I hope to use in my cardmaking class at the end of the month. 

Therese

 

Large all occasion cards with fun backgrounds, ribbon & lace and cute gnome and cupcake images

My last two cards for family occasions!!  The top one started with a deep red card and then I used a hand decorated piece for the background.  I embellished it with embossing and then rubbed it with a red stamp pad.  Perfect!  I added an embellished ribbon and three little blue eyelets before adhering to my card.  The gnome is from  skogstokiga  (has bee removed).  I coloured it to coordinate, paper pierced all four sides and added it with 3D foam tape.  The next cards features a little cupcake by the same person.  I used an off white card, pink polka dot paper to which I added ribbon and lace before adding it to my card.  I watercoloured the cupcake, paper pierced all four sides and mounted it to a pink cardstock before adding it to my card with 3D foam tape. 

Therese

 

Large birthday card with a lovely girl with balloons over an embossed serendipity background

 An elegant card for a special person!!  The girl with the balloons is from Pixabay.   I colour printed it, trimmed it and then added paper piercing on all four sides before layering onto green cardstock.  I have had the pink and green serendipity in my stash for a while and it coordinated to nicely with the girl's dress.  I embossed it and added the border punched green layer and the pink ribbon before adhering to my pink card front.  I added the image using 3D foam tape.   Therese

Large all occasion cards featuring a cute little bear floating away with balloons

 I had two of these little bear images (wikiclipart) in my stash and decided to use them for this month's exchange cards.  I used a yellow card and green polka dot paper for the first one and deep purple and purple polka dot paper for the second one.  I watercoloured my bears to coordinate and the mounted them to yellow cardstock leaving extra on the side.  I trimmed with scallop decorative scissors, paper pierced the scallops with a push pin and then embossed a line with my score tool.  I added some white cording to the back before I mounted them to my cards using 3D foam tape.  Happy with them!!  Therese

Large cards with hearts

 I made up several of these cards to send for anniversaries in the next few weeks using the same basic layout.  

For the first card, I started with a green card, added two pieces of the fun pennant paper and then added a piece of white embossed with hearts.  I ran my paper tracing wheel on the top and the bottom edge before adhering it to my card between the two other pieces - overlapping just a little.  I found the two serendipity hearts in my stash and added them with double sided tape.  

For the second card I used a large red card, added two pieces of red patterned paper and added a paper punched layer of gold cardstock.  I scored two lines in the gold before adding two layered and embossed red hearts using 3D foam tape.  

For the third card I used turquoise gift wrap which I bought in London years ago, a white heart embossed layer with eyelet paper punched edges and two coordinating hand decorated and sparkly heart die cuts.  

Therese

Large all occasion card featuring a silhouette of flowers with a watercoloured background over a paper pieced background

Another image from my stash - Dover silhouette of wild flowers.  I watercoloured the background and the laser printing acts as a resist - works so well.  I added a strip of yellow with pewter eyelet and cut a slot on the edge of the Queen Anne's Lace so I could get the strip to the other side.  I punched a slot (SU) to get the strip back to the front.  Still thinking it needed a bit of something I added a faux stitching border and that was better!!  I paper pieced a background using scraps of paper in blues and then embossed it.  I adhered by background to my green card and then added my wildflowers using 3D foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.  

Therese
 

Large birthday cards featuring a lamb with a heart on its rump and bird on its head

I had several of these lamb images (Beyond the Fringe Crafts) in my stash and decided to make up all three of them into cards.  For the top one I used a dark gray card, added a pieced background and then a scalloped strip with a black ribbon.  I tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I coloured the lamb image to coordinate, mounted it to green cardstock and added over the strip using 3D foam tape.  

For my second card I used a blue card, a bright polka dot background paper which I embellished with large stamped circles, 1" circles for the "strip" which I added faux stitching to, mounted my lamb to blue layer after watercolouring to coordinate.

For my third card I used a dark plum card, coordinating diamond background paper to which I added a yellow ribbon (tie a short piece for a bow), watercoloured the image and layered it onto dark plum cardstock before adhering to my card.  

Will be using two of these for my exchange cards this month.  

Therese

New fire starters

I made up some fire starters a while back and I have had an inquiry about how they are made so I thought I would add a blog post about how I made them. I acquired two used candles that the wicks had been burnt out leaving a hole in the middle and lots of wax all the way around from when my son moved to his new house.   I started by melting the wax in a double boiler until it could be poured from their containers.  I mixed the two colours - red and purple - and put them in a large stainless pot so I could keep the wax molten while I was creating the fire starters.  I started with little cardboard rings. Toilet paper rolls cut into three or four works really well but I also made up rings when I ran out using cereal cardboard strips stapled into the size I needed.  This method would if you are using larger pine cones so you can make them the size you need.  I tore newspaper into about 4" square and stuff one into each ring.  I then crumpled a square and put in the little depression in the ring.  Next, I dunked the pine cones into the wax several times to build up the wax on them and then tucked them inside the ring over the crumpled newspaper.  I had heated the pine cones in the low temperature oven on a cookie sheet to make sure they were bug free and very dry.  

From my previous experience with making fire starters they function better if they have a bit of air space in them.  I laid out the rings on a plastic tray so that any dripped wax would congeal on the bottom of the starter and be easily removed from the tray.  These worked out really well and I realize on hind sight that different materials would have made them "prettier".  I packaged my fire starters in boxes - candy boxes work really well as they are the perfect depth.  This way the package can be burned once it is empty.  No garbage!!

You will need pinecones, paper and wax. 

Pinecones:

The pinecones need to be dry.  If you have time simply collect them and let them dry naturally in a mesh or brown paper bag.  If not, lay them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200F which will dry them out and kill any bugs that may have taken up residence. There are all sorts of shapes and sizes so use what you have available to you. 

To begin with pine cones don't really need any help as they are natural fire starters but if you want them prettier you could simply dunk them several times in the wax and just let them solidify.  They look pretty cool that way too.  

Paper:

I could have used different paper to get a prettier final product.  You could use old book pages, used gift wrap or tissue paper, bond paper from old manuals or misprints from your computer, old notes from previous courses,  junk mail or last year's school notes on loose leaf or pages from scribblers.  Just check your recycle bin!!  You get the idea - pretty much any paper you have a supply of would do.  Choose what you have on hand and gives you the look you are looking for.  If you want a quick and easy solution you could use cupcake liners which are available in several different sizes and therefore  accommodate your pine cones. 

Wax:

Again use what  you have on hand.  Candles that are no longer useable are the best but consider old wax crayons as well.  These can often be acquire by just asking your friends and family to pass them on.  You can purchase canning paraffin wax which would work well is generally available.  Beeswax would also work though may be a little harder to find.  

These are perfect hostess gifts for anyone who goes camping or has a backyard fire pit.  Keep an eye out for small cardboard trays - take out containers, candy boxes, shoe box lids, board games, puzzles, pizza,  etc.  You could also easily fashion what you need from cereal cardboard, poster board, cardstock or any light weight corrugated cardboard.  Here is a tutorial for making a shallow box from cardboard which would allow you to make a box to custom fit the fire starters you have made.  Here is a template to give you an idea how you would go about it.  Therese 

Large all occasion card featuring a beautiful poppy, some sheet music and red organza ribbon

It is time to make some more cards for family occasions!!  I always like to try to make a few extras to get the creative juices flowing so I started with some images I had in my stash.  The poppy is from Calico Collage.  Have colour printed and used this image quite a few times.  Always makes great cards.  I made a red card, added the red organza ribbon to the sheet music background before adhering it to my card.  I trimmed the image with a white border, adhered it to a green layer leaving a large border on the bottom.  I scored three lines, punched the bottom with scallop border punch (SU) and them punched tiny holes in each scallop.  I mounted this large focal element to my card using 3D foam tape.  I tied a short piece of the same ribbon above the image using a single knot to simulate a bow!!  Love it!!

Therese
 

QAYG - new quilt with Mom's scraps

I am working on a new QAYG quilt.  I am using scraps from my Mom's stash and some from my poly cotton pile to make up my squares.  I have started with the pink squares.  I have made 10 that are going to finish at 8 inches.  I have modified the technique from the last time I made one to allow the seams to be stronger.  I will sew them together on the edges and then apply a strip of coordinating fabric to cover the seam and seam allowance.  There will be two seams on the other side like there was last time but this side will look a little different.  I am hoping to be able add strips that will keep the patchwork look of the quilt.  It is a work in progress.  I am using white cotton batting squares that I found in my Mom's stash that were generally 8" square.  I created strips with scraps and sewed them to the batting starting on one edge - laying one face up and one on top face down and sewing down the side.  Fold the top one over to the block and repeat until I get to the other side.  Trim to 8".  I turn it over and do the same on the other side except for this side I am working to get a 9" square so I extend my strips a half inch on each side but otherwise it is the same technique.  The seams will show on the other side but that is the way it goes for this time around.  I will judge if it is worth the cost in esthetics for the security of the quilt as a whole.  Once I have all my strips sewn down I then trimmed to a 9" square.  I will make some yellow, green and blue ones and then assemble them.  I will have to add a binding as well so I will figure that out when I get there.    Therese

 

Baby cards featuring a buggy and a little blue zebra on creative backgrouds

These are the last of the baby cards I made in this session!!  

The pink card has a background created by layering torn strips over the pink and green ones glued to a green cardstock rectangle.  I punched the right hand side with a scallop punch (SU) and added clear rhinestones.  I mounted this background onto a dark pink card.  I watercoloured the little buggy (Cre8tive Hands), added some paper piercing for texture and layered it onto a green rectangle.  I added ribbon flags to it using double sided tape before mounting it to my card with 3D foam tape.  

The blue card started with a yellow green card to which I added some striped paper before placing the blue circle paper which I had cut diagonally.  I watercoloured the zebra (Cre8tive Hands) to coordinate.  I trimmed a green rectangle, punched the left hand side (MS), embossed the remainder (CB) and then added some paper piercing on three edges.  I mounted the little zebra and then tied on some coordinating fiber to his left.  Has been so much fun!!  Therese
 

Baby cards featuring a rattle and a cute little giraffe with some fun backgrounds

For my first card, I started with a yellow card base and found a coordinating decorative paper background.  I trimmed out a piece and turned it over to highlight the back of the paper which features script.  I layered this strip to piece of blue green cardstock which I trimmed with scallop scissors and then added paper piercing with a push pin.  I dug some coordinating fiber from my stash and tied it to the strip and then adhered all the pieces to the front of my card.  I watercoloured the rattle (Cre8tive Hands) and layered it with salmon cardstock before adding it to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.

For my next card I started with a brown card and added a pieced background to which I had added a length of yellow satin ribbon.  I tied on a short length on the right hand side to simulate a bow.  I watercoloured the little giraffe (Cre8tive Hands), added some paper piercing for texture and then layered it onto a rectangle of decorative paper before adding this focal element to my card using 3D foam tape.  

Therese